Customs
From age ten until the time of marriage, neither boys nor girls were allowed to speak their own names. The penalty was bad luck and the name of a deceased person is not used. The word or words in the name however are not dropped from the language. Children were given careful oral instruction in moral, religious and other matters. In addition, set speeches, which recited portions of cosmic myth, were a feature of many ceremonies and were especially important in the preparation for war. These speeches were adapted for each occasion but the general context was the same.
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Famous quotes containing the word customs:
“Change often makes accepted customs into crimes.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“The correct rate of speed in innovating changes in long-standing social customs has not yet been determined by even the most expert of the experts. Personally I am beginning to think there is more danger in lagging than in speeding up cultural change to keep pace with mechanical change.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)
“So easy is it, though many housekeepers doubt it, to establish new and better customs in the place of the old.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)