The Ceremony of Sleeping in Mushroom Shade
The Coming of Age Ritual of the Mnemic People
The Ceremony of Sleeping Under the Mushroom Shade, also known as the Andavi Mnematsia, is held every year at the first full moon after the mushrooms grow past the height of the Andavi Statue. This ceremony is a coming of age ritual performed by all Mnemic people and helps them form a connection with the land they farm.
Preparing for the Ceremony
The Chief of Mnematsia is in charge of the mushroom fields, and it is their job to determine when the mushrooms have grown higher than the Andavi Statue. They report this to the Senate Leader and the High Elder of Mnema, who will then determine and announce the night of the next full moon for the Ceremony of Sleeping Under the Mushroom Shade.
It is then up to each family to determine if they have anyone eligible for the Ceremony for this year. This ritual is typically performed when an individual turns fifteen, but can be done earlier or later depending on when the individual and their family is ready. For example, this ritual is performed with both parents if both are still alive, so if one parent is an Ambassador or has another reason to travel outside of the City-State, they will often defer until the parent is back to perform the ritual, or do it early if the parent is set to leave on a long journey. If either or both parents aren’t alive, the ritual may be undertaken by other adults, such as another family member such as a grandparent, or a foster aunt or uncle.
Outsiders who have made the City-State of Mnema their home may also undertake the Ceremony of Sleeping Under the Mushroom Shade, but only if they have a sponsor. As the Mnemic people don’t like to speak about their culture and customs related to the Mnematsia, the ritual is not known outside of the City-State. In order for an outsider to take part in the ritual, someone who has already undertaken the ritual must procure the necessary items and lead them to the mushroom field on the night of the Ceremony without telling them why. Following the orders of their sponsor without questioning is the final test an outsider must pass before they are considered worthy of participating in the ritual.
Ritual Requirements
In order to partake in the ritual, three objects are required:
Performing the Ritual
First, on the designated night, those undertaking the ritual will gather in the mushroom fields. Each group will find a place among the mushrooms, far enough away from anyone else that you can’t hear them talking. They place their bedding on the ground at the foot of one of the mushroom stalks, which will protect them in case of rain. Because many tasks of the mushroom farmers happen at night, during the highest point of the mushroom growth cycle, they are used to staying awake far into the night. This is not a stoic ritual, so the group will often chat and joke amongst themselves while setting up their campsite.
Before falling asleep, the group will all sit on the bedding and bring out the embroidery supplies. Each sponsor will embroider a single star on an article of clothing of the one undertaking the ritual, and the one undertaking the ritual will embroider a single star on each of their sponsors’ clothing in return. In the Mnemic Embroidery Language, stars represent goals and perseverance, and they are used in this ritual to represent the shared goal of everyone in the City-State to nourish the mushroom fields.
After the stars have been embroidered, the Ylang-Ylang leaf pillow is given to the one undergoing the ritual, while the sponsors use regular pillows, and the group goes to sleep. The fragrance of the dried leaves is said to help unlock dreams. If two parents (or sponsors) are present, the child undertaking the ritual will sleep between the two of them. If only one adult or sponsor is present, which is most common in the case of outsider conversions, they will sleep side by side.
The Fields at Star-Dusk
The Andavi Statue
The Andavi Statue (commonly translated as the Ceremonial Statue) is a statue of a mushroom carved from a petrified tree trunk that sits in the center of the mushroom fields.
As the Mnemic people are mushroom farmers, they have built their lives and their schedules around the growth cycles of the mushrooms, instead of the calendars favored by the Rosenburg Empire, or the moons used by the rest of the Interstate Alliance of Chattana.
The Andavi Statue stands as tall as an average adult human, and the mushrooms typically grow quickly during the wet season of the summer and eclipse this height by early autumn.
Embroidered Stars
