Spouse-man! How many wives you need for a harmonious marriage (Continuation)
6. Marriage to a stranger
Children in small, closed-type tribes continued to be born thin, so in such conditions it was necessary to urgently think of ways to bring fresh blood into the genetic diet.
We encounter an interesting custom of the “marriage of a stranger” in a number of northern Indians, and in some tribes of Tibet, and in Russian northern peoples — say, the Chukchi and Evenki.
Any wanderer, whom the malicious hand of Providence brought to the village, got on his own wedding. In the most interesting cases – immediately with all the local ladies in the fertile age; in the light version – with daughters-wives of the owner of the house. And until all the laid-back beauties are accredited as an expensive guest, sit under his supervision, eat the most fatty foods and wince in horror at the sight of the next portion of decorated brides heading for his hut.
I would recognize this method of marriage as the best of all, if it were not for the unfortunate circumstance that often at the end of the wedding celebrations of the unwitting bridegroom were sacrificed – to consolidate the effect of refreshing the blood. But there are undoubtedly some positive moments in this method of marriage.
5. Group marriage
Another type of marriage that was once spread across the globe, and now occasionally found, for example, in Central Africa, is group marriage. It arose when people realized the role of the father in conception and managed to associate closely related sex with the birth of sick children. Sex began to grow into all sorts of taboos, and in a number of tribes came up with the following thing: all adolescents who were initiated and were considered adults now immediately after the tests (often very bloody and dangerous) were also married. Immediately all, on top of each other.
Henceforth and forever they had the right to have sex only with representatives of their initiation group, and attempts to communicate with a lady from another group led to all the sad consequences such as castration, drowning and feeding crocodiles. Initiation ceremonies were held every few years for all adolescents in the village at the age of 12–13 to 17 years. Born children were considered common, but the property was again inherited usually matrilineally. This type of marriage is also considered primitive, but sometimes attempts to recreate group marriages also occur in more developed societies.
For example, such communes tried to organize proletarian activists in Russia and the first settlers in Israel at the beginning of the 20th century: a young family of 10–20 people of both sexes settled together and shared all the burdens, adversities and sex that fate sent them.
4. Primitive promiscuity
At one time, ethnographers, eagerly rushing into a variety of jungles to torment the savages with questions and find out how humanity lived in the beginning of time, were very disappointed. The disappointment was caused by the fact that unscrupulous primitive tribes lived as they wanted, each in their own way, and it was completely impossible to understand which of these ways was more ancient and more natural.
For example, many really savages already had difficult families with a mass of sexual taboos. And others, much more technically advanced, could make love like rabbits: all with everyone, without any rules and restrictions. The latter principle was called “primitive promiscuity.” It can still be found in the Indians of the Amazon, and on some islands of Oceania, for example. Family groups of 40–50 people live together; any couple who suddenly felt an attack of mutual sympathy has every right to satisfy her immediately (for example, in special “huts for love”).
Children are brought up together by all adults, while they know their mother, but they never ask who their father is, because the language of these happy peoples does not even have such a word. Indeed, often “primitive promiscuters” vaguely imagine the role of a man in conception. Usually they believe that children simply originate in women in their bellies, while men seem to include some button inside the ladies, after which the baby begins to grow. Therefore, it is clear that for such a case any man, or even an animal, or an elongated stone will come down. Well, incest is a common phenomenon. Taboo only a bunch of “son – mother”, and even then not always. But apart from such details, the system is excellent.
3. Polygyny
Well, everything is clear. Access to women has only a man who can feed both wives and children, and losers go to play dombra. The rich, powerful and influential contain harems with beautiful women, and the rest of the men plow his fields, kill his enemies and undergo castration so that nothing prevents them from serving their master, protecting his harem. Women are becoming a scarce commodity, the thick smell of testosterone is in the air, in harems they now hide not only black-skinned Gury, but almost the entire female population of the country, including elderly maidservants and diabetic second cousins.
A female being dares to appear on the street only in a camouflage over a spacesuit, but even this may not keep the passionate pressure of crowds of thirty-year-old virgins … In a word, an idyll. Still, the word “polygamy” caresses your ears.
2. Matrilinear promiscuity
The words “nephew and niece” are preserved evidence that matrilineal norms did not pass away from our ancestors. Matrylinearity is not to be confused with matriarchy: with matrylinearity, the supreme power in a tribe usually belongs to men – kings, priests and other supreme shamans. But on the other hand, the clan is kept and property is transferred only through the female line. That is, you live in the same house with your mother and sisters, and you enter into sexual relations with women from other clans, running to meet them.
Nobody fixes obstacles for you – to anything. All the same, your children will be considered the children of her brothers, and you yourself will be considered the father of the children of your sisters. Therefore, they were called the word “nephews”, that is, “belonging to your family.” The principle “mother is always known” is still used, for example, in the halachic laws of the Jews, and in general all nations passed the matrilineal stage. Because it is simple and cool.
1. Tsumidoi
Advanced Japanese version of matrilineal promiscuity. In the pre-Samurai era, 90% of property, including land, residential buildings, and so on, in Japan belonged to women, although men controlled everything. When the girl entered into marriage age, the men began to seduce the beauty with the help of heartfelt letters.
Usually the seducer succeeded in becoming the one whom the girl’s parents chose with all care (although, of course, there were lining). Having received hints of verses about the moon and sleeves wet from tears, the gentleman slowly made his way into the girl’s bedroom at night. On the third night, he was officially “found” by his parents. Now her husband could visit the girl more or less openly, but she remained living with her mom and dad, who at any moment could forbid her son-in-law to put her nose on the threshold, after which they began to search for a new fiancé.
The children of the young were brought up by the parents of the wife. Only after many years of a happy marriage, getting up on his feet and getting a high rank, the husband could try to transport his spouse with the children to his home, and even that evil father-in-law spit as he wanted, since the grandchildren were considered his movable property. But a man in a marriage Zumido could marry any number of women and visit them in turn, patiently listening to jealous reproaches from each. And the higher the position of the man, the more he heard these reproaches, since, wanting to have as many daughters as possible (in order to intermarry with all the influential and noble people of the area), the men sought to support as many marriage unions as possible. Great device for family life!