Kwanzaa: Candles & Crystals, acknowledging African Values at Violets in Bloom

Published on December 26, 2025 at 1:38 PM

I'll be celebrating Kwanzaa this year, I decided after a few weeks of thinking about it today. After exploring the inspiration and deeper meaning behind Kwanzaa, Ish and I want to learn more about ourselves while strengthening our family this coming year. To further honor the spirit of Kwanzaa, we’ve crafted a supportive crystal ritual to complement the traditional candle lighting. This practice embodies creativity, quiet strength, and intentional reflection.

Kwanzaa is meant to:

  • Reconnect people from the African Diaspora with African values
  • Encourage self-esteem and community care
  • Provide a grounding practice during the end-of-year transition with candles.  

Additionally, I'm utilizing three specific crystals. I'm also including a daily journal practice with meditation along with some movement & breathflow.  If you want to join me, please do as its not too late. These can all be adapted for personal use or shared with your family.

Learning about Kwanzaa

Kwanzaa takes place December 26 – January 1 and was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga as a way to reconnect with African traditions and principles.

The Kinara & Candle Colors
Kwanzaa uses a candle holder called a kinara, which holds seven candles, each representing one principle.

Candle Colors & Meaning
• Black (1 candle) – The people
• Red (3 candles) – The struggle
• Green (3 candles) – The future & hope

Maulana Karenga

Maulana Karenga (born Ronald McKinley Everett, 1941) is an African American scholar, activist, writer, and cultural theorist best known as the founder of Kwanzaa.

Beyond Kwanzaa, Karenga is:

  • A professor of Africana Studies (longtime chair at California State University, Long Beach)

  • Founder of Kawaida philosophy, which centers culture and ethics as tools for liberation

  • Author of multiple books on African and African American thought, ethics, and culture

His work consistently emphasizes:

  • Maat (balance, truth, reciprocity, order)

  • Communal responsibility

  • Moral grounding as a foundation for freedom

He created Kwanzaa in 1966, in the aftermath of the Watts Rebellion, during a moment when many Black communities were seeking healing, dignity, and cultural grounding.

Karenga envisioned Kwanzaa as a cultural—not religious—celebration, offering a shared ethical framework rooted in African traditions that could strengthen families and communities.

Karenga believed that culture is a source of strength—a way people:

  • Understand themselves

  • Organize values

  • Heal collective trauma

  • Imagine a future beyond oppression

He asked a simple but radical question for the time:

“How do we repair a people if we don’t first restore their cultural grounding?”

Kwanzaa endures because it:

  • Centers values over consumption

  • Encourages reflection without religious pressure

  • Honors ancestral wisdom while inviting evolution

  • Makes space for grief, resilience, creativity, and hope

The Candles

Day-by-Day Lighting Sequence

Day 1 – December 26 ◦  Black candle (center) – Umoja / Unity . Crystal: Black Tourmaline

Day 2 – December 27 ◦  First red candle (far left) – Kujichagulia. Crystal: Red Jasper

Day 3 – December 28 ◦  First green candle (far right) – Ujima. Crystal: Green Aventurine
Day 4 – December 29 ◦  Second red candle – Ujamaa. Crystal: Red Jasper

Day 5 – December 30 ◦  Second green candle – Nia. Crystal: Green Aventurine
Day 6 – December 31 ◦  Third red candle – Kuumba. Crystal: Red Jasper. ◦ This day is often celebrated with Karamu (community feast)
Day 7 – January 1 ◦  Third green candle – Imani.
Crystal: Green Aventurine

Pattern to remember:
• Black first, then alternate red (left) and green (right) moving outward from the center.

The Crystals

Together, black tourmaline, red jasper, and green aventurine gently mirror the energy of the Kwanzaa candles:  As companions, these stones help anchor Kwanzaa’s values in the body , mind and the present moment.

Black Tourmaline grounds and protects , supporting unity and presence; Red Jasper stabilizes the work of effort, creativity, and resilience.  Green aventurine opens the heart to renewal, faith, and what is still growing. 

 Kwanzaa Candles & Crystals at Violets in Bloom

A 7-Day Practice of Presence, Purpose & Gentle Becoming

  • Slow, grounded, candlelight (You can blow out the candle after lighting each night)

  • Crystal holding or gazing

  • Journaling + movement + breath as inner teachers

  • Honoring what has carried you through and what is quietly causing you to remember next

You may practice this alone, with family, or in circle.

