Tuesday 24th June 2025
Nativity of St John
Join us to burn the shadows away!
(Wordsmith Crafts Workshop, 3 James Avenue, DG2 9AU ///oiled.overnight.blotting)
In the afternoon from 14.00
We will be getting together to have a go at making nettle cordage. Through learning about the natural world around us we can re-think the relationship with it we have inherited.
Stinging nettles are a source of fibres that can make clothing! But the wilderness is not simply a resource to be dominated and consumed. If we accept our place as incarnated within the natural world we can learn to play our part in the unfolding of creation. Accepting both our strengths amd our weaknesses, and choosing to do what is best in relationship.
A stretch goal is to use the nettle string to make a bow drill suitable for lighting fires.
By 18.00
We will be getting hungry, so will light a fire to have a BBQ. If you are able, please bring food to eat and share together. We have pots, kettles, skillets, and grills. Together we can create a feast.
Whilst in the modern UK the 21st- ish is calculated as midsummer the 24th is also traditionally remembered as midsummer. Across Europe people traditionally have use this day to remember the birthday to John the Baptiser. Unlike many of the priestly caste he sought the wilderness and a primitive life. He spoke truth to power and helped people find new starts by washing old lives away in the river. You can read more about him in the first chapter of the gospel as told by John the evangelist.
Perhaps two thousand years later we forget the wilderness inhabited by John was a dramatic contrast with the sophistication of cultured Jerusalem. What is it about the wilderness and primitive technology that helps us draw closer to the eternal and know ourselves better?
As well as eating together, chatting, and continuing to experiment with nettles and firelighting (as well as cooking) there will be a less tangible activity. Those that choose will take some time out to write down the things we want to give up, barriers we want to overcome, or positive prayers we want help to boost. We will use the fire to burn them away. For some of us this will be a symbol of carrying them to God in prayer. This is intended to be a shared space and time though. We mean it when we say all are welcome, and can take part without compromising their integrity.
