Traditions

COMING OF AGE

When a Gem turns 18 years old they become of age, meaning they are recognized as adults, so to celebrate that a Gem becomes of age, every year a big party is held at the beginning of a new year, on Udri 4th, where the Gems that turned 18 the year before, and leading up to the party, are the center of the party. The parties are typically held in places that have great meaning to the given species, for example, the temples for Arivae or Teuivae, which are spread out all across Ditee-ath, including volcanic mountains, icy mountains, and in the oceans.

There will be different kinds of food, such as various kinds of roasts, sea food, salads, sauces, vegetables and side dishes. For dessert there will be all kinds of desserts, like cookies, cakes, layered cakes, puddings, as well as Sun and Moon cookies that are usually eaten at the Arivae and Teuivae festivals, as a way to ask the Spirits for good fortune and luck in adulthood. There will be drinks for everyone; water, juice, fizzy drinks, tea and alcoholic drinks. There will be games as well, such as drinking games, dance competitions, limbo and so on.

The coming of age celebration stems from an ancient initiation ceremony the five Gem species did in the past to welcome the 18 year olds into adulthood. The different species had different ways to do the initiation ceremony and happened on different days as well. As times changed, so did the initiation ceremony, and in modern times the initiation was removed entirely from the ceremony and only the celebration remained.

In ancient times, this is how the initiation ceremony went for the different species:

Gemmadites: On the fifth day of the new year, Udri 5th, the 18 year olds would be sent out early in the morning to hunt on their own in the mountains and in the forests. They were to return before dinner time, where a feast had been prepared and the only thing missing was the meat they had brought back. They were expected to prepare and cook the meat themselves.

Gemmismae: On the sixth day of the new year, Udri 6th, the 18 year olds were sent out to spend two nights alone in the forests or jungles. They were to return on Udri 8th at noon and bring back two killed prey and an assortment of plants; both poisonous and none-poisonous. The food they brought back would be prepared for the big feast that night.

Undadites: On the fifth day of the new year, Udri 5th, the 18 year olds were sent out very early in the morning into the big ocean to catch and hunt for food, as well as bring back a tooth from one of the predators of the ocean. The 18 year old Undadites were sent out in groups of 4-6, since it could be highly dangerous. They were to return at noon, help prepare the food they brought back, and before the feast began at night, the groups were to present the tooth of the predator they got.

Geludites: On the third day of a new year, Udri 3rd, the 18 year old Geludites would be sent out to hunt by themselves for the first time in the icy mountains. They had three days to bring back a prey and on the fifth day they made a feast of the prey the 18 year olds brought back. If an 18 year old returned without a prey, they would get another chance the year after, but wouldn't be accepted as an adult until they succeed. Ignisdites: On the first day of the new year, Udri 1st, the 18 year olds would be sent out to hunt by themselves for the first time in the steaming hot volcanic mountains. They had two days to bring back a prey and on the third day they made a feast of the prey the 18 year olds brought back. If an 18 year old returned without a prey, they wouldn't get another chance and would never be accepted as an adult.

ARIVAE FESTIVAL

During Fhranar (spring) and Saiwhar (summer), the sun is out for approximately 22 hours from 5 in the morning and until 27 in the evening, so to celebrate Arivae and thanking him for the four months with a lot of daylight they throw a festival on the 25th of Tuidri, which is the last day of Saiwhar (summer). That day, and the following day, are Holidays. It's tradition to wear colors of red, orange, yellow and gold at the festival, since the colors represent Arivae.

The festivals take place at the shrines dedicated to Arivae, which each region has at least two of. There are gemstones placed around and near the shrine for Gems to travel through to come to the shrine. Outside the shrine there will be stalls with games and different kinds of snacks with the sun as the theme. The stalls are open from 11 in the morning and way past midnight.

Some games that are at the stalls are:
- Throwing dart arrows at targets
- Throwing balls at targets
- Strong man competition
- Ring toss
- Bobbing for fruit
Prizes for winning the games vary from stuffed animals to movie tickets.

