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New Year’s Feast

Posted
Updated
BySuraia Silverbell

Date: Thyrday, Cycle of Garandar, Season of Thoron — first day of the new year
Observed by: Families, temples, and communities across the Xaverion Islands
Also known as: First Fire, The Day of Firsts, Thoron’s Rising

Overview

The New Year’s Feast marks the first day of the new year on the Xaverion calendar: Thyr Garandar Thoron, the day that opened the Fifth Era and has opened every year since.

Where Lantern Night is quiet and introspective, New Year’s Feast is its bright reply: firelight, music, and the feeling of waking up inside a year that has only just begun. The regrets and wishes of the old year have already been written on sending lanterns and released; New Year’s Feast is about living in that new beginning with warm food, good company, and small symbolic “firsts”.

At the heart of the feast lies a single celestial moment: at midnight, the golden wandering star known as Thoron’s planet rises into view. Priests teach that each season begins when the planet of its patron god first appears in the night sky; for Thoron, that rising marks both the start of his season and the official turn of the year.

Names & Meaning

New Year’s Feast – The formal calendar name, used in temple and civic records. Refers to the whole observance: from midnight through the slow, shared breakfast.

First Fire – A common rural name, centring the custom of kindling the first fire of the year from a completely new flame rather than banking old coals.

The Day of Firsts – A popular, informal term in cities and among children. It reflects the playful belief that many “firsts” on this day — first words, first bite of food, first knock at the door — echo softly through the year.

Thoron’s Rising – A devotional and technical name used in temples, observatories, and among sailors. It refers to the first rising of Thoron’s planet at midnight, which keeps the calendar aligned with the sky.

Unlike many winter holidays, New Year’s Feast does not predate the New Faiths. It was shaped alongside the modern calendar, tying the legal start of the year directly to the celestial rising of Thoron’s planet and the opening of his season.

From Lantern Night to Thoron’s Rising

By the time New Year’s Feast begins:

  • burdens and regrets have been written on sending lanterns and released on water, wind, or into the dark,

  • hopes for the coming year have gone with them,

  • the old year has been walked out with the White Flame and the lantern processions of Lantern Night.

Some people sleep after Lantern Night’s closing rite; many others doze near the hearth or sit talking softly, determined to be awake when the new year shows its face in the sky.

Thoron’s Rising

In the last hour of the old year, eyes turn eastward.

According to temple astronomers, each of the four main seasons is tied to a specific god’s planet. A season truly begins at the moment that planet becomes visible above the horizon after a certain conjunction. For Thoron, this rising has been fixed to occur at midnight between Lantern Night and Thyr Garandar.

Customs around Thoron’s Rising:

  • Watching the Horizon
    Families step outside or climb to rooftops, balconies, quays, hills, and city walls. As bells or temple chimes mark the last moments of the old year, they scan the darkness for the first glint of Thoron’s golden light lifting above the horizon. On clear nights, some swear they can see a faint violet halo around it, taking this as a sign that the year will be kinder than most.

  • The First Glimpse
    The first person in a group who can honestly say they see Thoron’s planet is said to be “favoured with first strength” that year. Some families treat this as a mock-solemn contest; others happily declare that the youngest spotted it first, no matter what anyone’s eyes say.

  • Clouded Nights
    When clouds hide the sky, people rely on temple charts and the agreed moment of rising. It is customary to say,
    “Even when the sky is veiled, the year has turned.”
    Some households light a small candle in a window “so Thoron knows we were watching, even if we saw nothing.”

The instant Thoron’s planet clears the horizon, the new year and the Season of Thoron are considered to have begun. Reactions range from cheers and embraces to a simple, shared breath of relief.

The First Fire

Once Thoron’s Rising has passed, attention returns from sky to hearth.

On the morning of Thyr Garandar Thoron—sometimes immediately after midnight, sometimes at first light—people kindle the First Fire of the year:

  • Hearths are allowed to die down completely, if they have not already done so.

  • A new flame is struck, ideally from fresh flint and steel instead of yesterday’s embers.

  • In cities and larger towns, a central First Fire may be lit in a square or temple forecourt; torches and lanterns are then lit from it and carried home, sharing the new flame between households.

The First Fire symbolises:

  • the year’s new labour in Thoron’s season,

  • the warmth and safety each household will need to tend,

  • the simple truth that, even after all the rituals, life must be rekindled by real hands.

Some families mark the First Fire with a short toast or blessing. Others simply sit for a quiet moment and enjoy the first true warmth of the year.

New Year’s Breakfast

After a late night and an early watch for Thoron’s Rising, the pace remains gentle. New Year’s breakfast is the heart of the festival day.

