Nyx in the House of Night

by Dane, Jordan; Cast, Kristin; Mahoney, Karen; P. C. Cast

  The earth is often referred to as our mother, because it gives us nourishment, shelters us, and takes us back to her after we pass. All the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the tools we use ultimately come from the earth. Vampyres revere the earth, and Wiccans and Native Americans, like Zoey’s grandmother, view the earth as a living conscious entity that has a spirit of its own. They believe the earth will always take care of us—if we take care of it. We should live in harmony with nature, taking what we need, but only what we need and no more. That we are entrusted as stewards of the earth means we should recycle, replant felled trees, reduce pollution, and minimize our use of fossil fuels whenever possible. The belief is that the earth is a self-healing entity, and if we don’t maintain a proper symbiotic relationship with the earth, she will eventually decide we are far too harmful and rid herself of us.

  In a Wiccan Circle earth may be represented by the color green or brown, leaves, rocks, or minerals, and salt is often sprinkled around the Circle when asking earth to join the ritual. The astrological signs Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, with their practical and responsible natures, are associated with the earth.

  The traits of earth are, well . . . down to earth. The archetype of the cowboy who rides the range, sleeps under the stars, and herds cattle is a perfect image for earth, as they are seen to be patient, consistent, and unmovable. Stevie Rae, from her cowboy hat to the boots, and from her small-town upbringing to the natural way she accepts and cares for people, epitomizes the element earth.

  The earth is our mother, and when you feel worried or stressed, feel yourself moving down into her. See roots growing from your feet and pulling nourishment and energy into your body. Wiccans refer to this as “grounding,” and it will help you find calm, peaceful security when you need it most. Like calls to like, and if you will let it the earth will nurture and protect you. All you have to do is reach out to her, and the earth, your mother, will be there to comfort and protect you, taking away the anxiety and pain so that you can feel calm, secure, and safe in her arms.

  Lord and Lady essence of spirit, we ask that you bring to our Circle the Spirit of love and compassion. Spirit that is our compass for wrong and right lead us through our darkest night.

  The four elements are amazing when you think about them. Air flowing around us infusing not only the sky but also the depths of the sea and the underground hollows with just the proper mix of nitrogen and oxygen to sustain life. Fire from the sun warming this planet to just the right temperature; not so hot that we go all flambé but not so chilly that we shatter. Water covering 75 percent of this planet and hiding mysteries so deep that even we vampyres have yet to discover its secrets. Earth, both the planet and the soil beneath us, the mountains and deserts, all providing homes to the children of this world.

  Look again at our bodies, human and vampyre: Air flows through our lungs and fuels the cells of our bodies. Fire manifests in the warmth of our skin. Water makes up 60 percent of our weight and constantly flows both into and out of us, providing the environment for all our bodily functions. Earth makes up our skin, hair, and bone. The four elements combine to form an amazingly intricate machine. But that’s all we would be, a squishy golem, an extremely articulate automaton, without one thing—spirit.

  The final element, spirit, is the thing that makes us all individuals. Spirit animates us to move beyond a nicely formed but inanimate collection of elements and places us in a position of power and responsibility. Spirit is what brings us joy and sorrow, gives us the ability to love and hate, lets us become enraptured by beauty and makes us despair in depravity. Spirit is our conscience and our compassion, but it is also our anger and pain. Spirit is that tiny fragment of the Divine within us, that piece linking us to the creator. As Shakespeare, who as you know was himself a vampyre, said, “What a piece of work is man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god.” Zoey, having an affinity for all elements, has to be overwhelmed at times. I imagine that there are times she feels like she is standing in a hurricane while contemplating a rose, all of life swirling around her but still clinging to a bit of beauty that is the Divine.

  Spirit gives us the power to think and act, to be caring and compassionate or petty and cruel. Do we feel the exaltation of spirit well within us and marvel at how every person can have their own individual experience of spirit, or do we attempt to force everyone to conform to our own vision of spirit? Zoey chooses to use her gift to help all who are in need to seek understanding and peace, while others use their gift to seek dominance over others. The entire range of vampyre and human emotions are the gift of spirit, but how we choose to use them is entirely up to us.

