Fairy New Year

Fairies across the world see the New Year as one of the most important events in their calendar. It's the time their Mother Deity gives the community their blessing and ensures a prosperous year to come.
In the past, before fairies began to turn their informal population gatherings into cities with some infrastructure, New Year ceremonies took place under the tallest tree in the forest. The High Priestess and their first born would climb the tree and deliver their blessing to those below by calling forth a rain cloud and ordering the water to fall from the sky, cleaning away the old year and opening space for the new one.
Nobody knows for sure anymore how the tradition developed. Fairies transmit the knowledge of their traditions orally (even in these modern times of computers and floppy disks), so any story they tell about the first New Year ceremony is bound to have centuries of modifications attached to it.
Nowadays, the High Priestess and their first born climb a platform instead, and the ceremony takes place in the town square just before midnight. Below is an account of the event registered in the diary of Nessa Jacaranda, the first born of High Priestess Nelma Jacaranda of the city of Pindaiba (it can also be found in its complete version in "A Fairy Out of Her Tale")

The New Year festivities had gone smoothly, like always. Mum, dressed in her green robes of the High Priestess, led the ceremony and the procession through the city. I was by her side, in my own ceremonial robes. The city lit up in our wake, sending us their prayers for a prosperous year to come. Flutes and fiddles followed us playing traditional tunes and sending the whole procession into a dance-like march to the town square. We arrived five minutes before midnight. Mum climbed the podium built specially for the occasion at the centre of the square. I followed and stood two paces behind her. My step-father and brother watched further behind.

The air was so humid and thick it weighted on my shoulders almost as much as my ceremonial responsibility as the High Priestess's first born. No breeze anywhere. Not yet. The heat was suffocating. But it always is when something important is about to happen.

'Dear fairies of Pindaiba, the New Year will soon be upon us. In the name of our Mother Deity, I, Nelma Jacaranda, will give you my blessings for a plentiful time to come.' Mum beckoned me forward. I stood next to her. 'Nessa, you are the first child born from me, just as we are the first children of our Mother Deity. So please receive this blessing the name of our people, and see that it reaches its destination.'

I smiled then. I never managed to keep a straight face even at the most formal occasions. Mum tried to look like she disapproved, but she smiled just a little bit too.

Mother, I am ready.'

All eyes were on us. Mum lifted her arms, calling forth a rain cloud over my head. The cold water on my body, as refreshing as it was, made me shiver and lose focus for a moment. I, the symbolic representation of our entire city, was supposed to pray that this rain, the symbolic representation of plenty and prosperity, reached every single one of us. I had to feel each droplet washing away the remains of the old year for a clean start of the new.

Being the stand-in for thousands of people is not an easy job. It was an honour granted to me by the circumstances of my birth, but it was still something I was proud of. It made me closer to our Mother Deity. It allowed me to experience directly their love to their children when mum channelled their energy as one of her representatives. This was the highest spiritual position I could ever aspire to, and I loved it.

(...)

We walked home arm in arm as a happy family. Our religious duties were over, the party was set to continue for the next 24 hours, and we wouldn’t get any sleep until sunrise. We passed under the special lanterns that turned the High Street into a corridor so bright it was as if daylight had come earlier. Mum and Morumpi kissed as we stepped onto the Lover’s Bridge and walked the whole way with their arms around each other. I took on the view of the city dominated by New Year’s lights. Beautiful. The perfect spot and the perfect moment to be with a loved one. I dared hope that one day I too would walk over the bridge with my arms around my lover and show them the best view of the city.

Components and tools

A rain cloud and some on-demand rain.