Suheskivari Calendar

The calendar used by much of Samvara and parts of Garadel and Izekra, tied to the religions of Pratasam, Areto, Halikvar, and Rueka.

Holidays

Holiday text from the calendar

Winter

December, Sarimaha: The day of Sarima, the prophet, in Halikvar. Sarima is credited with creating the second moon and is associated with Khobar, the earth judge and the chimera. This is a day of reckoning - also of feasting. Celebrates the winter rice crop in many places. December, Pladamash: Pratasa day of floods. Very big in Empria and the traditional pratasa heartlands, and associated with archdruidic power. A holiday with factional politics.

January, Dwadev: Lily's Birthday and the day of her return by the Divine Contact. Celebrated across the Suheskivari religions. Dwadev is a day of joy and merriment, as well as worship. In Pratasa and Halikvar, there is emphasis on sacred trees, burning incense, gift-giving, and worshipful purification. It is often a family-oriented holiday celebrated at home outside of a great parade and ceremony.
In Areto, Dwadwev is also the Day of Prophecy, and is much more communal as well as familial. The day takes on mystical elements, and magical performances by feudal and clerical leaders are common. Burning incense or sage around a sacred tree is still common.
February, Zuffet: The Day of Garlands of Red in Halikvar; the day of walking, celebrating and mourning the great migration away from West Samvara to East Samvara. During the day, there is fasting, and the holiest will try their bodies between fast and processions - grimly carrying items marking the dead around town, sometimes stopping to do chores or work at various homes. At each stop, they call out for Halcyon's grace. At each, a procession member wearing a red garland calls out to keep the faith.
Finally, at evening, all processions and community members converge on the temple for a feast. The fast is broken and those who walked the furthest are honored. They perform songs of the exile march and arrival to the garden lands.
February, Relebeta: A Pratasa holiday, the Night of Ghosts. A holiday of the Masked One, a day of cleansing, transformation, and purification. On this day, the ancestral dead are honored and ancient feuds are sealed away. Ceremonial weapons of wood are given a funerary burial, priests and monks and nobles wear masks, and beans washed in blessed water are thrown after dark by heads of household at each corner of the house.
February, Pegetren: The Night of Forgiveness, an Aretan holiday. In celebration of the redemption of the apocalyptic evil Galmog and in honor of the Masked One. A nighttime festival of mutual forgiveness and unity. The prior week, community members dig holes that they cover in planks or rocks or cloth - tonight, they are opened. Ghosts and the damned are allowed to rise up, and fires are lit around them and chants are made to purify them as they rise to heaven's grace. Community members who leave the warmth of light must wear cloths over their faces, to protect themselves from the confusion of the night. Community members often sleep in shared spaces on this day. All sick must sleep apart in a temple area, under watch of priests, as they are spiritually vulnerable this night.

Spring

March, New Years: The Suheskivari New Year. A floating holiday, always on the spring solstice. A relatively minor holiday in some Aretan and Pratasa places, but bigger in others; not religiously important, but can be culturally. Seen as the day of peak druidic strength, when magic floods the earth to rejuvenate life and fertile fields. Often, there is a feast this night, followed by a nighttime drinking festival.
In Pratasa tradition, it is prescribed that new years should be a quiet day of listening and worshipful feasting. In Areto, it is a day relating to the schism; a day of great fires and freedom, yet also sadness.
In Samvaran Southern Pratasa, this is a rural planting festival for cotton, maize, and millet; similarly, a cotton planting festival in rural Aretan communities.
In Halikvar tradition, this is the day of the Ur-ancestor, Dalima the Ageless, mother of the sacred line and ancestor of ancestors. As Dalima represents a kind of pre-civilization paradise, the hedonism of Halikvari new years is pronounced. Food and drink is shared generously, sexual and social norms are relaxed, and people dance and rest freely in the streets.
In rural Halikvar, lands, this is a break and celebration in the later part of the harvest of winter crops.
April, Venwoha: Prophecy Day, across all Suheskivari religions. This day celebrates the first visions of Lily, when she transformed from a normal girl to a prophet and led her people to war with the tyrants of the mountains.
This is a day when the religions tend to be at their peak vibes apart from each other. For Pratasa, this is a day of social order affirmation and ritualistic performance of caste difference. For Areto, this is a day of communal excitement and small gatherings. In Halikvar, this is a day of mustering for war and for celebrating war heroes by the law.
This is a big coming of age day, with ceremonies across all three religions marking the passage from childhood to adulthood. In Aretan Shenerem, this is also the planting festival in the countryside.
May, Etadwev: The Day of Revelation across all of Suheskivari. This day celebrates the continued revelation and guidance of Halcyon to Lily and the creation of druidic magic. It is considered a major day of graduation and confirmation among priests and magicians.
For Pratasa, this is actually a day that comes at the end of Gratikel, the week of Serpent Struggle. Basically, there is a week of minor fasting and rituals prior to Etadwev, representing the costs of druidic magic and the difficult war before Lily was given her powers. Etadwev has a lot more emotional force in this context, and is a much greater feast for it.
In Halikvar traditions, this is actually a relatively solemn holiday oriented towards work and prayer. This is a day of law, of knowledge, and of skill. Guilds may do parades or contests on this day, but the emphasis is on displays of mastery rather than revelry. In the countryside, winter crop harvesting overlaps with cotton and spring crop planting, making this a sacred time of mutual death and life - but also a time of especially hard work.
This is primarily a day of clerical power and social status affirmation in Areto; while Areto is not elite compared to its neighbors, it is still a religion headed by specialists and aristocrats. Elites, warriors, and clerics are the main focus and revelers.

