Fall into Summer (OPEN)

[kleptofaeniac]

Some witch holidays were meant to be enjoyed by all, regardless of species, alliances or preference to magic. Holidays like Lammas! Think of it as witch Thanksgiving.

An old woman by the name of Agatha Chapman was of the personal opinion that there was just too much infighting between her fellow witches this year. Those Circle Midnight witches were practically children! Agatha had raised enough children to know they were just going through some rebellious phase. It would pass. But this wasn't the time for expressing such things. This was a time of togetherness! Which was why Agatha had, through her daughters and granddaughters, sent a very public invitation to the supernatural community:

~Lammas Day Celebration~

Come celebrate the great tradition of the first harvest and shorter days with a beach party and bonfire!
Food, fun, and sun! No limits on guests, bring your friends!

AUGUST 1^st 2015
12 PM - 2 AM
(public rituals @ 10 PM)

KINGSGATE CASTLE, JOSS GAP ROAD.
BROADSTAIRS.
KENT.

Transportation from the city will be provided from Victoria Station. Present this invitation at the ticket office.

You totally want to go right?


Like the invitation said, all guests transportation will be provided. The train happens to go directly from Victoria Station to the castle, which totals up to a two hour trip - giving plenty of time for people to run into one another on this train-ride. Let's get along everyone.

Upon the guests arrival everyone is greeted by the hostess; a very old, very cheerful lady who insists on being called Ms. Agatha. She introduces her daughters and their daughters. Hit on them at your own peril. After the brief introduction and delicately worded warning that no witch need reveal their coven to others, and no one need attempt to confront them about their choices, everyone is invited down the side of the slow incline of the cliffs to the beach. Time to have fun.

Lammas was traditionally a holiday to celebrate the last day of the wheat harvest. It seems like the witches hosting this party went all out in incorporating that. Golden colored canopies cover the tables that are set out for food. Along with them are large punch bowls filled with different colored liquids and a small bar for anyone who wants something a little stronger than fruit, both of which are abundant - after all this holiday was centered around a community feast. There seems to be a general theme following the decor; apples, cinnamon, and vanilla feature heavily in every dessert of pies, cakes, puddings and ice cream in very creative ways. The more savory foods, less so. But they all fall into the category of typical beach party foods.

There is a changing area towards the face of the cliffs along with bathrooms.

Another fun tradition of Lammas is competitive and athletic games! There are two volleyball nets set up, and what looks like an area for sandcastle building. The team that wins the most games, and the person who builds the best sandcastle wins a prize! The prize is a Maen Magl necklace. The stone is said to bring good luck and good health to the owner. Additionally, they can cure diseases of the eye if rubbed on one's eyelids.

If you're not interested in games, there's always the golden sand to relax and tan on and the water to swim in!

Later, after the sun sets a bonfire is constructed - you can help, but enough driftwood has been collected for the fire itself. As the sun sets, the women hosting the event let everyone know what the purpose of it is. The fire is meant to - while also help people make amazing smores, roasted corn, and apples wrapped in foil - allow the witches and everyone else in attendance to participate in the Lammas rituals. Everyone is encouraged to engage in the rituals, though no one is required to do so.

Nowadays, Lammas is the time to cast off bad habits, thoughts, and what is no longer needed in your life. This spiritual cleansing is represented by fire, and burning things. There are two that will be done tonight, but they won't take longer than thirty minutes when alls said and done. They maybe be performed in any order.

A ritual called 'Winnowing' is meant to cleanse, where everyone writes down negative emotions and bad habits they want to lose on a piece of paper. The witches in the group will all know the chant:

Blessing and curses
Come from the harvest
Return to the earth
To nourish next years

The paper is then thrown into the fire, where it will spark and disintegrate.

The second is highly encouraged for everyone to participate in, as the more people who do so, the more the blessings will be! Everyone is given nine sheaths of wheat, which they are to weave into a braid, and then attach a ribbon to the base of the braid. The witches in the circle around the bonfire should, as the braids are being done, chant:

We weave you and hail you
As queen of the corn
When all's gathered in and
When you are sown.

Once the braids are done, those that weaved them are meant to grab a piece of paper and write what blessing they wish for their friends to have, such as 'Friendship' or 'Mobility'. They must keep the blessing secret and secure it to the ribbon. The ribbons are meant to be kept till Imbolc - another witch holiday - and then be burned, while the ashes are meant to be kept on the individual until the next Lammas. Hope you'll attend that party wherever it is!

After the Ritual, there are plenty of smores to make and some lovely music to listen to while everyone gathers around the bonfire and relaxes until they want to leave. There is no curfew, but the witches hosting the party will be going back up to their flat in the castle around two in the morning.

Happy Lammas!

Comments

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji laughed at that and dove under the waves, quick as a gannet. When he surfaced, he shook himself like a dog and held his hand out to her palmfirst. In it was a spiraling long shell.

"How 'bout that? Feel like a swim now?" He hadn't actually found it in the water, but bought it from a souvenir shop earlier, apparently just so he could try to convince someone to look for more with him.

