Re: News

In Lenmoct, this is:

Li lenm-ty cui yddgad.
the mother-future INCEPTIVE be-pregnant.

(no word for wife, the Mocteno aren't gamous
at all <-- backformation)

And this is perfect timing for me to launch into
a discussion of pregnancy and childbearing among
the Mocteno.  I've been thinking about this topic
for a long time, as it is central in the beliefs of
the people and one of the most important times
in a Mocten's life.  (Mocteno, in case you were
wondering, literally means goddess-daughter-s,
and is the word I use for members of the conculture
I've made, who speak Lenmoct (mother-goddess:
the reason for these names will become clear
later in this email).

Mocten women do not marry, nor are they responsible
for raising their own children.   Nevertheless, the
mother-child relationship is very key in their society.
This begins with one of their most key myths, which
I actually sent to this list as a translation excercise several
weeks back.

You see, according to myth, the mother goddess
Lenmoct herself played a similar role in the
birth of humanity.  She gave the animals who
would become human their first word, after which
they "stood up and spoke it" and became "humanity".
(see archives for the actual text, this was fairly
recent I think).  So, similarly, the Mocteno, a very
religious people, pattern their actions on the creation
myth.  The mothers spend their pregnancy meditating
alone in a special hut, to which they are brought
food by the midwife/husband (who actually takes
care of the woman the entire pregnancy, not just at birth).
After nine months they come to the peak of their
meditation and quiet thinking and find one word
to sum up and express what they have discovered in
their meditations.  They say this word just before they
give birth (it should be the last word out of their
mouth before the baby breathes), to be the connection
between a distant mother and her child.  This is all
children have of their parents, their Birth-Word.
The people who raise the children (that is their
job, so they are essentially parents but not genetically)
repeat this word before the baby sleeps every night,
and sing it to soothe them, etc., so that the baby's first
word is the same as the mother's last.  It is supposed
to hold special significance, and is worn often on amulets
around the neck.  Priestesses are those whose birth-word
is Moct, or Goddess.  In this way, mothers who want to
offer their daughter to the service of Moct can, and
basically control their daughter's life-calling.  This
is not taken lightly, however, and the control is not
used excessively.

What do y'all think?  I'm still working out more details,
but I like the ideas I've been having about it.

Jake

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