Shur Ca
The Shur Ca, or winter solstice,is a unique holiday for Thons . With the valley blanketed in snow, instead of gathering at the village amphitheater for the Threre Urb , the Fagra and the derefathri instead make the journey out to each household themselves.
History
The Thonsians live in the alpine valley of Thons, located in a high sliver of a valley within the Dereslur. Because this climate tends to experience harsh winters, their winter solstice holiday cannot be celebrated with a festival in the village center like all of their other seasonal holidays. This is an issue as the threre urb that takes place before the village festivals is a matter of vital important when it comes to practicing their form of direct democracy.
Thus, the door-to-door visits from the Fagra or a fathri during the week of the winter solstice became a tradition.
Execution
Every house in the valley is designated to be visited by either the Fagra or one of the derefathri, who aim for visiting three homes per day. The Thonsians decorate their doors with festive colors and keep lamps burning throughout the festival until their homes are visited. When their fathri appears, bearing gifts of scrolls from the Slilved, they are greeted with a feast of traditional foods and given further gifts to be taken to the next house on the fathri's circuit. It is in this way that the divine language is gifted to members of the community.
The ceremony of welcoming the fathri to a Thonsian home consists of singing ritual songs about Thur's gift of light to the world despite the darkness of winter and the fathri is implored to tell one of many traditional Shur Ca stories after the important community business is addressed.
Components and tools
Decorations
Thonsian homes are decorated in bright colors intended to help guide the fathri in the snowy landscape. Traditional colors are red, symbolizing warmth, and yellow, symbolizing light. These decorations include cloth flags and pennants designed to catch the eye of the traveling fathri as they flutter in the breeze, as well as evergreen boughs and wreaths to celebrate the tenacity of life in the darkness. The annual crafting of these decorations or repairing of older decorations tends to bring the family together and puts everyone in a festive mood. The Shur Ca pottery lamps that are kept burning until the fathri appears are especially ornate and painted in the same bright colors as the cloth decorations and are placed in a window of the home and kept protected from the elements. Particularly devoted Thonsians will have their doors decorated with drawings or paintings of the sun, in honor of Thur.Literature and Stories
The collection of literature disseminated by the slilved is intended to be a thoughtful gift from the fathri to the home, and the derefathri do their best to select scrolls that meet the interests or needs of the homes they visit. Sometimes the scrolls will be eminently practical and some will be intended to delight and entertain. There are much loved classics written by long-gone derefathri that have been faithfully recopied and some newer texts as well. It all depends on how well the fathri knows the members of the family. After the business of the threre urb is addressed, the fathri is implored to tell the family a story before he departs. As keepers of the sacred language, the derefathri are known to be master storytellers and Shur Ca stories with themes of survival and community are much loved. Sometimes these stories are intended to be cautionary tales or educational parables aimed at educating young Thonsians as to proper behavior, but other times they are simply heartwarming stories to be shared for entertainment.Traditional Feast
Due to the season, traditional Shur Ca foods are of the dried and preserved variety. Some soups and stews may be made from dried meat root vegetables that were stored from the last harvest, and some families may have cheese available. Mulled wine is traditionally served as well.Community Business
In the absence of the more typical threre urb, held in the village amphitheater on festival days, it is up to the fathri to communicate any valley wide news that needs to be spread and to collect the votes of the families they visit if there are any issues being debated. The Shur Ca visit is a time for neighbors to connect and communicate with each other despite being separated by the weather. Decisions made during this period may set the agenda for work done throughout the next year.Participants
The Fagra and their derefathri are the most valued guests during the week of Shur Ca. They are responsible for ensuring that every household is visited and every voice heard on the important business of the season. Carting a bag full of scrolls and writing material, the jingle of their approaching sleighs is a welcome sound for every Thonsian. After every household has been visited, the derefathri and Fagra return to the village to calculate the results of the threre urb and combine any observations that need to be added to the village archives.
Observance
Shur Ca, or "winter solstice" in the Thonsian language, does take place over the week of the astronomical winter solstice. With the current population of the valley, each fathri is expected to visit 16 or so homes over the course of the week.
Comments