Happy Autumn! We find ourselves suddenly on the winter side of the equinox, and the days here in Ohio are indeed getting a bit cooler. Just a little nip in the morning air - very welcome after the extreme heat we’ve had so recently. The trees are shifting toward yellow and orange, and that golden September light that I love so much is turning gently toward October’s softness.
We live in the river bottoms in Cincinnati, Ohio, right along the Ohio River. I think I’ve mentioned that I can see Kentucky from my bedroom window in my historic neighborhood of Columbia-Tusculum. I’m always grateful to see those rolling hills covered in trees on the Kentucky side. Because we are in the river valley, we often have misty mornings in the spring and fall. I love the mystery and possibility that surrounds me in the mists. And that’s what has inspired me to share When Autumn Mists Gather with my Monday evening Riverside Choir (which is such a joy!) and with you, my dear readers. When Autumn Mists Gather is a classic Waldorf education Michaelmas song.
Michaelmas was my favorite of all the Waldorf festivals when I was a teacher there: dragons, feasts, plays, songs, planting bulbs, harvesting vegetables. What’s not to like? Michaelmas celebrates our need to turn inward in the upcoming colder months. We are graced with the opportunity to ponder fallow ground, our own inner light, inner work, inner strength.
You’ll need at least two willing singers to sing When Autumn Mists Gather. Ideally three! How fun is that? It’s a lovely 3-part round, but what I love about it is that the round singing starts right from the beginning 1, 2, 3! Listen to the audio and you’ll hear what I’m talking about.
The lyrics are:
When Autumn mists gather and leaves fall gently down,
New strength in me rises to bear life’s waiting crown.
I used to think that the last line of this song was “…life’s weighty crown” because, let’s face it, life can be hard. But one of the early childhood teachers, the amazing Carmy Malore, got me on the right path. The lyrics are, “life’s waiting crown” because life rolls out in front of us full of mystery and potential, like those autumn mists. We are our lives, we create as we go. We transform our inner dragons at Michaelmas with the help of our internal guidance and, if you are looking for it, from Archangel Michael.
When Autumn Mists Gather Sung in the Round
Here is the choir singing it in three parts. If you are singing it in the round, this is how you begin:
When (1st) Aut (2nd) umn (3rd) mists gather…
I hope you have a lot of fun with this! Send me a recording. I’d love to hear you singing this wonderful song in the round in the car, at the dinner table, on the soccer field. All the good places.
Singing Together