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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 1491498" data-attributes="member: 16760">Calendars and Customs of TerrimaHere I'll discuss a variety of calendars used in Occida and Sirisa.  First, though, let me make a correction to the days of the week.  I believe this version will work better:Lightday, Sunday, Fullday, Forsday, Terrsday, Moonday, Flameday, Marday, Ruleday, Wedsday.The stars (that is, the Dancers) are believed to have been created in the first rush of Light into the universe;  therefore they need no day of their own.Note also that "fortnight" means "a week and a half" - 15 days, the time from new to full moon.Lucian Calendar:This is the civil version of the one described briefly in "The Light".  It is a revised version of the old Aurelian calendar by the Emperor St. Lucis to accomodate the Light.As mentioned, the year begins on the autumnal equinox, called Dawning.  There are twelve months of thirty days apiece;  after each three months there is another special day outside the months and weeks - First Light, Enlightenment, Eternal Flame, and Godsday.The months are:  Primon, Secundimon, Tertimon, Quadrimon, Quintimon, Heximon, Septimon, Octimon, Novimon, Decimon, Undecimon, Dodecimon.In Novalis, these are usually corrupted to:  Prime, Sundim, Terzy, Kadry, Kinty, Hexim, Septim, Octim, Novim, Desim, Undim, Dodim.In liturgical use, however, they are called:  Calling, Waning, Dusk, Kindling, Burning, Ashes, Leaping, Waxing, Noonday, Samos, Glory, Ending.  And these names have also become popular among the citizenry.  The last two thirds of "Ashes" is the season of "Cinders", of course, whence the name.Dawning often doubles as a harvest celebration.  The first fruits are brought in and blessed as a sign of rejoicing and remembrance of the gift of Creation.  Dancing and merriment are everywhere.First Light is celebrated with bonfires, songs, and small gifts to friends and children.  Candles are lit before the hearth in remembrance of loved ones living, absent, and dead.  It is a day to say the things that too often go unspoken - to bear Light into the lives of others by expressing one's care for them.  It is also a special time for relieving the burdens of the poor.Enlightenment brings candlelit processions, fireworks, and feasting.  By longstanding tradition, there are no distinctions of rank on this day - all are equally filled with the Light, and that is what matters.  The pious begin saving money on Enlightenment to donate to the missions on Eternal Flame.Eternal Flame is a day of great solemnity and moment, a time of thanksgiving for the gift of the Church - of the Flame itself, of the priesthood, of glory.  It is a propitious day for sealing agreements and signing treaties.  Bonfires are lit at night and a vigil held.Virtually everything in Occida shuts down on Godsday.  People refrain from any unnecessary work, and even from speech as much as possible.  It is a time for prayer.As mentioned before, the day before First Light is called Marvel (or Mirabilis on leap years) and is a day for the unexpected and strange, and also for harmless practical jokes.  Many people while away the evening telling tall tales and legends true and false.A full moon is usually considered a good omen on any of these days, and a dark moon a bad one.  Eclipses are, of course, even worse.Old Calendar:There were a few diehards in Minaea who didn't like the new Lucian calendar and refused to use it.  There have been several schisms in Minaea over this "Calendrist Heresy", in fact, but nowadays the First Patriarch just appoints a couple Bishops authorized to celebrate with the old calendar (and certain other antique usages) and that keeps them happy.The old calendar of the Light did not break out days from the weekly cycle - the Calendrists maintain that the sequence of days must never be broken.  (It also didn't do much with "months", just numbering the weeks of the liturgical seasons.)  First Light is simply the first Lightday after the winter solstice, and so on for the other major festivals.  Godsday, rather than Dawning, falls on the Lightday after the autumnal equinox.  (Thus Dawning is always on a Sunday, which is appropriate enough.)There is no "leap day";  instead, 21 times every 40 years, there is a "leap week" - the season of Gloria is lengthened by one week.  Thus the old calendar year is either 360 or 370 days long.One of the frequent accusations brought against the new calendar, by the by, is that it breeds laziness - since every major festival is followed by a Lightday, it follows that there are two days of rest in a row.  Also note that the day of "Enlightenment" for Calendrists has no reference to St. Lucis, but to the Enlightenment of St. Phosphoros' first disciples.Kelhic Festivals:The old Kelhic calendar has vanished save perhaps among the more sophisticated Rover tribes.  But their major festivals continue to be celebrated in most parts of Novalis.  Unlike the mostly-religious festivals of the Lucian calendar, these retain a more earthy, raucous, even spooky feel.The Kells celebrated, not on the equinoxes and solstices, but on the "quarter days" between them.  Thus they always appear on the 15th day of a Lucian month - always a Terrsday, appropriately enough.  (I am still debating on whether to offset them slightly - this would have certain desirable effects.)The Day of the Dead occurs in autumn on Sundim 15.  (Roughly our November 6.)  Much like our Hallowe'en, it is a time of ghoulies and ghosties - but it isn't very playful.  This does indeed seem to be a day in which the Otherworld manifests with unusual potency.  (Marvel is another, though it's much less ominous and dark.)  People tend to stay indoors, light candles against the night, and tell stories of their ancestors, heroes, and other figures of the past.  (Perhaps hoping to propitiate the spirits lurking outside.)  Wreaths of holly are worn on the head and burned when evening comes, hoping to carry off the coming year's bad luck with them.(The Moonday just after the Day of the Dead is a Northern feast celebrating the Moon as Guardian of the Night, by the by.  It's called Nightwatch.)The Feast of Fools (also called Midwinter Night) is on Kinty 15.  (Roughly our February 5.)  