Most Orlanthi initiation follows a broad pattern of
6 Meeting Deity or Ancestor (Usually Second Son)
7. Teaching of sacred gnosis, reliving of key myths (creation, formation of Storm tribe, Greater Darkness, LBQ)
8. Testing of new knowledge (IFoughtWeWon)
9. Return to Middle World.
10.Acknowledgment and celebration of Adulthood.
Each clan is different in its rites and core secrets. Always dangerous, initiation has become more so in the years since invasion because of the loss of so many godar and mythological specialists. As a comes more desperate, so may their rites and the chances they take in questing the powers of the Great Before.
> * What time of year do these rites happen at?
There is always a period of seclusion and teaching before an initiation event. This is most easily done in Sea Season, when most of the young people of a clan will be following the sheep into the upland meadows. Also, since the invasion, iniation must be conducted in secret. So the initiands will be sent 'booleying' (to use the Irish term) with the sheep, and there they will be secluded and taught the necessary preparation. So Fire Season is the most obvious time for an initiation rite, on a holy day of either Orlanth, the clan deity, or an important ancestor hero.
> * Is it odd to have the male rites and female rites happen at
Female initiation is more of a family/women's circle affair, with part of the rite being conducted at menarche (and, I believe, concluded fully with the heroquest of a woman's first child) . Female rites attract little Lunar intervention. Male rites are both more elaborate and more dangerous, for there are are no easy biological markers for male adulthood, men have to be consciously 'made'. They tend to occur at intervals of four or five years. Perhaps your clan is disguising the male initiation by hiding it 'within' the celebrations of new womanhood.
> * Is it odd for men and women New Adults to be welcomed into the
> clan at the same (or roughly the same) age?
A little. Male rites occur every 4-5 years, so an age range of between 14-20 is not unusual. Womens rites are linked to menarche, and so tend to be younger.
> * How early do Heortling women begin menstruating (I kind of
That seems a fair range. Onset of menarche is primarily linked to nutrition, and most Heortlings eat rather well. (at least, prior to 1621 :))
> * How do Heortling women cope with menstruation; what cultural
Most certainly, but there's been little systematic explaration. See 'Goddess cults as growth' on page 17 of Storm Tribe. I don't think there are many taboos, except perhaps among Yelmalian and Elmali clans (whose cults IMG tend to be more 'purity conscious' on a range of things from food to marriage to mixing with outsiders). Its a celebration of the magics of Ernalda, the Lifebringer and Healer. (There may be a touch of sadness, for with womanhood comes matchmaking and, for a majority of Heortling women, leaving ones family and birthclan to marry into another.)
Hope this is of some help.
Cheers
John
Sun's up, uuh huh, looks okay
the world survives into another day
and i'm thinking about eternity
some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me.
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