Life-Circlet

Life-circlets are unique objects constructed by hand from materials in the maker's environment. The primary structure is composed of interwoven twigs, sometimes bound together by grasses or stems, and can be decorated with flowers of the maker's choice if they wish to indicate their availability for courtship.

From the time of their initiation onward, a person's life-circlet is symbolic of the parts of themself they wish to give to another. The giving of one's life-circlet to another is the official beginning of a courtship, and many life-partners choose to display their circlets together in their homes, often alongside other objects of significance such as handfasting ribbons and birth tokens for any children they may have.

Crucial to the significance of the life-circlet is the act of its being given. Attempting to take someone's circlet by force, coercison, or deceit is considered an act of violation, and is punished in accordance with local and clan law; similarly, refusing to return a circlet to its maker at their request is treated as entrapment, and the offending party will be removed from the home, and in some cases, from the village.

Taking ones life-circlet back from a partner is a firm, uncompromising end to a relationship. Some may choose to wear or display their circlet with dried flowers or none at all to signal to the community their newly single status; others prefer to keep it private. When and if they choose to reengage with potential courtships, fresh flowers are added back into the circlet.