It is a day of topsy-turvydom, in which all rules are suspended or reversed.  Masks and costumes are worn (or clothes simply worn backwards) and a King of Fools elected to preside over the populace.  Masquerade balls are popular among the well-to-do.  Our world's mistletoe custom turns up on this day too.Greengrass is on Octim 15.  (Our May 5 - and yes, I stole the name shamelessly from Ed Greenwood.)  Very similar to our May Day.  Flowers are everywhere - worn in the hair, strewn on floors and the ground, twined about decorative poles.  A Spring Queen is selected to reign over the Court o' the Green.Midsummer falls on Undim 15.  (Our August 6.)  Feasting, merriment, and wooing are the order of the day.  Sermons on the Lightday previous tend to caution people about the degree of wooing appropriate. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />As with the Day of the Dead, the Church has tried to co-opt these festivals as much as possible into more "appropriate" religious channels, with only limited success.Melendrian Calendar:The Melendrian government, and much of the populace, reckons time using a lunisolar calendar adapted from several calendars used by the elves.  There are twelve months of thirty days, with an intercalary month added seven times every 40 years.  Thus a Melendrian year is either 360 or 390 days.  The year begins with the first new moon after the vernal equinox.  The dates of the Last Stand, the Pact of Friendship, the building of Hadron's Wall, the coronation of the current monarch, and other major events of the kingdom's past are all celebrated with respect to this calendar.  Full moons and new moons are special occasions calling for a nice dinner or a party or at least a good drink, if one can afford it.  (Note that "new moon", as in any lunar system, means the first sliver of crescent after the dark of the moon, not the dark moon itself.)Melendor dates time from the Last Stand.  This era is known as Stander Reckoning (S.R.).  The months are given names translated from the Elvish.  ("Greengrass", for example, is such a name.)The Kelhic festivals are of course very popular in Melendor and celebrated with greater abandon than most other places.  But frankly the Melendrians, like Kells everywhere, love any excuse for a good party;  and so they tend to celebrate the religious festivals with greater abandon too. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Elven Calendars:The elves love to reckon time in as many ways as possible.  They have quite the array of solar, lunisolar, and lunar calendars, as well as calendars based on longer cycles - such as the solar cycle, the orbits of the other planets, and so on.  In short, it can get confusing talking to an elf about time.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  They do seem to regard the planet Matrimonia as having a special connection to their race, and not uncommonly give their age in Matrimonia-years - each about thirty-three Terrima-years long.The elvish era dates to the supposed creation of the universe, but sages have noted that elves don't seem to be consistent in the number of years ago this happened.  All the dates given are well over 20,000 years, though...Dwarven Calendar:Little is known about how the dwarves reckon time, except that they also begin their year on the autumnal equinox, and apparently use a lunisolar system.Thulish Calendar:The Thuler of the Folkheim use a solar calendar starting on the winter solstice.  Their festival of Jul bears a superficial resemblance to that of First Light, which is of help to missionaries.  They don't number years in a systematic way - at best they might say something like "the tenth year of King Gustav".Parmedian Calendar:The Parmedians were meticulous astronomers (and astrologers) and are believed to have created the week currently in use.  (Though the days were different, being on a geocentric system:  honoring the stars, Terrima, the Moon, Eschaton, Phosphoros, the Sun, the human race, Martyrius, Imperium, and Matrimonia, respectively.  Some mages of an irreligious bent still affect to call Lightday "Starday" and Flameday "Manday", thus translating the Parmedian system into heliocentric terms.)  They used a lunisolar system very similar to the current Melendrian one, though it had a different source.  They dated years from the Attainment of Harmony, a periodic celestial alignment, the last of which signalled their change from a nomadic to a settled people.Marvel was a high holy day of Old Parmedia, a day of quests and resolutions and riddles.  It retains something of that flavor in Parma to this day.  Meanwhile the Day of the Dead was greatly feared and elaborate precautions were taken against "the spirits".  Bonfires were, and are, popular on a wide range of occasions.Sirinese Calendar:The Sirinese use two calendars - for many purposes they use the Old Calendar of the Light, but for others they use an ancient lunar calendar of 9 lunar months - this being approximately the gestation period of a child.  This period of time has its own Sirinese name, but it is often rendered into Aurelian as a "gest".  A newborn baby is considered to be one gest old - one's age in gests is reckoned (approximately) from the day of conception, not of birth.Men typically give their age in years, women in gests.  Since the Sirinese show great respect to their elders, this implies that a wife, though often younger in years, is usually "older" than her husband, and thus he is expected to listen to her wisdom.  Likewise, religious events are usually reckoned in years, but national ones in gests;  "public" aspects of one's life in years, "private" ones in gests.  Thus a couple might celebrate the gestday of their wedding as their anniversary, but tell others they've been married for so many years.Each of the nine months used to be named after a Sirinese god, and the different months still inherit a particular flavor from those days.  Some moons are considered propitious for business or wooing or the like, others ill-omened.The Sirinese era is that of the Call of the Prophet.The desert tribes use an ancient Sirinese solar calendar to keep track of the years rather than the Old Calendar of the Light.  They use the legendary foundation of the First Dynasty of the Sun as their era.</blockquote>

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