Lurlinemas

Lurlinemas is the paramount annual festival in Oz, a syncretic holiday that fuses the ancient pagan worship of the Fairy Queen Lurline with the later, dominant unionist Christian traditions. It functions as a time of gift-giving, family reunion, and communal celebration, but also as a narrative fulcrum for some of the most pivotal and tragic events in Elphaba's life, marking the moment of her failed assassination attempt and the subsequent destruction of her lover, Fiyero.

Origins and Syncretic Observance

The holiday's roots lie in the pre-unionist cult of Lurline, the Fairy Queen who, according to legend, created Oz and left her daughter Ozma to rule it. The unionist church, having appropriated and transformed the most visible parts of the old pagan beliefs, adopted the festival, adorning its chapels "shamelessly in green and gold" and setting out "green candles and golden gongs and greenberry wreaths and gilded fruit." This syncretism is most visible in the commercial sphere, where shops in the Emerald City outdo the churches in decor, displaying papier-mâché figures of Lurline in her winged chariot and her assistant, the minor fairy Preenella, who "strewed gift-wrapped delights from her capacious magic basket." The holiday thus represents a layered cultural palimpsest, where pagan iconography is both absorbed and commodified by the dominant religious and economic powers.

Rituals and Social Customs

Lurlinemas is marked by a distinct set of social rituals. Gift-giving is central, as seen when Fiyero sends a "propitiatory package of bright wooden toys" for his children and a "jeweled torque" for his wife, Sarima, from the Emerald City. The holiday also occasions family gatherings and festive meals, as when the sisters at Kiamo Ko prepare gingerbread and the children decorate the castle with baubles and toys. The celebration often includes caroling, as the sisters and children "sang carols as loudly as they could" on Lurlinemas Eve. The holiday also has a strong association with charity and penitence, as Fiyero drops "an offering in the poor box" in a chapel on Lurlinemas Eve, though he acknowledges his motivation is "characterized more by guilt than charity." The festival thus serves as a time for both public display of wealth and private acts of atonement.

Lurlinemas Eve: The Climax of Elphaba's Conspiracy

Lurlinemas Eve is the date chosen for the culmination of Elphaba's five-year underground campaign against the Wizard's regime. She insists to Fiyero that it is "a work night" for her and implores him to stay away from "anything social, I mean theatre or crowds, or even restaurants." She stalks through the city, dressed in disguise, heading toward the Lady's Mystique theatre, where her target—Madame Morrible—is scheduled to attend an oratorio. The plan is disrupted by an unforeseen event: a swarm of schoolgirls from Madame Teastane's Female Seminary, led by a pantomime player dressed as the Fairy Preenella, spills out into the square. The children, "small creamy lumps of uncurdled femininity," create a chaotic, innocent mob that blocks Elphaba's line of fire. Faced with the prospect of harming children, Elphaba's resolve crumbles. She "crumpled and sank back against a pillar, shivering with self-loathing," and her target, Madame Morrible, passes safely into the theatre. The assassination attempt fails, and this failure precipitates Elphaba's psychological collapse and her flight to the Cloister of Saint Glinda.

Aftermath and Consequences

The immediate aftermath of the failed Lurlinemas Eve plot is catastrophic. Fiyero, having followed Elphaba, returns to her hideout, where he is ambushed and brutally attacked by the Gale Force. The attack is so violent that his body is never found, leaving Elphaba to believe he is dead. This event, directly tied to the Lurlinemas Eve conspiracy, becomes the central trauma of Elphaba's life, driving her into years of silence and penance at the mauntery. The holiday thus becomes a permanent marker of loss and guilt. Years later, at Kiamo Ko, the memory of the holiday is still painful; Elphaba refuses to participate in the festivities, sending down a message that "Lurlinemas Eve and Lurlinemas always made her ill, and she was taking a few days in solitary comfort." The festival, once a time of joy and expectation, is forever tainted by its association with the night her world was destroyed.