Red Night

Red Night is an astronomic phenomenon, where the Red Moon of Salan fully governs the sky. This occurs when the full moon of the Red Moon coinsides with the new moon of the Silver Moon.

Occurrence

Red Nights occur approximately 0-3 times a year, but they tend to occur in series: There is usually three years with 2-3 Red Nights, followed by a couple of years of no, or only weak Red Nights. That it, approximately 5 years passes between the perfect alignment of the moon phases.

Effects

The Red Moon, or the god Arnalte, governs the magical powers of both the mortals and the spirits. When the Red Moon is alone in the sky, all the magical powers grow stronger, and the wild spirits and the táldar of the deceased become more active.

Red nights are especially suited for crafting spells and potions and interacting with the spirits. However, the gods are believed to be absent, so this is a bad time to give offerings to the gods or seek their visions.
Many believe, that the replacement of the gods with the spirits makes this time ill-fated and dangerous. It is customary to seek the help of the ancestors to protect against the wild spirits during this time.

by Unknown, 4th century (wikimedia)

Ancestors watching over a sleeping man

Transitional rites

The children born under the Red Night are believed to have gifts in magic, but are possibly not favoured by the gods.

It is believed, that holding funerals during this time is dangerous, because the wild spirits could abduct the spirit of the deceased person. Therefore, if a person dies, the body is usually kept hidden in the home until the Red Nights pass, and the body can be safely cremated. Normal full moons of the Red Moon are also believed to be bad time for funerals.

Predicting the Red Nights

The astronomers have developed intrigate calculations for predicting the Red Nights, based on the observed Red Night cycles, and the orbital periods of the two moons (approximately 35 days for the Silver Moon and 44 days for the Red Moon). In theory these calculations can be extrapolated thousands of years in the past and future, but in practise the inaccurasies introduced by the unpredictable movement of the celestial beings and changes in calendar systems make this very difficult.

The predictions of the Red Nights are a published in calendars, together with all the other major astronomical events, to help people plan for the year.

Approximate dating of
the Red Nights

for the years 1-8 AFS

Year 1
18.3.
19.8.

Year 2
12.-15.4. (weak alignment)

Year 3
(none)

Year 4
20.2.-17.2. (weak alignment)
19.7.
2.10

Year 5
15.3.
15.8.

Year 6
11.4.
11.9.

Year 7
7.5

Year 8
1.-4.1. (weak alignment)