Táldaranim feles

Táldaranim feles (Nem: 'House of the Spirit Ancestors' is a small family shrine associated with the Faren culture. The shrine is used for a burial place, as well as for the center of the family worship. The spirits inhabiting the shrine protect the house and its inhabitants.

Architecture

The Táldaranim felen are usually small roofed structures located in the yard of the house. The shrine contains an altar, that is used for placing offerings, and sometimes for storing small figures representing the ancestors. The cremated dead are usually buried near the root of the shrine. In city homes the shrine is usually located in a safe place in the inner yard of the house. In the apartments that don't have their own yard, a modest altar can be located inside, or a common altar can be in place in the yard for all inhabiting families. These common altars are often places of busy haunting and conflicts between the different spirits inhabiting the shrine.

Rituals

The táldaran are important part of the daily family life. Taking care of the shrine and the family spritis is usually the task of the mother and other women of the household, because they are traditionally often staying at home while the men work elsewhere. The spirits are made offerings during the meals, usually libations of wine or blood, or bread. The spirits are also given attention by the means of speech, such as greeting them like the living family members.

The spirits are asked for guidance before important family decisions such as wedding. The spirits are also communicated with during many holidays or remembrance days of the deceased. During these special events priests can be invited to the house to perform rituals with the spirits. Otherwise the family shrine is tended by the family members and household servants, and the spirits are usually shy of outsiders.

Healing

The táldaran protect the family members of illness caused by foreign spirits, but sometimes an illness is caused by a spirit whose proper care has been neglected. In order to calm the spirits or ask them help for healing the sick, ceremonies can be performed by the family mystique or healer priests. It is more common that a healer is invited to the family home, so that the sick person can stay close to their familiar spirits, rather than taking the sick away to an unfamiliar location. A family usually has a family healer, who is already familiar to the family's táldaran, so that an unfamiliar person arriving doesn't further disturb the family spirits.

Type

Shrine