Saints Day Tradition / Ritual in The World of the White Changeling | World Anvil
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Saints Day

This is the biggest holiday of the year and the only holiday with explicit ties to the Way of the Saints. It celebrates the day the saints defeated the gods and marks the start of the new year. While it is not clear whether the saints started this holiday or whether it was created later, it is seen as a positive day and perfectly within the spirit of the saints' words and actions, even if they did not directly start it.   While Magical Creatures may also celebrate this holiday, and may even celebrate it in a similar way to humans, it is mainly a human festival and so their traditions are the ones outlined below.

Traditions

Observance

Saints Day celebrations last all day. In Breim, they often last two days. Nothing official happens during Saints Day, starting from when the sun goes down the night before to when the sun rises the following day. No contracts are signed, no laws are passed, no business is conducted. If any of these things happen during Saints Day, whether by accident or not, none of them are officially binding and any actions are to be reverted as if they had never happened.   Every town or city has at least one parade of some sort during the day, complete with stilt-walkers, musicians, and other entertainers. Sometimes these entertainers are paid to be there, other times they're volunteers from within the town or city. Market stalls also pop up, selling Saints Day candy, streamers, masks, food, and other sweets and party goods (this is the only business that may be conducted that day, and this is the only day of the year that Saints Day candy is able to be sold).   People spend as much of the day as possible outside, and children generally run wild, carrying streamers and enjoying the parade (and the little bits of candy they're often given for free at the market stalls or allowed to "steal"). It's generally quite noisy and crowded, and most people purchase colourful masks and other items to wear or hold. In honour of the saints overthrowing what was, in their time, the established authorities, people also egg statues or other community decorations. This often happens the night before or after, but also happens during the day. Actual destruction of property or other such crimes are looked down upon, but temporary defacement is part of the day's fun.   Often there are also multiple parties happening throughout the daytime. Some are invite-only, others are open to any who wish to attend.    In the evening, things quiet down. The parade ends, the parties and the market stalls close. Everyone goes home, either to their home or a home they've been invited to, to eat, drink, and rest. No one is expected to show up on time to work the next day (although they are expected to show up by the time the afternoon starts) unless the nature of their job requires it, and nothing is expected to open until the late morning/early afternoon unless they're fully ready to do so.

Saints Day Candy

This candy is usually made with honey (although it can be made with maple syrup in the more northern parts of Breim). Most often, it is a hard candy, although a softer variety is also made specifically for very young children who have a more difficult time with hard candy. In some places, you can find it with nuts or flavoured with fruits. In cities, you might find a wide array of varieties to choose from, but there is always the unflavoured honey candy which is the most basic and common form of Saints Day candy.   While the candy is mainly made for children (and is said to have been invented so that the festival would have something specifically for the children to enjoy), they are also enjoyed by adults and often bring a happy nostalgia. It is, after all, considered to be the flavour of Saints Day.

Religious Connections

Saints Day's daytime celebrations are meant as a release of energy, an upturning of daily life, a time to break some rules. Nothing is official, nothing is lasting. It's a hinge, a liminal space in the calendar. The evenings are also part of that hinge, but they are the recovery before the return. The whole festival is meant to mirror the first Saint's Day.  
  1. The night before: the saints come together and decide to act.
  2. The daytime: the saints' struggle against the gods, inherently an act of disobedience and emotional release, and the disobedience of all who allied with them.
  3. The parade: the deciding battle(s) that won the saints' victory.
  4. The evening: the world healing and the saints destroying all that would cause people to go astray.
  5. The following morning: the world's new, free beginning.
Date Observed
The last day of the year   Related Religion
The Way of the Saints

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