Ritual as a Pathway to Gratitude: Exploring Advent as Practice
In the homes of the three Latitude partners—Mark Voss and Alissa and Neal Collins—late November begins with a ritual that has become central to their families: Advent. Both families were introduced to this practice through their children, who have attended (or are currently attending) Waldorf schools, where Advent is approached as a nature-based, deeply reverent way of understanding the winter season.
Nature table at the 2022 Regenerative Real Estate Gathering. Photo: Jenny Sherman
The word Advent comes from the Latin adventus, meaning “that which is coming.” In Christian traditions, it refers to the four Sundays before Christmas. Yet long before these religious observances, humans marked the seasonal transitions around the winter solstice—moments that balanced the deep, renewing darkness with anticipation for the return of light. The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, commemorating the miracle of light, takes place at this time of year. The Hindu festival of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, has just passed. Many earth-based traditions honor the solstice with special joy.
In this context, Advent practiced in their homes becomes not a countdown but a gentle, meaningful way to slow down, notice the season, and cultivate a sense of inner and outer light.
As Alissa shares:
“My son goes to a Waldorf school, and its pedagogy has taught me more than I ever expected—about parenting, about being human, and about how to walk through the world with presence. That wisdom naturally spills into my work and shapes the Fifth Root of Regenerative Real Estate: spirit.”
The Collins family nature table, set for Advent. Photo: Alissa Collins
Reimagining the Season
For Alissa, the holidays didn’t always feel this grounded. Growing up in Alaska, winter often meant escaping the darkness—sometimes quite literally, with family trips to Hawaii. While those moments brought joy, the material focus of the holidays often left her feeling something was missing.
“I loved my family time, but the holidays often felt strangely empty. I understand why we tried to avoid the darkness, yet eventually I realized there’s a deeper experience waiting for us—something that rises above the noise of gifts and travel.”
Through Advent, her family has found their way back to that “something deeper.” Instead of avoiding the darkness of the season, they now embrace it as a space for inwardness, reflection, and gratitude.
“Now, as Thanksgiving and Advent approach on Whidbey Island, I’m looking forward to building our nature table and lighting candles each day as we gently spiral inward.”
How to Create an Advent Practice at Home
In Waldorf schools, Advent is not treated as a commercial countdown but as a simple, sensory way of attuning to the season. Waldorf frames Advent as a universal, nature-based observance—one that mirrors humanity’s long relationship with winter darkness, the return of light, and the quiet renewal this time of year brings.
The practice begins with a nature table: a small, intentional space where natural objects are gathered throughout the season. It might start with only a cloth or a candle, but week by week it changes. New elements are added across Advent’s four themes, turning the table into a gentle illustration of the season. This slow transformation invites children and adults to pause, notice, and build a living connection to nature.
Each week centers on one of the four realms:
Week 1 — The Light of Minerals
Advent begins in the mineral realm—the earth’s foundation. Stones, shells, crystals, and bones express stillness, form, and quiet strength.
Nature table activity: Place minerals on or at the base of the display.
Week 2 — The Light of Plants
The second week celebrates the plant realm—everything that grows from the minerals and offers nourishment, shelter, and renewal.
Nature table activity: Add evergreen boughs, dried flowers, moss, or seasonal greenery.
Week 3 — The Light of Animals
Week three honors animals, who bring movement, warmth, and feeling into the world.
Nature table activity: Introduce carved animals, feathers, or beeswax figures.
Week 4 — The Light of Humankind
The final week reflects on humanity’s creativity, care, and responsibility within the wider web of life.
Nature table activity: Add simple human figures—such as peg dolls, small statues, or representations of loved ones.
Across these four weeks, families often light a candle each day, gradually brightening the spiral as the darkest night of the year approaches. It mirrors solstice traditions across cultures—honoring the return of light, both externally and within.
A Return to the Spirit Root
In Latitude’s framework, Advent naturally aligns with the Spirit Root, the fifth of The Five Roots of Regenerative Real Estate. Spirit is often the most difficult root to articulate because it is felt more than seen. It speaks to meaning, attention, reverence, and the inner life of a home.
Practices like Advent show how ritual can become a doorway into spirit. They demonstrate that regeneration is not only ecological or architectural; it is also emotional, seasonal, and personal. It touches on how we show up in the world, how we relate to our surroundings, and how we cultivate gratitude.
As Alissa puts it:
“Envisioning how to start a regenerative journey isn’t always easy. Yet spirit offers a liberating path—simple, playful, and deeply grounding. It gently shifts us toward gratitude and ease.”
A Simple Ritual to Begin
If you feel drawn to reorient your holiday season, a nature table is a simple place to start. Choose a small area—by a window, on a dresser, or in an entryway—and let it evolve week by week. Add what feels meaningful: a stone from a walk, a dried leaf, a candle, a photo, a figure that represents someone you love.
Through a few intentional objects, the season becomes something you participate in, rather than something that happens around you.
An Invitation
As we move toward the winter solstice, we invite you to explore a slower, more intentional relationship with the season. Whether you practice Advent formally or simply draw inspiration from it, allow these weeks to remind you:
Light returns.
Darkness has quiet gifts.
Nature is always teaching.
And regeneration begins in the smallest gestures of daily life.
Candles lit on Christmas Day, honoring the light within and the return of light after the winter solstice. Photo: Alissa Collins
