Nor was this merely because flesh was formed of blood, or the first men were made of the mystical red soil, as with the _aarea_ of the Tahitians, or the red earth of the Adamic man. Most of these primitive rites, the Blood-Covenant included, had their starting-point from the period of puberty. It was at this time the lads who were not brothers uterine were made brothers of the Totem at what was termed the festival of young-man-making. The proper period for circumcision, or cutting and sealing, as still practised by the oldest aborigines, is the time of puberty, the natural coming of age. It is then they enter the Totemic Brotherhood. Now in Egyptian, the word _khet_ or _khut_ = cut, means to cut and to seal. _Khetem_ is to enclose, bind, seal, and is applied to sealing. The same root passes into Assyrian and Hebrew as _Khatan_, _Katam_ or _Chatan_, with the same meaning. In Arabic, _Khatana_ is to circumcise. Cutting and sealing are identical as the mode of entering into a Blood-Covenant. Circumcision was _one_ form of the sealing, but there were various kinds of cuts employed, and different parts of the body were scarified and tattooed. In the primary phase, then, the blood-brotherhood was established by the shedding of blood; the register was written in blood, and instead of the covenant being witnessed by the seal of red wax, it was stamped in blood. The reason for phallic localization is to be sought in the fact that the young men not only entered the Brotherhood by the baptism of blood, they were also received into the higher ranks of the fathers, and sworn in to live an orderly, legal and cleanly life, henceforth, as the pro-creators and loyal preservers of the race. But this was not the only clue directly derived from nature. There is another reason why blood should have become the sacred sign of a covenant. Amongst many primitive races blood, or the colour red, is the symbol of _Tapu_, the sign of sanctity. The bones of the dead were covered with red ochre as a means of protection by the most widely scattered races in the world. The stamp of a red hand on the building, or a crimson daub upon the gravestone will render them sacred. The Kaffirs will wash their bodies with blood as a protection against being wounded in battle. The colour of robin-redbreast still renders him _tapu_ or sacred to English children. Blood having become a sign of that which is true and sacred, on account of the Covenant, it is then made the symbol of all that is sacred. It can be used for the purpose of anointing the living or the dead, can be the seal of the marriage or other ceremonies and rites of covenanting. It is the primæval token of _tapu_.