Devenir's Will
Mother Devenir, whose breath awakens the green shoots from their long sleep,
We greet you under the Worm moon and seek your will.
Mother Devenir, whose laughter calls the birds and bees together,
We listen for your song as it plays on the wind.
Mother of that which grows wild and wondrous,
Giver of life, creator of natural wonder,
Bless these humble hands and the seeds they sow.
Guide us as we go forth, that we may enrich the land
And so fulfill your vision of life.
History
The Prophet Dregel Carnish met the first settlers from Solbarran when they landed to welcome them and impart the wisdom of the Deities that walked the world. The Solbarrans imprisoned him, and the leader of the Valbarra expedition questioned him extensively on the people of the continent.
The Valbarra expedition leader, Loshak of Jolana , questioned the prophet extensively and soon concluded that the man had a legitimate connection to the Empyrean that exceeded any of his own seers. His seminal work, Losh's Almanac, was largely based on the information he gathered from Carnish in the years the prophet was held captive.
The ritual of Devenir's Will was taken from the Almanac and has been widely adopted across Valbarra. When the first thaw arrives, local clergy lead a ritual to determine the optimal planting times and crops for the fields. In the weeks following, the farmers plant according to the results of the ritual.
Execution
When the silver moon Nila is full and the worms first emerge from the thawing ground, the tilling begins and the ritual of Devenir's Will is held.
At dawn, a holy leader beseeches Devenir for her wisdom in the coming planting. The leader is rarely specifically a follower of Devenir, as her worship is mostly confined to the sparsely populated interior of the continent. Priests of other faiths, local druids, or wandering clerics are often called on to conduct the ceremony.
The ceremony begins with a reading of the Groundthaw prayer to call Devenir's attention to the ritual. A representative of all the farmers in the area covered by the ritual must be present and bring with them something harvested from each field in the previous year. The clergy takes the offerings and sacrifices them to Devenir, burning them under Her altar. The remains of the sacrifice are then scattered across the ritual circle, and the clergy reads the portents in the ashes.
Devenir sends a vision in the ashes of how to plant the fields this year to support the land. The clergy will then instruct the farmers as to the proper crop for each field and planting can begin.
I love the idea of asking the gods when to plant what. It's very cool. You usually read about how people pray for a good harvest or something but this is really cool