Summer

June, Pratahova: Day of the Covenant, Suheskivari holiday. Perhaps the most spiritually important day in all three religions, this is the exact day that Lily formed her covenant with Halcyon - that paradise was opened, that magic was assured for mortalkind, and that the religions of the tradition were made.
For Pratasa, there is proud militaristic parades and astonishing appearances of egalitarian spirituality - all march proudly, not as castes but as a defiant block of spiritual equals declaring war on sin and the heathen world.
For Areto, this is a day of fires, of feasting, and of proud declarations of community and loyalty to the church.
In Halikvar, this is a day of law, of piety, of solemn prayer and joyful religious ectasy.
On this day, battles between Suheskivari are a deep sin, but battles against heathens can be done. It is believed that miracles are more possible on this day, and people often time their pilgrimmages to end on this day.

July, Osteron: Osteron, Aretan Day of Oster, Marshal of the Forces of Good. This is also known as the God March, for this is a militaristic day when priests dress in divine raiment representing the different Gods to march between the temple and other holy and/or communal sites. This is called the Festival of Light, for all night candles and lanterns are kept burning. This day is also a day of honoring religious warriors and shows of equestrian prowess.
July, Shelyen: The day of Shepara, the essence of the Sun in Pratasa and the The Hidden One and God of stars in Halikvar. Very literally the sun in Areto. In Pratasa, this is a day of prayer followed by a night of candles, joy, and community revelry. All people light a candle and prepare a secret wish - if they can keep that flame alive without causing harm, that wish shall be carried by smoke to Shepara, and during sleep one may be granted a vision of how to accomplish that dream. Solars are honored that day, though often excluded from the celebrations at night if not of the faith.
In Halikvar, this is a purely nighttime festival, associated with cats, solars, and the god Haru. Mages give what healing they can, Suntail Grass glowsticks are waved about in dances, and cats are offered sacrifice. This is also Halcyon-Mesha's day, and therefore one of song.
This is a continuation of Osteron for Aretans
August, Denishen: The Halikvar and Pratasa day of punishment. A minor Pratasa holiday, in which gemplague victims beg for healing and the elites offer them blessings while executing the truly guilty. Ultimately, they are given only heaven's grace.
A major Halikvar holiday, in which the most vile and hated are tortured publicly at a great feast. Entertainment is mixed in as well as solemn legalistic prayer. It has become a common trend to kill captured Desmians (or Ishkibites) on this day at major war ports, as retribution for those Desmians sacrifice.
August, Majardwen: The Pratasa day of Fate, devoted to the Triad - the three architects that are not Halcyon, who manifest as a single three-faced being. A big day for weavers, for clerics, and for prayer. At morning, there is a ceremony for the Hidden One; at noon, the Chimera; at night, the Masked One.
August, Aryadon: Aretan minor harvest festival.

Autumn

September, Sanadwa: The Suheskivari day of Sanadi, the River-Goddess - perhaps the only goddess truly consistent across all three religions (though more explicitly a role of Halcyon rather than independent in Halikvar). This is the day of forgiveness, redemption, and unity among the Pratasa. Among Aretans, it is a day of healing (physical and emotional). Among Halikvar, it is a day of weaving, of divination, and of joy.
October, Yarnawat: The Pratasa moon festival. Dedicated to the lesser Lunar Gods, to the end of the Lunar Crisis, and to the supremacy of Lily of Red. It is a day of astronomy, astrology, and weather magic. At night, moon cakes are eaten. Pangolins are often given special ritual positions.
October, Narashadair: The Aretan harvest festival, tied in with the worship of the archdruid ancestor Vetka. A day of plays, ancestral dances, and re-enactments of history - as well as many traditional harvest rituals.
November, Sahashtaka: The Pratasa ceremony of protection and peace. A minor holiday, dedicated to Halcyon's protection and the sanctification of the land and of the hearth. Very different in different places. In Southern/Western Samvara, a winter-crop planting festival; in the North or in Garadel, a winter-battling ceremony.
A day of special honor for paladins