Post by Deleted on May 16, 2013 13:19:28 GMT -6
In the world of owls, many holidays are celebrated and numerous festivals are held throughout the year. Some of these are boisterous and grand while others are solemn and intimate. Some are universally observed while others are unique to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.
[li]Founder's Night is the first and last holiday of the owl year at the Great Tree. It begins at twilight on the shortest day of the year. Before Hoole came to power, Founder's Night was simply known as Long Night. Long Night had been one of the most festive holidays in the N'yrthghar (Norther Kingdoms), for it celebrated the disappearance of the sun and the longest darkness of the whole year. And in the universe of owls, where night is more valued than day, it became a festive time when young owls and older owls could fly to their gizzards' content and waste little time sleeping. The days would thereafter begin to lengthen and the long dark of the night would disappear sliver by sliver until, come summer, it would all begin to reverse again and there would still be another celebration on the shortest night to welcome back the darkness.
[/li][li]At First Lavender, throngs of owls emerge from their hollows and nests and take to the skies for a tween-time flight to kick off the celebration. This leads to the most exciting activity of the night - the flying contests. There's always a contest to see who's the fastest flier, of course, but owls can be very creative and other contests are organized for such maneuvers as the steepest dives, the sharpest turns and the fastest spirals. And, if the conditions are proper, there are even contests for colliering. Winner are greeted with roaring cheers and crowned with wreaths woven from humble materials such as vines and shoots of the Ga'Hoole tree. This reminds the owls two things; that Hoole wore no crown of gold and needed no kingly trappings, and that each and every owl is noble in spirit if noble in deed.
[/li][li]There is also a hunting contest to celebrate the spirit of lochinvyrr, taught to Hoole in his day and later taught to Coryn by the dire wolves of Beyond the Beyond. Only a few owls, the best hunters, are selected to participate. Owls compete to see who gets the quickest kill, the largest prey, and the quietest approach. When the hunters bring back their prey, they are greeted with much gratitude. Following the hunting contest, there is a great feast. The raw prey is shared by all to remind them that they have been able to survive only through the sharing of resources.
[/li][li]As the night goes on, owls return to the sky for more dancing and fancy flying. By daybreak, most owls are exhausted and return to their nests and hollows for a most restful day of sleep.
Owlipoppen Festival
[/li][li]The Owlipoppen Festival takes place on the night of the first full moon after Founder's Night. It's a minor festival, but also one of the oldest. In this festival, elaborately decorated owlipoppen - little owl dolls made from down, molted feathers, and sometimes twigs - are loaded up on makeshift rafts and sent out to sea with the tide with the wish that they take with them any bad luck for the coming year.
[/li][li]This festival is steeped in tradition. It began in the coastal regions of the Southern Kingdoms thousands of years ago as a cleansing ritual. Originally, owls would gather their molted feathers and rub them all over themselves. Misfortune was thought to have been transferred to the feathers. The feathers would then be cast off into the sea, and the owl would have nothing but good luck throughout the year. Soon, owls who lived along rivers began to pick up the custom as well, sending their molted feathers downriver.
[/li][li]This ritual evolved into the making of owlipoppen. These days, owls sometimes begin making the elaborate dolls weeks before the festival. They are often much fancier than the owlipoppen that parents make for their chicks. Feathers are dyed using juices from berries and grasses. And if there are owlets in the family, they help to decorate the finished dolls with leaves, nuts, and small stones. The night before the festival, owls gather to make a raft. They tie sticks and twigs together with dried vines to make a large floating platform for the owlipoppen.
[/li][li]On the night of the festival, all the owls in the community bring their owlipoppen to the shore and place them on the raft. Everyone admires the other owlipoppen and sings the "Good Luck Song" together. When the tide is right, the owl who has been designated as "Lucky Owl" for the festival (usually some sort of community leader), pushes the raft into the sea or river. As the owlipoppen float out over the water, all the owls who have gathered take to the skies and hoot and holler as loudly as they can to give any bad luck a proper send-off. The night ends with the choosing of the Lucky Owl for the next year's Owlipoppen Festival.
Egg Festival
[/li][li]The Egg Festival takes place on the first equal-night of the year, when the length of the day is the same as the length of the night. It is the night that marks the beginning of spring - one of the most important times of the year for owls, for it is the time when most eggs are laid and the next generation comes into being. The Egg Festival celebrates this process.
