Michaelmas by Jane Danner

 

Michaelmas 2025

By Miss Jane

 

Fairy tales are more than true,

not because they tell us that dragons exist

but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

(Neal Gaiman, from Coraline)

 

The old catalpa tree in the play yard is starting to drop her leaves and there is a definite chill in the air as I put up the hammock each morning. I can feel in my bones that winter is just around the corner and my thoughts turn to golden capes and blackberry jam and shooting stars and knights and swords and dragons and dragon bread. In Waldorf schools around the world the season of Michaelmas is in full swing.

In Christian mythology, St. Michael is an angel who casts the dragon out of heaven and then makes the heavens rain stars of iron which we can gather to make swords so that we might protect ourselves from dragons. His feast day is September 29^th and it is called Michaelmas. In the northern hemisphere it falls just as the rich bounty of the summer harvest begins to pour in and the cold, harsh winter months ahead start to become a reality. It is a moment to take stock and face whatever may come and a way to fortify ourselves.

At LifeWays we will have a simple Michaelmas celebration on Monday, September 29^th. We will listen to a puppet play about Sabra and the dragon. We will eat dragon bread – regular bread shaped into the form of a dragon and spread blackberry jam. It is said that when the dragon was cast out of heaven, he tumbled into a blackberry bush and was not very happy about it! Finally, the children will get their shooting stars. They have watched us work on them all week.

I have celebrated Michaelmas now for over 20 years and in that time there has been much discussion over the years about whether or not it is still a meaningful and significant festival in our day and age. As I thought about what to write, I pondered why I have come to love this celebration so much and why I want to bring it to the LifeWays children. After all, it has been a long time since my own children have worn golden capes and come home with wooden swords and shooting stars. But I have watched them face many dragons in their lives with courage and grace and fortitude. I think maybe they still wear those capes and carry those swords and gather those golden stars within their hearts-even today. Dragons can be beaten.