- feast -

Yesterday evening we celebrated St. John's Feast, the hight of summer, the summer solstice. In spectacular heat, on a field surrounded by horses, trees and peace - just the way we hope for every year.

The feast is named after St. John the baptist and it highlights the time of year. In the ten years that we've been connected to the Steiner School, it has always proved a lovely crescendo to the school year. We all gather for a picnic, the older kids play games with each other and the little ones sing songs and dance in a huge circle. Normally the younger kids (pre-school) celebrate this on a separate spot, but this year the whole school was united in celebration. Parents reluctantly join in (or maybe it's just us...) and hold hands with other parents or kids. And at the end, when the food has been eaten, games have been played and songs have been sung, we watch the big fire being lit by the kids of year 4. They enter the big (semi) circle of kids and parents that has gathered around the pile of blocks, carrying torches (angry mob style...). It makes me feel quite excited, to watch something so primaeval and symbolic. In the Steiner-philosophy (which is based on pagan (nature) traditions, the fire that is lit has cleansing powers and will hopefully chase away nasty spirits. The children are encouraged to jump over it, which not only shows how brave you are, it also drives away illness and bad fortune. While the fire gathers momentum and then changes to a slightly less frightening intensity, we listen to one of the teachers who tell a story that is related to the occasion (to which Otto's reaction was: "Oh god, no that one again...").

So far, so like every year. This year was slightly different as all the kids had been lumped in together (handy, as some years i feel i'm preparing picnic meals all week) and the weather was uncharacteristically wonderful. Also, Alan and i both noticed, the children are turning more scared and reluctant to join in. The singsong with the pre-school children seemed very half-hearted, around 4 kids were crying before jumping over the fire, 7 had to be helped by teachers and some year 6 girls wouldn't go unless connected to their best friend... The fire-jumping bit used to be the highlight of my year, and most people at school, kids daring each other to jump when the flames were still quite high, showing off their bravery. I also noticed when there's plays or the annual stage thongs all the classes do, that there's a heck of a lot more nerves... Sign of the times???

Anyhoo - as i completely forgot to use the camera that was inside my bag, here's some photo's from the archives, and one of Polly with the traditional flower-wreath...