Mirran Weyrhold

[Zen]

Mirran was the first of its kind on Pern, a Weyrhold where Weyr and Hold were quite literally merged into one entity. It was founded by twin brothers, grandsons of Lord Jaxom of Ruatha shortly after the start of the 9th Interval as something of an experiment. One brother had become a rider while the other had not, and with the Interval and the lack of need for dragonriders to fight Thread, they were able to use their Blooded ties to gain approval to give this ‘Weyrhold’ idea of theirs a try.

Mirran has an incredibly large population spread out along the banks of the Sea of Azov and the Rubicon River both. The river gives the Mirranese easy access to the Southern Sea via ship. Due to the ease of travel and trade with the rest of the world, Mirran’s population grew rather quickly with many curious about this merging of Weyr and Hold and eager to be part of it. Mirran quickly developed into a hub of industry and artistry with the many different crafters that flocked to the area, and at this point Mirran boasts its own well appointed crafthall for every craft so there is hardly a need to leave no matter what career a resident might wish to pursue.

Being far more insular and contained than other places on Pern, the crafts of Mirran began to develop different methods and ways of doing things that sometimes broke with tradition or societal norms, because Mirran was a place of experimentation and was more accepting of these things than most of Pern. For instance, surgery on the rest of Pern is rather crude and cutting into a human body is a rather taboo practice, but the healers of Mirran have honed this skill after being allowed to practice it on cadavers, and have a better knowledge of the inner workings of the human body, and how to put it back together, than most healers on Pern. The fact that Mirran’s healers have this knowledge is not openly spoken of, as the rest of Pern would hardly find it acceptable.

Knowledge and creativity are incredibly important values in Mirran, a driving force behind most people’s lives, not without some irony considering the ignorance that is forced on the majority of the population concerning anything that happens outside of Mirran. The Mirranese caste is told just enough truth of the supposed superiority of Mirran (such as its far more knowledgeable healers and ‘freedom’ to make ‘progress’) to keep them loyal to the Weyrhold. Why would they want to go anywhere else, afterall, if they can receive the best healthcare on Pern right where they are? Why would they want to leave if the rest of Pern is going to force some backward traditions on them and hinder the progress of knowledge? And there is always that tantalizing carrot at the end of the stick, the chance to join the Mirrish caste if they work hard in their craft, or if they get lucky on the hatching sands.

Mirran’s dedication and appreciation for creativity and quality in the arts is readily apparent in the Weyr proper where all the dragonriders and most of the Mirrish caste reside. Even passages to and from areas have had the stone carved and painted to depict beautiful scenes from history or myths and artists are constantly at work creating new scenes in new places, or maintaining those that already exist. Great redwood doors are carved and etched and painted in the same manner. Furniture is designed for aesthetics as well as function and Mirrish living quarters are full of incredibly ornate pieces. The Woodcraft and Minecraft in Mirran have crafters highly specialized in intricate carving methods for wood and stone, frivolous pursuits that are far less common in the rest of Pern’s fairly practical minded society. In the dwellings among the sprawling lands and fields and along the shores of the Rubicon and the Azov, where most of the Mirranese caste live, things are far simpler, but one can still spot evidence of their love for the arts in more subtle ways. Most dwellings still have uniquely carved redwood doors, with scenes or symbols that have meaning to the residents of that dwelling, though they are less detailed than those found in Mirrish dwellings and are usually unpainted.

[Zen]

Social Structure

Perhaps the most important distinction between Mirran’s culture and the rest of Pern is their ‘caste’ system. The people of Mirran are divided into two castes, though unlike most caste systems, one is able to move between castes under certain circumstances.

Mirranese Caste
This is the lower caste and the one that the majority of Mirranese fall under. The rest of Pern also refers to the people of Mirran as Mirranese. The Mirranese caste consists of apprentice and journeyman crafters and the general population of the Weyrhold that were not born Mirrish, as well as blue and green riders. One is born into the Mirranese caste unless both parents are Mirrish, or one parent is Mirrish and openly claims the child, and then generally raises it separate from the Mirranese parent. A Mirrish born person may ‘fall’ to the Mirranese caste if they Impress a blue or green dragon or commit certain offenses. Mirranese born girls are never presented to gold eggs, though that hasn’t stopped the odd one from Impressing a queen anyway. The Mirranese caste very rarely ever leaves Mirran, except when it comes to dragonriders fighting Thread or on Search, all the better to keep them ignorant and in their place, fed by the heavy propaganda of the Weyrhold’s harpers. ‘Craftless’ Mirranese are relegated to jobs which require manual labor and menial tasks; helping with farming and raising animals for food in the fields of the Weyrhold’s vast holdings is common, as well as otherwise doing crafter ‘dirty work’ so they can focus on more important things. Obviously, drudges are part of the Mirranese caste.

