First Days ( excerpt from Genesis myth)

First, there was Wolf
his Spirit talked to Men.

Men followed the way of wolf
and wolf joined the pack of Men.

Brother wolf joined the Hunter
and the hunting was good

Then the Spirit of the Wolf
touched the women,
The first wolf-girl joined the pack.

Companion joined the Hunter and brother wolf
And hunting together they did.
At times Companion laid down with Hunter.

Then women embodied the Spirit of Wolf
and Feral, part human part beast, joined the pack of Men.

And Feral hunted with Hunter, Companion and brother wolf.
At times Feral laid down with Hunter.

Wolf spoke to men,
Gather my other brothers and sisters,
learn their ways,
and their Spirit will talk to Men too.

New Companion and new Feral joined the pack of Men,
Companion touched by the Spirit of the brothers and sisters of Wolf
Feral embodied the Spirit of the brothers and sisters of Wolf.
And at times both laid down with Hunter too.

Early Days

As the nomadic groups formed into tribes, each tribe lay claim on a Dwelling Ground. Some took to the rolling plains while others went to the forest and others still picked the mountain-like regions rich in natural caves. And so each tribe adapted his ways to the geography of their Dwelling Grounds. But they all did maintain their hunter/gatherer lifestyle.

The denominations Hunter, Companion, Feral for adult members of the tribe were ranks and in se genderless — although Hunters were predominantly male and Companion and Feral predominantly female due to genetic distribution. Ferals and Companions based on prey species tended to act as gatherers, while predator-based Feral and Companion tended to act as hunters, but there were always exceptions. Children were never taken on hunts, so they were all gatherers.

On the day of the Short Sun people of the tribe would build a fire to celebrate the returning of the light as the days grew again — unnoticeable at first — and also paid tribute to the Evergreens as these trees were a beacon of life in the otherwise dormant surroundings in the Lunara of the Evergreens. For the remainder of the days until the next Equal Sun people repaired their gear or crafted new gear as necessary and told stories around the fireplace.

Equal Sun —The start of the Lunara of Stirring — was the sign to prepare the tribe for the first hunt of the year. For those of the tribe who had come of age since the last Gathering it would also be The Hunt — their first hunt marshaling the rise to adulthood — for some this would be the first of many to come, for others it would be the last. The Hunt will show who has the talent (maybe budding, but talent nonetheless) to become a good or great hunter and who has talents that lie elsewhere.

The first hunt marked their transition into adulthood and earned the adults not touched by the animal spirits the title Hunter, even if they did not go on subsequent hunts. The adults who were touched by the animal spirits would simply be known as Animal Women until their nature became apparent, giving them the rank of Feral or Companion. Over time more and more ceremony was added to this simple affair.

Between Long Sun and Equal Sun the tribes of the region would come together at the Gathering. Here they would meet and compete with each other, there were competitions and challenges to show off and prove one's strength, agility, mastery of weapons or skills in short ones prowess as a member of a tribe. There were those for Hunters, Companions or Ferals, solo or as a team. It was also a place to find a mate, Companion or Feral, as Hunter or both. But also to find a Hunter as Companion or Feral.

At the closing ceremony on Equal Sun of Lunara of Parting Wings the ranking and prizes were awarded giving the recipient bragging rights for another year and the tribe prestige. But what everyone was looking forward to was the Naming Ceremony by the shamans of the tribes when the new Hunters, Companions and Ferals were presented at the assembled tribes. Although the first hunt earned them their title as Hunter, Companion or Feral now they would be recognized by the assembled tribes as full-fledged members of their tribe.

The Naming Ceremony was also the culmination of the Gathering. Being the last day of Gathering nothing much else took place. The ceremony was held at high-sun and followed by the declarations of the winners of the different competitions. For the remainder of the day a last feast was held and the following morning the camp was broken up and every tribe returns to its own Dwelling Grounds.

But the date of the Naming Ceremony wasn’t chosen at random. Only those who had chosen the shaman path (and thus got taken under the wing of an established shaman) know that the day of the Equal Sun was chosen to symbolize that everyone was equivalent in spite of individual differences and the time of the high-sun was chosen because everyone's shadow under high-sun has the same height.