  Circle is opened with a request for the elemental forms of nature to join in the ritual and closed by thanking the elements for their participation in the service. Beginning and ending with the elements is symmetrical, as is the circle itself, and polite, as more of us should be. I mean really, one does not invite someone to join in to something and then not thank them for being there when it’s time to leave.

  Vampyres feel the song of the elements, but most humans, with a few notable exceptions, seem to consider the immensely awe-inspiring miracle of the elements to be mundane and ordinary. Humans see the life-renewing gift of water freely falling from the sky and complain about how the rain is inconveniencing them. A flower bursts forth from the earth opening its petals to the sun, and a bee dances around it in thanks to the Goddess, while a human contemplates paving over it for a new parking lot. Humans become so wrapped up in their own cleverness that, like Narcissus staring at his reflection, they have become enamored with their own creations. Modern technologic creations have their uses and their place in the modern world, but they are not life; they have no spirit and do not touch our souls. On their side of the looking glass humans have forgotten this and decided that cars are more amazing than horses, buildings more majestic than mountains, amusement parks more desirable than forests, and computer screens more interesting than each other.

  There are some exceptions. Wiccans, Native Americans, and other Shamanic people still view the earth as their mother. Wiccans still see the Goddess in all things and view the elements as her elder children, who care for and protect us when we live in harmony with nature and chastise us when we cast nature aside. Of course Wiccans have the advantage of believing that the earth and all of nature is sacred. Like vampyres, they believe the Goddess wove the lessons we are to learn into the very fabric of nature. They believe that there are sacred lessons to be learned in the changing of the seasons, the fall of a raindrop, the rising of the moon, and the budding of a rose. To one who believes the world is our guide, the true meaning of life is found in our relationship to nature, not in our separation from it. If you want to understand the mysteries of nature, watch a caterpillar crawl on a stem, a spider build a web, an eagle soar on an updraft, or a mother hold her child. If you want to experience the Divine look at a mountain, wade into the ocean, or watch the full moon rise (although for humans the sunrise would probably be equally inspiring). If you want to understand yourself, know a deer. I’m not talking about knowing about it or what it eats but knowing why, why a deer, or why anything for that matter. Understand the existence of anything and you will learn something about yourself.

  Now, our next discussion will be here next week, when we will talk about the origin of that absurd idea that vampyres turn into bats and fly away.

  BRYAN LANKFORD is the author of the book Wicca Demystified: A Guide For Practitioners, Family and Friends, which seeks to promote a greater understanding of the Wiccan religion by explaining many of the misconceptions about Wiccan beliefs to the public. Bryan is a Wiccan practitioner in the Dallas Pagan community where he lectures extensively about Wicca at colleges and universities, and he has been a guest on both secular and religious radio programs helping people understand the truth about Wicca. Bryan is a member of the C
ovenant of the Goddess and the Thanks-Giving Square Interfaith Committee, which promotes dialogue and cooperation among people of all faiths.

  { Misunderstood }

  MULTIPLE PARTNERS IN OUR MATRIARCHAL (AND PATRIARCHAL) PAST

  Kristin Cast

  ZOEY REDBIRD takes a lot of crap for having multiple boyfriends. I’m sure, if she were sitting here next to me, she would be pretty upset about being called a slut, a tramp, a whore, and all of the other negative nouns that are thrown at her. I get tons of messages on Facebook from people who make hurtful comments, and I know that our administrative assistant Camden Clark, who keeps up with our House of Night Facebook, MySpace, and email, constantly has to stand up for Zoey. (I do want to point out that, in earlier novels, the guys in Zoey’s life should have definitely known about each other. The whole not-being-honest thing doesn’t ever go over very well.) My mom and I are often asked when we will make her choose just one guy to be with forever and ever and ever and ever. I can tell you that won’t be happening anytime soon. She’s a teenager and it’s unhealthy for a teen to be focused on one guy and one guy only. Girls shouldn’t spend months, weeks, or even days obsessing over boys they won’t remember in five years. But, when Zoey is mature and experienced and truly knows herself, she’ll pick just one guy . . . maybe.