Mirrish Caste
This is the higher caste of Mirran that the rest of Pern honestly generally doesn’t even know exists. To the rest of Pern, all people from Mirran are Mirranese. Though this irks the Mirrish caste to various degrees, they also do not tend to correct the terminology for various reasons. Those not born into the Mirrish caste may rise to join it if they become a master in their craft or Impress a gold, bronze, or brown dragon. A Mirranese person who is married before they become Mirrish brings their family with them into the Mirrish caste. Only Mirrish girls are ever allowed to touch gold eggs, or even be allowed anywhere near them, however, so it is incredibly rare for a Mirranese born girl to Impress a gold. The Mirrish caste has far more freedom than the Mirranese caste, but even they generally do not leave Mirran often, as their status as Mirrish does not follow them elsewhere on Pern. ‘Craftless’ Mirrish generally find work as assistants to higher ranking Mirrish or as heads of various areas in the Weyrhold proper, or in the kitchens, as food preparation is seen as a craftless art in Mirran.

The second biggest thing that sets Mirran apart is its structure of leadership. Though the Senior Weyrwoman, Weyrleader, Lord, and Lady still maintain a higher rank and remain the faces of the Weyrhold in political situations outside of Mirran, within, the Mirrish Council rules Mirran jointly and consists also of all of Mirran’s Goldriders, Flightleaders, the Steward and Headwoman, and a master that represents every craft, each master appointed by the Lord and Lady of Mirran. The Council meets as needed when making major decisions that affect the entirety of Mirran, but meets no less than once a month to discuss the general state of the Weyrhold and any plans or preparations that need to be made for upcoming events.

Despite the progress Mirran has made in other areas, where dragons are concerned the mindset of the general population is incredibly colorist. A Mirranese person might be happy enough to Impress a blue or a green, even though they will still be considered Mirranese, because all riders still get the benefit of living in the more lavish quarters of the Weyrhold proper and blue and green riders are the highest ranking and most respected of the Mirranese caste. But one must Impress at least a brown to be raised into the Mirrish caste, and those of the Mirrish caste most often don’t even consider Impressing a blue or green to be a possibility, which can make for quite the rude awakening come hatching day.

Gold eggs are separated from the rest of their clutch by some distance and come hatching day, their mother will lay curled around the golden egg to keep her even more segregated. Only Mirrish girls are ever allowed to touch a gold egg and come hatching day the hopefuls gather around the egg, with the mother gold curled around them all, all the better to herd the newly hatched gold toward a proper Mirrish girl to Impress to. As soon as the infant gold makes her choice, the girls that were not chosen generally make a hasty exit from the sands, for the only other dragons they can hope for drag them down to the Mirranese caste, but it is not uncommon for one or two of the hopefuls to be chosen by a green before the gold hatches.

Men and women in Mirran are about as equal as at any other Weyr, and the holder and crafter women share a similar freedom and relative equality. However, greens and golds are still largely seen as the only proper dragons for women to ride and female blueriders are far less common in Mirran than at other Weyrs, and are often transferred out of Mirran after graduation when they do happen. Female blueriders are never accepted in transfer.

[Zen]

Culture

Over the turns since Mirran’s founding, experimentation and pushing of social norms coupled with their insular lives, very rarely experiencing outside perspectives, led to the formation of some very unique and often strange beliefs and customs that cannot be found elsewhere on Pern. And for all their experimentation and progress, the people of Mirran have also become far more superstitious than most of Pern.

The most prominent of these is their near worship of white dragons, stemming mostly from the fact that their founders are descendants of Jaxom. It began more as a veneration of their founders’ bloodline and has since warped into something vaguely cult-like. Although Mirran has never had a white dragon in their ranks, they have special, lavish quarters prepared should they ever be so blessed, or should a whiterider from another Weyr ever visit them. The people of Mirran generally swear by Ruth rather than Faranth and white dragons are considered the pinnacle of what a dragon should be, as it is well known that they possess normal memory and a perfect ability for traveling through time, and so the flaws of the rest of dragonkind are not present in them. White dragons are symbols of purity, perfection, and are seen as masters of time. There are of course different levels of fanaticism over white dragons within Mirran, but they are at least highly respected by the entire population, while the Mirrish tend to be more zealous about it than the Mirranese.

