The Dewdrop Digest

Clouds in Water Zen Center
The Dewdrop Digest
Connecting Children, Youth and Sangha
Clouds in Water Zen Center
Sunday, October 31, 2004


Here is a story that illumines the giving aspect of Halloween. We invite you to make it part of your family Halloween tradition.

The Sugar Sprite by Katharine Krueger, inspired and adapted from Kytka
Background: As the weather becomes colder, many of the fairies need more sugar to keep warm than they need in the summer months. In October, the Sugar Sprite likes to help the fairies by collecting sweet things her chilly fairy friends. Halloween is her favorite night, because many children share most of their candy with the Sugar Sprite. On Halloween, many Sugar Sprite children dress up in costumes and go to their friends' and neighbors' houses to collect candy for the Sprite and her fairy friends. Others make some sweet treats at home for the Sprite. Although they do sample some sweets along the way, and perhaps keep one or two pieces for a treat for later, Sugar Sprite children place the rest of their sweet treats at the foot of their beds (or outside the door) before going to sleep.

During the night, the friendly Sugar Sprite comes, takes the candy and leaves a gift of thanks. The Sugar Sprite knows what all children like, but sometimes the children write letters or make pictures for the sprite about a week before Halloween so she doesn't get confused (she has to visit a lot of children to collect enough sugar for the coming winter!) ? Tell the story to your children!

One Halloween night not too long ago, there were two children, a big brother named Oliver and a little sister named Hattie, who were out trick or treating. The last house they would visit was their next door neighbor, a very good friend. And so their mom and dad went on ahead to wait for them at home. After thanking their neighbor, Oliver and Hattie were just crossing their front yard, when they saw small person dart up to the next house and grab a basket. The little snatcher turned the whole bag upside down into a basket, and then ran away lickety-split, basket and all. The children, who couldn't believe their eyes, called "Stop, thief" and chased the little person.

But the little person didn't run far, but quickly turned around, bowed low, and said, "I am no thief, I am the Sugar Sprite. I am collecting sweets for my fairy friends. Did you know that the sun fairies, rain fairies, and wind fairies, who wear only very light clothing, get quite chilly this time of year? They need just a bit of sweetness as the weather turns colder to help them stay warm through the rest of the autumn and the winter ahead. That is what these sweets are for. They come from the Sugar Sprite children."

"Who are the Sugar Sprite Children?" asked Oliver.

"The Sugar Sprite Children are boys and girls that collect candy to warm their fairy friends. They leave their bags and baskets out for me."

Oliver thought about the sun fairies, who loved to dance around the crystal hanging in the dining room window. He played with them when he was little, and wished he could help them. So, he handed over his bag of candy to the Sugar Sprite right away, saying, "I want to share with the fairies."

But little Hattie, who also loved all the fairies - especially the wind fairies when they played with the wind chimes on the tree in the backyard - couldn't decide what to do. She also loved sweet treats, and the thought of giving up her Halloween goodies made her almost want to cry. And then the Sugar Sprite explained that all the Sugar Sprite Children keep a bit of candy for themselves. They pick one, two or three of their favorite treats for themselves. So Hattie shouted, "Hurray! I want to be a Sugar Sprite Child. I want to share with the fairies, too!"

And so they each picked out several of their favorite treats to keep. The Sugar Sprite bowed low, saying, "Thank you, my newest Sugar Sprite Children. Next year, leave your fairy treats outside your door or at the foot of your bed. Now I must go quickly in order to find all the fairy treats before morning."

So the brother and sister said goodbye and good luck to the Sugar Sprite. And the Sugar Sprite called back "Happy Halloween to you" as she darted away into the night.

And weren't their parents surprised to find that their children had turned into Sugar Sprite Children! ? And when the two children woke in the morning, they each found a little gift at the foot of their bed - with a thank you note for the Sugar Sprite signed with a kiss, the sweetest thing of all.


Lesson for today:
Today, most classes will be exploring the caring aspect of spiritual heroism. The preschoolers will hear a story about a pumpkin who befriends a black kitten. The K-1 group will hear The Story of Jumping Mouse, one of my all time favorites about a mouse who follows his dreams and helps others on the way. 2nd and 3rd graders will continue with The Quilt Maker's Gift about a quilt maker who helps the poor and a king who turns from greed to giving. Both of these stories are worth owning or checking out from the library! 4th and 5th graders continue with Kuan Yin studies and a marvelous collage depicting a famous story from her life.

Gandhi movie: 6pm, Friday, November 12. -- SIGN UP TODAY --
On Friday, November 12 at 6pm, Jeff Kelley will host, in his south Minneapolis home, a screening of the film Gandhi for students in Middle School and in 4th-5th grade class. High School students are welcome as well. Gandhi is an incredible spiritual hero in our time, and this movie does a wonderful job of illuminating his vision and deepest hopes for freedom and non-violence. For the brutal scenes: We will pause before each one so students who wish to can go to a break area, and we will pause after each difficult scene to discuss what we saw and it significance. We will serve pizza or something similar.




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