Autumnal Equinox

The Autumnal Equinox is a holiday that occurs on the first of Foreautumn every year in the Holy Standard Calendar Of Craedock. Typically it celebrates the success of harvests and praises the graciousness of Hartzonell and Phaedra in hopes of good fortune during the coming winter. The business of summer dies down, and societies come to rest for the year.
Esmey is the matron of this holiday, as she was chosen by Falensha to change the season into Autumn every year.

Observance

Various methods of celebrating the equinox exist all over Craedock, but here are some examples.

Acron

In Acron, many of the festivities focus around the scarecrow, and they hold a special place in folklore for her superstitious denizens. Crows are a symbol of Archangel Uzuli, and anything that deters his presence must be a truly heinous and unnatural force. It is said that once a scarecrow is made, an imp demon, crafted by Esmey, will often take refuge in it. This is welcomed by the people, as they need a frightening scarecrow to protect their crops. However, in order to ensure the imps are content in their straw and cloth dwellings, households will make small sacrifices to scarecrows at various times, usually by burying coins or burning incense by the base of the scarecrow.
This comprises a large part of the autumnal equinox festival. Larger sacrifices of food or even a few drops of blood from the farmers’ hands or finger tips are made at the festival, in order to appease the demons as the scarecrows are placed into storage for the winter. They are often wrapped in specially made cloths and tied and decorated with protective amulets from the church.

Hekros

Hekros is known for being much less religious than her sister cities in the Acronian Sea, but her people still see no need in shirking off a good celebration. The Equinox itself receives little public attention from the state, and is mostly considered a private matter. In the week following, however, the city sponsors the Trials of the Rook, a gladiator competition venerating Falensha, but mostly a celebration in its own rite, making good use of excess harvest goods. In recent history the Heroes of Celunia won the tournament for the year 445.

© Dylan Eugene Wheeler 2018
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