Unlike human culture, cattle culture is not a linearly perceived historical continuum. For cattle, time is cyclic. Neither the past nor the future are of great importance; existing is what matters to bovines. It has been thus ever since the first ruminant trod the Earth.
From one millennium to the next, unchanging rituals helped individuals to recognize their roles in society, and offered security amid the exigencies of life. The cultural stories lived on in the bodies of their narrators, in quiet grazing. They changed little by little, or if need be, very quickly, since cattle are adaptable. The greenest pastures, techniques of repose, respect for the value system, caring for calves, and mating conventions are learned through watching, listening, and by following intuition. Because cattle culture recognizes no gods, the question of the origin of inner knowledge can be cast aside with the swish of a tail.
