Today is “officially”, I believe, the spring equinox—and I wrote on Monday that it:

” … feels like both a hopeful time, and one to think about what’s coming up in the six months ahead.”

The arrival of spring equinox also got me thinking about the importance of the seasons and the festivals that mark seasonal transition in The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night, Book Two.)

Over a year ago, in my very first “Influences on Story” post on June 23 (and yes, I know, it’s ages since I’ve done anything on “Influences”—I have been too busy writing m’story, aye! 😉 ) I did mention this, noting particularly that:

Summer's Eve

“Yesterday, the section of The Gathering of the Lost (The Wall of Night Series, Book Two) that I was working on centered around a festival called Summer’s Eve, which is “always held on the first new moon of summer.”

I then went on to discuss festivals in our world, such as Matariki here in NZ, Valborgsmassafton in Sweden, where I once lived, and May Day in the UK, all of which have influenced my ideas around seasonal festivals and their connection to cultural celebration.

But the seasonal cycle in the Southern Realms of the world of Haarth—which broadly comprise all those lands and kingdoms “from Ij to Ishnapur”—is tied not only to the formality of solstice and equinox, but also to that sense of a shift in the seasons that can come almost overnight, where you step outside and feel the “change” that speaks to you through air and light. For example, the early morning crispness that starts around 20 February (here in NZ), accompanied by a noticeable change in the quality of the light, that tells us that yes, even though autumn equinox is still a month away, the world has already begun its in exorable turn toward winter. And I believe the Japanese celebrate a corresponding turn in mid-late February with the ume matsuri festival, celebrating the plum blossoms that are the first harbingers of spring.

Midsummer Fare

So these are the seasonal celebrations in the Southern Realms of Haarth:

• The First of Spring—this takes place approximately eight weeks after the winter solstice, but ahead of the equinox, and celebrates the beginning of spring
• Spring Night—spring equinox
• Summer’s Eve—held approximately half way between the spring equinox and summer solstice, on the first new moon of summer
• Midsummer—the summer solstice, usually celebrated by a three day festival
• Summer’s End—celebrated approximately eight weeks after the summer solstice; also a harvest festival
• Autumn’s Eve—the autumn equinox
• Autumn’s Night—major festival marking the end of harvest and advent of winter, held on the last old moon of autumn; also a feast of the dead. May be called Winter’s Eve in some communities.
• Midwinter—the winter solstice

In The Gathering of the Lost, the arc of the story is marked by the passage of these seasonal celebrations, from spring through to summer’s end. (And yes, cherries do get a mention in relation to Midsummer … )