Spectacle

From MeiLinWiki

The Spectacles are religious observances, each in honor of one of the Gods and Goddesses. Each deity's Spectacle is held on that deity's holy day.

In the city of Tremont, the role of the God (or Gods in the case of The Lovers) is played by the Embodiment of said God or Goddess, while in the other towns, the Gods' roles are played by townspeople. During the Spectacle, the God or Goddess is called down into their Embodiment through a ceremony that is specific to each deity. The theme of the Spectacles of Nerr and Neya is The Chase as described in the Lovers' Testament.

Since possession by a deity tends to take a toll on the Embodiment, the spoke after each Spectacle is usually a time of rest. The Lovers' Temple handles things slightly differently since the Embodiments draw "double duty" for both the Spectacle on Neya's Day and a spoke later on Nerr's Day, making it a very hectic time at the Temple. This takes a lot out of the Embodiments and staff, which is why the Embodiments of the Lovers rarely serve for more than 10 or 15 years at most. It also means that Spring's End is a period of heavy duty pampering for the Embodiments when they rest from one Spectacle and get ready for the next, and "when Nerr's Day is over, we will all collapse in a big heap and do nothing but whine and pet one another for a whole spoke", as the Lover's Temple Senik Postulant put it.