Nabia Bi Varon
Nabia Bi Varon (lit. "birth of people"), is a ritual performed by the Avaron residing natively within the Bunia Rainforest. It is a fertility ritual, calling upon the Gods to bless the people's lineage and grant them easy pregnancy and birth.
History
As the rainforest Avaron pass down their traditions by word of mouth, it is unknown when this ritual began, though the people insist it is an adaptation of a ritual from the very beginning of the Avaron; cast by their Gods to bring them into existence.
The isolated nature of the Avaron means there is little research on the true history of the ritual, although it seems true that the tradition is as old as the forest-dwellers themselves.
Participants
This ritual, while eventually celebrated by the entire settlement, is primarily observed by the families of those hoping to bear or birth children. The ritual is held in the dry season, and the subjects of the ritual -- uterus-havers of birthing age -- are selected from all those able-bodied and willing.
Observance
Nabia Bi Varon is held in the final week of the dry seasons, when much of the people are preparing to shelter for the rains to come. Once participants are selected, the family will prepare bouquets of orchids for each childbearer, to be presented before the ceremony. Clothes are also shed before entering the clearing, to remove all barrier between the flesh and the earth.
The childbearers will also be nude save for a woven waistband of twine and cut jasper, blessed by a healer and hung about the hips. This blesses and directs the energy of the ritual towards the womb. These people will be waited on for the duration of the week approaching the ritual, forbidden to work or perform strenuous activity to keep their strength at its maximum.
The ritual itself involves a night-long song and dance in which the families will anoint their childbearers with waters from the lake by bathing them in it. This is the only time any are permitted to bathe in its waters outside of dire emergencies. The families will mark themselves with dirt from the land in symbols representing the role they will play in raising a child, and often multiple people will cry and convulse fanatically; signifying that the spirit has entered them and they are blessed.
This ritual will continue until the first break of dawn, when the childbearers are carried back to their homes and wrapped in white sheets, where they will sleep while the settlement create stews and drinks to celebrate and regain their energy.
