Spiral Walk is something done at Waldorf Schools, near the Winter Solstice. This is a celebration of bringing light through the darkness and leaving that light to share with others.
We are supposed to sit in silence in a dark room. There is a spiral of evergreen boughs with a candle lit in the middle, a symbol of life amidst the dead of winter. Then, as quiet music plays, each child in turn takes an unlit candle in an apple, into the center of that spiral and lights it, then places the candle on stars laid alongside the path. The light then brightens the path for those who come after. Each child walks alone, at his or her own pace, in his or her own way.
I have been invited to Spiral Walk every year, but this is the first time I have gone in the 7 years we have been at Journey School. It was fascinating and now I wish I had gone every year. You watch not only your own child, you also see each child in their class.
How does each child make their way to the candle at the center of the spiral? Are their footsteps slow or fast? Does she stop along the way to consider each star on the path before placing her candle near the way out of the spiral, or does she set it down right away and hurry on without looking back? Or does he act goofy and try to make his classmates laugh?
I wasn’t sure how it would be. They needed someone to provide the music and Carson was on winter break, so he came to play the guitar. The children entered and the music started. I instantly felt the Spirit and felt my crown chakra open and just got into this deep meditative state. It was powerful and beautiful.
I could feel and sense the energy of each child as they walked the spiral. I could “see” them with my eyes closed, by hearing their steps and feeling their movements.
It was so, so beautiful. Each individual child was so different, unique and beautiful.
It was also painful, because they are 10-11 year old kids in a class with 20 boys and 6 girls.
It was hard for me to sit quietly and I meditate every day. So you can only imagine how hard it was for them.
Some were very thoughtful. Some just couldn’t sit still or be quiet because of their energy level. Some kids didn’t value the experience at all and their attitude was disruptive.
The over all effect was beautiful and painful.
There was
- power there
- learning there
- beauty there.
But with their human nature just being SO evident, it was a little painful too. 🙂