[/li][li]This is not a festival full of feasts and gatherings as some others are. It is one that is observed unfussily. Nevertheless, it is full of significance for owlkind.
[/li][li]Rituals vary from region to region and from species to species. Calling songs are always sung. Each species has its own unique call. As the night falls, and the Egg Festival begins, a symphony of calls can be heard in every place where owls live. Some owls also put egg-shaped stones in their nests to symbolize their wish for a brood of healthy, robust chicks.
Nimsy Night
[/li][li]Nimsy Night takes place on the shortest night of the year and marks the start of summer. Owls see it as annoccasion for welcoming back the darkness, for after Nimsy Night, the nights grow steadily longer until the arrival of Founder's Night. It is also the time to usher in the warmest months of the year, when prey is plentiful and flying is most pleasant.
[/li][li]During the time of the Golden Rain at the great tree, chaw practices are cut short, young owls take fewer classes, and all owls enjoy as many night flights as they can possibly fit into the few hours of darkness.So, all the owls look forward to the coming of Nimsy Night because it signals the change to a more leisurely schedule.
[/li][li]Everything is decorated with the color green for Nimsy Night. The leaves of maples, oaks, and sycamores reach a bright, verdant shade during this time of year. So owls string them together to make garlands and wreaths. These are placed over hollows and nests, and are said to bring good fortune and health. Some owls even dye their primaries green in celebration.
[/li][li]The best-known ritual of Nimsy Night is the picking of herbs. Since sncient times, owls have believed that herbs are at their most potent and have miraculous healing powers on the shortest night of the year. Therefore, we pick them on this night to dry and us throughout the year.
[/li][li]And as with all great celebrations int he world of owls, there is a feast associated with Nimsy Night. It's not quite as grand as the feasts for Founder's Night or the Milkberry Harvest Festival, but it's wonderful nonetheless. Families of owls gather to share meat, which is plentiful at this time of year.
[/li][li]At the great tree, there is traditionally a snail bake. Raw snails are not the tastiest foods for owls - most find them too slimy. But once they are cooked, they become an absolute delicacy. A typical snail bake begins with the heating of great stones near the shoreline. The colliering and metals chaws are responsible for this. Coals are buried among the stones early in the evening, so that at feast time, they are good and hot. Next comes the gathering of fresh seaweed - the southern coast of the Island of Hoole is especially good for this. This is usually a job for the larger owls, as the seaweed can be quite heavy. In the meantime, smaller owls gather snails from around the island. This is very easy after a rain, and somewhat more challenging when the weather has been fair. The snails are thrown into the stones followed by seaweed and a few of the herds picked earlier in the night. Then, the whole thing is covered in sand to trap the heat. After an hour or two, when the snails have cooked and the fire cooled, the sand and seaweed are removed and the eating begins.
Milkberry Harvest Festival
[/li][li]The Milkberry Harvest Festival is a singularly Ga'Hoolian festival. At the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the four seasons are named after the colors of the milkberry vines that cascade from every branch. Winter is the time of the White Rain, spring is the time of the Silver Rain, summer is the time of the Golden Rain, and autumn is the time of the Copper-Rose Rain. During the time of the Copper-Rose Rain, the milkberries are the ripest and plumpest for picking. The delicious berries of the vines make up a major part of the Guardians' non-meat diet. Ripe berries are crushed and brewed into tea. They-re also made into delicious stews, cakes, and loaves of fragrant bread. The dried berries are used for snacks, for they are highly nutritious and a source of instant energy.
[/li][li]The harvest begins on the second equal night of the year. All classes and chaw practices are canceled for seven days. Even daytime sleep is shortened. For the first three days, the owls at the tree help harvest all the berries and trim the vines. Then, on the third night, the real festivities begin. There is a banquet to celebrate a successful harvest, which goes on for the next three to four nights. The Great Hollow is festooned with cut vines and berries. Candles make the entire tree glow against the night sky. A large assortment of milkberry treats are made and eaten. There is joyous dancing and singing all over the Island of Hoole. And more often than not, the older owls get tipsy on milkberry wine and berry mead. During the height of the celebration, owls forgo sleep for as long as they can. But with all the wine, mead, and dancing, a few inevitably pass out before the party is over.
