Halloween and Michaelmas at Sierra Waldorf School

Halloween and Michaelmas at Sierra Waldorf School - COME JOIN US!

The wondrous dragon is tamed.

Today was a significant day in the calendar at the Sierra Waldorf School in Jamestown - a truly outstanding progressive Waldorf/Steiner school dedicated to cultivating the individuality, spirituality and interconnectedness of each child.

It was Michaelmas, a day that has meaning in many cultures, and in Waldorf symbolizes the balance of light and darkness (it is very close to the Autumn Equinox, when day and night are of almost equal length), the conquering of fears and a new beginning, as represented by taming (and less frequently, slaying) a dragon.

The celebration took the form of an all-school performance on the lawn by Sierra Waldorf's old Rawhide School building (which itself dates back to 1875 and was originally a school house for pioneers), with a joyful collection of gnomes and meteors and St Michael, the dragon-tamer. The dragon itself was a wonderful creation with many legs and many happy children inside.

Although Michaelmas was originally a Christian festival, in Waldorf it is an inclusive celebration of spirit and inner strength that is not specifically religious in nature.

The Gnomes gather.

Likewise, the Halloween Festival, which will be coming up on Halloween itself - Monday, October 31, 2011 starting at 5:30pm, with a huge bonfire at 8pm - is a child-friendly celebration of the cycles of life and death, of the joyous light and darker instincts within us all, and of the balance we strive for between the differing forces in our nature that make us who we are.

It is open to everyone in the surrounding communities of Jamestown, Sonora, Columbia, Twain Harte, Angel's Camp, Tuolumne and beyond - and is a more playful, non-scary (frightening masks and costumes are not permitted) alternative to trick or treating. There will be healthy food and drinks, magical lights and colorful attractions everywhere, a warm welcome for all - and a suggested donation of $5 per family.

For more details of the Sierra Waldorf School, please visit its website: www.sierrawaldorf.com. The school is situated at 19234 Rawhide Road, Jamestown, CA 95327, tel: 209-984-0454.

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