Christmas, at least in the US and UK, isthe chief of holidays, and no doubt you’ve seen a lot of Blissemas posts about it this year. Today I’d like to talk about Christmas’s smaller sibling, New Year’s Day.<\/p>\n
People, as long as they are people, have holidays. As long as they measure time at all, then there will be a time when the meter clicks over and a new one of whatever begins. Even if they’ve gone all metric and instead of “years” they have “kilodays” they will still sit up and take notice when all the digits across the display are zeroes. And since it’s in the nature of humanity to reminisce about the past and make plans for the future, they will likely do it on that day when the time function ticks particularly loudly.<\/p>\n
And for that reason, “New Year’s Eve” and “New Year’s Day” (by whatever name your people know it) will be present in any society that measures time with numbers. They may not celebrate it in ways we would recognize, but the fundamental commonality is there. People need to pay attention to time on that day, just to remember to change the number they’re putting on their business, and that naturally gets people thinking about time. New Years are always holidays, in every culture.<\/p>\n
Creating a holiday for a fictional culture is an important way to highlight aspects of the culture. Think of how Christmas in mainstream american culture, with things like lavish light displays and expensive gifts, highlights the consumerism that’s so much a part of modern America. A fictional holiday should have similarly deep roots in the culture in which it is celebrated.<\/p>\n
In my novel trilogy the Orgone Chronicles, there’s a culture known simply as “The Pirates” with a celebrity class known as “Worthies.” They are the crews of the raiding ships that form the economic backbone of the culture, but they are also players in what amounts to a twenty-four hour reality show. Essentially, they get paid for having high-drama lives full of passion and betrayal. Take everything you might see on “Big Brother” or “Survivor,” add in duelling, sex, and space combat, and you’ve got some idea of what their culture is like.<\/p>\n
The Pirate version of the New Year’s holiday is ‘Election Week,’ which is held at the beginning of each new year. It recognizes the accomplishments of those who have done the most to support the community over the previous year. All the raiding ships from across the galaxy come together at the mothership, “Port.” The pirate crews engage in a week-long celebration of feasts, games, duels, and debauchery. It all culminates in a public vote to elect one of their number to recieve the title of “First Worthy”. Since the office has some real political power, the competition gets heated. This event figures strongly in the third book of the series, “Hunters,” which is planned to come out in May 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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