Naming Day
Naming Day is a fae religious ceremony. It is celebrated seven weeks after the birth of a child at the temple of the family’s choosing. The flower that the temple represents will become the child’s sacred flower. There is no ‘wrong answer’ when choosing what temple to celebrate a child’s name day at. And certain families will have family traditions of either always naming a child at the same temple for the whole family, or naming each child at a separate temple in birth order, or even taking to full seven weeks to pray on which temple would suit the child best. There isn’t a bad temple to be blessed at (at least in Gardinya Lyra).
During those first seven weeks after birth, the child and mother will not be seen by anyone outside of the immediate family, or hired household caretakers. It’s traditional to wait these first seven weeks, because if a fae baby is to die, it traditionally would be most likely to die before in these first few weeks (in the earliest of fae records of society infant mortality rates were very high). A child who dies without a name is not thought of as a loss to the family any more than if one of the family’s livestock had died). Once a child proves they are strong enough to live past those first seven weeks of life, they are officially named and are thought of a real person. In current times, infant mortality rates are much lower, with it being quite rare for a child not to reach its Naming Day.
Naming Day is the child’s introduction to the world. The child is officially named by the priestess of the family’s chosen temple (calling a child it’s name before it’s naming day, even by the parents is thought to be the biggest of curses one can place on a person). This is done in front of the whole congregation during the sunrise prayer service, signifying the joining of this new person into the world. The child and family should be dressed in all white for the Naming Day service. Extended families will show up in white too, especially in close or important families, who wish to show to everyone that their child being named that day is the most cherished.
After the prayer service, the family will hold a meal for everyone who has attended for the child in a neighboring park or garden. Four to seven dishes are traditionally served at this meal (depending on the socio-economic status of the family and how many people are going to be there). At this meal, the child is passed around for everyone to hold and bless with well wishes for a long and happy life.
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