Lyumaynalia

Overview

The holiday of Lyumaynalia is an extremely widespread and near ubiquitous holiday, observed and celebrated across nearly the whole of the Known World, particularly within northern, more wintry regions.

Beginning on the 21st of Mavimyst's End, Lyumaynalia is an annual celebration in reverence to the Lyumayin, Divine God of Light and Order within many faiths and pantheons across the globe. It is a day in which a great focus and cultural reverence is put towards the putting aside of grievances and to give special gifts tailor-made to friend and foe alike, brining a greater sense of order and unity in the world.

Mythic Origin

While its origins are drenched in the faith of Lyumayin, a central figure across many world religions and pantheons, a more secular take to the celebration has often appeared throughout the ages, due to varying factors.

In legend; Lyumaynalia is a day to remember and celebrate Lyumayin's ending of the "Onyx Age," a mythological period of pre-history in which legends say the whole of the world stood still in a sheet of blackened onyx, still and unmoving, save the great Godswood, an immense tree which held within its branches fruit which bared the mythical totality of all facets of reality. The unyielding stagnation of the world at this time was in result of the many Divine across the world all in a constant state of conflict with one another, unable to fairly delegate the facets of the world amongst one another after their ending of the Great Age Elementia.

Thus Lyumayin, the "most powerful" of the Gods, individually asked what each Divine wished to rule over the most, and on the 21st day, he'd give them charge over either its opposite, or something unrelated, as it is said Lyumayin knew their hearts better then they had. Once delegated, he'd then set the tree alight, and from the ashes the world as we know it would come to be.

In respect to this tradition, the celebration of Lyumaynalia largely involves the giving of gifts from one person to another. However, unlike how most would give a gift, in which one would typically ask another what they may like, you are to give something at either total odds to the gift requested, or something utterly alien to it.

This practice symbolizes the deeper meaning of Lyumaynalia; the harmony found not in sameness, but in the unexpected and contrasting elements of life that, when brought together, create a balanced whole, and in such surprise, one is meant to be happier then they were expectant to be. In addition, the burning of a Godswood tree, planted in the first of the year is also a predominant tradition, signifying the creation of a new united whole and mirroring that which had enacted by Lyumayin to end the Onyx Age.

History of Observance

The exact origin of observance of Lyumaynalia is hotly contested amongst learned scholars and record keepers; some claim the celebration to be one originally founded by the many races which comprised the ancient Ruhiellian settlers, believed to have sailed south and settled regions of coastal Bariquel and Rahmiel in the times of antiquity. Other's claim it be a remnant of the once great Edian Empire, as Lyumayin was a God held in high regard in their Empire, though not at the highest.

However, the most likely origin comes from that of the ancient Lithreni people of Lithknell. An event recorded by the legendary Black Knight, during conquest of northern Lithknell, his forces encountered a group of Lithreni commonfolk. Unarmed, and wearing naught but bright white and blue cloaks; the sacred colors of the god Lyumayin. They would approach the Edian soldiers. In their hands were boxes, obscured by simple parchment. Once they peeled it away, inside each was a small gift, often made of straw and wood, usually in the form of small figurines in a rough facsimile of Edian Knights.

This event is said to have moved the Black Knight to abandon his charge and the Empire, and later the accounting of this was censored by the Empire, and later lost to history, though the Edia who had witnessed this event later took it to their own homes and lives, and from then on, it spread outward from the Edia to every other race as a sacred tradition. From grandmother, to mother, to daughter, it then became a tradition of their successor races, with the exact traditions and methods evolving and changing over the ages.

While the predominant explanation of its origins amongst Lithreni Races, this origin is hotly contested amongst other racial groups due to being seen as too "Lithno-Centric." Instead, a variety origins are proposed by others, such as the religion being an invention of the Church of Lyumayin; the largely Edian ethno-centric belief structure in order to "pacify" the Dragonspawn, (derogatory term for Lithreni) an origin likely spawned out of animosity towards the Lithreni origin.

While these are two of the most prevalent origins of Lyumaynalia, as the world is inhabited by an endless menagerie of races and peoples, each with their own heritage and belief, it is likely the exact origins will never be fully understood by the planet's inhabitants. Rather; it can be said that truth can be found in each, as nothing in the world is a stagnate force, and everything imposed upon it serves to create a greater whole, meaning the celebration's origins are in constant and ongoing flux. It can also be said that this evolving origin mirrors the very essence of Lyumaynalia itself, a holiday rooted in the reconciliation of opposites and the melding of diverse perspectives to create a new and united whole.