The dragons’ ability to time travel is also well known in Mirran, where it has become more of a myth across most of the rest of Pern, a guarded secret of the ranking members of the Weyrs for its dangers. Even in Mirran, it is forbidden to attempt such a thing without a white dragon to lead, as the dangers of it are also well known, and it is taken very seriously. However, dragons are seen as having a connection to everything, every place, every time, because of their ability to between anywhere and any when.

And so the Mirranese have developed, or redeveloped, the art of bone casting. While other Weyrs take dud eggs between, the Mirranese have a special group of Mirrish tasked with breaking open any dud eggs and studying whatever they find inside, as well as harvesting the bones of any dead, unhatched dragons for use in casting. Because of a dragon’s connection to everything through their betweening ability, a gifted reader can cast dragon bones and discern answers about the future from the way they land.
See Mirranese Dragon Bone Reading.

While a green hatching first in a clutch is often seen as bad luck by the rest of Pern, when a green is the first to hatch from a clutch in Mirran, it is considered a terrible omen. Should the green between before choosing a lifemate, it is cause for celebration because it is seen as a crisis averted, but more often she Impresses. Her new rider is then subject to rather intense hazing from the rest of the weyrling class in some cruel attempt to keep the bad luck confined only to her rider in a sort of self fulfilling prophecy, and the pair is immediately transferred to a different Weyr upon their graduation. It is also for this reason that Mirran rarely ever accepts greenrider transfers, as they can’t be certain it isn’t another Weyr trying to pawn off their bad luck on them.

Dragon Semblance
After a hatching, the rider of the mother of the clutch will commission a woodcrafter to carve incredibly detailed figures of each new hatchling out of redwood, which will then be painted in the dragon’s likeness and gifted to each new weyrling. The carving is connected to a base on which the names of the rider and dragon are engraved. This figure is called a dragon Semblance and there is quite a lot of superstition surrounding it. Punishments for tampering with the Semblance of someone’s dragon are severe and can include falling from the Mirrish caste or exile from Mirran. A rider that has been found to have tampered with another rider’s Semblance is immediately transferred to a new Weyr and forbidden to return.

• A Semblance should never be kept in an enclosed container or be covered by anything, as surrounding a dragon’s Semblance in darkness tempts an accident that will trap dragon and rider between forever. As such the Semblance is generally displayed in a very open manner.
  

• Flakes or chips that may appear in the paint are thought to foretell future Threadscoring, the placement of the flake or chip being where the score will happen, though for the longest time this only applied to the Threadfall games played during the Interval rather than any real scoring.
  

• Should the Semblance fall from its place on display or be dropped by someone handling it, and come out unscathed, it is an omen of future triumph, which can apply to winning a mating flight or coming out of Threadfall unscored. However, should any damage be done to the Semblance from this fall, a rider should be wary. This could foretell of a horrible accident in the pair’s future that could very well lead to their deaths. For this reason, Semblances are generally displayed in a very safe location and rarely touched or moved.
  

• Allowing dust to gather on a Semblance invites hide dryness and cracking in the dragon, and illness in the rider, and so a rider generally carefully wipes down the Semblance once a day with a white cloth - white to rub on good fortune, of course.

Upon the death of a rider, the Semblance is retrieved and put on display in a special mausoleum in the Weyrhold and given its own special place where those who were close to the rider can come to light a candle in their honor or leave flowers or small gifts. Over time, of course, some of these riders are forgotten and there is only limited room in the mausoleum, so there is a sort of storage room beneath where older Semblances are kept safe, and a small group of Azovite Harpers dedicated to caring for and keeping records of the Semblances.

[Zen]

Other Superstitions/Beliefs/Traditions

• It is common to have a rival’s face painted on the inside sole of one of your shoes (the more detail, the better) in a symbolic sort of gesture of stepping on them/having a leg up on them, and therefore succeeding over them. The more worn away the painting gets, the more misfortune is said to have been brought upon them. This isn’t widely believed to actually work and is seen as a childish gesture by most, but is a common practice among the apprentice aged and young adults.
  

• Mirrors should never face each other as the illusion of endless reflections it creates is said to open a way for the restless spirits of those lost between to escape. It is said these spirits will curse anyone that walks into the room to suffer from losing their sight or their hearing early in life, so that others will suffer the same sensory deprivation as those lost are forced to endure. Anyone that spends too much time in such a room will slowly go mad from the desperate frustration and hopelessness of those who can never truly escape their fate between seeping through the mirrors. To avoid any accidental facing of two mirrors toward each other while mirrors are being moved about, a white cloth is used to cover the mirror until it is safely in place.
  