  I say that not only to tease you, but also because within the vampyre society of the House of Night, Zoey doesn’t have to choose one mate forever if she doesn’t want to. As a High Priestess, she can have a human consort, a warrior, a vamp boyfriend, or any combination of them. In our heavily matriarchal vampyre society, the practice of having multiple partners has been going on for hundreds of years, so it’s completely normal!

  Shocking, I know, but being in a relationship with multiple partners and having society think it’s “normal” isn’t some crazy new idea we created for the series. Most people are familiar with the word polygamy, when a man has multiple wives or a woman has multiple husbands—though it’s often confused with polygyny, which only addresses a man who has more than one wife. Polygyny has been around for hundreds of years, appearing in many cultures for many reasons. Some factors that might have contributed to the development of polygyny include there being significantly more women than men in a particular society, practical household reasons (women are able to divide tasks in polygynous relationships, and having extra parents around may benefit their children), and plain old egotistical reasons.

  Prior to Christian colonization, various African cultures accepted this practice 100 percent (and many countries in Africa still do today, though that acceptance isn’t absolute; the controversial Jacob Zuma, who was elected president of South Africa in 2009, has come under heavy criticism in regards to his having three wives).

  In places like western Kenya, a man having many wives and children was seen as a symbol of status and wealth, and he could have as many as he could afford. Men had to pay dowries for each wife, so the more wives a man had the more obvious his wealth was to the people in the village. Following old traditions, the current king of Swaziland, Mswati III, has fourteen wives and twenty-three children. And if you think that’s excessive, by the time his father King Sobhuza II died, he had amassed seventy wives and over a thousand children!

  Polygynous arrangements usually started with what we now think of as a “normal” heterosexual marriage between a man and a woman. The first wife, also called the senior wife, would help her husband look for a second wife if she was getting older and/or needed help meeting household needs such as farmwork, child rearing, and just plain taking care of the husband. Even though the husband could make the decision on his own to find another wife, he would have to consult the senior wife beforehand on things like familial reputation, beauty, values, mental stability, and physical strength. As the senior wife, her position was always respected, and she would always be involved in the addition of subsequent wives. Rarely based on love, the foundations of these marriages instead were based in mutual respect and support. Each spouse’s role and status had to be clearly outlined and acknowledged to maintain a harmonious balance, though obviously, this was not always the case as jealousies and power trips understandably resulted in tension.

  This way of life changed drastically for many Africans once Christian settlers and missionaries began to arrive on the continent, but don’t let their lofty goals fool you. Officially they were monogamous and held the strong belief that God had declared that men were to only be with one wife because “the two,” not three, four, or five, “will become one flesh,” but they definitely were not innocent. The settlers who came to Liberia came up with something called Chrismonopoly. (Ooooo! Sounds fun! Let’s all play!) This hodgepodge of a word is not like your favorite fake-money board game, but if you’d like to play this historic game, go ahead!

  The rules:

  Be a Christian settler.

  Involve yourself in a monogamous marriage with a Christian wife.

  (This is the tricky one) While in your monogamous marriage, engage in relationships with native Liberian women.

  Remember that you’re not involved in a polygynous relationship. It’s Chrismonopoly!

  Umm, yeah right. If it quacks like a duck . . .

  The Hebrew bible, the Torah (aka the Old Testament, for Christians), says that polygyny was practiced in ancient Israelite societies and even mentions approximately forty polygynists, including Abraham, Jacob (remember Rachel and Leah?), and, of course, King Solomon. The Torah even includes specific regulations on the practice and states that husbands should make sure that multiple marriages “don’t diminish the status of the first wife.”

