Sharing a Holiday Tradition by Helen Henderson

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In honor of the holidays, I’m sharing how they are celebrated in the series, the Windmaster Novels. You might ask why a fantasy world would have a holiday. Their world is different than ours as far as its history and heritage. There would be no president named Washington, no Christmas, no Fourth of July. Even in our contemporary world, despite differences in cultures and traditions, you can find annual celebrations. Some are secular, others religious. Traditional activities can pertain to a given time of year such as the harvest or the winter solstice.

Since annual traditions and celebrations are such a part of our world it made sense to me that the one I created should have some also.

Turn’s End is celebrated to mark the end of one year and the beginning of the next. Parties brighten the dark hours of the cold season and everyday work clothes are exchanged for more formal clothing. Entertainments include dancing and in some instances, newly composed music. Special food is another aspect and as evidenced from the snippet from Windmaster an enjoyable one.

“Ellspeth performed a fast mental inventory of what gowns were packed in the wooden trunks in the adjacent attic storage rooms. The green one she wore to the last turn’s end festivities piqued her interest. Eighth hour, she decided, should be just enough time to air the preserving leaves from the gown. No dallying or I'll miss the chilled crustaceans and the sweet bread will be soggy.”

While not every event in our world needs to have an exact correlation in the fantasy one, how we celebrate an event can serve as inspiration for a fictional one. New Year’s Eve helped form Turn’s End. The Lantern Festival in Windmaster Legend during which Lady Pelra tries to decide which of the two men her heart wants was inspired by two events, the Lantern Float held annually on Memorial Day on Oʻahu’s south shore and the sky lantern festival of Taiwan. In one, lanterns are set afloat on the water in a personal and collective moment of remembrance and offering of gratitude to those who have gone before. In the other, sky lanterns are released into the night sky with people's wishes written on them.

The one sky lantern launch that I’ve seen in person combined both water and sky. A grieving family sent a single lantern aloft over the water in memorial of a loved one’s passing. I couldn’t see if it bore handwritten wishes or if only a picture of the loved one was carried skyward.

While the emotion in that launch was somber, I wanted the one in Windmaster Legend to also have a counterpoint. So a festival tradition was added, “When lanterns fill the sky, a man—or woman, can claim a kiss from anyone they chose.” You’ll have to read Windmaster Legend when it is released (March 2019) to see whether Pelra followed the festival tradition… and which of the two men was the recipient.

From Windmaster Legend, an excerpt that includes the lantern set aloft by a couple celebrating wedding anniversary.

“One by one the other ships assigned as launching platforms slipped into formation until they formed a straight line of bobbing lights beneath the darkening skies.

To distract herself from the emotions rising at Iol’s closeness, Pelra read the handwritten notes on the sky lanterns closest to her. Some were thanks for a profitable year, while others were prayers for the one to come. Many were poignant remembrances of loved ones who had passed beyond the veil. The dream listed on one lantern clutched at her heart.

Air and sky together forever,
May our two lives be as joined.
With nothing between but a gentle zephyr.
Air and sky, bless our journey.”

To end this post, I’ll be sending a virtual sky lantern aloft with the wish that all your hopes and dreams come true in the coming year.