There is no single prescribed menu, but common themes include:

  • “First foods”

    • round or whole foods (buns, eggs, small loaves) for completeness,

    • sweet or pleasantly spiced dishes so the year “begins on a sweet bite”,

    • freshly prepared items to represent new beginnings.

  • First Loaf or First Cake
    Many bake a small loaf or cake on the last day of the old year and refuse to cut it until breakfast, calling it the First Loaf. The first slice is often shared around the table before anyone takes their own portion.

  • Shared First Sip
    Households commonly share a first drink together — water, tea, cider, or something stronger — with a short toast such as:
    “To first steps taken well,”
    “To new chances and better use of old lessons,”
    or simply, “To us.”

Breakfast is unhurried. People linger at the table, talk about the year they hope for, or sit in comfortable silence while bodies and thoughts catch up to the turning of the calendar.

The Day of Firsts

The rest of the day is shaped by small, intentional “firsts” rather than heavy ritual.

Common customs include:

  • First Words
    Some households make a game of ensuring that the first words spoken aloud that morning are kind, hopeful, or at least not profane. Starting the year with a curse is jokingly said to invite more of the same.

  • First Deed
    People choose a small, purposeful first action: sweeping the doorstep, writing a letter, feeding animals a treat, setting aside a coin for future charity, hanging up a tool that needs fixing. The idea is that the year’s first work should be on purpose, not accidental drudgery.

  • First Guest
    It is considered good fortune when the first person to cross your threshold in the new year comes as a friend. The First Guest is offered something to eat or drink, however modest. Turning them away is seen as poor manners and a bad omen.

  • First Walk
    In the afternoon, many families take a short walk together: through city streets, around fields, or along the shore. This is less solemn than the Lantern Night procession and more about seeing the world in daylight again, noticing that it is both unchanged and newly named “this year” instead of “last”.

Work is kept as light as circumstances allow. Heavy labour and serious arguments are often postponed, not because anyone fears a curse, but because it is rare to have a shared understanding: today we start gently.

Colours & Decorations

Thoron’s colours are gold and deep purple.

During New Year’s Feast, these colours appear everywhere:

  • Gold – in candleflame, brass and copper candleholders, polished cups, honey-glazed foods, ribbons, and the warm light of the First Fire itself. It stands for hard-won success, the light that saw people through the past year, and the strength they hope to carry forward.

  • Purple – in table runners, banners, sashes, scarves, and plum or berry dishes. It represents dignity, endurance, and the scars and lessons carried into the new year.

Many temples and households hang a fresh gold-and-purple banner on Thyr Garandar, leaving it up through the entire Season of Thoron.

Cultural Notes

Thoron’s Church
For Thoron’s adherents, New Year’s Feast is a celebration of tested strength and renewed resolve. Temples may:

  • host gatherings for Thoron’s Rising,

  • provide flame from a central First Fire,

  • offer simple communal breakfasts so no one meets the new year hungry,

  • remind worshippers that the wishes and sendings of Lantern Night now need real effort behind them.

Priests often say that Thoron’s planet is not a promise of an easy year—only a reminder that the god is watching to see what people do with the time they are given.

Mixed-Faith and Secular Households
Less devout families often skip the theological framing and keep the customs they enjoy:

  • staying up to spot Thoron’s planet if the sky is clear,

  • lighting a modest new flame,

  • sharing a good breakfast and a few chosen firsts.

For them, the day feels like a collective “soft reset”: the year is new because everyone agrees to treat it that way.

Rural vs City Celebrations

  • In rural areas, Thoron’s Rising might be watched from the same hill every year, with small groups of neighbours pointing at the horizon and laughing together when clouds defeat them.

  • In cities, temple towers and rooftops briefly fill with people around midnight, then spill back into streets and houses to kindle fires, toast, and finally sleep. Districts may each have their own First Fire, their own musicians, and their own character—but the core looks much the same from farmhouse to townhouse: people around a table, eating, talking, and beginning again.

Place in the Calendar

New Year’s Feast sits at the very start of the new cycle, immediately after the year’s close:

  • Lantern Night (Li Noent Ysandra) – White Flame Vigil, lantern walks, releasing burdens and sending wishes ahead into the new year.

  • New Year’s Feast / Thoron’s Rising (Thyr Garandar Thoron) – first visible rising of Thoron’s golden planet at midnight, First Fire, New Year’s breakfast, and a day of small, deliberate “firsts” to begin living inside those wishes.

From there, the Season of Thoron unfolds: weeks of winter and stubborn work in which all the quiet hopes carried by lantern-light and under Thoron’s golden star must be turned into lived effort.

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