On festivals and their role at Waldorf schools, you write, Diana:
"... the festivals [at Waldorf schools] are anthroposophical and are celebrated in Steiner schools because Steiner schools are anthroposophical institutions, founded to spread anthroposophy. Anthroposophical legends are enacted at these festivals."
Maybe you forgot:
"And Christmas, as some of us also recently have found out (those few of us who are "Steiner waldorf critics"), also is an anthroposophical festival, founded by Steiner and celebrated to in secret spread anthroposophy thoughout the world..."
Is St Michael and the celebration of Michaelmas at the end of September a covert anthroposophical invention, legend and operation to in secret spread anthroposophy through the world as somewhat paranoically indicated by Diana ? (For some reason, WCs seem to have a special hang for cultivating xenophibia and paranoia, in their case against Waldorf schools.)
No. It is a central part of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Michael is a given name that comes from Hebrew. He is one of the principal angels in the Abrahamic tradition. Three of the five times he is mentioned in the Scriptures is in the Tanakh, where he is described as fighting for the Jewish church against Persia.
In European culture the fight between what is human in us and the dragon, found in many cultures, since long much has been dominated by the picture of St Michael or St George fighting the dragon. In Stockholm, where I live, it is depicted as a statue in the Old City since 1489.
As Davy has told, while St George is celebrated in April in the U.K., Saint Michael or Michaelmas is celebrated at the end of September also in the U.K. Michaelmas is a deep rooted european, not a specifically anthroposophical tradition, to celebrate the slaying of the dragon or victory over evil in one or other form. It's an archaic drama in human life.
For a typical example of how this festival, like other European or other traditions, as many festivals, is celebrated with the children at a Waldorf school, see here.
The Waldorf school in Atlanta describes the role of festivals at Waldorf schools:
"Waldorf education embraces the significance of festivals. Festivals can bring us consciously to what we all experience instinctively in our daily lives, the awareness and wonder of the changing cycles of the seasons and of life itself. Festivals can become a source of healing for the individual and society, a harmonizing, community building power.
Through festivals, we acknowledge and celebrate our communion with and our responsibility toward each other and the world. Observing seasonal turning points is one way the school establishes a yearly rhythm for the children. Festivals of the year are celebrated as conscious nourishment for the soul, xpressed with beauty and reverence, through art, music, stories, and poems."
Is this a good description of the role of festivals at Waldorf schools?
I think it is.
Does the celebration of festivals at Waldorf schools make them into "religious institutions" on a secret mission to spread anthroposophy?
No, as little the celebration of the same or similar festivals in general, in countries like the U.K. or Sweden makes them into religious institutions on a secret mission to spread religion.
But not that few Americans do seems to have an obsessive hangup about religion - for or against it. In Europe, that's not a big deal to get neurotic about, except to missionary atheists or other fundamentalist secular humanists. Though they are loud-spoken at times, trying to excite people about their cause, and as such in between get some media attention, they aren't that many.