>Greg and I discussed this some years back and at the time the answer
>was that women do not meet Heort or receive the secrets of the Star
>Heart. Heortling women have very different initiation rites.
I'd agree with this. Ernalda and Orlanth represent two complimentary but differing aspects of the Heortling Way.
A Vingan might experience the male mysteries, but most Ernaldan initiates will experience other paths. These are likely to involve the secrets of the deep earth, the courting of husband protectors, and the sleep and waking of Ernalda in the Great Darkness.
Women participated in (and can heroquest) IFWW of course, but it is not as central to the Ernaldan Mysteries.
Socially and physiologically, initiation means different things to men and women. Briefly, for men it is about acquiring their first small herd from the clan, being made an adult, and entering a period of adventuring and learning from their mistakes. Womanhood comes with menache, and so ritual is not so important to sealing female identity. Initiation for Heortling women is about learning wisdom and power, and preparing for matchmaking and a possible new home far from family.
Here's a quote from BA:
"In the sacred hills beyond Jonstown, and in the hidden wilds of the Tovtaros, and the Lismelder, and the Tres and the Colymar and the Sambari, the elders gather their young men and women for the final ceremonies of Storm initiation, safe from prying Lunar eyes. It has been five years since the previous rituals, and the young are restless and eager despite the great risk that they take. The young men quest to meet Hengal the Second Son, but the path he leads them on is a new one, and those who endure return with a new gift. And deep within Asrelia's cave, the young women are shown a secret that will be buried no longer."
It suggests separate initiation rites, and sudden unexpected changes in those rites!
Come the Hurricane
John
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