Women

In Aideena society, the female gender is revered.

Procreation is viewed as the divine gift of The Goddess and as a mirror of Creation--the stars, galaxy and natural world as sparked into being from the Big Band and forward. Women are entrusted with the perpetuation of the species. Therefore, women deserve a higher position in the grand order of the Universe.

Because of this ethic, Aideena society evolved into a matriarchy. Only women can own real estate. Wealth, title and position are passed from mother to daughter. Over time, economic and political pressures have forced more equitable adaptations between the sexes. Still,basic cultural norms favor the feminine.

Religion

All the peoples of Aideena share a common religion, called Faith and its members are The Faithful.

Faith is the only institution that truly crosses all lines of gender and lineage. It operates as a political entity completely independent of the Twelve Great Houses and Guild Brotherhood. Faith’s authority derives from divine edict of The Goddess, who empowered Her prophets to gather unto them the few to ensure the way to Salvation--deliverance from destruction, earthly difficulty and the penalty of sin--and lead all Aideena's peoples to that great reward. Faith centralizes its authority through military force coupled with judicial and legislative powers over the Twelve Great Houses and the Guild Brotherhood.

Faith is its own House, in many ways. Several families and clans whose associations stretch back thousands of years comprise various orders of priesthood. In contrast to the Houses and Brotherhood, Faith’s internal governance is not authoritarian. The Faithful govern themselves democratically with representative oversight.

The importance of religious service, at least historically, is as significant in Aideenan culture as procreation. Not only are marriages arranged within Faith’s membership, but also members are recruited from the general populace. It is not uncommon for secular families to offer their children into religious service, either as a political maneuver or for economic gain.

Its numerous temples for religious studies coexist as educational institutions with secular academies. These temples set the standard for education on Aideena.

Sexuality

In Aideenan society, social ethics encourages bisexuality. Men and women are at least culturally bisexual in their attitudes and precepts, if not in practice.

With procreation so highly valued, as well as marriage, sexual relations are well-defined.

Within a household, men in an Equerry are expected to father children by one women, preferably as many girls as possible. Husbands are encouraged to have sexual relations with one another as an alternative to sex outside the marriage with other women. In fact, the camaraderie that results from sexual relations among husbands in a stable is viewed as essential for the cohesion and stability of the household.

Women likewise are encouraged to build sexual relations with other women to save themselves for their husbands and avoid extramarital affairs with other men.

Race

Race factors into issues of gender. In Aideenan genetics, the same chromosome configuration which determines a person’s sex, male or female, also predetermines skin color.

Females are dark in complexion. The skin colour of women varies, in poetic terms, from a deep Mediterranean olive to dark Ethiopian mahogany.

"Caucasian-type" features are universally male. The complexion of men range from a light Mediterranean olive to pale Nordic.

The lighter one’s skin generally the more masculine one is perceived. Masculinity is equated with being lower in stature and status. Prejudicial attitudes that influence social and professional advancement, worthiness, physical beauty, wealth, education, dominance and subservience, family favor, and questions of what is more properly male or female are all tied to how light or dark is one's complexion, hair and eyes.

Politics

Aideena’s political landscape is a delicate synergy.

The Twelve Great Houses control finance, land and property. The Guild Brotherhood maintains industry. Faith provides for legislative regulation and military and judicial enforcement. The tenants of religious belief and custom as it relates to gender and lineage strictly define the operation of government.

Marriage and Sex

Marriage is viewed as a sacred institution. It is intended to fulfill the grand order of Universe: to perpetuate Creation.

As a matriarchal society, women are permitted by law (and expected) to have several husbands. By contrast, men are restricted to having only one wife at any given time. Extramarital affairs are punishable by imprisonment (for the man, not the woman).

Households are structured with a dominant female personage as its head called a matron. Such women maintain the female equivalent of harems, called Equerry or Stables. Equerries may comprise of as many men as manageable.

Husbands manage the personal affairs of their wives, while wives maneuver to increase their wealth and social standing through the accumulation of property and business associations. Within an Equerry or Stable, men vie for dominance. The first male to father a female-child becomes First Husband and senior amongst the husbands. Generally, men who father girls are more recognized in the larger community and receive advancement.


Arranged marriages are a common practice.

Generally, they are politically motivated. When a woman comes of age and has rank, mothers of families within her charge are expected to offer one son for consideration. Such a betrothed man is called an affiant and may later be officially welcomed into the household if he proves his merit. Sons who marry well not only increase opportunities for themselves, but also further the standing of their family within the clan-group.

Men

The Aideenan male is historically society's laborer and actioner, relied on for craftsmanship and toil. However, in Aideena's matriarchal order, a man is a second class citizen.

Men serve the cause of women. Their responsibility in the culture is to assist women in procreation and to perform whatever activities further the higher position of women in Creation (universe).

Only in those institutions established for men, such as the Guild Brotherhood, can men achieve positions of influence. The catch: positions of influence are dependent on such factors as family bloodline, marriage and sponsorship by a matron.

Naming Conventions

Gender and genealogy are central to the Aideenan character. It is most evident in the conventions used for personal names.