Punkie Night
[/li][li]A favorite holiday for fledglings, Punkie Night takes place on the night of the first new moon after the Milkberry Festival. It is a night filled with sweets and mischief.
[/li][li]Young owls make and wear masks that make them look like other species of owls, or even other birds. While wearing these masks, young owls fly from hollow to hollow, offering songs and dances in return for blessings and gifts of sweets. This is called "galooshing". Most of the time, owls give out dried berries and such, but if you are lucky, you might find a hollow that gives out nootie tarts or pine-nit cakes.
[/li][li]After galooshing, young owls gather for sweet-swapping and games. Everyone tries to trade loads of the ordinary treats for a few of the good ones. One of the most popular Punkie Night games at the great tree is the Blooking for Milkberries. The name comes from the sound that owlets make when they plunge their faces into the water. Even owlets who have yet to fledge can join in the fun. Milkberries float in a large bucket of water, and blindfolded participants must use their beaks to pick up a berry.
[/li][li]Sometimes, young owls like to play tricks on the grown-ups on Punkie Night - putting sap in their nests, tying their talons together with vine while they sleep, etc.
[/li][li]After the festivities are over, older owls often try to tell the fledglings to ration their treats. But as a matter of course, the young'uns got to sleep the next morning with bellies that ache from too many sweets.
Balefire Night
[/li][li]Balefire Night celebrates the Guardians' command of fire. Since the time of the legends, the Guardians have used fire to make tools and weapons, to cook food, and to cast light where light is needed. During the last fine days of the Copper-Rose Rain, owls come together to light the night up as bright as day with a bonfire.
[/li][li]Owls dance around the bonfire, first circling it tightly; then, as the fire burns hotter, the circles grow wider and wider. The more adventurous owls will also fly directly above the bonfire to ride the intense thermal drafts.
[/li][li]As the fire dies down, owls use the hot coals to roast meat and nooties. At the great tree, only cooked meat is eaten on Balefire Night. This is to celebrate the Ca'Hoolian tradition of using fire to alter food.
[/li][li]At the end of the night, coals from the bonfire are retrieved by colliers and brought to the forge to be used on another night.
[/li][/ul]
[li]Founder's Night is the first and last holiday of the owl year at the Great Tree. It begins at twilight on the shortest day of the year. Before Hoole came to power, Founder's Night was simply known as Long Night. Long Night had been one of the most festive holidays in the N'yrthghar (Norther Kingdoms), for it celebrated the disappearance of the sun and the longest darkness of the whole year. And in the universe of owls, where night is more valued than day, it became a festive time when young owls and older owls could fly to their gizzards' content and waste little time sleeping. The days would thereafter begin to lengthen and the long dark of the night would disappear sliver by sliver until, come summer, it would all begin to reverse again and there would still be another celebration on the shortest night to welcome back the darkness.
[/li][li]At First Lavender, throngs of owls emerge from their hollows and nests and take to the skies for a tween-time flight to kick off the celebration. This leads to the most exciting activity of the night - the flying contests. There's always a contest to see who's the fastest flier, of course, but owls can be very creative and other contests are organized for such maneuvers as the steepest dives, the sharpest turns and the fastest spirals. And, if the conditions are proper, there are even contests for colliering. Winner are greeted with roaring cheers and crowned with wreaths woven from humble materials such as vines and shoots of the Ga'Hoole tree. This reminds the owls two things; that Hoole wore no crown of gold and needed no kingly trappings, and that each and every owl is noble in spirit if noble in deed.
[/li][li]There is also a hunting contest to celebrate the spirit of lochinvyrr, taught to Hoole in his day and later taught to Coryn by the dire wolves of Beyond the Beyond. Only a few owls, the best hunters, are selected to participate. Owls compete to see who gets the quickest kill, the largest prey, and the quietest approach. When the hunters bring back their prey, they are greeted with much gratitude. Following the hunting contest, there is a great feast. The raw prey is shared by all to remind them that they have been able to survive only through the sharing of resources.
[/li][li]As the night goes on, owls return to the sky for more dancing and fancy flying. By daybreak, most owls are exhausted and return to their nests and hollows for a most restful day of sleep.