• Because of the Red Star, red is seen as bad luck, and so gifting someone something that is red is incredibly rude and is seen as an obvious insult. However, white is seen as incredibly good luck, which can cancel out the bad luck of red, and so articles of clothing or art that include the color red as well as white are perfectly acceptable. Riders are always sure to carry something white during Threadfall for good luck, and NEVER anything red.
  

• Gold and yellow are colors heavily associated with fertility and motherhood, due to gold dragons being the mothers of all dragonkind. Women hoping to become pregnant usually keep something yellow on them at all times, or for the more well off, wear gold jewelry. Expecting mothers are often gifted with yellow or gold objects and mothers often dress young children in yellow as a way to invoke a queen’s maternal protection. Babies are always swaddled in yellow and young children are tucked into bed with yellow blankets. However, because of its association with the feminine and with early childhood, older boys and men especially tend to avoid wearing anything yellow or gold and doing so can draw teasing from male peers. Women who do NOT want to become pregnant also do their best to avoid yellow and gold.
  

• The day of a gold mating flight is cause for a celebration of life and it’s openly encouraged to act on the broadcasted lust of the gold. Children conceived during a goldflight are thought to be destined to become dragonriders, and so hopeful mothers may abstain from sex after a flight in order to be certain of when their child was conceived, if they wish the life of a dragonrider for their child.
  

• In reverence for Mirran’s founders, who were identical twins, any twins born, identical or otherwise, automatically receive Mirrish status and grant their families Mirrish status as well. It is common for twins to be taken under the wing of leaders of the Weyrhold to groom them for future complimentary leadership roles. Twins, especially identical twins, are thought to have a special connection, and this connection makes them work incredibly well together, and therefore in leadership roles they can help the Weyrhold run smoother. Such is the belief, though not always the reality, of course.
  

• Unique physical characteristics or mutations are considered a sign of a significant future, an important destiny of some sort. Things that are not ordinary in the population, as simple as being left handed, can mean there’s something more in your future than an ordinary life. Heterochromia is considered a sign of future greatness. Mutations in dragons are particularly noteworthy, as the most highly regarded dragons of all are the rare white mutations, but others are also given reverence to a lesser extent and if a green or blue is born with a mutation, its rider is granted Mirrish status.
  

• Fish are symbols of longevity, due to the simplest art of fish looking much like infinity symbols, and so the people of Mirran have a unique recipe for a special nameday cake (birthday cake) which includes artistically placing tiny live fish found in the Azov on the top of the cake. Namedays are celebrated much more in Mirran than elsewhere on Pern and are the only time this cake is ever made or eaten. Fish motifs are also carved and painted in Mirran’s infirmary.
  

• “Surprise” celebrations for namedays are tradition, with all but the most general details of the celebration kept carefully from the person who is being celebrated due to the superstition that speaking of one’s upcoming nameday tempts fate to cut your life short before you reach it. Giving someone early well wishes for their nameday is basically seen as a threat, as though you’re hoping some misfortune will befall them before they can claim another turn. It is only polite to give late well wishes on a recent nameday for about a sevenday after the nameday has occurred before it begins to be viewed as tempting fate on the way to the next nameday.
  

• A rider that survives the loss of their dragon (and chooses to keep on living) is viewed as a coward and a traitor to their lifemate. A dragon dies without fail when it loses its rider, and the riders of Mirran believe it should absolutely be the other way around as well. A rider should return their dragon’s loyalty in the same manner and is expected to commit suicide after their dragon’s death. Those that do not are shunned by riders especially and are in fact barred from entering Weyr spaces, as many believe interacting with a dragonless person invites the loss of one’s own dragon. While some dragonless riders may be able to find a new life in relative anonymity in the outer reaches of Mirran where other riders do not frequent, for many it is easier simply to leave Mirran altogether by ship, since no rider would ever let them get near their dragon to give them passage anywhere.

