![[voyagedhermes_moebius_08.jpg|p+bc banner hs-med]] | Month | Holidays | | --------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | | Araujan | <ul><li>**1st:** New Dance<li>**14th:** Overflow</ul> | | Doriannum | <ul><li>**Varies:** Reforging Day<ul> | | Iusemal | | | Teixeiran | | | Nachbinal | <ul><li>**15th:** The Wedding<li>**30th:** Race Day<ul> | | Palisan | | | Peixoton | <ul><li>**5th:** Popo<ul> | | Simistan | | | Viannal | <ul><li>**30th:** Makara</ul> | # New Dance (1st of Araujan) The first day of the Mobian year is celebrated stripwide with the holiday of New Dance. Since time immemorial the binary orbit of [[Olearius]] and [[Naboth]] has been compared to two partners dancing. Thus, the beginning of a new orbit of [[Naboth]] around [[Olearius]] is said to be the end of one song and the beginning of a new dance. New Dance is traditionally celebrated with long, marathon dance parties that begin at twist-out on Viannal 30 and last until twist-in on Araujan 1. During the month of Viannal leading up to New Dance, there is a popular strip-wide competition show where musical artists compete to have their song voted on as the New Dance Song of the Year that [[Olearius]] and [[Naboth]] will be dancing to for the next year. # Overflow (14th of Araujan) Overflow is a multi-day harvest festival traditionally celebrated by the [[Laudal]], which begins on the 14th day of Araujan. Overflow is dedicated to the lunar deity of [[Araujo]], the largest of Mobius' moons, who represents nature, order, and the giving of laws that promote harmony with and among animals. The festival is celebrated over three or four days named "Old," "New," "Nature," and "Community," observed on consecutive days. According to tradition, the festival marks the end of winter, and is named after the ceremonial dish "Pongal", which means "to boil, overflow" and refers to a traditional [[Laudal]] dish prepared from the new harvest of rice boiled in milk. Modern celebrations of Overflow across cultures now feature a wider variety of dishes, typically representing some signature of local cuisine in the area the holiday is being celebrated. The first day of the Overflow festival is called "Old." On this day people discard old belongings and celebrate new possessions. The people assemble and light a bonfire in order to burn the heaps of discards. "New" is the second and main festive day. The day is celebrated with family and friends with new clothes worn and the preparation of the traditional Overflow meal. "Nature" is the third day of the festival, originally meant for the celebration of livestock in [[Laudal]] ranching communities, now broadened to a celebration of harmony with nature. "Community" is the fourth day of the festival and marks the end of Overflow festivities for the year. Communities organize social events to strengthen mutual bonds and consume sweet foods during social gatherings. Young people visit elders to pay respects and seek blessings, with elders giving gifts to the visiting children. # Reforging Day (Varies within Doriannum) Reforging Day is an annual festival dedicated to the lunar deity [[Doria]] which takes places on whatever day in the month of Doriannum the moon reaches the perigee (closest point) of its orbit around [[Naboth]], passing between [[Naboth]] and the strip of [[Mobius]]. Because the orbit of [[Doria]] last 28 days, it is mathematically guaranteed that one perigee will occur somewhere within the month of Doriannum. Preparation for the festival begin 28 days in advance. The chief priest of every town, city, or region announces the impending return of [[Doria]] from its apogee (which must be sighted before beginning the festival) by blowing the local trumpet every dawn and dusk for eight days. Then, for ten days, followers of [[Doria]] devote themselves to repairing and restoring their own tools, workshops, and their homes. Then for the final ten days before Reforging Day, they devote themselves to repairing and renewing their communities--fixing infrastructure and donating works of their craftsmanship to those who need them. Then on the day of perigee, all of the followers of [[Doria]] gather for a day of rest and reflection on their works over the past year. A grand festival is held, where craftspeople display the works they are most proud of, and prizes are awarded across countless categories. # The Wedding (15th of Nachbinal) The 15th of Nachbinal marks the perigee of [[Naboth]]'s orbit around [[Olearius]] and the closest that the pair of stars come to one another during the year. This day is marked with The Wedding, a festival in honor of the relationship between the two goddesses represented by the pair