I recently had a conversation with a Japanese woman who told me she would like to have society in Japan returned to the matriarchal clan system of 2000 years ago, when women could take on temporary 'husbands' who stayed in the village for a fixed time, apparently six days, living with the woman and having any type of relationship
After the term was up, there was a decision made by the elder women, mostly, since this society was organized in matriarchal clans. The girl in question, or woman, also had her input of course but not the ultimate say.
If the man was rejected, he would leave the village in peace, with no recriminations of any kind, no damage to anyone's reputation or the like. This was the accepted practice of the time.
Perhaps many of us in our modern society would also like some form of authority, perhaps akin to the oracle at Delphi among the ancient Greeks, to help settle difficult interpersonal conflicts, or to help with critical decisions about relationships.
At Delphi, as I understand it (I'm not a scholar on the subject), the resident priests read signs such as from the entrails of animals--and answered questions about war and peace, but also about serious personal relationship issues.
There was no enforcement mechanism aside from custom, but many Greeks believed disaster would strike if the oracle's opinions were defied, and many of the legends that have come down to us are based on what happened when people refused to comply with the oracle's decrees.
Perhaps we could have a similar authority, comprising people selected by consensus from a pool of both trained counselors and experienced but non-credentialed people. Using somewhat updated methods, avoiding entrail reading, they would have the moral authority of that oracle.
Clearly we would have a hard time agreeing on who would integrate this authority, which would be quasi-sacerdotal but not affiliated to any established religion.
We don't have the sort of consensus that prevailed among the ancient Greeks, of course. That is why we might want to rotate the individuals making the rulings among all religions and subgroups.
It would not be impossible, I should think, and we wouldn't make it mandatory to obey, no more than the Greeks did...but we should in establishing it make it clear that you had better have a very good reason for not obeying or you would be criticized by most people. Again, this would resemble the oracle of the Greeks.
For example, a lot of the questions we answer here at GAG could be brought to this 'oracle' for resolution. People would physically visit the location and undergo questioning so the oracle would have a lot better information to guide them than we usually do here.
What do people think? Feel free to add or amend my proposal...
After the term was up, there was a decision made by the elder women, mostly, since this society was organized in matriarchal clans. The girl in question, or woman, also had her input of course but not the ultimate say.
"Many of us in our modern society would also like some form of authority, perhaps akin to the oracle at Delphi,"
If the man was rejected, he would leave the village in peace, with no recriminations of any kind, no damage to anyone's reputation or the like. This was the accepted practice of the time.
Perhaps many of us in our modern society would also like some form of authority, perhaps akin to the oracle at Delphi among the ancient Greeks, to help settle difficult interpersonal conflicts, or to help with critical decisions about relationships.
At Delphi, as I understand it (I'm not a scholar on the subject), the resident priests read signs such as from the entrails of animals--and answered questions about war and peace, but also about serious personal relationship issues.
There was no enforcement mechanism aside from custom, but many Greeks believed disaster would strike if the oracle's opinions were defied, and many of the legends that have come down to us are based on what happened when people refused to comply with the oracle's decrees.
Perhaps we could have a similar authority, comprising people selected by consensus from a pool of both trained counselors and experienced but non-credentialed people. Using somewhat updated methods, avoiding entrail reading, they would have the moral authority of that oracle.
Clearly we would have a hard time agreeing on who would integrate this authority, which would be quasi-sacerdotal but not affiliated to any established religion.
We don't have the sort of consensus that prevailed among the ancient Greeks, of course. That is why we might want to rotate the individuals making the rulings among all religions and subgroups.
For example, a lot of the questions we answer here at GAG could be brought to this 'oracle' for resolution. People would physically visit the location and undergo questioning so the oracle would have a lot better information to guide them than we usually do here.
What do people think? Feel free to add or amend my proposal...
Most Helpful Opinions