Nil Yeni Dawndays Tradition / Ritual in Didome | World Anvil

Nil Yeni Dawndays

For the past half of an hour the sky had been getting light as the light of Novus slowly approached the western horizon, and in the village of Weni the excitement had been building for the daily celebration of the dawn. After every sleep cycle, Darnus would look to the west at the slow lightening of the Fertile Shar and his excitement would grow, the dawn would mark his 20th day of life.

History

The Nil Yeni people do not celebrate individual birth minutes. Instead everyone celebrates their dawnday at the start of each day, in the festival of returning warmth. This festival honors the return of the heat bearing sun and blesses the coming day. This celebration dates back to the time of the first descendants. People who have survived a multiple of 10 days are the venerated ones and special respect is paid to them.

Execution

The celebration is one long feast with longs of singing and dancing. The community comes together and provides the venerated ones with a gift of something that they need. At the end of the celebrations the venerated ones commemorate their day day, by tattooing a circlet around their for arm. This is a especially sacred event for the 10 day old who get their first tattoo. It is a fortuitous sign if a ten day old gets their first tattoo after already having lost their fist baby tooth.

Observance

The feast and dancing takes place in the town square of small villages and in the market plazas of larger cities. The tattoo are started right as the first rays of the sun light up the village and have to be complete by the time the sun is fully up (6 earth hours later). As soon as the last tattoo is done, the feasting commences, what follows is massive feast with dancing and singing.
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Cover image: by Cory Brooke-deBock

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