[Zen]

Mirranese Dragon Bone Reading

The practice of Bone Reading is unique to Mirran and the skill is rare and highly respected. It takes several years of practice to be considered a full fledged Bone Reader and must be guided by a mentor Bone Reader. The bones in question are harvested in a ceremonial manner from dud dragon eggs by a special group of Azovite Harpers and Dragon Healers. The ceremony of the bone harvest is a secretive process known only by those inducted into this ‘special order’ and is meant to honor the unborn dragon and give its death purpose by giving it a new ‘life’ through assisting Bone Readers. All goldriders in Mirran are trained in Bone Reading and they are always the only ones to pass on the art to others, as it is up to the goldrider whose gold laid the dud egg to decide who will be gifted the new boneset and ensure they are trained properly. Goldriders are considered the most naturally skilled Bone Readers due to their enhanced connection to the bones, as they are the children of her own dragon.

Because all goldriders are Bone Readers, women largely make up the population of Bone Readers in Mirran, as new bonesets are most often gifted to promising Mirrish girls who have been groomed as future goldriders. Bone Readers are therefore nearly always Mirrish, generally the daughters of high ranking members of Mirran (whether they become riders or not). There are a handful of greenriders who are Bone Readers: Mirrish girls who were ‘unfortunate’ enough to be stolen by a green dragon while on the sands for a gold egg. Rarely, a goldrider may decide to gift a boneset to a promising young bronzerider and teach him the art of Bone Reading, but there are otherwise no male Bone Readers. It is a high honor to be chosen as the partner of a new boneset and it elevates one’s status in Mirran; a particularly talented greenriding Bone Reader may even earn her Mirrish status back, at which point she will be reassigned to fly in the Queen’s Wing as an honor placement.

Readers treat their bonesets not as mere objects they own, but refer to themselves as the bones’ partner, as it is only through working together through their connection to the bones that they can accomplish their readings. The bones are considered their own entity, linked to the spirit of the unborn dragon they came from. It is believed that the dragon’s spirit is free to travel through time to seek the answers to the questions the Reader poses, and then influences its bones to reveal the answer as its only way to communicate, and thus it is up to the Reader to interpret what the spirit is trying to convey. The Reader and their boneset are considered bonded, almost as with a rider and their dragon, and it is completely taboo for a Reader to use another’s bones, or even for anyone but the Reader who is partnered with a boneset to touch them directly. When a Reader dies, their boneset is taken between, with the Reader if possible.

Learning Bone Reading is foremost about developing one’s intuition, tapping into it, and trusting it, as well as building a relationship with one’s boneset and learning what each individual bone is trying to convey. This is why it takes years to master, as no one can teach you exactly what your bones are trying to say, as if each boneset has its own unique language which only the Reader has the ability to understand. It takes much trial and error in interpreting meanings before the Reader discovers the right ones for each individual bone. A boneset has a minimum of 12 bones in it at any given time, and is normally what a new Reader begins with, picking 12 bones from their set which resonate with or call to them to start with. As the Reader learns the proper meanings to these bones or finds that certain bones don’t seem to want to be part of the set, they might remove some bones and add others. There are normally no more than around 25 bones in a set as it would become too unwieldy to use, and 15-20 is the average range for established Readers.

A Reader might also keep certain bones which they assign to important people in their life and keep these bones separate from their usual set unless performing a personal reading (mothers will often keep bones for each of their children, and bones might be assigned to parents, siblings, and lovers). All bones from a harvest (besides the skull) are kept by the Reader they are given to, even those too large to use, and the unused bones are generally kept together in an open area as an altar of sorts for the unborn dragon. Occasionally the Reader might light candles and leave some sort of offering to their boneset’s spirit on this altar. When removing a bone from a reading set and returning it to the altar, or when assigning a new meaning to a bone that previously had one, but it didn’t ‘work’ with the bone, the bone in question will be ‘cleansed’ in a candle flame at the altar before a new meaning is assigned or it is formally retired from the reading set.

Obviously, not all bones from an unborn hatchling are utilized. Some bones are too large and some are too small, and this is also dependent on the color of the unborn hatchling and the point in its development when it died and stopped growing. In general, bonesets made from what would have been green and blue dragons tend to have slightly more bones utilized in them, because they are usually smaller and it is easier to use more, while bonesets from unborn browns and bronzes tend to have fewer bones in them. Skulls are never used and are always taken between once the bone harvest is complete, to give the spirit of the unborn dragon a constant connection to between and enhance its ability to travel between times and places. Leg and wing bones are also rarely used, as they tend to be too long to properly utilize. The most commonly used bones are from the paws, ribs, tail, and vertebrae, as well as the canine fangs and large molars used for firestone crushing, and bones from these places tend to have meanings in relation to their placement on the body.