Inside the shrine the Gems pay their respect to the Sun spirit Arivae, and afterwards the priests and priestesses are giving the visiting Gems a blessing along with a sun token for good luck. A big feast is served outside the shrines from 6pm and until 11pm. The food that is served at the feast is meant to represent Arivae.

- Food: Steaks of different kinds of meat, different curry dishes, roasts of big animals, sauces, potatoes, soups and a few salads. There will also be seafood like different types of fish, giant prawns, lobster, squid and octopus and scallops. The food is spicy and the spice goes from very mild to burning. There are also foods that won't be spicy for small children and those who can't handle spicy food.

- Sweets: There won't be served sweets for the festival to celebrate Arivae. The only kind of sweets at the festival are the sun shaped cookies that can be bought at the stalls. However they do have two types of "desserts" that come with the big feast. One is a bun with a creme filling made of green tea. The second is a cake made of a crispy and not sweet waffle batter and is filled with savory fillings such as minced meat with spices and a few vegetables, curry, and fillings that can be put in savory pies. The cake is shaped like a sun and called a "Sun cake".

- Drinks: Water, red wine, cold drinks, soda and slush ice.

An hour before the feast ends they begin to play both modern and traditional music, which will be played until midnight. There are some traditional dances that match the traditional music, so a lot of Gems tend to get up and dance the traditional dances. They also dance to modern music.

At midnight they do a large and spectacular firework show that lasts about ten minutes to end the Arivae festival. After the firework show the festival does continue, but then the festival has turned into a celebration to welcome Teuivae, the Moon spirit, and her ruling of the sky the next four months. The stalls will still sell the Sun spirit themed snacks, but will also begin to sell some snacks and drinks that are served at the Teuivae festival, such as Moon spirit themed cookies and buns with red bean paste fillings, as well as iced green tea. The entire festival comes to an end at 5 in the morning and everyone goes home.

TEUIVAE FESTIVAL

During Lhanar (autumn) and Yelwhar (winter), it's dark outside for approximately 20 hours from 18 in the afternoon and until 10 in the morning the next day, so to celebrate Teuivae and thanking her for her work and watching over them while Arivae is resting, they throw a festival on the 27th of Udri, which is the last day of Yelwhar (winter). That day, and the following day, are Holidays. It's tradition to wear colors of white, different hues of blue, turquoise and gold at the festival, since the colors represent Teuivae.

The festivals take place at the shrines dedicated to Teuivae, which each region has at least two of. There are gemstones placed around, and near the shrine for Gems to travel through to come to the shrine. Outside the shrine there will be stalls with games and different kinds of snacks with the moon as the theme. The stalls are open from 11am and way past midnight.

Inside the shrine the Gems pay their respect to the Moon spirit Teuivae, and afterwards the priests and priestesses are giving the visiting Gems a blessing along with a moon token for good luck. A big feast is served outside the shrines from 6pm and until 11pm. The food that is served at the feast is meant to represent Teuivae.

- Food: Soups, hotpots with different kinds of thinly sliced meats and vegetables, salads, roasts of birds, potatoes and sauces. There will also be seafood like different types of fish, giant prawns, lobster and scallops. The food isn't spicy at all and has more subtle, but delicious flavors.

- Sweets: They have two types of desserts. Buns with a sweet red bean paste, and a cake made of sweet and crispy waffle batter with fillings of berries, custard, whipped cream, sweet lemon, chocolate and other sweet fillings. The cake is shaped like a crescent moon and called a "Moon cake".

- Drinks: Water, white wine, hot drinks. light fizzy drinks (Soda with a very subtle fizz) and iced green tea.

