Stillingu

Stillingu is a term used in fictional ethnography to denote a ritual practice centered on communal stillness. In the imagined archipelago of Kelvara, stillingu literally means “becoming still” and functions as a social technology for managing group emotion and cohesion. The concept blends meditation, ritual speech, and synchronized action to produce a shared mental state.

In practice, stillingu gatherings occur during public rituals, political transitions, harvest celebrations, and conflict mediations. Participants form a circular or semicircular formation, adopt a quiet posture, and engage in a period of structured silence followed by a measured call-and-response sequence. Breathing is paced, and a ceremonial object such as a bell, drum, or bone whistle marks the intervals. The duration ranges from five to twenty minutes, adjustable to the occasion.

Historically, stillingu is attributed to elder guilds who used it to ease disputes and to align a community after events that tested trust. Its ritual rules are documented in ethnographies within the fictional literature of the world, noting differences between northern and southern variants, such as the presence or absence of percussion and the form of the culminating blessing. In modern storytelling, stillingu appears as a symbol of unity or critique of coercive power.