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Joan Wyles Everywhere around the world, throughout all ages, Spring is greeted with joy and relief – what more lovely than the first soak in the sun. Even though rough weather might yet come, the knowledge that Spring is here is enough. In ancient Maori society, the rising of the star Aotahi (Canopus) announced the arrival of Spring, as did the flowering of Kowhai, Rangiora, Kotukutuku and Clematis. In the Northern Hemisphere, Easter is celebrated in Spring and carries the most powerful and universal symbol of new life and new hope – the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Here in the South, we do not have the same outward support for honouring Spring and the forces at work in it. Physically and emotionally, Spring can be a difficult time of ups and downs and a time of trying to find balance and readjustment. We can easily feel ‘pulled out of ourselves’ on a bright Spring day, as well as experience its beauty. This we notice with the school children. At the moment many children are away with the flu, or recovering from it. Rudolf Steiner, in his lectures: ‘The Four Seasons and the Arch Angels’ speaks of how in Springtime two groups of beings become particularly active in the world, though unseen by ordinary consciousness. Each is seeking to gain a foothold over the Soul-life of human beings, and though their ambitions are never realised, nevertheless they affect us, creating imbalances. The Ahrimanic Beings (which work through the cold hardening and calcifying processes) seek to draw humanity down into the earth and to become solely an earth being and materialists in thought and deed. The Luciferic Beings (at work in the dissolving, inflaming processes) seek to draw humanity off the earth – ‘to give up’ our earthly home. So in Springtime, these unseen forces disturb the rightful balance within us. However, as a great Spring imagination can arise the picture of the Risen Christ standing between these two opposing forces, holding the balance as World Healer. Rudolf Steiner also speaks of the Arch Angel Raphael (known in ancient times as Mercury and who carries the healing staff) as the Spiritual Being who carries the forces of healing to Humanity. Just as the Arch Angel Michael oversees the forces of Autumn, so Raphael, as servant to the Christ Being, has inspired the art of healing throughout the ages. In the Book of Tobit from the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, Raphael is named as the Angel who accompanies Tobias on his journey to find the secret of how to heal his blind father. Thus in our Spring Festival, Raphael is greeted and acknowledged in Festival song. Our School Spring Festival is celebrated with procession and song, poetry and Maypole dances, Community games and festive food.
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Glory be, glory be,