A Mountain Hearth

Tales of Modern Homesteading and Outdoor Adventure

Walking With My Lantern

“The sunlight fast is dwindling,
My little lamp needs kindling.
Its beam shines far
in darkest night.
Dear lantern guard me
With your light.”
In this time of year when the days grow shorter and Winter draws near, parents and children involved with Waldorf Schools all over the world are making beautiful handmade lanterns and holding Martinmas lantern walks. As my children have gotten older, and there haven’t been class lantern walks, we have held our own little celebrations at home. Last year we made hot cider and treats, invited some friends over, and walked around the farm where we lived, serenading all the chickens with our lantern songs. This year, my children are with their father on Martinmas, but it sounds like they are putting something fun together, and I am making tissue paper and leaf lanterns, baking treats to give neighbors, and doing a little walk with some friends of mine tonight.

If you are not familiar with Waldorf education, and are asking yourself, “What is this Martinmas she speaks of?”, here is a definition from Wikipedia that covers it pretty well:

 

St. Martin’s Day, also known as the Feast of St. Martin, Martinstag or Martinmas, the Feast of St. Martin of Tours or Martin le Miséricordieux, is a time for feasting celebrations. This is the time when autumn wheat seeding was completed, and the annual slaughter of fattened cattle produced “Martinmas beef”. Historically, hiring fairs were held where farm laborers would seek new posts. November 11 is the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, who started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized as an adult and became a monk. It is understood that he was a kind man who led a quiet and simple life. The most famous legend of his life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold.
And this Waldorf perspective on Martinmas from our school newsletter:
One traditional way of celebrating Martinmas is with lantern walks or processions accompanied by singing, and sometimes sharing a baked good as a gift to the neighbors. St. Martin recognized the divine spark in the poor man of Amiens, and gave the protection of his own cloak. When we make a paper lantern, we, too, may feel that we are giving protection to our own little “flame”that is beginning to shine at Michaelmas, so that we may carry it safely through the dark world. It may only be a small and fragile light—but every light brings relief to the darkness.
The Lantern Walk symbolizes the dimming of the light at this time of year, and honors St. Martin by the gesture of sharing with others who are in need.

I have included a couple of favorite traditional Waldorf Lantern Walk songs here to share, along with links to videos of them being sung from a wonderful blog, A Storytelling of Crows, from a musical storyteller in Seattle. I have always really enjoyed it as a resource.
Glimmer, Lantern, Glimmer
Glimmer, lantern, glimmer
Little stars a-shimmer
Over meadow, moor and dale
Flitter, flutter, elfin veil
Pee-wit, pee-wit, tikka-tikka-tik
Rucoo, rucoo.
Glimmer, lantern, glimmer
Little stars a-shimmer
Over rock and stock and stone
Wandering, skipping, little gnome
Pee-wit, pee-wit, tikka-tikka-tik
Rucoo, rucoo.
I Go Outside With My Lantern (I’m Walking With My Lantern)
I’m walking with my lantern, my lantern walks with me
Above the stars are shining bright, down here on Earth shine we.
The cock does crow, the cat meows, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.
My light goes out, we’re going home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.
I’m walking with my lantern, my lantern walks with me
Above the stars are shining bright, down here on Earth shine we.
So shine your light through the still dark night, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom
My light goes out, we’re going home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.
I Go Outside With My Lantern: A lantern walk song

Because wild geese are associated with St. Martin’s Day, there is also a lovely song about wild geese that was my children’s class lantern walk song in third grade.

WILD GEESE
High and blue the sky
trees are very tall
wild geese flying seem so small
see on silent wings in flocks they go
never parting from a single row

we go through the land
like a wild gees band
brothers in one flight are we

clear and dark the night
star are very bright
lantern shining seems so small
see in single file we walk along
singing joyfully our lantern song

we go through the land
like a wild gees band
sisters in one light are we

Another non-traditional lantern walk song I have added to my family’s repertoire, is “This Little Light of Mine.”

This Little Light of Mine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
Oh, this little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Every where I go, I’m gonna let it shine
Oh, every where I go, I’m gonna let it shine
Every where I go, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Hide it under a bushel, oh no! I’m gonna let it shine
Oh, hide it under a bushel, oh no! I’m gonna let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, oh no! I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Won’t let nobody blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine
Oh, won’t let nobody blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine
Won’t let nobody blow it out, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

All in my house, I’m gonna let it shine
Oh, all in my house, I’m gonna let it shine
All in my house, I’m gonna let is shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Out in the dark, I’m gonna let it shine
Oh, out in the dark, I’m gonna let it shine
Out in the dark, I’m gonna let it shine
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!

Here is a post I wrote about our class lantern walk when my children were in third grade:
Lantern Walk
And, finally, a video from A Storytelling of Crows of a Waldorf Lantern Walk procession:
May your lights shine bright tonight and always!

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Comments

  1. impossibleway says

    Thanks so much for sharing all this! We have that little postcard of the child dressed warmly with the lantern. We just did our first lantern walk and it was a success, a nice break from the challenges of changing seasons.

    Reply

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