Season of Courage
Festival of Courage
We have transformed what was the Michaelmas Festival into the Festival of Courage. We celebrate the Festival of Courage to give thanks for the bounty of the fall harvest, to share the gifts of that harvest, and to not only physically prepare for the coming cold and darkness but also to face our inner challenges and obstacles with courage and resilience.
Across the school, students, teachers ,and parents take this time to put the hot and steamy forces of summer to sleep and begin to awaken the inner tools that are needed to work in the world. This season of ‘steeling ourselves’ is forged in a day-long festival held at the school farm and led by our high school students and teachers.
In these extraordinary times that we’re living in, many people are facing many challenges - both outer and inner. A Festival of Courage can inspire us to meet our challenges with gratitude for the abundance we’ve gathered and a sharing of that abundance. As we celebrate the Festival of Courage as a community, may we gather the strength we need to go into the future and, with our inner fire, meet the darkness with hope, love and courage.
Summer has ripened and gone to seed, and the coming Equinox will push the wheel of the year into Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere. Everything is full and bright and balanced on the edge. Like all the old festivals honoring Mother Earth and the rhythmic, life-giving power of the Sun, the Equinox is a liminal, threshold time that is deeply embedded in the spiritual imaginations of cultures around the world.
The Greek Goddess Persephone descends to the Underworld to reunite with Hades. The Christian Archangel Michael faces the many-headed Dragon. The Chinese hunter Hou Yi honors the selfless love of his wife, the exiled Moon Goddess Chang E. The Mayan Feathered Serpent God Kukulcan returns to Earth to bless the harvest before entering the sacred waters that lead to the Underworld.
Here in the Piedmont, the season’s mysteries are already unfolding in shades of golden and honey as summer’s humidity wanes. Arching panicles of goldenrod, sunny beggar ticks, and ragged mops of yellow crownbeard line the roadways and edge-spaces. Visiting birds pass through, a panoply of warblers feasting on berries to nourish them for their long flight southward. Brightly colored orb weaver spiders spin their zig-zag webs in the corners of our outdoor classrooms. Crickets and katydids sing the dirge of summer as the days feel crisper and our shadows lengthen.
On these days we can feel the turning on campus. After every period of expansion and growth comes a period of contraction and reflection. The students are entering into a whole new season of experience and observation as the broadleaf trees offer their colorful gifts to the Earth and the evergreens prepare to stand sentry for the coming winter.
Dr. Catherine Reyes, Life Sciences EWS High School
