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Do folks in the Imperium (or other 40K cultures) still celebrate things like important dates, birthdays, weddings, etc. in a way comparable to how we do now?

What sorts of events are celebrated?

I realise at the very bottom of the heap, folks working 14 hour days barely know what day it is, and at the other extreme, Governors probably hold a ball every time they pass wind expressively, but on the varying scale in between, is there any material covering how folks enjoy themselves?

To know how old an individual is, for example, they must *have* a birthday...?
I assume there are still saints days, albeit contemporary saints for relevant sectors.
Rites of passage for different organisations, etc?

I could finish this by saying "Just an idle thought.", but I'm uncertain that one fluff query has a more valid reason than another...

The only one I know of is the one to remember Sanguinius' sacrifice called the Sanguinala...

"The Primarch is even commemorated on his own sacred day of celebration called the Sanguinala, where Imperial Adepts across the galaxy wear the red badge of Sanguinius on their breasts to commemorate his sacrifice" WH40kwiki

There's very little uniformity, the answer to your question quite literally changes every time you go to a new world. A forge world's celebration day may be little more than a 1 hour break for prayer while a garden/paradise world may have something of a party of feast to mark the occasion. It really boils down to the context of each world, as well as a few broad strokes that we know:

It is a safe bet that there are holy days for various saints. That said, nothing is known about how they are venerated, or indeed if they even get a 'holiday'. After all, there are so many martyrs and saints and what-have-yous that there are simply too many to recognize.

I know of an "Emperor's Day" which is more or less like Christmas (more feast than gift giving). But again, per world it is celebrated differently.

Sometimes it is the one and ONLY day-off for workers and they feast (which what little they have) or give to each other (again, with very little). But in terms of details I cannot recall any specifics like what day it is, or what Emperors Day exactly entails.

Obviously it celebrates the Emprah in some manner. Maybe its the day he came to the throne or when he first made himself known, I don't know.

Per planet there could be different holidays for different things. Personal fluff planets could have a holiday for every single day for all we know (as pointless and useless as that would be).

Some could have some botched 40k versions of our current earth holidays.

Some could have celebrations of battle victories on the planet who's combatants have long since died hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

Some forge worlds could have a moment of prayer (and rough alignment of ones self to Mars) for when the first mechanicus settlers arrived on the world.

the possibilities are endless.

Taffy17 wrote:
The only one I know of is the one to remember Sanguinius' sacrifice called the Sanguinala...

"The Primarch is even commemorated on his own sacred day of celebration called the Sanguinala, where Imperial Adepts across the galaxy wear the red badge of Sanguinius on their breasts to commemorate his sacrifice" WH40kwiki

Does it come with little chocolate eggs and -

[Raises hands] Sorry.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

curran12 wrote:There's very little uniformity, the answer to your question quite literally changes every time you go to a new world. A forge world's celebration day may be little more than a 1 hour break for prayer while a garden/paradise world may have something of a party of feast to mark the occasion. It really boils down to the context of each world, as well as a few broad strokes that we know:

It is a safe bet that there are holy days for various saints. That said, nothing is known about how they are venerated, or indeed if they even get a 'holiday'. After all, there are so many martyrs and saints and what-have-yous that there are simply too many to recognize.

That certainly makes sense! Thank you.
I'm also intrigued about the more personal level though (as I always am) whether there's any fluff about civillian life, etc.
We know folks do get married, but is it just a stamp, a day out, etc? Any records of any worlds covering this?

Engine of War wrote:I know of an "Emperor's Day" which is more or less like Christmas (more feast than gift giving). But again, per world it is celebrated differently.

I somehow always assumed that was actually facetious tomfoolery by fans. I'm curious now.

Some could have some botched 40k versions of our current earth holidays.

I reckon there could still be winter feasts and things like Harvest celebration on agri-worlds. Or the end of seasons, etc.

There is a holiday celebrating the day the Emperor ascended to the throne (or something like that) it was mentioned briefly in a book, possibly a Ciaphis Cain novel? But I'm not sure. Also, in 7th Retribution, a planet has an annual sacrifice of a sort by giving away something of importance, iirc. I believe it was to repebt fot the sins of their ancestors (who did not accept Imperial rule at first when the planet was discovered) Infants and elders are allowed to donate blood instead, and it wasn't much of a holiday, but more like a way to get a lot of people to do harm unto themselves, but it was treated like a holiday nonetheless. Also, that 'holiday' sounded like it was unique to that planet, not an IoM classic or anything.

Yea, Engine of War said pretty much everything I wanted to say. Worllds of Imperium are too different. Some celebrate only Emperor's Day, some celebrate a big nuber of dates, some are too struggling to celebrate anything.

It kinda makes me sad that there's no precedent in the fluff for whether folk can have birthday cake.

That said, the holidays and celebrations absolutely make sense. I was just wondering about what's actually written (if any).

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
It kinda makes me sad that there's no precedent in the fluff for whether folk can have birthday cake.

That said, the holidays and celebrations absolutely make sense. I was just wondering about what's actually written (if any).

Its entirely possible the celebration of ones birth (and cake giving or the creation of cake at all) is still celebrated.

A factory worker might not get a cake but perhaps a "Hey *name*, Happy Birthday!" from his/her co-workers who know them well enough. Gifts are unlikely but not impossible.

Again, per planet it depends.

There are two, that I can think of off-hand, celebrated across the Imperium. The first is a celebration of Sanguinius, the other is the Feast of the Emperor's Ascension, which is kinda like Christmas and Easter rolled into one.

Every planet with any degree of culture will have some sort of local celebrations and observances, based on the history of that world.

From what I know, there is very few Imperium wide holiday with the exception of the Emperor's Ascension (the holiday to celebrate the Emperor ascension to godhood), Candle Mass (new year eve) and the one about Sanguinius death. There is probably a few others for very important and famous saints, but I don't know the details.

All worlds have their own holidays where they celebrate local saints, events or other things like that. These are some exemples. In the first book of the Ravenor trilogie, the group arrives on a primitive agriworld were market day is a huge holiday with much drinking, weddings and trading. In Faith and Fire, there is a holiday dedicated to a victory of Saint Katherine and the ascension of a minor saint that involves two groups of young children dressed in eldars and Sisters of Battle who kill each other with shotguns and blunt swords. In the second book of Eisenhorn, there is a Shrine World that dedicate itself to celebrate all the time a saint every day making ieach year a very long holiday.

 Engine of War wrote:

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
It kinda makes me sad that there's no precedent in the fluff for whether folk can have birthday cake.

That said, the holidays and celebrations absolutely make sense. I was just wondering about what's actually written (if any).

Its entirely possible the celebration of ones birth (and cake giving or the creation of cake at all) is still celebrated.

A factory worker might not get a cake but perhaps a "Hey *name*, Happy Birthday!" from his/her co-workers who know them well enough. Gifts are unlikely but not impossible.

Again, per planet it depends.

I was being very silly, but thank you for indulging my daftness nonetheless.