of stars and their marriage to one another. There is a "Lesser Wedding" celebrated every year, mostly by more devoted religious adherents to [[Naboth]], and a "Greater Wedding" celebrated across Mobius every fourteen years, where the adherents of [[Olearius]] join in the festivities. During the Lesser Wedding, followers of [[Naboth]] from various towns and cities travel into nearby forests or jungles, and offer gifts of plump caterpillars to cuckoo birds, attentively watching upon which tree any of the birds, after taking a caterpillar, would settle. Out of this tree they carve an image, and having it dressed as [[Naboth]], they set it on a cart and bring it back to the town, attended by a cheering crowd. After fourteen of these cycles, the Great Wedding is celebrated; and at its start one carved figure is chosen from the many that have accumulated through the years and designated the "bride." The figure is prepared as a bride for a wedding, adorned and raised on a wagon. This wagon leads a procession carrying the accumulated figures up to the summit of the highest nearby hill or mountain. At exactly noon on the 15th of Nachbinal, [[Olearius]] is closest to [[Naboth]], and a ceremonial "wedding" is held under the warm summer light of [[Olearius]], followed by a massive feast. # Race Day (30th of Nachbinal) The birthday of Nachbin the Great Whale on the 30th of Nachbinal is traditionally celebrated with parades and some form of competitive race. In ancient [[Vargha]] culture, the strongest and fastest swimmers in each town or village would parade through the streets to the edge of the Great Crimson Sea where they would line up and then race to retrieve a prize that had been placed on the sea floor. This holiday was brought to [[Mobius]] with [[Vargha]] immigrants, and over time evolved into a widely-observed holiday known as "Race Day." On Race Day parades are held in nearly every city or town. The parades take all different forms, depending on the local culture, but the most popular are flying parades in which the procession is made of up vehicles and creatures capable of flying through the air or—in communities on a body of water—floating parades consisting of ships, rafts, and aquatic creatures. The day culminates in some sort of competitive race unique to the local culture. Race Day has spawned countless thousands of different competitive races of all varieties, ranging from tiny local events run entirely for fun to massive, multinational or multi-world competitions with serious stakes and prizes. # Popo (5th of Peixoton) Popo, short for "Tepopochtli" (meaning "smoking" in [[Lax]]) is an annual festival brought to [[Mobius]] by the [[Lax]] as a celebration of their deity, [[Peixoto#Deity|Peixoto]]. During Popo, great plumes of smoke waft across [[Mobius]], as [[Peixoto#Deity|Peixoto]] is honored by the consumption all forms of tobacco (and usually some other smokable substances). In every community that observes Popo, a young adult is selected each year as the Ixiptlatli ([[Lax]] for "impersonator"), who impersonates [[Peixoto#Deity|Peixoto]] for the day. In advance of the festival, they are taught speech, singing, and how to play the flute. On the day of Popo, the Ixiptlatli parades through the streets and is expected to be treated with great reverence. Their skin is painted black except for a ribbon across their eyes, they are dressed in precious jewelry and cotton embroidered clothes. They wear a snail-shell pendant, feathered headdress, turquoise bracelets, and golden bells on their ankles. The Ixiptlatli walks about playing the flute, smoking tobacco, and smelling flowers, and people salute them as the living image of [[Peixoto#Deity|Peixoto]]. # Makara (30th of Viannal) Makara is an ancient [[Laudal]] religious tradition that remains most commonly observed by the [[Laudal]], but has somewhat crossed over into the broader cultural traditions of much of Mobius. Makara is dedicated to the solar deity represented by the sun [[Olearius]]. The ancient [[Laudal]] observed that for half the year, [[Olearius]] receded in the sky, and for half the year she grew larger in the sky. On the day before apogee, when [[Olearius]] was at her furthest, the [[Laudal]] would gather to pray for her to cease her journey away and return to her partner and wife, [[Naboth]]. Many observers go to sacred rivers or lakes to perform the "Holy Dip" and bathe in a ceremony of prayer to [[Olearius]]. The secular aspects of the holiday are more broadly observed with social festivities such as colorful decorations, rural children going house to house, singing and asking for treats in some areas, fairs, dances, kite flying, bonfires, and feasts.