Learner Challenge/Ceremony |
Skywatcher Learner Naming Ceremony |
Dating back to when the clan was first founded, the leader and deputy at the time decided that the kits should have to prove their worth to the clan in order to become learners. This was not only a test of character, but a test of strength and cunning on behalf of the kits. Over the course of many kits, and moons, the ceremony has become less hostile than it once was.
When the kits turn six moons old, they are taken out into the territory, dropped off for the first time, and told to make their way back. While being carried, they are facing their parent's, or other member so they can't see where they are going. When the tradition was first started all members of the clan would wait for the kits in the camp. This resulted in kits getting lost outside the territory and never being found, to being attacked and killed. It has now been revised for the safety of the kits, and the parents of the kits. Now members of the clan will hide among the territory, watching over the kits, and protecting them while also giving the kits an incentive to memorize clan members scents. All kits turning of age are dropped in the starting spot, their carriers sitting with them and being their main protectors, each following the kit they brought. They are not allowed to help the kits find their way. While the kits try to trace their steps, if they are to find a member hiding among the brush or grass, that member will take over primary protection of the kit and lead them back to the camp and become their first mentor. If a kit does not find a member while they are out, if they were taken out by a non-family member, that cat will become their first mentor. These cases tend to be rare, and if they do happen, they more often than not become the next Skywatcher. On the first day of it's training, the new learner will be taken on a tour of the territory by their starting mentor before starting their next moon with all positions in the clan for at least three days. After they view all positions, they are allowed to choose where they want to train and specialize in, before becoming adept in that position. Once they have become proficient enough in their field, they are brought forward by the clan and given their full name by their final mentor, or a group of all the mentors of the learner. |
When a learner chooses to walk the path of a skywatcher, they spend up to fifteen (15) moons studying under their mentor learning how to read the stars for messages from the ancestors, what herbs are used to help treat ailments in the clan and individual cats, spending time at the Star Tree to converse with the ancestors openly, and how to advise the chief of the clan.
Once the learner is seen fit to receive their full name, their mentor and current Skywatcher will give it to them both before the clan in camp and at the Star Tree before the ancestors. |