Owlipoppen Festival
[/li][li]The Owlipoppen Festival takes place on the night of the first full moon after Founder's Night. It's a minor festival, but also one of the oldest. In this festival, elaborately decorated owlipoppen - little owl dolls made from down, molted feathers, and sometimes twigs - are loaded up on makeshift rafts and sent out to sea with the tide with the wish that they take with them any bad luck for the coming year.
[/li][li]This festival is steeped in tradition. It began in the coastal regions of the Southern Kingdoms thousands of years ago as a cleansing ritual. Originally, owls would gather their molted feathers and rub them all over themselves. Misfortune was thought to have been transferred to the feathers. The feathers would then be cast off into the sea, and the owl would have nothing but good luck throughout the year. Soon, owls who lived along rivers began to pick up the custom as well, sending their molted feathers downriver.
[/li][li]This ritual evolved into the making of owlipoppen. These days, owls sometimes begin making the elaborate dolls weeks before the festival. They are often much fancier than the owlipoppen that parents make for their chicks. Feathers are dyed using juices from berries and grasses. And if there are owlets in the family, they help to decorate the finished dolls with leaves, nuts, and small stones. The night before the festival, owls gather to make a raft. They tie sticks and twigs together with dried vines to make a large floating platform for the owlipoppen.
[/li][li]On the night of the festival, all the owls in the community bring their owlipoppen to the shore and place them on the raft. Everyone admires the other owlipoppen and sings the "Good Luck Song" together. When the tide is right, the owl who has been designated as "Lucky Owl" for the festival (usually some sort of community leader), pushes the raft into the sea or river. As the owlipoppen float out over the water, all the owls who have gathered take to the skies and hoot and holler as loudly as they can to give any bad luck a proper send-off. The night ends with the choosing of the Lucky Owl for the next year's Owlipoppen Festival.
Egg Festival
[/li][li]The Egg Festival takes place on the first equal-night of the year, when the length of the day is the same as the length of the night. It is the night that marks the beginning of spring - one of the most important times of the year for owls, for it is the time when most eggs are laid and the next generation comes into being. The Egg Festival celebrates this process.
[/li][li]This is not a festival full of feasts and gatherings as some others are. It is one that is observed unfussily. Nevertheless, it is full of significance for owlkind.
[/li][li]Rituals vary from region to region and from species to species. Calling songs are always sung. Each species has its own unique call. As the night falls, and the Egg Festival begins, a symphony of calls can be heard in every place where owls live. Some owls also put egg-shaped stones in their nests to symbolize their wish for a brood of healthy, robust chicks.
Nimsy Night
[/li][li]Nimsy Night takes place on the shortest night of the year and marks the start of summer. Owls see it as annoccasion for welcoming back the darkness, for after Nimsy Night, the nights grow steadily longer until the arrival of Founder's Night. It is also the time to usher in the warmest months of the year, when prey is plentiful and flying is most pleasant.
[/li][li]During the time of the Golden Rain at the great tree, chaw practices are cut short, young owls take fewer classes, and all owls enjoy as many night flights as they can possibly fit into the few hours of darkness.So, all the owls look forward to the coming of Nimsy Night because it signals the change to a more leisurely schedule.
[/li][li]Everything is decorated with the color green for Nimsy Night. The leaves of maples, oaks, and sycamores reach a bright, verdant shade during this time of year. So owls string them together to make garlands and wreaths. These are placed over hollows and nests, and are said to bring good fortune and health. Some owls even dye their primaries green in celebration.
[/li][li]The best-known ritual of Nimsy Night is the picking of herbs. Since sncient times, owls have believed that herbs are at their most potent and have miraculous healing powers on the shortest night of the year. Therefore, we pick them on this night to dry and us throughout the year.
[/li][li]And as with all great celebrations int he world of owls, there is a feast associated with Nimsy Night. It's not quite as grand as the feasts for Founder's Night or the Milkberry Harvest Festival, but it's wonderful nonetheless. Families of owls gather to share meat, which is plentiful at this time of year.