• Paw bones relate to mobility, travel, motion, the path one is on or the paths that could be taken. Bones from the forepaws (particularly ‘thumb’ bones) could further represent creativity, control, or manipulation. Bones from the hindpaws sometimes take on meanings of power and strength.

• Teeth can mean different things depending on whether they are the canines or the molars. Canines lean toward aggressive and assertive meanings, they tell of battles (not necessarily physical) and meeting challenges. Molars, and their association with firestone, and therefore fire, are symbols of light and truth, but also passion and transformation. Both sorts of teeth can represent communication, with a general understanding that the canines lean toward assertive or aggressive communication whereas the molars are more passive or indicate listening and learning.

• Tail bones often relate to the past, but not always, and can signify letting go of something or leaving it behind. They can relate to something lost and might also represent balance. On occasion they take on meanings surrounding love, sex, and fertility.

• Rib bones often deal with emotions and desires, but in bonesets from unborn bronzes in particular, the cervical and thoracic vertebrae can take their place, as the ribs are sometimes too large to use properly.

• Vertebrae are versatile and are often quite literally the backbone of a set, representing logic and emotion. Cervical vertebrae tend to take on meanings around emotion and communication. They can indicate a need to ‘feed’ a particular emotion or desire, and in conjunction with teeth can point toward a communication need in one’s life. The lumbar vertebrae center around logic and reason. They have meanings grounded in reality. They represent stability and standing one’s ground or standing up for oneself, keeping firm to beliefs and morals. They can speak on integrity, trust, reliability, responsibility, perseverance, but also stubbornness and resistance, warning of closed mindedness. They often represent foundations and traditions. Young Readers sometimes like to call them the ‘hidebound bones’. Thoracic vertebrae are the bones a Reader will assign to represent individuals, choosing one to represent themselves or the person they are reading for. This ‘self’ bone is always left natural and unadorned and is present in every boneset.
  

A new Reader will be cautioned by their mentor not to adorn their bones in a permanent manner until they are certain of each bone’s intent, and beginners generally use colored threads which can easily be removed and replaced should the meaning they’ve assigned to a bone feel ‘off’ or ‘wrong’ somehow, until they are confident that they have learned the language their boneset is speaking and have properly assigned meanings to each bone within it. Once a Reader has properly interpreted the meanings behind their bones, they may paint or carve their bones, dip them in molten metals, wind various metal filaments around them with different gemstone beads attached, or continue to use colored thread depending on their preferences and what their intuition leads them to do. The meanings attached to these adornments are entirely personal to the Reader though color symbology remains largely similar between different sets.

All Reader’s also have a Reading Hide, which is a thick piece of hide onto which a Reader gently tosses their bones, both to cushion and protect the set from breaking on a hard surface, and to give them a little more clarity in a reading. How the Hide is used varies greatly depending on the Reader in question. Some choose to keep them blank or relatively simple, such as with a basic circle embroidered or painted on it, or a cross section that separates the cloth into 4 areas, while others are heavily adorned with symbols. In any reading, bones that fall off the hide entirely are deemed irrelevant to the reading and ignored. Readers who do not adorn their Hide with symbols rely solely on the bones and their placement in regards to each other.

• A blank hide is often read from left to right, with left representing the past, right representing the future, and anything between representing the present.

• A circle is generally read with the bones nearest the center representing the future, the bones around that the present, and any that fall outside of the circle representing the past.

• A cross section of 4 can be used in a variety of ways. Most often, ‘timing’ is read similarly to the circle cloth method, with bones falling in the center, near the intersection of the cross, indicating future, those that fall near the edges indicating the past, and those in the middle indicating the present. Common meanings of the four sections are Heart (emotion, relationships, love), Mind (mental health, knowledge, communication), Body (physical health, career, finances), and Spirit (self, ego, purpose). The cross section is the most popular method as it is still relatively simple but offers a bit more clarity in comparison to the other, simpler Hide options.
  

• Some Readers may choose to decorate their Reading Hide with various symbols instead, reading the relationship between the bones and their proximity to these symbols as well as each other. This often makes for clearer and more detailed readings, but requires an advanced Reader to make sense of all the different meanings that could be relayed. It is also more difficult to determine 'timing' on a symbol heavy Hide, as reading past, present, and future is not anywhere near as straightforward. Novice readers generally begin with an undecorated Hide and only change to a decorated Hide later on in their career if they feel confident and called to do so. They also must have the ability to decorate the Hide properly, as Readers must handle it themselves and cannot get an outside source to paint or embroider their Hide for them, as this is believed to disrupt the Reader’s connection.