Religious Practices 03

Further work on how the people of Venleitche live 

Cyclical Observances

These tend to be not only time based but event-driven, done because a routine occurrence either happened or is about to happen. For example, fertile women will perform a personal ritual each moon, when their blood begins to flow, marking the event and calculating when their next most fertile time is likely to be, among other things so that they can attempt or avoid pregnancy with more predictable results. The ritual generally reaffirms the woman’s attunement with the cycles of Nature, and can in game terms pick up a point of Connection: Nature. Girls before the age of fertility and women whose fertility is past (or who never had it) will sometimes perform moon rituals, at the new or full phase, affirming their alignment with the Goddess. Such rites can pick up a point of Connection: Mystic. Men do not generally have anything similar, as they don’t have bodily cycles that are so readily apparent. There are however event-driven rites for boys and men that, while not cyclical, are just as important as womens’ moon rites.

Remembrance of days important to individuals and families, such as the birth days of family members, have their rituals, usually involving small gifts and sharing of special or favorite foods. Some handfastings will mark the day they took their vows to each other, sometimes privately, other times with the attendance of close friends.  

Seasonal Observances

Each spring, there are rituals for taking the tools out of storage, breaking the first ground with the plow, seeding the fields, mending the fences, seeing to the birthing of the livestock, and so on. Once the hardest part of the work is done, there’s generally a communal celebration, marking the turning point between the labor of Spring and the long watchfulness of Summer as the crops and new animals grow. This tends to include a celebration of the fertility of Nature, which in turn can result in midwinter babies. Women should remember that the magic of Spring may overcome biology, and children may result even if their partners are female or nwēthr.

The turning point from Summer to Fall likewise brings considerable work for everyone, with a festival at the end celebrating bringing in the crops. In larger communities, this can extend into a trade-fair or horse-fair, and run for several days. The capital cities generally shut down all but the most important government functions for a week, so that people can get it all out of their systems before Fall turns to Winter and the long watch begins.  

The turning point from Fall to Winter tends to be the most solemn of the seasonal rituals. Whether a quiet remembrance of the family dead in a private home, or a communal gathering to reaffirm mutual support as the hardest part of the year begins, or services in the great temples of the cities with Theurges off to the sides to act as counselors if someone’s memories of the past year overcome them, the Wintering rite reminds everyone that people are born, they live, and they die, but the community goes on, held together by its collective memories and the connections that have been forged within it. And so the year turns, and Spring will come again.