Behind the Holidays
All the holidays in my stories are inspired from holidays in the real world, although some are no longer holidays most of us celebrate. Below are the inspirations behind the main holidays in Calatini.
Most people worship the Goddess in Calatini, so her festivals are the main holidays in my stories (so far.) Since the Goddess controls the cycle of life, all of her holidays are tied to the start of the seasons (solstices or equinoxes.) People in Calatini don’t use our calendar, but the dates below indicate where the holidays would fall in our northern hemisphere. But because the holidays are tied to the seasons, worshippers of the Goddess in a southern hemisphere would have opposite dates.
Longnight = around December 21-22
Longnight is a combination of Christmas and New Year’s. It’s the first day of Calatini’s year, and unlike the other festivals, it’s celebrated for the two weeks before and after the festival itself. The Longnight season is inspired by our Christmas season (although it doesn’t start before Halloween… darn stores) and the Twelve Days of Christmas. Most celebrate Longnight day at home with family and close friends, but during the Longnight season, there are many festive parties similar to our Christmas parties: caroling parties, pastry feasts (i.e. cookie parties), charity auctions, etc.
Like Christmas, gift giving is a major part of Longnight as well as a midday feast and evening holiday services (on Longnight itself rather than Christmas Eve.) Houses are decorated for Longnight like we decorate for Christmas, but the decorations differ somewhat. For instance, instead of a Christmas tree, they have a winter palace (an enchanted ice sculpture), but both are to display gifts given on the holiday.
After morning gift exchanges among family, the first-foot visits the household, and this is inspired by the Scottish and Northern English first-foot tradition. Also, the day after Longnight is about charity and giving gifts to the less fortunate, and this is inspired by the traditional Boxing Day in Great Britain.
Plantfete = around March 20-21
Plantfete contains the pagan egg traditions in our Easter celebrations, including painting eggs, eggs hunts, and egg rolls. The egg dance is from the traditional Easter game. The wheat maiden is inspired by the pagan tradition of corn dollies, which were created at the harvest then kept over winter and plowed into the fields in spring. Also, the social season in Ormas starts around Plantfete because the council begins meeting, like the Parliament and the season in London during the Regency Era.
Summerday = around June 20-21
Summerday is a combination of the traditional May Day in Great Britain and the Gaelic Beltane. The Summer Lady is analogous to the May Queen, and couples jump over a bonfire in a fertility ritual like during Beltane. Honey is prominent in Summerday because honey has traditionally been thought to increase fertility. And the handfasting is based on the Scottish version of handfasting.
Harvestfete = around September 22-23
Harvestfete is a combination of traditional Harvest festivals (see the wheat maiden above) plus festivals for the dead, including the Christian Hallowtide (Halloween/All Saints’ Day/All Souls’ Day), the Gaelic Samhain, and the Mexican Día de los Muertos. Also, the social season in Ormas ends around Harvestfete because the council adjourns.