Summer Solstice

The Summer Solstice celebrates the longest day of the year and happens every year on Sunrose 21. The tradition of celebrating the Solstices stems from the The Age of Solitude.

As with the Winter Solstice, the Summer Solstice is very important to farmers and hunters. It celebrates the sun and its power to make things grow. Participants from smaller or less well-off communities use this day to pray to Aherin, Neneyar, and Vaias. They hope that the Gods may make the upcoming harvest bountiful and that there will be plenty of game to hunt. Some of them also use this day to pray to Neris so that she may be merciful with the crops and game in the upcoming longer nights.   In many of those smaller communities, the Summer Solstice celebrations reach their peak in the late evening. The citizens gather at the marketplace or town square, where a flower-adorned pole has been erected. They meet there to celebrate the slowly setting sun with song and dance. It is not unusual for them to crown a Solstice King and Queen, often through some arbitrary competition. The royal Solstice couple has the honor of the first dance.   The better-off communities, however, take this day as an opportunity to celebrate that which has already grown. Oftentimes this goes along with buying extravagant flower bouquets and the consumption of summer wines - or grape juice for the children. A small portion of the wine typically gets spilled as an offering to the Gods.   As a sort of salute, many people, regardless of social standing, stay up until the sun has set.