One’s name identifies both the House to which a person belongs, as well as the immediate family. Thus, it is possible to extrapolate the person’s loyalties, legal status and family hierarchy within the genealogical order. The combination of the House and family name may suggest the region or province a person originates from, but not always. The order of a person’s name also identifies whether they are male or female.

• Males: First Name + House + Family Name
  as in Edmund etaSade



• Females: House + Family Name + First Name
  as in betaLassier Elizabeth

Among the Faithful, naming conventions expand to include the person’s rank or title, as well as the Discipline to which he/she is a member and the Order.

• Males: Rank/Title + Discipline + First Name + House + Family Name + Order
  as in Reverend Constable Michael Constantine tauValez of the Order of the Knights Templar



• Females: Rank/Title + House + Family Name + Discipline + First Name + Order
  as in Reverend Sister psiSadewa Rachel Angela of the Order of The Oracle

History

In her grand and voluminous epic poem, Apocrypha, thetaSummer Catherine attempted to chronicle human experience on Aideena. The work divides history into eight epochs. These epochs became the standard calendar. Later scholars continued to amend and make additions.

Education and Gender

The educational system of Aideena reinforces gender-identity and sexual identity.

Boys and girls are raised together by their mothers or professional governesses until a certain age. Depending on the custom of the House and its matriarchic politics, children are separated by gender as young as six and or as old as ten and boarded off to learning and socializing academies. They may receive religious training by Faith at any number of Temples. Secularly, girls are sent to Maiden Sororities or Maidenries, while their brothers are enrolled at Academic Fraternities maintained by the Guild Brotherhood.

At Maidenries, girls are schooled for political and matriarchal careers. Fraternities are places where boys are educated in a particular professional vocation and/or labor skill. Within fraternities and sororities, adolescents are educated in their sexual responsibilities and encouraged to form groups for the practice of these responsibilities. These relationships are viewed as significant for the development of strategic political and familial liaisons later in life.

Ninth Epoch

• theta Summer Catherine publishes Apocrypha. It becomes the single most influential collection of writings and propels a new era in scholarly and artist pursuit, called The Apocryphal Renaissance.


• The Enlightenment, a philosophy emphasizing reason and individualism, emerges in political contrast and influence to traditional value and ritual institutions.


• The Industrial Revolution, the rapid growth in world-based industries, results from a period of innovation and an emphasis on technological advancement. The atom is split. The computer technology is invented and creates an electronic information infrastructure of unprecedented magnitude.


• Nuclear fusion is achieved and nearby planets explored.


• The Information Renaissance begins when ancient text from the Time of The Aes’ir Daughters is translated and provides new technological insights. Neighboring solar systems are colonized. Warped-field technology is invented.


• A series of ecological disasters threatens economic and political stability. Widespread pollution and depletion of natural resources causes the collapse of once profitable regions.


• Space colonies sue for independence. Free Townships are created.


• Renewed feelings of traditionalism emerge and a new spirit of reform struggles to challenge traditional values


• In Gaia Year 19163, The Archangel falls to Aideena.

Eighth Epoch

• Aideena’s earlier extraterrestrial influence is rediscovered and Faith’s monastic expansion creates the Classical Renaissance. A cultural revolution results from an unprecedented period of learning with advances in arts and sciences.


• Patriarchal cults of skilled and learned men emerge within The Twelve Great Houses


• The Clan Wars herald several centuries of internal familial feuds and the open warfare leads to near political collapse


• Private familiar armies are dissolved and the Knights Templar is established as the supreme military authority


• Cult of skilled and learned men becomes The Guild Brotherhood. They are granted autonomy from the Twelve Great Houses


• Economic worldwide depression forces the establishment of The Parliamentary to deal with global concerns.

Sixth and Seventh Epoch

Sixth Epoch

The Dark Time

• All extraterrestrial presence on Aideena completely and suddenly disappears


• Abandonment of extraterrestrial influence leading to cultural regression evidenced


• Abandonment of early municipalities, collapse of early economic and political systems evidenced


• Mysticism and ritualism embraced


• A singular belief system emerges by epoch’s end

Seventh Epoch

• An organized political system based on theology, the formal beginnings of Faith, emerges


• Missionary efforts by Faith leads to the establishment of monastic citadels


• Road building connects isolated regions of the planet.


• A more formal political system based on familial associations emerges from early matriarchal cults. This is the beginning of the Twelve Great Houses. Trade and commerce become more worldwide as exploration of the planet encouraged.

Third, Fourth and Fifth Epoch

Third Epoch

• Contemporary human physiology rapidly develops due to extraterrestrial influence
  
• First written language is evidenced

Fourth Epoch

• Primitive agricultural communities emerge


• Matriarchal familial cults emerge

Fifth Epoch

• The Time of the Aes’ir Daughters, also called The Gaia, produces evidence of a technologically sophisticated society coexisting with a more primitive one.


• Extraterrestrial prodigy and a segment of the human population merge

Second Epoch

Earliest evidence of that proto-human life was subjected to genetic experimentation by an extraterrestrial intelligence can be found.

First Epoch

First Epoch

Through carbon dating of artifacts, earliest evidence of an extraterrestrial presence on Aideena, an alien race called The Aes’ir, can be found