“Taking Tea” — More Thoughts on Festivals & Feasts

Last Thursday, when posting the 18th (yes 18! I know, isn’t it quite frabjously wonderful?! :D) and final (alas!) Q&A on matters pertaining to Daughter of Blood, I included a number of related posts on festivals, food, and their relevance to fantasy worldbuilding.

USA

While preparing that post, I also spotted Taking Tea With Kim Falconer, a very on-theme post from a few years back. So on-theme, that I’m refeaturing it today — with the ‘advisory’ that the title should probably refer to “Ritual and Feasts” since although tea can play its part in creating a sense of festival, taking tea is more in the nature of ritual. Imho!

The post was inspired by Kim Falconer’s Supernatural Underground post on Books, Tea, and Magic, which is still very well worth reading.

And so — onward to Taking Tea, where the chief reference to the fragrant beverage does come in Daughter Of Blood:

UK/AU/NZ

“Mistress Ise, who is the former governess to Myr, one of the main characters, hails not from Myr’s House, which is Blood, but from the House of the Rose. Drinking tea, or tisane as Ise and Myr refer to it—since the teas they take are chiefly herbal—is definitely part of the Rose culture, although not so much in the House of Blood. OK, not at all, in the House of Blood…

The following passage introduces the reader to both tisane and the Rose custom:

“The night lamp in Ise’s sitting room was turned down, and Myr tripped against a low table in the dimness. Her heart pounded as she crouched down, steadying the antique silver tray on its stand. Each leg was carved into the shape of a dragon, with the tray held between their open jaws. When Myr was very small she had liked to rub the snarling heads and trace the moon-and-star patterns incised into the tray. Ise had brought the table with her from the House of the Rose and always used it for their court’s rituals of calligraphy and taking tisane.”

Just a little snippet to enjoy on your first tea break (ritual, anyone?) of the week. 🙂