Forgetful of my Will’s own entity
Rudolf Steiner’s Calendar of the Soul
The warmth of Worlds now fills
My soul and spirit, summer- heralding.
The spirit-vision bids me now
To lose myself in light;
And strongly calls my heart’s Divining:
Lose thou thyself, to find thyself.
St John’s Day is a fire festival celebrating an ancient custom which observes the Summer Solstice, or Midsummer. Each summer term on June 24th, Nant-y-Cwm commemorates this sacred time of year with traditions and games.
The children in Kindergarten made fiery crowns to wear and sang their Midsummer songs in the days running up to St John’s. Their families and parents joined the children, teachers, and assistants around the fire in the Kindergarten garden for the children’s procession, for which they wore their fire crowns and walked down from the Kindergarten and around the fire. The children sang and, with the help of Kindergarten teachers Niki and Suzie, they jumped the embers of the fire to signify welcoming the return of summer.
In the Main School, Classes 1-6 gathered in a circle around the already prepared wood laid for the fire, and waited in silence as parents and staff members looked on. Class 7 & 8 approached holding flaming torches, surrounding the laid wood, and lit the fire in unison.
Led by class teacher Lucy and accompanied by class teachers John, Mudita, and Tom, the children then all gathered together to sing summer songs.
While the fire continued to burn, there was an afternoon of games and laughter, culminating in each child jumping over the smoky remains of the fire. The two youngest pupils in Class 1 jumped through a hoop decorated in flowers.
The children then all enjoyed an ice cream together in the sunshine and shared in the joy of Midsummer.