At midnight they do a large and spectacular firework show that lasts about ten minutes to end the Teuivae festival. After the firework show the festival does continue, but then the festival has turned into a celebration to welcome Arivae, the Sun spirit, and his ruling of the sky the next four months. The stalls will still sell the Moon spirit themed sweets and snacks, but will also begin to sell some snacks and drinks that are served at the Arivae festival, such as Sun spirit themed snacks and buns with a creme filling made of green tea, as well as slush ice drinks. The entire festival comes to an end at 5 in the morning and everyone goes home.

TERIDEE

To learn more about Naelgrath, the Terridee entity, look under "Terridee entity" in the mythology info.

Terridee is a month-long Holiday and stems back from the time Gems started roaming Ditee-ath. Every year during the month of Pludri, a lot of unexplainable and terrifying things would happen. They would see apparitions, things would move on their own, hear disembodied voices talking, seeing shadows move, thoughts and dreams being manipulated and other scary things like that. That was when the idea of spirits, ghosts and dark entities first occurred among the species and it was believed that Pludri was the month of the year where the veil between the living world and spirit world would be the thinnest, and the time of the year where it would be the easiest for ghosts and dark entities to cross into the world of the living.

It was during that time that mediums, psychics, clairvoyants and shamans started developing their abilities. The different spiritual guides created different kinds of spiritual protection for Gems to hang up on the doors and windows of their homes to stop the ghosts and dark entities from entering, and it worked! But the ghosts and dark entities were smart, and figured out that the spiritual protection would weaken if they were invited inside by the Gems, so they tried various things to get invited inside, and many times they succeeded. The protection would also weaken over time, if they got damaged.

On Pludri 26th the activity always seemed to be the strongest, so on that day the spiritual guides had advised the Gems to make their homes and themselves look terrifying, as if they were in the underworld. They would have to decorate their homes to look scary, and they had to look like some sort of paranormal being. The idea behind it was that the ghosts and dark entities would believe that they were in the underworld and therefore not try to hurt the Gems. As centuries passed by, Gems would decorate their homes from the start of Pludri, to be sure to ward off the spirits, but only dress up on Pludri 26th. The Gems referred to that time of the year as "Terridee".

During the evening on the 26th, Gems gather together in the area they live in to end the month of Pludri with a small feast. Each family brings their own food to eat while sharing stories of paranormal experiences, as well as made up scary stories to go with the theme of Terridee. When the time hits midnight, the night is ended with a big party with music, snacks, games and candy with scary themes as well as a variety of drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

MERIDEE

Nimadri is a special month on Ditee-ath, because it's the last month of the year. Throughout the entire month of Nimadri they have decorations up inside their homes, stores and outside, like humans do with Christmas. However, they have no Santa Claus or elves. They decorate with "Christmas" trees, snowflakes, ornaments and lights. The decorations are typically made out of wood, paper, glass and gemstones.

On the last day of the month, which is also New Years Eve, they gather their family from the morning hours and spend the entire day together, doing various things, like going skating, sledging, baking, cooking, making decorations, decorating some more and preparing for the evening. During the evening they exchange presents with one another to show the love and gratitude they have for their family, and after that they have a big, big feast, ending the year and entering the new one together with the ones they love. When the time strikes midnight they go outside and fire fireworks to welcome the new year. This celebration is called "Meridee" and is equivalent to Christmas and New Year on earth.

Romanidee

According to ancient mythology on Ditee-ath, Arivae and Teuivae were mates and hosted a big feast for everyone to join once their bonding period was over. When they descended to the sky and became the spirits of the Sun and the Moon it became a tradition on Ditee-ath to celebrate their love for one another and their love for the planet.

During the celebration Gems decorate with red, pink and white colors and hearts. They exchange gifts and tokens of affection between mates, while single Gems would light a candle and leave a gift at an altar made for the Sun and Moon Spirits with the wish of being blessed with love and soon finding their mate. This tradition is called "Romanidee", and is the equivalent to Valentine's on earth. Romanidee is celebrated on the 25th of Kaahdri, which is the day the Sun and Moon Spirits were said to have become mates.

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