This write up is meant to serve as an overview of the stages the Balazarings go through during their lives.

1) Birth
2) Childhood
3) Youth
4) Adulthood
5) Parenthood and marriage
6) Old age
7) Death

1) Birth

Birth, like most events in a Balazaring's life is a sacred event. The expectant mother is segregated from all males (and any women who follow "male" paths like hunter or warrior) and the sinwists and is surrounded by her female relatives, the hearth mother from her hearth and any other available hearth mothers. With their emotional, physical and spiritual support she gives birth. Many taboos, prohibitions and charms are used to protect the unborn from evil.

You can read more about Giving Birth Among the Balazarings.  There is also a page on Balazaring Names.

Myth

Making Babies

2) Childhood

During infancy and childhood (birth to age seven) Balazarings are mostly in the care of the gatherers and collectors (mostly, but not entirely women) and the elders who are no longer physically active. With these caregivers they learn what plants and animals to gather for food and learn important social and life skills. Towards the end of this period both the boys and the girls are given the opportunity to experience the different paths the Balazarings follow.

Myth

How the Fishies Lost their Eyelids

3) Youth

At age seven the children begin to associate with that group of parents that they feel the most empathy for. Boys tend to start associating with the hunters and the girls with the women. This is not a given nor is there any social pressure on boys and girls to follow sex-linked roles. These are the two major paths for Balazaring youths but there are two additional paths that youths can follow-that of the warrior and that of the sinwist.

Almost exclusively followed by boys, the path of the warrior is more common in the citadels and among the "nobility" of the Balazarings (those who can trace their descent directly from Balazar or one of his followers and who tend to lead the clans). Youths who follow the way of the warrior associate with the king's guards learning warrior skills (and attitudes).

The path of the sinwist is followed by youths who have a leaning towards a more spiritual existence. This path is followed by both boys and girls. Sinwists are considered to be neither men nor women by the clans. This gives them special rights and privileges to counteract their many obligations. Primary among these obligations are protecting the clan from hostile spirits, supplicating/worshiping friendly spirits and ensuring that the proper rituals and ceremonies are followed. Youths following the way of the sinwist spend years learning the proper skills, rituals and spells.

4) Adulthood

At the age of fifteen boys and girls become men and women (except in the case of the sinwists who have their own rites of passage and may never become adults). At this point they can marry and are expected to behave in all ways as full adults. The primary duties of adults are to feed and protect the clan and raise the children.

Myths

The Story of Echo
How Brother Dog came to Foundchild
How Dog and Wolf Became Enemies
How Foundchild Stole the Prey's Seeming

5) Parenthood and Marriage

Marriage and parenthood (which do not necessarily follow each other) are of differing importance among the Balazarings. Marriage is not an important institution as the family is really subordinate to the hearth. Marriage usually acts as a public declaration of affection and a similarity of spirit. Parenthood is a more important issue as it determines who the children are related to (and thus who they can rely upon for help during hard times).

Balazaring clans practice neither patrilineal nor matrilineal descent. An individual considers him or herself to be descended from both parents. They try and keep track of as many relatives as possible to keep the number of individuals they can turn to for help in hard times as high as possible. No specific rules exist as to where you can live exist. When a couple decides to marry they go live wherever they want. Hearths are voluntary arrangements, not kin arrangements. This results in a very flexible social structure with couples moving around trying to get into the best situation possible. Clans are basically groupings of lineages each of which congregate into hearths for mutual benefit. Balazarings are allowed to have sex with anyone who isn't a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle. First cousins are permitted however.

Marriage is not a requirement for having children as each individual in a hearth is given equal access to food and resources as long as they contribute. Two individuals who wish to have a short term liaison in order to have children or for any other reason are free to do so with no possibility of stigma attached.

Families are small as Balazarings believe in quality, not quantity. Children are breast-fed for two or more years and women do not tend to have more than one child every three years or so. Children are never aborted or abandoned (unless they are deformed in some fashion) as children are never unwanted. There is no stigma associated with being a "bastard" as personal achievements are more important than parental or ancestral achievements. Initiates of Grandmother Earth know many ways to avoid having children when they don't want to including an innate sense of when they are most fertile.

6) Old age

The elderly are considered to be important members of the clan as they contribute to teaching the children and preserve the lore and knowledge of the clans.

7) Death

Balazarings of most persuasion are usually exposed to the elements on wooden platforms. These places the dead are exposed are very sacred and the penalty for outsider trespassing is death. Guards are always left around the cemeteries to protect the dead from trolls and broos.
Warriors are immolated following Yemalian practice and the ashes are then scattered in the clan's cemetery.

Within the citadels the kings are traditionally interred. This practice dates back to Balazar's time.

After a Balazaring dies his/her relatives do not speak for two seasons as a sign of respect and mourning. Instead they use the language of hand gestures that the hunters and collectors use away from the camps to communicate.

The spirit of a dead Balazaring is believed to return to the Otherworld to join the ancestors to await rebirth.

This page last modified June 08, 1998  Minor modification September 06, 2000