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Spring brought newborns—children born during late winter or early spring who had not yet been fully integrated into community life. The spring ceremonies included rituals that welcomed these new members, that named them properly, that gave them standing among the living.
The naming was particularly important. The child had been kept relatively nameless through winter, protected from the Wild Hunt and dangerous spirits by remaining partially invisible to supernatural notice. With spring’s arrival and the return of safer conditions, the child could be named and thereby given full identity and protection.
The naming ceremony involved elders, parents, and the assembled community. The name chosen was announced publicly, often with explanation of its significance—which ancestor it honored, what qualities it invoked, what fate it suggested. Water from spring’s first flowing might be used to bless the child, or the infant might be carried to the sacred grove to be presented to the land-spirits who would share responsibility for its protection.
The ceremony transformed the biological infant into social person, enrolled them in the networks of obligation and protection that characterized community membership. The named child became part of the bloodline’s continuity, a link in the chain extending from ancestors into future generations. Their wyrd was acknowledged and accepted, their place in the cosmic order established through proper ritual.
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