The Capital Times from Madison, Wisconsin • 23

Friday, Dec. 25, 1992 The Capital Times 1C elebrations touch variety of cultural roots DAVID SANDELUTHE CAPITAL TIMES Children at Leopold Elementary School put on a presentation for their classmates about Kwanzaa, the African-American holiday celebration. Lauren Brown-Perry helped the youngsters prepare this program. colors of red, white and green to stand for the sun, snow and continuation of life. Each person brought a bell to ring and a candle to place on the altar.

The candle ritual is one of Foxs favorites. The candles come in different colors, shapes and sizes, just like we do. But gathered together on the altar, they connect us all with a glowing light. When Booker Gardners family observes Kwanzaa from Dec. 26 to Jan.

1, theyll join some 15 million people in honoring African-American tradition. The holiday began in 1966, through the efforts of political scientist Maulana Karenga, who now chairs the Department of Black Studies at California State University-Long Beach. Karenga wanted to honor his African roots without tying the observance to mysticism, voodoo, religion or a hero. Traditions may differ from family to family, but all Kwanzaa celebrations observe the same principles and use the same symbols. Families display the colors of black, red and green to symbolize the people, their struggle and their hope for the future.

In the Gardner family, the holiday has changed over the years as the children have grown. "When my kids were real small, we gave them small gifts, usually two a day, explains Gardner, the principal of Van Hise Elementary School. They were usually educational things, like an educational toy or a book. As the children got older theyre now in college the family started having a Kwanzaa feast and inviting friends over. The Gardners hold their karamu feast early on Dec.

31 so their children can still go out for New Years Eve. And what a feast it is. In By Mary Conroy Special to The Capital Times winter whips its wind around us, we create our own warmth. Some of us sing Christmas carols, but thats not the only way to feel a sense of community. Instead, we may observe solstice, Kwanzaa or Hanukkah.

But one thing is certain: At this dark time of year, we celebrate the light. Jj ere comes the sun. The old Beatles tune tells 1 you exactly why people celebrate winter solstice: Beginning with the first day of winter, the days start to get longer. And with any luck, solstice celebrations will coax the sun to shine on Wisconsin. Winter solstice revelers weave traditional pagan customs with new ones from the present, says Selena Fox, high priestess of Circle Sanctuary, a Mt.

Horeb community of believers in the wiccan religion. And symbols that appear at Christmas have their roots in pre-Christian mythology, she adds. Take the traditional oak yule log, for instance. In Celtic mythology, father oak stood for the waxing sun. Caroling, feasting and celebration around the yule log goes back to pagan times.

On the other hand, the holly king symbolized the waning sun. And thats why we see the holly and yule logs together, as the waning sun gives way to the waxing one. An ancient Roman custom called Saturnalia observed winter solstice for an entire week. The Romans closed schools and courts, and exchanged dolls, candles and wax fruits. Today, solstice celebrations continue those traditions by welcoming the sun as a symbol of Imani or faith: to believe in your people, your parents, your teachers and leaders, and to believe in the righteousness of your struggle.

Besides discussing the seven principles in their own lives, the guests honor African-American heroes. The Gardners also celebrate African-American achievement through their gift exchange. Art is a hobby of mine, Gardner explains. So we give our kids art pieces. I try to give them African-American or African artists work." This year, one child will get a framed print of Malcolm while the other gets one of artist Carl Owens prints.

The Gardners also decorate the table with traditional symbols. A straw placemat represents their reverence for tradition. A seven-branched candle-holder stands for the peoples of Africa as a collective whole. A libation cup, shaped like a chalice, symbolizes unity. And finally, the Gardners have two ears of corn one for each child.

Corn represents the continuation of life and the idea of social parenthood expressed in the African saying, It takes the whole village to educate the child. A few years ago, Ariel Kaufman spent a year in Israel as a student at Hebrew University. She remembers celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kip-pur that year, but has no memory of Hanukkah. I think we might have even had exams and papers during Hanukkah, she guesses. Why cant she remember? Because its such a minor holiday, she explains about the festival that started this year Dec.

19 and ends Dec. 26. In fact, the Hanukkah story depicts a struggle between the historical and the religious nature of Judaism, Kaufman says. Some 2,100 years ago, the Greek king Antiochus took over Israel. His soldiers desecrated the temple.

Antiochus outlawed Jewish customs and religious practices. One day a Greek military unit ordered the people of Modiin to take part in a Greek ceremony. To do so, the Jews would have to pray to an idol and eat a pig. The Greek officer asked Mat-tathias, a respected Jewish leader, to set an example. He refused, but another villager offered to do so in his place.

Outraged, Matta-thias killed that man and the officer. His sons and other villag- Continued on Page 4C addition to ham and turkey, Booker Gardner plans to bake sweet potato pie, using a graham cracker crust ringed with pecans. Each other family will bring a traditional African American food, such as greens, black-eyed peas or red beans and rice. But food is only part of the occasion. During the meal, Gardners son also discusses the seven principles of Kwanzaa as his sister lights a candle for each one: Umoja or unity: to strive for unity of family, community, nation and race.

Kujichagulia or self-determination: to define yourself instead of being defined by others. Ujima or collective work and responsibility: to build a community together, to solve one anothers problems. Ujamaa or cooperative economics: to build your own businesses and profit from them together. Nia or purpose: to restore African-Americans to their traditional greatness by building the community. Kuumba or creativity: to do as much as possible, in whatever way possible, to leave the community more beautiful than it was when you got it.

light, health and prosperity, Fox says. Celebrating world peace, harmony, cooperation, giving and sharing is a universal type of action at this time of year. Local solstice remembrances are no exception. The Circle Sanctuary conducted its own celebration Saturday, Dec. 19.

In a private ceremony outdoors, the community burned a yule log as people meditated and shared their thoughts. Singing, drumming and decorating a tree were also part of their ritual. Members of Circle Sanctuary also had time to commune with nature on the Sanctuarys vast grounds. The next day, the Sanctuary conducted a solstice ceremony for the general public at the Gates of Heaven synagogue in Madisons Jame Madison Park. Focusing on world peace, the ritual included prayers for people in Somalia.

To help people closer to home, the Sanctuary also collected canned goods for a pantry in Iowa County. After a lecture on solstice lore, the observance turned to planetary wellness. Honoring the diving in nature is central to our religion, Fox explains. So the public ritual included chanting, meditation and prayers for planet earth, too. The ceremony also came with its own symbols.

People wore the.