Spirit Berries Offering

A zatjal ceremony that keeps demons away.

The spirit berries offering is a Zatjal ritual performed to keep spirits away or to make them friendlier. It requires some spirit berry extract, a jelly extracted from the omonimous berries, and a alńy.

History

Most of the food in Nojgraszian villages comes from hunting and gathering, while only a small fraction comes from farming, and only in some of the settlements lucky enough to find cultivable soil. For this reason, they have often needed to venture in some spirit's territory. This is especially true for people in western Nojgrasz, where the spirits presence is stronger.
It became immediately apparent it was necessary to seal some kind of deal with the spirits in the most favourable area, to either grant safe travel to nomadic villages or access to bountiful gathering spots.
People tried various offerings with different components and magical seals to keep spirits at bay. While the latter option does not cost as much as the first one, the former allows to build a friendship relation with some of the nicer spirits. In the end, during the centuries, alńe found the best offering combinations, which vary according to the recipient spirit.

Execution

Even though the ritual has is a relatively simple process any alńy can administer, more powerful or knowledgeable alńe can obtain better result, thanks to their deeper understanding of magic.
During the rite the alńy offers the berry extract to the spirits and asks them for favours, be it keeping away demons or letting people pass through, harvest resources or whatever it is they went in the spirit's territory for.
The sorcerer talks with the spirit presenting the offering and the proposal. The more respectable the alńy is, the more chances there are the spirit will not be annoyed by the interaction and inclined to accept the trade.
If the spirit does not accept the offering, it is possible they decide to keep the offerings anyway for the inconvenience.

Components and tools

According to tradition, the offering must include some spirit berry extract, but can feature other items as well. The jelly norm comes from experience. It has been proved the spirits will not accept any offering devoid of the extract. The reason why a spirit would be so eager to get some berry juice is beyond comprehension.

Related Ethnicities

• Zatjal