The Spring Bells Ceremony

In Atalasu City's primary temple, The Vernal House, at each spring equinox, the Sylph Knight performs the ritual of the spring bells. This is often thought by laypeople to be a largely symbolic ceremony, despite its religious setting and purpose, but practitioners and priests warn that it is inherent imbued with power, due to its religious nature and the artifacts involved. (See additional material.)

The Circles

The Virtue Circles are a common feature of Sayinia temples, usually marked out in a courtyard before the temple's primary entrance. The virtues represented are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, perseverance, gentleness, and self-control. (See temple architecture.)
In the spring bells ceremony, the circles are ritually renewed, refilling them in the spirit of the season's renewal and rebirth after a year of adherents passing through them daily en route to the temple entrance. At the same time, more esoteric circles about the temple itself are reset; these are not symbolic lines on the ground, but concentric rings of holy designation, centered on the temple's altar. While the visible circles of virtue are a teaching aid and a reminder of precepts, the concentric rings of holiness hold real power, and this act of renewal is not performative but a holy charge of high magic.

The Bells

When the ritual is completed, all the bells in the temple and surrounding areas within the reach of the holy circles begin to ring, without any human hand to set them to movement. This gave rise to the common name of the ritual, the Spring Bells Ceremony.

The Spring Bells Ceremony is a popular festival day, and many will make a pilgrimmage to the temple to gather, eat traditional festival foods, listen to music, and cheer in unity when the bells begin to ring. It is common to wear small bells on one's clothing or tied to a wrist at the festival. These will tinkle throughout the day with the wearer's movement, but at the time of the ritual's climax, all will stand still, perhaps with arms slightly extended, to allow the bells to ring of their own accord without interference or influence.

Participants

The Sylph Knight is selected each year to perform this and other ceremonies for the temple. Originally the Knight was meant also to help to defend the temple, but with the subsidence of war, this role has become less prominent. The Knight is generally chosen from the priests, priestesses, or even from the more promising acolytes.

Primary Related Location

Atalasu City