Festival of Treewake

Today is the Quatrian Festival of Treewake, which generally falls during the waxing gibbous moon, prior to the Full Moon of March, where the Full Moon happens on or after the Ides of March/St. Patrick’s Day.

Treewake in this climate coincides with Snowmelt, and sugaring season, wherein temperatures at night are below freezing, and during the day several degrees above. It is typified by rain, which causes the melting snow to steam, and the increasing reddening of the linden, and yellowing of salix.

Traditionally, Quatrian families would climb to the highest remaining snow drifts, and tie colored ribbons to the uppermost branches they could reach of trees, which are still bare of leaves during this time period. Each member of the family used their own color ribbon. The ribbons served as encouragement for the trees to awaken and revivify, as well as acting as visual reminders during the Fairer Seasons of how high the snows of winter can reach.

Quatrian scholars also suggest that the Festival of Treewake may have a mythic link to the fairy tale of the Old Man & the Unjust Ruler. However, others have pointed out that Winter was not seen as bad or evil by Ancient Quatrians, and the link to the natural Festival of Treewake may have been a later spurious interpolation by Pantarctican mythographers.

“The Longest Winter fell during the reign of the Unjust Ruler.
The people cried out & even the Ruler was cold.
An Old Man in the wood wearing animal skins heard the cries, & went to the castle, asking what was wrong.

We are all cold, replied the Ruler, shivering.
Take my skins, the Old Man said.
The Ruler put on the skins, and turned into a wild beast.

The people mistook the Unjust Ruler for a real beast,
and chased and beat him til he fled into the wood,
where he was torn apart by his own hounds,
and Winter at long last ended.”