  In China, as early as 1911 polygyny was written in the law, but it had actually already been practiced for thousands of years because of the importance their culture places on having children. Emperors could have hundreds, even thousands, of concubines and wives, which would allow for way more kids than simple monogamy. Rich officials and merchants could also have multiple women, thereby increasing their number of children. It was believed that if a man was able to successfully manage not only himself but a family that involved many wives and children, then he would also be able to bring together and manage a nation. Today, polygyny is still practiced in Mainland China, though it was banned there in 1951 under the Marriage Law.

  By this time, I bet you’re wondering where all the women’s rights stuff is and whether or not there’s any kind of “poly” dedicated to those with internal genitalia. Well, you’re in luck! Polyandry is the term used to describe women who have multiple husbands . . . and lots of patience.

  The idea of a polyandrous society was around way before the patriarchal society we are so accustomed to today. In fact, though there’s a lot of debate on the issue, scholars such as Edward Hartland, Robert Briffault, and Johann Bachofen believe that most societies were originally matriarchal and matrilineal and even practiced polyandry (though they viewed this as just one of the steps in our evolutionary development toward superior patriarchal societies). Sociologist V. Klein suggests that “in early society women wielded the main sources of wealth; they were the owners of the house, the producers of food, they provided shelter and security. Economically,” she points out, “man was dependent upon woman.” (You can read a lot more about early matriarchal societies in When God Was a Woman, by Merlin Stone.)

  These cultural practices may not have lasted in the real world, but you can still see them in many mythologies. In Hindu mythology, Princess Draupadi (she actually had many other names that include Panchali, Parsati, Yognyaseni, and Krishnaa) married five brothers who were known as the five Pandavas. These brothers were not only her husbands, but also acted as bodyguards (or Guardians!), protecting her from anyone who wanted to do her harm. On one occasion, Draupadi was kidnapped, and when her husbands found out, they immediately came to her rescue. Draupadi was amazing. She was said to have grown from the fire out of her father’s vengeance against his enemy, and she was known for her beauty, her intelligence, and he
r eagerness to speak her mind in a man’s world. This Indian firecracker has been considered the first feminist in Indian mythology. You go, girl!

  Now onto a goddess I’m sure everyone has heard of—Aphrodite. Aphrodite had twelve lovers (though not all at the same time), both mortal and divine. This curvaceous diva of beauty, seduction, love, pleasure, and procreation had a divine consort, Ares, the god of war, as well as a divine husband, Hephaistos. One of the more popular myths about Aphrodite tells of the time she was captured in an invisible net by Hephaistos in the middle of a tryst with Ares. Despite the embarrassment, this event didn’t do much to harm Aphrodite’s image in the eyes of her fellow gods or worshippers, and I don’t think Aphrodite ever received mail about how nasty people thought she was. Mmmhmm. Think about that. She wasn’t alone, either. Many other Greek goddesses had multiple lovers and husbands, just as their male counterparts had multiple lovers and wives.

  Living a polygamist lifestyle isn’t something only gods and goddesses or even people across the pond do, and it’s definitely not something that ended a long time ago. It’s alive and well, folks. In case you don’t have a TV or the internet, or live under a rock, polygamy—or at least polygyny—has made its way onto the boob tube, and not in a very female-friendly way.

  From BET to HBO to TLC, our televisions are flooded with images of men with multiple women. Rap music and videos preach and depict that it doesn’t only make you a bigger, better, badder man to have a nice car with big rims, but also that it is imperative to be with as many women as possible. Because what woman doesn’t want a guy with nice rims, undiagnosed STDs, and a plethora of baby mamas? (Having a kid with a woman may not be marriage, but it’s still a long-term commitment.) HBO’s Big Love depicts a Mormon polygamist family, and producers spent years researching the show’s premise to be sure they depicted the fake family’s lifestyle fairly and without bias. TLC’s new show Sister Wives (which I record and watch religiously) follows the real-life activities and drama of a polygamist family and how they handle the addition of a fourth wife.