Why We Mayfest
by Marianne Perchlik
“The ribbons flow out like ripples of water” observed a kindergarten child preparing for Mayfest
As we move, sometimes struggling to find the dance, sometimes giddy with play, we form patterns. We make visible to one another a woven fabric, each one making visible the often invisible, intangible links of human relationships.
Yet the tree standing at our center is strong and upright. The Maypole is at once something borrowed from the earth and also something created with the work of our hands, with the picturing of our collective imagination stretching back hundreds of years.
Perhaps it reflects the biblical tree of life, channeling the colors of cosmological forces into the growing earth of spring. Perhaps it is any odd tree in springtime. Perhaps it reflects the collective opening of a cosmic yet earthly blossom, a lotus flower of human engagement and connection. Perhaps it reflects the great tree of peace where the people of the Haudenosaunee confederacy buried their weapons forevermore.
"Festival life" is what we call it when we come together as a community to delight in the gifts of the seasons. Each season offers us challenges and blessings, and each season calls for distinctive routine tasks. We plant. We tend. We harvest. We give thanks. We consider and prepare for another year’s fruit.
Imitation is the primary pathway to learning. Through imitation, we stand and walk. We learn language. We sing (or not). We dance (or not). We choose interests. Parents and mentors first teach us through imitation. In our first years of professional development, we apprentice.
When we come together for festivals, we make visible the essential work of our school. We demonstrate to our children how we work together socially, through challenges, through differences of opinion and how we share our blessings (or don’t). We are always teaching the children of the rising generation through our work as adults.
This is our Waldorf education, to make a way forward, making visible our imaginings, our inspirations, our intuitions, for a world of wellness and life for the rising generation.
banner image, article photo and gallery photos by Johannes Otter
photo gallery by Dave Littlefield