[/li][li]At the great tree, there is traditionally a snail bake. Raw snails are not the tastiest foods for owls - most find them too slimy. But once they are cooked, they become an absolute delicacy. A typical snail bake begins with the heating of great stones near the shoreline. The colliering and metals chaws are responsible for this. Coals are buried among the stones early in the evening, so that at feast time, they are good and hot. Next comes the gathering of fresh seaweed - the southern coast of the Island of Hoole is especially good for this. This is usually a job for the larger owls, as the seaweed can be quite heavy. In the meantime, smaller owls gather snails from around the island. This is very easy after a rain, and somewhat more challenging when the weather has been fair. The snails are thrown into the stones followed by seaweed and a few of the herds picked earlier in the night. Then, the whole thing is covered in sand to trap the heat. After an hour or two, when the snails have cooked and the fire cooled, the sand and seaweed are removed and the eating begins.
Milkberry Harvest Festival
[/li][li]The Milkberry Harvest Festival is a singularly Ga'Hoolian festival. At the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, the four seasons are named after the colors of the milkberry vines that cascade from every branch. Winter is the time of the White Rain, spring is the time of the Silver Rain, summer is the time of the Golden Rain, and autumn is the time of the Copper-Rose Rain. During the time of the Copper-Rose Rain, the milkberries are the ripest and plumpest for picking. The delicious berries of the vines make up a major part of the Guardians' non-meat diet. Ripe berries are crushed and brewed into tea. They-re also made into delicious stews, cakes, and loaves of fragrant bread. The dried berries are used for snacks, for they are highly nutritious and a source of instant energy.
[/li][li]The harvest begins on the second equal night of the year. All classes and chaw practices are canceled for seven days. Even daytime sleep is shortened. For the first three days, the owls at the tree help harvest all the berries and trim the vines. Then, on the third night, the real festivities begin. There is a banquet to celebrate a successful harvest, which goes on for the next three to four nights. The Great Hollow is festooned with cut vines and berries. Candles make the entire tree glow against the night sky. A large assortment of milkberry treats are made and eaten. There is joyous dancing and singing all over the Island of Hoole. And more often than not, the older owls get tipsy on milkberry wine and berry mead. During the height of the celebration, owls forgo sleep for as long as they can. But with all the wine, mead, and dancing, a few inevitably pass out before the party is over.
Punkie Night
[/li][li]A favorite holiday for fledglings, Punkie Night takes place on the night of the first new moon after the Milkberry Festival. It is a night filled with sweets and mischief.
[/li][li]Young owls make and wear masks that make them look like other species of owls, or even other birds. While wearing these masks, young owls fly from hollow to hollow, offering songs and dances in return for blessings and gifts of sweets. This is called "galooshing". Most of the time, owls give out dried berries and such, but if you are lucky, you might find a hollow that gives out nootie tarts or pine-nit cakes.
[/li][li]After galooshing, young owls gather for sweet-swapping and games. Everyone tries to trade loads of the ordinary treats for a few of the good ones. One of the most popular Punkie Night games at the great tree is the Blooking for Milkberries. The name comes from the sound that owlets make when they plunge their faces into the water. Even owlets who have yet to fledge can join in the fun. Milkberries float in a large bucket of water, and blindfolded participants must use their beaks to pick up a berry.
[/li][li]Sometimes, young owls like to play tricks on the grown-ups on Punkie Night - putting sap in their nests, tying their talons together with vine while they sleep, etc.
[/li][li]After the festivities are over, older owls often try to tell the fledglings to ration their treats. But as a matter of course, the young'uns got to sleep the next morning with bellies that ache from too many sweets.
Balefire Night
[/li][li]Balefire Night celebrates the Guardians' command of fire. Since the time of the legends, the Guardians have used fire to make tools and weapons, to cook food, and to cast light where light is needed. During the last fine days of the Copper-Rose Rain, owls come together to light the night up as bright as day with a bonfire.
[/li][li]Owls dance around the bonfire, first circling it tightly; then, as the fire burns hotter, the circles grow wider and wider. The more adventurous owls will also fly directly above the bonfire to ride the intense thermal drafts.
[/li][li]As the fire dies down, owls use the hot coals to roast meat and nooties. At the great tree, only cooked meat is eaten on Balefire Night. This is to celebrate the Ca'Hoolian tradition of using fire to alter food.
[/li][li]At the end of the night, coals from the bonfire are retrieved by colliers and brought to the forge to be used on another night.
[/li][/ul]