Governmental Rituals
These are the rituals supported by the government of Dathomir. While the force order has their rituals, these are not weighed by advancement in the understanding of the force. The achievements from each ritual below are what all Dathomirian may personal reach and have heavy emotional meanings.
Wedding / Bonding Ceremony - Marriage, or the closest thing the Dathomiri get to it, is achieved through the "ritual of bonding". While the idea of a powerful and culturally superior woman attaching herself to one man for years when she could have as many as she wants at any time may see counterintuitive to the ideals the Daughters of Allya support, they are not immune to love. Every once in a while, a Witch finds a single male who seems to turn her into a babbling little girl again. Or, more commonly, she'll find a woman who does the same thing. This isn't to say lesbianism is more common for Dathomiri women - some just have issues seeing men as worthy of deep enough feelings to realize love for a man. Most have no such problems with women.
The ritual of bonding has few of the limits the galaxy at large puts on the idea of "marriage". Partners of any gender can be bonded to each other in a formal, intimate sense. There is not an expectation of a single bond, though those who find themselves the target of too much "true love" draw a bit of suspicion. Several, however, keep multiple bonded servants and one or two very intimate friends close to them.
Unlike many aspects of Dathomiri culture, the ritual itself differentiates little with gender variation style of ceremony. Still all ceremonies are generally presided over by the Clan Leader, and each Clan has their own traditions for what is said at these uniquely important occasions. The only uniform aspect is the end of the rite, during which each party gives the other something to represent their bond. This is generally a small article of clothing to be worn at all times. Servants normally hand-craft a bracelet, anklet, or charm necklace for their owner and lover. Witches and Jai afford much higher-quality gifts, which tend to be magnificent jewelry for other free people or expensive collars for servants.
Since the entire ritual is conducted in Paecean as a rule, translating it to Basic generally involves the words "husband" and "wife". These are not titles inherent to the culture, but their "best guess" analogues in a different language.
Collaring Ceremony – On Dathomir, slavery has changed to willing servants; however it is still very common that the word "slave" is used and roughly as precise as the word "starship". That is to say, not terribly. Servants run the gamut from basic working drones to breeding stock to personal assistants to skilled labor. Since they're such an intricate part of the Dathomiri lifestyle, servants have a kind of culture of their own, though not even a fraction as well-developed as the rest of the world. Much of this culture centers around the collar.
The average servant does not receive a collar immediately. They have to prove their worth in labor, discipline, and conduct. Failure is punished harshly, and continued excellence is rewarded with the status of being collared. While collared, a servant enjoys the benefit of respect from fellow servants, and is generally looked at with more consideration from “free” Dathomirian. Of course, this collar can be taken away, and expressly is as a more radical punishment.
With the amount of importance servants put on their collars (and the amount of attention their owners give them) it's not surprising that there are specific rituals dedicated expressly to the presentation of a servant's collar. The normal ritual is barely a handwave, perhaps a few words spoken by the owner presenting their servant with the collar and some words of dedication, hollow or not, from the servant who's earned it. With more esteemed or important servants, however, and those in softer, more people-oriented positions, rituals can get very elaborate.
Naming Ceremony – A naming ceremony of some type is common to most societies. It is a ceremony where a new born is introduced to his/her community as well as to the Force. It is an important ceremony for the family and friends that are involved even if it does not mean much to the infant at this point in time. It makes the newborn a real and concrete member of the community. It is very important socially, not to mention that it brings the infant to the attention of the powers that be, whatever he/she will call them later, during one of the most vulnerable times of their life.
Naming ceremonies are normally done no sooner than one week after birth (to allow for recovery of both baby and mother from the birth) and normally no longer than a couple of months after the birth (if more time passes the infant is already a part of the community and has probably already been called to the attention of the Force in some way so it becomes a rather moot point). The ceremony is best done at sunrise or at least in the morning and is best if done during a full or waxing moon.
New parents should invite family and friends that they feel will be close during the child’s life. A naming ceremony can be simple and non-Dathomir enough that those of other views of the Force should feel comfortable attending.
Notes:
* This ritual was originally performed in plaza (Clans town square, whatever you want to call it), or any sacred space with clear quadrants will do.
* The Clan Leader over sees and perform the ceremony.
* The ritual can be adapted for a male child, a single parent, or parents of the same gender.
* Elements (earth, wind, water and fire) are used to bless the child while using the cardinal directions (north, east, south and west) for each stage.
Funerals – Clans pretty much do what fits in their ideals. The Nightsisters like to mummify their dead and place them in cocoons that bath them in herbs and oils to slow their decay rate. Even in death, a nightsister still serves the clan as a zombie warrior. They are the only clan that uses their dead in that manner. Morte Clan has a massive mausoleum that houses a large crystal that been used to pull dead force users from their bodies and hold them. They are used like ghosts in a black mist. Mist is summoned to wash over a battle ground so there are ghost-like warriors.
Rest of the clans does not preserve the body of the dead. The clans on the river or close to large bodies of water will place the dead in boats and burn them as they float away. Some might place armor and a few passions on to the boat. The Sarlacci clan feed the sarlacci creature near the stronghold their dead. The land lock clans burn their dead like the Singing Mountain Clan and Great Canyon Clan. One thing all clans have is the entire clan witness and be in the procession when the ceremony happens.