The Michaelmas Challenge
At Marin Waldorf School, we come together to celebrate the autumn season, feel the warmth of our community, and kindle our inner light at the annual Michaelmas pageant, held in late September. The first festival of the school year, the pageant recounts the story of Saint George and the battle between the archangel Michael and a dragon. Through songs and verses, the children introduce us to the story, playing the roles of farmers and blacksmiths of the village, brave knights, and the dragon itself—played by the 7th grade class—who appears amid a cloud of smoke and marching to the rhythm of a beating drum.
The pageant is performed by grades 2 to 8, with each class taking a role that is assigned to their grade; in this way, as children grow older, they will play every role in the pageant—making the experience a rite of passage year after year. As with many of our festivals, the lessons of Michaelmas are also intertwined with the curriculum.
As the school year begins, second graders, who play an important role in the pageant as the brave knights who tame the dragon, hear the story of Saint George, who, with the courage and strength of the Archangel Michael, defeated a fearsome dragon that had destroyed the land and killed animals and people. (See some of their beautiful artwork illustrating the story below.)
Second graders also learn about Michael’s qualities of courage, compassion, and steadfastness as part of the larger second grade curriculum, throughout which they study the lives of inspiring people from around the world.
As part of their preparation for the festival, each second grader prepares a wood sword to use in the pageant. “One of our amazing families made beautiful swords for the second graders,” says second grade teacher Ms. Terziev. “Today each student began sanding a sword. Once they have sanded it to their satisfaction, they will oil and polish it. When they are all finished, the students will receive a sword that someone else sanded and oiled and polished.”
Ms. Terziev’s students have also begun putting these values into practice at home. “The children are supposed to choose something they don’t normally do around the house and complete it weekly. Nolan chose to make dinner for our family,” shares second grade parent Kim. “It is as much a challenge for the parents to allow the children to do more!”
The robust way in which students are taking up the task has proved its appropriate. “Even little brother is helping. Nolan said, ‘mom and dad are off tonight’ with a giant smile on his face. They are so proud of themselves. Such a gift to us as parents to watch them be so able and feel so good.”
In her beautiful reflections on Michaelmas (which you can read in full here), Ms. Terziev writes, “The timeless archetypes of courage overcoming destruction, good conquering evil, and love replacing fear are encompassed in this powerful story—soul food for the second grader, who is beginning to experience the feeling of separation from the oneness of early childhood. We want to help the developing child create an inner picture that can live and grow within them, throughout their life; a picture of the human being who is able to overcome fear. But, it is not only the second grader who needs this picture. In these uncertain times, we all do.”
To that end, students across the school community are engaging with the angel and the dragon, and observing the season in their classes. In 8th grade, Ms. Percey asked the class to closely observe Andrew Jones’s work “Harmony of Dragons” (pictured below).
“This image is the artist's depiction of remaining calm in the eye of the storm—the dragons therefore represent fear and anxiety or whatever might come your way to throw you out of balance,” explains Ms. Percey. She then gave students this assignment:
Inner World:
What might these dragons represent for you? What throws you out of balance that you need to “tame” and remain calm in the eye of the storm?
Outer World:
What do you think is at the root of throwing the world out of balance? (Nature or Society) Can you identify one thing that the world needs to “tame” or hold back so that greater balance can be achieved?
In art class, you will choose one of your above answers and create a dragon that depicts one of your answers above.
As the nights lengthen and the weather begins to cool, it is time to shine our inner light, finding the courage and strength to carry us through the darkness of the winter months. We look forward to seeing you all at the Michaelmas pageant this year!