From: darsie@eecs.ucdavis.edu (Richard Darsie)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Waldorf education: Festivals
Date: 21 Aug 92 17:58:25 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of California, Davis

(more excerpts from Davis Waldorf School Parent Handbook)
(Standard Disclaimer)

FESTIVALS

Religion
	DWS, like other Waldorf schools, is rooted in many Christian traditions, 
but does not seek to teach a particular religious view.  Students from a wide 
range of religious, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds are welcomed at DWS, and 
the differences are respected.  Seasonal festivals of Christianity are 
observed in the classroom and at school assemblies.  The curriculum itself, 
through the Old Testament studies, Norse, Indian, Egyptian, Roman, and Greek 
mythologies provides many opportunities to share other religious traditions 
in the classroom.
	We would like to acknowledge and share other religious customs and 
celebrations enjoyed by our families.  If you are interested in celebrating 
special holidays within your childUs classroom, we encourage you to give 
suggestions to your child's teacher.  Parent participation helps to make 
these festivals meaningful and special.  Parents are welcome to keep their 
children home in observance of their own religious holidays.
	We strive to bring a universal nature to our celebrations of festivals 
through their connection with the rhythms of the earth and cosmos.  We feel 
that the ceremonies and rituals associated with them help reveal the deeper 
significance in many everyday occurrences.  The living rhythms of the year, 
though taken up in each class in different ways, help provide a common 
foundation for the children.  In preparing for the festivals, the faculty 
considers the mood of the season in the celebration.
	Although often associated with narrow religious meanings, the nature of 
the festivals is universal.  The teachers do not seek to explain all this to 
the children, but allow them to take these things quietly into their hearts.
	Children love preparing for the festivals by decorating the room, baking 
special treats, learning special songs, etc.  Nature stories and special 
tales help bring deeper significance of the season to the children in a 
pictorial way.

Michaelmas
	Perhaps the least known of the festivals is Michaelmas, when the sun 
reaches the autumnal equinox (darkening) on September 29.  Saint Michael is 
an archangel mentioned in the Bible, Apocrypha and Koran.  He appears as a 
spiritual figure and protector of humankind, inspiring strength, courage and 
will throughout history.  The motif of a conqueror of the dragon can be seen 
in much Chinese art, in Apollo and the serpent, in Krishna slaying demons, 
and in the familiar story of Saint George and the dragon.
	Michael overcoming the dragon is an image that calls us all to be 
courageous, to take the dragon and hold it at bay.  For each of us has our 
own dragonQfear, greed, thoughtlessness, or apathy.  MichaelUs qualities of 
courage, compassion, and steadfastness can be an inspiration to us all.
	In school, the children hear stories about the brave knight who overpowers 
the dragon with his sword of light.

Hallowe'en
	All Hallow's EveQa very special night at our school.  The warm glow of 
Jack o' Lanterns light our way to an imaginative journey and new challenges.

Thanksgiving
	A time for sharing with our community.

Saint Nicholas' Day
	December 6.  A special visitor may leave some treats in the children's 
shoes if they've behaved well during the year!

Advent
	Advent celebrates a turning point when darker and shorter days become 
even more illuminated by candlelight.  We experience a mood of anticipation, 
preparation and waiting.  In walking the spiral of the Advent Garden, the 
children receive in reverence the light for their own candles.  All of their 
candles together light up the darkness as we sing with full hearts.

Christmas
	At Christmas time, the faculty of the Davis Waldorf School presents "The 
Shepherds' Play" for the children and the community at large.  This medieval 
mystery play comes to us from the island of Oberufer in the Danube River in 
eastern Europe, and dates to the Middle Ages.  "The Shepherds' Play" is 
actually the faculty's gift to the children, and depicts the story of how 
the shepherds heard about the birth of the baby Jesus.

Spring Festivals
	As the days begin to lengthen after midwinter, the sun not only brightens 
the outer world, but lightens our inner selves as well, and Spring approaches. 
New life appears, buds burst into blossom, and the rebirth of life is upon us.  
We have that symbol in the emerging of the butterfly from its chrysalis.  Our 
Easter assembly occurs in the Spring.  We also celebrate May Day with a 
traditional Maypole dance around which the children and parents dance to 
lively music, and celebrate the rebirth of spring.
	And so the rites of spring give way to the sleepy heat of summer.  School 
is dismissed and quickly fades into memory.  A festival families can celebrate 
in mid summer is St. John's tide (June 24), a celebration of the sun and the 
ripening of the earth.
	But, as always, September returns and the cycle begins anew with Michael's 
message:  "Awaken to the coming of winter, and in harvest time rejoice."  Year 
after year, both children and adults gain strength by reconnecting to these 
cycles of nature.  Although modern life tends to corrupt, dilute and forget 
these natural cycles, we have the opportunity to recognize them once more.  
Year in, year out, the community gains strength, finding in the festivals new 
ways of meeting, of celebrating, and of sharing.