Post by Admin on Jul 25, 2017 16:14:45 GMT -5
January 1 – Year’s Beginning
A time spent with the family, the Year's Beginning starts at sunrise with the lighting of the ceremonial fire where each member of the family tosses a list of regrets into the flames and establishes goals for the next year. The fire is kept burning all day long, culminating with a feast at sunset.
March 20 – Barisa’s Festival (Rain)
Barisa's Festival is a three day event to honor Barisa, the Consort of Rain, and the blessings that rain brings to the land for crops and herds. The first flowers of the season are set afloat on bodies of water in honor of Barisa by the maidens of the house, and there are contests to find the finest beasts in the land. The winners are adorned with wreaths of fresh greens. Contests of strength, speed, and wits are put on, and there is a great deal of music and dancing.
June 21 – Suraja’s Festival
This week-long festival to honor Suraja, the Sun God, is a national holiday in Desmira. Preparations go on for weeks prior to the Festival, setting up tents and tables, making the food and hanging decorations. Music, singing, dancing and story-telling are the focus of the festival, which runs each day from sunrise to sunset. At sunset on each day, a bonfire is lighted to keep the dark at bay and to honor Suraja's fire. Many betrothals are announced on this day, and babes are named and blessed.
August 1 – Pasha’s Day
Celebrated in honor of Desmira's first Pasha, this holiday reveres the current Pasha seated on the throne. Gifts, food, and flowers are often placed at the Pasha's shrines throughout the realm to show respect for their leader, and specially decorated candles are burned to wish the Pasha good health and wisdom for the year.
September 20 – Urvatratva (Fertility/Thanksgiving)
In the autumn comes the three day festival to honor Urvaratva, the Consort of Fertility, to thank her for a bountiful harvest and continued health for family and friends. The first day, the harvested fields are consecrated in Urvaratva's name and a cornucopia of harvested items are brought to the Consort's altar in thanks. The second day is spent in prayer and fasting, to remember the lean years that they are spared by Urvaratva, and the third day honors mothers with a day of feasting and dancing.
December 21 – Candrama (Moon)
At the end of the year, Suraja's final Consort, the Moon, is paid homage with her Festival. When the night is the longest and the air is often cold, families gather in Candrama's silver light to venerate their ancestors, laying flowers on tombs and singing hymns to their bones. The second night is spent gathering boughs, winter-roses, and tree-cones to decorate the house for the rest of the festival, where families and friends gather in the evenings to light silver candles, eat spiced fruits, roasted meats, and special breads. Gifts are exchanged, and often, weddings take place during this festival - it is believed that Candrama's light spilling over a bride before her wedding is good luck.
A time spent with the family, the Year's Beginning starts at sunrise with the lighting of the ceremonial fire where each member of the family tosses a list of regrets into the flames and establishes goals for the next year. The fire is kept burning all day long, culminating with a feast at sunset.
March 20 – Barisa’s Festival (Rain)
Barisa's Festival is a three day event to honor Barisa, the Consort of Rain, and the blessings that rain brings to the land for crops and herds. The first flowers of the season are set afloat on bodies of water in honor of Barisa by the maidens of the house, and there are contests to find the finest beasts in the land. The winners are adorned with wreaths of fresh greens. Contests of strength, speed, and wits are put on, and there is a great deal of music and dancing.
June 21 – Suraja’s Festival
This week-long festival to honor Suraja, the Sun God, is a national holiday in Desmira. Preparations go on for weeks prior to the Festival, setting up tents and tables, making the food and hanging decorations. Music, singing, dancing and story-telling are the focus of the festival, which runs each day from sunrise to sunset. At sunset on each day, a bonfire is lighted to keep the dark at bay and to honor Suraja's fire. Many betrothals are announced on this day, and babes are named and blessed.
August 1 – Pasha’s Day
Celebrated in honor of Desmira's first Pasha, this holiday reveres the current Pasha seated on the throne. Gifts, food, and flowers are often placed at the Pasha's shrines throughout the realm to show respect for their leader, and specially decorated candles are burned to wish the Pasha good health and wisdom for the year.
September 20 – Urvatratva (Fertility/Thanksgiving)
In the autumn comes the three day festival to honor Urvaratva, the Consort of Fertility, to thank her for a bountiful harvest and continued health for family and friends. The first day, the harvested fields are consecrated in Urvaratva's name and a cornucopia of harvested items are brought to the Consort's altar in thanks. The second day is spent in prayer and fasting, to remember the lean years that they are spared by Urvaratva, and the third day honors mothers with a day of feasting and dancing.
December 21 – Candrama (Moon)
At the end of the year, Suraja's final Consort, the Moon, is paid homage with her Festival. When the night is the longest and the air is often cold, families gather in Candrama's silver light to venerate their ancestors, laying flowers on tombs and singing hymns to their bones. The second night is spent gathering boughs, winter-roses, and tree-cones to decorate the house for the rest of the festival, where families and friends gather in the evenings to light silver candles, eat spiced fruits, roasted meats, and special breads. Gifts are exchanged, and often, weddings take place during this festival - it is believed that Candrama's light spilling over a bride before her wedding is good luck.