January Holy Days:

• January 1: New Year’s Day
• January 1: Birth of Dawn
• January 2: Birth of Abel Blake
• January 5: Birth of Aeron Blake
• January 7: Birth of Aithne Blake
• January 13: Com. of Comity: Dawn & Dusk
• January 15: Birth of Centry Rio
• January 24: Selection of Aletheia
• January 31: Birth of Dusk

January 1 – New Year’s Day
The transition to the new year has been part of the Other People’s holy calendar for quite a while, almost since its inception. New Year’s Day is both a cultural observance and a religious one. Spiritually, the Laetha and Dierne’s spirits are separated during this time, for anywhere from a week to a month, as they undertake their own duties and trials. It is also a time when initiates with those gods begin their training.

January 1 – Birth of Dawn
The sister spirits of twilight, Dawn and Dusk, are both born in January. Dawn enters at the start of the month. Dawn is a Greater Spirit that heralds the sun, sometimes pulling the light with her reins to throw off the darkness. She is associated with hope, fun, and pleasure, the latter association she shares with Dusk. She has a retinue of mist and water spirits that accompany her.

January 2 – Birth of Abel Blake
One of the Five Feathers (Aithne, Abel, Alynah, Eloise and Eloi), Abel Blake is a spirit of addiction, drunks, and life crises. Alynah Blake is his Companion, with Alynah evening out Abel’s otherwise self-destructive tendencies. He also takes on the form of Aletheia 059 (A. 059), allowing him to manipulate and create illusions. He is not a spirit that is called on to aid in recovery from addiction as much as he is a spirit of addiction and dysfunction.

January 5 – Birth of Aeron Blake
Another one of the Blakes (like Aithne, Abel, and the Greater Spirit Alynah) but not part of the Five Feathers, Aeron is a spirit of any and all ‘black sheep’. He falls outside the usual behavior, looks, and career of the rest of his family, and he can be petitioned for aid when handling similar family conflicts. He is also a giant and has ties to physical fitness, making him an excellent spirit to call upon for such matters. He has a preference for hockey.

January 7 – Birth of Aithne Blake
The first of the Five Feathers, Aithne is a spirit of sexuality and business acumen. She can be petitioned for both matters. She is the oldest and most well-adjusted of all the Blakes, making her an excellent addition when working with any of the others in that line. She is especially tied to business as it relates to modeling. She can also be considered when working on self-love, though her connections are secondary to her sex and business associations. She should not be called upon at the same time as Althea Altair and Lilibell Vega.

January 13 – Communique of Comity: Dawn & Dusk
In the Otherfaith, Comity is a type of relationship between spirits: a non-sexual semi-romantic relationship similar to life partners. Comity is a beneficial relationship that helps the spirits combine their energies toward positive ends, often strengthening connections between similar spirits. ‘Communique’ means ‘formal announcement’, and the term is used repeatedly in the Otherfaith calendar to refer to notable relationships, conflicts, or events. It is usually shorted to ‘Com’. The Comity of Dawn and Dusk is part of the ‘Friday the 13th’ celebrations but is observed regardless of what day of the week the date falls.

January 15 – Birth of Centry Rio
Centries are a group of spirits, created by the Clarene, to oversee and enforce the order of the West. They present as centaurs, though they are sometimes seen with lion halves instead of equine. Rio is assistant and second-in-command to Dallas. More fiery than Dallas, Rio enforces his will with explosive passion, chasing down criminals with grim determination.

January 24 – Selection of Aletheia
Each year a Laethic spirit is chosen to become one of the Aletheia Androids. This can either be a cause of great celebration or mourning, depending on the specific spirit chosen. Some spirits transform entirely, abandoning their past identities and selves. Others, such as Abel and Aeron Blake, retain their sense of selfhood outside of their android forms. Aletheia androids serve the Laethas, primarily the Laetha Ava.

January 31 – Birth of Dusk
Bookending with Dawn’s birth, Dusk is born at the end of January. A Greater Spirit like her elder sibling, Dusk is tied to secrecy, solitude, and pleasure. An entourage of starry spirits accompanies her as she drags the curtain of night to end the day. Dusk is quieter than her sister but can create more potent magic. She seduces the daylight to fade away, her sister’s reins replaced instead with gentle caresses.

For a complete list of all current Otherfaith holy days, you can download the Otherfaith 2019 calendar below. A ‘program’ of January’s holy days is also available for download.