 Opening Ritual (Use Each Evening)

What you’ll need

  • Kinara with candles (or individual chime or taper candle holders)

  • One stone/crystal that aligns with the candles (Black Tourmaline, Green Aventurine & Red jasper)

  • Journal + pen

  • Yoga Mat
  • Soothing music

Begin

  1. Sit comfortably. Feet on the earth.

  2. Place one hand on your belly, one on your heart.

  3. Take 3 slow breaths, extending the exhale.

  4. Light the candle of the day.

  5. Let silence settle.

Quick Pronunciation Guide 

Each day has the pronunciation of the word underneath it. Gentle Tip for pronunciation. If you are new to Swahili, also known as Kiswahili, is a Bantu language originally spoken in Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique.  it is also the language utilized in the 7 days of Kwanzaa. It's rhythmic and a very high spirited language to be open to. We’re honoring these words with care—pronunciation is a practice, but its not perfection.

Daily Kwanzaa Practices

Day 1 – Umoja (Unity) 

  • Umoja → oo-MOH-jah

Theme: Wholeness without fragmentation -  Black candle (center) – Umoja / Unity  Crystal: Black Tourmaline

Journal / Reflection

  • Where in my life am I already held, even if I forget?

  • What parts of myself want to belong again?

Meditation

  • Sit and hold your Black Tourmaline & Visualize your roots extending outward—not separating, but interweaving.

Movement

  • Seated or standing gentle side-to-side sway

  • Arms cross and uncross the body slowly (hug → open)

Breath

  • Inhale through the nose

  • Exhale long breath out through the mouth

Day 2 – Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) 

  • Kujichagulia → koo-jee-cha-goo-LEE-ah 

Theme: Naming yourself with kindness - First red candle (far left) – Kujichagulia. Crystal: Red Jasper

Journal

  • Who am I becoming that I no longer need to explain?

  • What name, quality, or truth feels truest right now?

Meditation

  • Imagine writing your name (or a word) in red light across your chest as you sit with your Red Jasper.

Movement

  • Slow spinal undulation (cat/cow )

  • Breath  Inhale through nose and Exhale through soft jaw, releasing pressure

Day 3 – Ujima (Collective Work & Responsibility) 

  • Ujima → oo-JEE-mah

Theme: Shared tending - First green candle (far right) – Ujima. Crystal: Green Aventurine

Journal

  • What has been easier because I was not alone?

  • Where can I offer support without overextending?

Meditation

  • Visualize many hands tending one garden. Think about growth as an invitation from Green Aventurine.

Movement

  • Arm circles—slow, synchronized clock wise  with palms up

  • Imagine lifting and setting something precious down

Breath

  • Inhale for 4

  • Exhale for 6 (supporting the nervous system)

Day 4 – Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) 

  • Ujamaa → oo-jah-MAH-ah

Theme: Exchange with integrity - Second red candle – Ujamaa. Crystal: Red Jasper

Journal

  • What do I give with love?

  • What do I receive with openness?

Meditation

  • See energy flowing in a circular path—never depleted. Your Red Jasper can be placed at your heart for this.

Movement

  • Gentle twist + return to center

  • Side to side, honoring balance

Breath

  • Inhale through the nose

  • Exhale with a soft “hah”

Day 5 – Nia (Purpose) 

  • Nia → NEE-ah

Theme: Devotion without urgency - Second green candle – Nia. Crystal: Green Aventurine

Journal

  • What feels meaningful now—not someday, but now?

  • Where can I soften my idea of purpose?

Meditation

  • Visualize a soft  green light settles low in the belly. Hold you Green Aventurine at your belly.

Movement

  • Stand and slowly fold forward with softly bent knees→ rise halfway → fold again

  • Honoring effort and rest

Breath

  • Inhale imagining expansion

  • Exhale imagining grounding

Day 6 – Kuumba (Creativity) 

  • Kuumba → koo-OOM-bah

Theme: Making beauty, gently -  Third red candle – Kuumba. Crystal: Red Jasper. ◦ This day is often celebrated with Karamu (community feast)

Journal

  • What wants expression without perfection?

  • How do I already create by simply being myself?

Meditation

  • Imagine gold color moving freely through your hands. Place your Red Jasper in your right pocket. 

Movement

  • Free-form intuitive movement

  • Let the body choose

Breath

  • Natural, unforced

  • Match breath to motion

Day 7 – Imani (Faith) 

  • Imani → ee-MAH-nee

Theme: Trusting what remains alive -  Third green candle – Imani.

Journal

  • What has not left me, even after everything?

  • Where does faith live in my body?

Meditation

  • Ancestors and future generations stand behind you. Place your Green Aventurine on your altar.

Movement

  • Sitting with stillness then move with gentle spinal circular rocking

  • Hands over heart or thighs

Breath

  • Inhale trust

  • Exhale surrender

 

 Closing the Week (January 1)

Pour a small libation of water into a bowl.
Say: “May what we’ve tended continue to grow. May we move forward rooted, gentle, and awake.”

Blow out the final candle. Place all three crystals on your Altar.

 

 A Violets in Bloom reflection:

“Kwanzaa was created as a healing practice— not to be perfect, but to be present; not to erase pain, but to tend what grows beacuse of it.”

« 

Add comment

Comments

There are no comments yet.