Kahs-wan

The kahs-wan, or Vulcan maturity test, was a traditional survival test of adulthood for adolescent Vulcans. The basis for the kahs-wan was to survive ten days without food, water, or weapons in Vulcan's Forge.

The origins of the kahs-wan originated from the ancient Vulcan warrior days. When the Vulcans turned to logic, they reasoned that they needed to maintain the tests of courage and strength to keep pure logic from making them weak and helpless. For a Vulcan, to fail the kahs-wan once was not considered a disgrace.

T'Pol undertook the kahs-wan ritual. In 2152, upon being asked by Jonathan Archer whether she had ever gone camping, she compared it to this test. Archer remarked that the ordeal "sounds fun." (ENT: "The Catwalk")

Spock was scheduled to face the kahs-wan ordeal on the 20th day of the month of Tasmeen in the Vulcan year of 8877. However, he decided to take the trial early. His pet sehlat, I-Chaya, insisted on accompanying him and died from the poisonous bite of a le-matya. (TAS: "Yesteryear")

The kahs-wan is similar to the Rite of Tal'oth.

The script of "Yesteryear" formatted the name "kahs-wan" with a capital initial letter. However, the word was not capitalized in the final draft script of "The Catwalk".

External link

• Kahs-wan at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works