Summer solstice

Summer solstice is celebrated in Madara as a festival sacred to Ariel.

History

Solstice celebrations in Madara predate the religion of the Disciples. It's not generally known which rituals and traditions are modern, and which are syncretic adaptations of the animistic faiths that used to flourish in the peninsula. The association between Ariel and midsummer predates the Kingdom of Koth, although in modern theology his role as a warrior god and patron of soldiers is emphasized over his more archaic role as sun-god.
Although the solstice is celebrated throughout the peninsula, it gained particular significance in Koth around the time that Ariel's winged lion became the national symbol. In modern times, the solstice festival is the most important and most commonly observed holiday in Koth.
The original myth behind the holiday was probably created to explain the changing of the seasons. In this story, an earth goddess (who later came to be identified with Atarah) flees the land of mortals to hide herself in the Antelix mountains. The land falls into eternal winter in her absence, and the sun god Ariel is dispatched to persuade her to return. He accomplishes this by using the sun to melt the snow caps on the mountain, which creates a great flood of ice-melt in the rivers and streams. When the goddess treads in the path following the flooding river, flowers ripen into fruit and summer arrives.
Evolving variations on this myth can be seen in historical versions of the Masque of the Sun, which is performed on the solstice.

Participants

In the city of Kantul, the royal family of Koth presides over the ceremonial aspect of the celebrations, along with key members of the Acolytes of the Sanguine. Key roles in the masque are performed by the reigning monarch and members of the royal family. Smaller roles are allotted to distinguished military personnel or acolytes.

Observance

Celebrations nominally last from sunup to sundown. In major cities, the mayor or council will organize a street fair, with food vendors and street performances. Some cities will throw a military parade. In smaller settlements, more modest celebrations take place, limited to music and dancing, and special holiday foods. Although work is permitted, very few employers require their workers to work through the holiday. The obvious exception is the vendors and performers, for whom the festival day's income can be the difference between bankruptcy and their business's survival.
Traditional holiday foods are based on summer fruits, or are themed around the underlying myth behind the holiday. Alcoholic beverages or spiced foods are used to symbolize the fire of the sun. Where actual ice is too costly or too complicated to get hold of, white or light-colored glazing on cakes is used symbolically.

Primary Related Location

Madara Peninsula