Feast of Lights

The Feast of Lights.

For the chapter in Lord of Chaos by the same name, see Feast of Lights. For other uses of the word "light," see Light.

Feast of Lights is a two day holiday that occurs on the last day of the old year (the 28th of Danu) and the first day of the new year (the 1st of Taisham.) Danu 28th is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

Celebration

The Feast of Lights is celebrated in every nation with lamps and candles filling windows, homes, even anchored ships. There are sometimes parades of people carrying lanterns through the streets and always, everywhere, are there joyous celebrations.

Cairhien has a unique way to celebrate, for this is the only time the people of Cairhien are given breaks. For two days, all social barriers are broken, and everyone goes wild while music and dancing flow through the streets. One of the tenets of the holiday is that any man can kiss any woman, and any woman can kiss any man, and nobles and commoners alike are seen in states of undress from the waist up. At the end of the feast, everyone returns to their normal classes and duties, with no acknowledgment that anything occurred.

The second day of Feast of Lights is called Firstday, on which it is traditional to give alms generously.

Parallels

Both the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah and the Hindu/Sikh/Jain festival of Diwali are known the Festival of Lights. Although Hannukah is based on the lunar cycle, it coincides with the winter solstice as it has a duration of 8 days. Diwali celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, so it is appropriate that it be celebrated on the shortest day when days start to become longer. In both festivals, candles are lit, and paper lanterns are common in Diwali.

Although, gift-giving is a feature of Christmas and is close to the same date, Jordan is referencing the progenitor of that holiday, the Roman festival of Saturnalia. As well as gift-giving, traditional customs surrounding Saturnalia incluse role-reversal between masters and servants, public displays of lewdness, drunkenness, gambling, gluttony and general debauchery. Perrin witnesses this in abundance in the chapter entitled The Feast of Lights. A Lord of Saturnalia could also be appointed over the chaos - a Lord of Chaos, if you will - although in the Wheel of Time, this concept is used in the Feast of Fools.