Lóssio Lárarí

General overview

In Tarrabaenian religion, not only common deities play role, but also family or house deities. These are worshipped in everyones own houses in small shrines. While there is no definition of what these deities are exactly, some see them as ancestral spirits, some as deities bound to the blood of a family, taking care of them is an important part of housekeeping and neglecting them is believed to be an offense, that may cause serious repercussions. Thus the family deities, called Lás (pl.: Lásés) are getting regular sacrifices, but also their shrines are maintained. Cleaning up the shrine is an important tradition called lóssio lárarí and takes place during spring.

Aetiology and history

The national epos of the Tarrabaenians describes how Párs, the ancestral hero of the Tarrabaenians introduced religious worship to the area of what is nowadays Tarrabaenia. Not many verses are spent on the description, but it is implied, that the deities revered by the Tarrabaenians today are not or only to a small degree ancestral to the land, but are part of a religious belief system the people brought with them. In one place there is a list of items Párs brings with him on his track. Among these is a short list of religious items containing something called a domícula. A commentary on the vocabulary of the Paridis - the epics title - identifies this as a small shrine for deities bound to persons or families. In other contexts, the term domícula is no longer in use. Only one inscription exists containing the word. It is in very bad shape, but close to where Sónius Fulgéssus Lengo, the Paridis' author used to live. Maybe during his lifetimes there was more context around this word in the now very worn out inscription. A grammatician, who made notes on this inscription described the word as derived from the Tarrabaenian word dóma, which is a special building type used as a granary in most cases. Old lárarí of long settled families do indeed resemble these granaries in shape.

Role in the present time

Lóssio lárarí are part of the spring cleaning, that every family goes through, to sort out all the trash and dirt from autumn and winter. As a last step, the lárarus (sg. for 'lárarí) is thouroughly cleaned, in part spiritually with libations of strong alcohol to the deities residing there, but also by cleaning the lárarus with a special piece of cloth, that is also cleaned several times during the process, first with alcohol, then with vinegar, then with salty water, after that fresh water and as a last step with a mix of essential oils and Olive oil to seal and protect the material a lárarus is build of, mostly marble, wood, terracotta or some other kind of stone.
After the cleaning process, the inhabitants of the shrine are worshipped my holding a small feast, during which happy and funny stories are retold, be them from the participants lifetime or stories inherited by older generations. During the feast, the fumes of the dishes are fanned towards the lárarus, to enable the deities or spirits there to enjoy the meal as well as the stories. Thus the new year cycle begins with accomplishments and stories showing the pride of the family in hopes of adding more of those memories and stories during the coming year.

Entry for Worldbuilding Summer Camp 2024

Answering: "A tradition that gives comfort"

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