Michaelmas

Thou Michael!
Plunge deep the blue sword of autumn
Where the dark dragon lurks;
Till the stirring of iron in the blood and the meteor
Into me works.

This is one of our favourite festivals and I personally feel particularly drawn to the significance of this festival this year round. 

Each year we make our dragon bread and as we go along I tell the harvest loaf story found in All Year Round.  

I read the children the wonderful story, 'Nkosnati and the Dragon' adapted by C Wijnbergh and C Liknaitzky found in 'Hear the Voice of the Griot' by Betty Staley - a fantastic guide to African geography, history and culture.  I did an internet search and found another adaptation here. This story is about a young boy's courage facing a dragon, not with a sword, nor with physical strength, but with great courage.  The story works really well for Michaelmas, although I adapted it slightly.  After the story we made dragon shaped candle holders out of clay. Nkosnati loves to model with clay too!