Fortunauguro
Originally a solstice tradition of the Ileni, the early farming settlers of the plains, Fortunauguro is by strict definition neither a holy day nor a commemoration of a particular event. It is time to reflect on the year’s blessings (which does include some religious contemplation) and to look forward to the next year and its blessings.
When the Ileni were absorbed into other populations of what is now Chrenada, their traditions spread into other farming communities. As celebrations involving food and drink are popular, the practice came into cities as well, separated from its agrarian roots but observed for its pleasure. Some celebrate with greater attention to religious practice, integrating their deliberate awareness of the year's joys and the next year's hopes with their prayers to the Holy One.
Fortunauguro is generally observed by the gathering of family and perhaps close friends near a central hearth on the night of the solstice, with a spread of dishes to be taken a bit at a time over a long night of eating and reminiscing. The preference for celebrants is to be seated on the floor, close to the fire and comfortably settled in pillows, cushions, and blankets, but the elderly or infirm will have chairs.
Many traditions have grown up around the day, from the popular eating of various kinds of cheeses (a food still delicious so far removed from spring and summer bounty and valuable for maintaining weight against the bitter northern cold), to communal singing about the hearth of traditional blessing songs of the day, to the superstition of counting large sparks thrown from the fire to predict the number of piglets that would be born in the coming spring. Some urban families have commuted the counting of sparks into adapted superstitions, guessing at the number of new shipping contracts or grandchildren, but these modifications are widely varied and are generally held as household traditions rather than cultural ones.
When the Ileni were absorbed into other populations of what is now Chrenada, their traditions spread into other farming communities. As celebrations involving food and drink are popular, the practice came into cities as well, separated from its agrarian roots but observed for its pleasure. Some celebrate with greater attention to religious practice, integrating their deliberate awareness of the year's joys and the next year's hopes with their prayers to the Holy One.
Fortunauguro is generally observed by the gathering of family and perhaps close friends near a central hearth on the night of the solstice, with a spread of dishes to be taken a bit at a time over a long night of eating and reminiscing. The preference for celebrants is to be seated on the floor, close to the fire and comfortably settled in pillows, cushions, and blankets, but the elderly or infirm will have chairs.
Many traditions have grown up around the day, from the popular eating of various kinds of cheeses (a food still delicious so far removed from spring and summer bounty and valuable for maintaining weight against the bitter northern cold), to communal singing about the hearth of traditional blessing songs of the day, to the superstition of counting large sparks thrown from the fire to predict the number of piglets that would be born in the coming spring. Some urban families have commuted the counting of sparks into adapted superstitions, guessing at the number of new shipping contracts or grandchildren, but these modifications are widely varied and are generally held as household traditions rather than cultural ones.
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