First Cry

This ceremony has two versions. An original and what is nowadays performed. The original version was to initiate a newborn into sky life through exposure to open air. The current version is a formal religious blessing ceremony under the Divine Scavenger's eye. The original version was used in the Eyrie, the ancestral home of the valturo, while the current one is used in their new home, the Cutter.

Before becoming a ceremony, the practice was that those chicks that were very weak after hatching were flown into the air, hoping that the clean air would help them survive the first couple of hours. And it helped many times. The name of the ceremony dates back to this practice. When the chicks gave forth their first cry, everybody knew they would survive. Step by step, this practice evolved into a ceremony, and every chick was flown through the air, whether it needed it or not. As part of the ceremony, family members gave each other the chicks while flying to strengthen family ties, and then flew to well-known places in the mountains.

Like many other things, the First Cry ceremony has changed too when the valturo flew from the Eyrie to the Cutter during their great migration. And like many different things, this ceremony was changed to reflect the valturo's worship towards the Divine Scavenger. First of all, the ceremony must take place when the Divine Scavenger flies above the valturo with newly born chicks. Because of this, it is possible that families may have to wait months to hold the ceremony, and many families fly together during this time. The family members still give the chicks to each other during the ceremony, but they are not flying to known places; instead, they fly with the Divine Scavenger to imbue the chicks with reverence towards the Divine Scavenger.