[goroesi]

She shakes her head, even as she reaches out to touch the shell with a couple fingers. "I'm-- not a swimmer. I don't even like my head being underwater. I'm made for staring off into the sea and brooding. My dad always used to say it was the Welsh in me."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Oh," said Heiji, looking a little more sober. He couldn't imagine what it would be like, not being able to frolic in the waves as he wished. But clearly Maera lived that life. "Hey, I'm sorry. Buy you a drink later?"

[goroesi]

She smiles quickly, to let him know that she's not intending on being too serious. "Nothing to apologize for. It's just part of who I've always been, and now you know. But I'll take the drink. I like how you make offers like that."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Hmm. Bet I'm the only one who does," said Heiji. After all, the fae around here weren't known for giving away free things. So that was another way in which he was apparently a weirdo.

"Nice suit, by the way. You're gonna make all the human girls feel inadequate."

[goroesi]

"You're one of the very, very few, Heiji," she says with a laugh, looking out to the horizon before her attention returns to him, eyes glinting mischievously. "I can't help it. I always intend on toning it down for the sake of the other girls, but I just like dressing up. I like having reasons to look nice."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Yeah, I don't get it. My favorite part of putting fancy clothes on is actually taking 'em off." After all, you didn't actually need human clothes when you had nice, warm fur.

For someone who was half human, though, she certainly had the fae's fascination with beautiful things down.

[goroesi]

"Oh, goodness. I definitely don't need to know that much about your sex life," she teases, wrinkling her nose. Even Heiji has to admit that was pretty leading. "Like, TMI."

[detectiveofthewest]

He sighed in mock-exasperation and flicked a couple drops of water at her. "You are impossible. So, you swear off mixin' drinks for good?" By which, of course, he meant faery and human.

[goroesi]

"Yes, milord," she responds sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "I'll never mix drinks again. I mean, not never. I'm going to have a wedding at some point, probably, and I'm totally going to get trashed. But not during the Hunt."

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji raised his eyebrow at her. "Uh, weren't you the one warning me off it?"

Note to self: Never ask Maera how her New Years' resolutions were going.

[goroesi]

"Yeah, but that was for you. There's a difference between doling out advice and actually listening to yourself speak, don't you think? And I'll be at least five hundred years old before I manage the latter." That's what her mother says, in any case.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Preferably the two would go together. That's what my old man says." Heiji had always sort of figured that Heizou was hard-nosed about certain things, but it was only in meeting people like Maera that he realized the extent to which his own upbringing differed from that of the fae here.

[goroesi]

"But don't parents always tend to be more idealistic?" A softer look comes into Maera's eyes as she thinks of her father. "My dad always used to say what I should do, but it was rarely things that he'd done himself. You know what I mean?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"Uh, maybe on some other planet. Like. In another other solar system. Possibly in a universe parallel to this one." In other words, no. His father's idealism was that of a firm belief in law and order; his mother wasn't as outspoken about it, but felt similarly. They didn't tell Heiji to follow his dreams or junk like that.

Then again, they also didn't hunt down redheads, so.

[goroesi]

"What?" she demands incredulously. "No, that's what they're like. They want what's better for you, so they tell you to not to do things because they've made those mistakes before." Yeah, Maera's a touch naive when it comes to this.

[detectiveofthewest]

"You sound like an after school special." He might grudgingly admit that his parents had his best interests in mind... from their point of view. From his, their meddling was just plain annoying.

"All my folks do is poke their noses in where it don't belong."

[goroesi]

"... oh." Oh. Her expression sobers quickly, and it takes a moment before she can continue. "I guess... I've never felt like that about mine. They've just looked out for me as much as they can. I don't know. They both say they made a lot of mistakes, so it's easy to see that they just want things to be better for me, you know."

[detectiveofthewest]

"I can't imagine you listening to advice." In fact, this had to be the longest uninterrupted period of time in which he'd ever seen Maera acting serious about anything.

"What was so bad about life for them? They had you, didn't they?" And instilled family values in her or whatever, which was more than you could say for most parental relationships.

[goroesi]

"Hey now," she protests weakly, "I'm not terrible at following instructions. Just... not the best at it, most of the time." There's a difference. "And they did live a while before they had me, Heiji. According to them, they weren't really the type to stay out of trouble until they met each other and settled down a little."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Sure, but the way you talk about it, they worked together, right? With the fae involved, even." And a kid on top of that.

"So they ended up with somethin' nice. That's worth something. Some people go their whole lives without findin' anything like that."

[goroesi]

"Yeah. They worked. We all worked together really well." She smiles a little, ducking her head. "They were, like... a legendary romance. That sounds really stupid, but if you'd ever seen them together, you'd understand."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Well, that sounds super rare," said Heiji, looking away briefly. "I mean, what're the odds of a human and a fae actually working out at all? Even taking aside the difference in lifespans."

You'd have to trust that human an awful lot. Or lie to them -- by omission, of course.

[goroesi]

"I know," she says simply, looking back up at him with a wider grin. "Like I said. They were legendary. And-- enough in love to work through all the tough stuff in their way."

[detectiveofthewest]

STOP STARING AT HIM WITH YOUR STARRY-EYED FAIRY EYES. Heiji looked like he was resisting this message, too, steadfastly not meeting her gaze.

"Couple of my relatives tried it. It didn't work out." The words were clipped, terse; 'it didn't work out' had been kind of an understatement.