Holidays and religious/cultural saying in Ilomar

Holidays and rituals in Iostanity:

First Blessing: Soon after the child is born, church mass with family and friends invited, the Enferi priest duplicates a tiny part of the newborn’s Spirit to invite them into the unity of passing energy as the children of Iosta is a part of. This is a Blessing to the child, making sure that their Spirit is protected from Tarron as it is being kept whole by the church on behalf of Iosta.

Birthdays: Most people in Ilomar don’t celebrate birthdays that religiously but more culturally. It’s a day to celebrate another year with a whole spirit. While the birthday person does get presents, they are expected to pass some of the presents on (most of the times people give presents doing that, so they give a little extra), because one of the virtues of Iostanity is charity and to give as you receive. Some people do go to church on their birthday weeks to get a Blessing (the same as their first blessing).

Affinity Celebration: This is a celebration for Kirsha Warlocks when they find their affinity. It actually stems from Delianism where you would also pray to the Elemental that your affinity is connected to, but in Iostanity you don’t do that. It’s merely a party where you of course go by the theme of the affinity that the child or teen has. It’s also a celebration of them growing up and becoming their own formed person in the eyes of Iosta.

Remedy (and Remedy Celebration): This is for all children of Iostanity. In Iostanity people believe that you are born with a whole Spirit and the older you get, the more you risk tearing your Spirit apart and giving room for Tarron (which is why Nachon Warlocks don’t exist before they have gotten their powers, usually in their early teens). Children are therefore viewed as true innocence but the older they got the more they lose their innocence and becoming vulnerable to the hands of Tarron. When they’re 15, they’re viewed as “young adults” and to celebrate that rite of passage while also mourning the loss of innocence and protecting them form Tarron, there’s a ritual called Remedy, where the teens (and their loved ones) goes to mass and goes through a their first cleansing ritual (the same cleansing ritual that adults can get at mass every week but of course larger because it’s a special one), where they dedicate their love to Iosta. After that the family throws a huge party, celebrating the teens connection to Iosta and their safety from Tarron.  

18 year’s birthdays: You are legally an adult when you’re 18 years old. Your birthday isn’t religiously any different though, since you have already gone through your Remedy, but most people that don’t usually go to church the week of their birthdays, decide to go to church to get their Blessing this week. That’s just a cultural tradition.

Weddings: Mass at church, getting a connected Blessing to celebrate their shared Spirit, then each couple gets a powder colored by their choosing from the priest (again; this stems from Delianism where the colors represented different Elementals, but people don’t talk about that). During their weeding celebration afterwards, they’re supposed to throw the powder in the air and when the powder fall to the ground, the colors will have blended, creating a different color which represents the couple (the couple is not allowed to choose the same color, because it represents two different blessings that they bring to the marriage)

Summer Solstice: Summer Solstice is the last day before the world gets darker. In Iostanity it represents a trying time where people need to receive the light of Iosta when the world can’t be light. The churches have a big candlelight that they replace every year that they light at the mass of Summer Solstice, which will stay burning until Winter Solstice. Families gather in their homes, staying up late and celebrating the light of the world while wishing for light of Iosta. You’re supposed to stay up until the sun is finally down but most families don’t last that long. The last few decades there have also been the Summer Solstice Festival which is a huge celebration in the Main City. More modern with music and light shows and different activities to try out, the Festival goes on from the start of The Summer Solstice to the end of it, lasting over a whole day. Mostly young people go to it but some families also visit it during the day before having dinner with the rest of the family in the evening and at night.

Winter Solstice – The day of Light and Spirit – Iostivan: This is the shortest day and the darkest day of the year. The day where Tarron is strongest and the day before the light slowly comes back. This is one of the biggest holidays of the year. This is the day of giving, where family and loved ones gather in their light homes to hand each other presents and to share Spirits with each other by sharing memories, connecting and opening up to each other. Through the city people will walk with candle lights, singing songs to Iosta, strengthening their bond to her to ward of Tarron.

Thelmian’s Feast: The 20th of February is said to be the day Thelmian The First was contacted by Iosta, changing the course of religious history. After being contacted by her, he immediately invited every he knew to a grand dinner, spending every coin he had on the spontaneous celebration. At the dinner he stood up and preached about his discovery on Iostanity and how he needed everyone's help to give the world the light and Spirit it needed to fight off Tarron. Most people joined him - the few people who didn't all have stories about how they soon after was harmed by Tarron, no matter how much they tried to avoid him or claim he didn't exist. Because of this story, people gather on the 20th of February to share a grand meal. Some households only do it with their extended family while some households get together in their neighborhoods, preparing the meals together. There's also a song written about this meal that people sing after the meal has been eaten. The week of 20th of February is also Feast Vacation, that started off as a way for people to have time to prepare the meals, but now where people don't need so much time to prepare meals (although some meals have to cook for a day), it's just time off work and school)

Sayings in Ilomar:
“Bless your spirit” (= bless your soul)
“Tarron spoil you!” (= fuck you/may the devil mess with you)
All sayings about “God” like “Oh my god” and “by god”. Sayings like this can also be replaced with “Iosta”.
“My wholeness!” (= my goodness/a shout of surprise, mostly when it’s shock)
"By Elios' hands" (= meaning that you've tried everything. NB! This is only a saying in Delianism and while not illegal, it is frowned upon to say as it only links to the god of fire)
"Element" vs. "Affinity" = Most people - as well as in legal and academic papers - use the word 'affinity' to describe a person's warlock powers. However, some delianist, especially of the older generation or from countries that still has delianism as the main religion, use the term 'element' instead. So instead of asking "What is your affinity?", they might ask "What is your element?"