The Amazon Ideal 1 - Sisterhood
Sisterhood is not about domination. it is about helping those weaker. That is what the Amazon ideal is. The strong HELP the weak, not control them. They give the weak strength. Might for right, not might is right.
Why is this not what most people see and hear about the Amazons? Simple...Transfer of ideals comes when people learn part of a lesson and pass on the parts they pick and choose. People see the Amazons as strong women, and they suddenly inject "feminine superiority" into the mix.
They think the matriarchal ideals are the same as the patriarchal, when in fact they are extremely different
for example...
If a victim appears in the Amazon matriarchal society, she is first nursed back to health, but also taught ways of strength and self so she will not be a victim. The teaching of the victim to no longer be a victim allows her to regain herself, not be treated as someone too weak to ever be left to herself.
In the patriarchal society, the victim is nursed to health and someone is found to blame and be punished FOR the victim. The sense is that society protects the victim by blaming someone for the act. Sadly it does not often give the victim much of an empowerment or sense of change.
Paradise island is designed as a place for women who are strong to help women who are weak become strong. It is also designed to keep those who do not understand the ideal out.
The Amazon Ideal 2 - Goals and Principles
The matriarchal society is based on a different set of founding beliefs and principles than the Patriarchal society.
The patriarchal society has the idea that emotions show weakness They urge logic and science. Feeling and emotion are not as important. All problems must have a solution, and problem solving is extremely important. If someone comes to you with something bothering them, you must do what you can to solve the problem. Goal oriented lifestyles and stressful obsession are part of life.
The Matriarchal society believes that emotions are your guide. Your morality and instinct will keep you on the path to what you should be. Life has many unanswerable puzzles. The trick is to understand where you fit into the problem. At times your best results come only from being there an listening to someone as they work out the problem that they need to. Goals are important, but principles and ideals are more important. Balancing your emotions and understanding your path is part of life.
The Amazon Ideal 3 - Birth and development is a process.
In a patriarchal Society, birth is based on planting a seed and waiting. One popular creation story has the creating deity working 7 days to create the world. Society sees this as a model showing that creation is a magical and fast moving act. Success entails fast work and an impatient wait. The end result is to watch your goal created.
In matriarchal society, birth is based on a long slow process of development. The coupling takes only minutes, but the gestational development takes months within ourselves. Nothing we can do to hurry that time does anything except damage the outcome. We understand that waiting and doing what we must, even if what we must is nothing that makes sense to us, is the only way for a successful creation. The end result is a long process with a painful ending that rips us apart. What we create is borne from us, a physical part of our being.
This same ideal is used for all important parts of life. The process of creating your home, making an income, becoming friends, and being loyal. All of it is a process, not an instant. You earn your life, you earn your income, you earn friends and loyalty. Shortcuts create a hollow easily damaged result, just as any birth.
The Amazon Ideal 4 - Time and life
Time is based on the world around us. Like all mortals and the earth itself we have 3 seasons. We have youth, peak years, and elder years. The world has Storm season, daylight season, and long night season. The three seasons repeat for the world. For amazons, we get one life cycle as ourself before we join our ancestors and begin a second cycle within hades’ realm.
The season of youth is like the storm season at the island. We have energy with no power, Our emotions make us storm and rage and destroy or build as we will without any seeming sense or caring of the world’s sense of order as it is.
The peak, or daylight season is a time of warmth and joy as we, and the island are both at our most stable, physically. Our tides stabilize, game is plentiful, and our vegetation is lush. We are as nature wishes it could always be. We are open and bright so all can see us as we grow. We begin the cycle of life within our own bodies, which also has 3 parts. Our bodies inner cycle of life, which nearly matches the moon phases, also gives us our calendar.
Our entry into the elder, or long night season, is our entry into a new understanding of life. Our tides become unstable, the inner cycle within us becomes unpredictable and stops. Without the constant changes within us, we gain a different perception of the world. Our knowledge gained from the altered views and our experience are hidden from the view of the younger, and we narrow our own views based on a long life of experience. Our knowledge gives us fewer choices of what we can or will do, and we know better than to run off in a direction without knowing what is there or we will get lost in our own darkness.
Our body’s inner cycle lasts our entire peak season. The cycle has the stable time, the time of narrow eyes, and the time of pain. The stable time is like our peak or day; we have full control and strength. We are all we can be and we feel it in our body and mind. The time of narrowing eyes is when our body and mind remind us of the lack of control of our youth. Things that are normally nothing to us become hated and cause anger, sorrow or frustration. The time of pain is when our body loses part of itself and we are physically ill. We have clarity of thought, but our body feels slow and painful and does not allow us things we could normally achieve.
The calendar for Amazons is important. The old calendar is based on the queen’s cycle. It has a 28 day cycle with days of building, days of war, and days of healing. Hippolyta changed our calendar to a lunar calendar when the island was separated from man’s world. This had to be done as we had no one to fight but ourselves if we continued the old ways.
Our new calendar has days of new learning, days of sisterhood, and days reflection. The waxing of the moon is when our queen commands we learn new things. Our life is to grow during that time as we all must take on some projects to better ourselves. The days of sisterhood are short. Only 3 days, but during those days, we have our most social times of sharing and being amazons. We share what we have learned in the earlier parts of the month, and we share the victories and sorrows of our sisters. We laugh and cry as one. When the moon grows smaller, we reflect on the month and all its lessons. We see what changes have been made and decide what other changes need be made for next cycle’s learning days.
The Amazon Ideal Part 5 - The Amazon Religion
Amazon religion is a very complex and involved process. All amazons have seen the Olympian Gods and Goddesses appear on Earth. There is no doubt in our minds that they exist. The Titans who are the spirit aspects of the world have also made themselves known to the Amazons in both spirit and body. With the attacks, assaults and treatment of the tribe by the Olympians, Titans and residents of Hades’ realm; Amazons know that not all gods are beings to be worshipped.
The Gods created us. They are mother and father to us, and deserve respect and love as such. Amazons do not discount our birth gods, even as we know they are not the most powerful of the heavenly beings. The Sisters Fate and the Olympian Goddesses give us hope and support, and always have. We in turn give them our love support and worship.
The Titans are the birth parents of the gods. They are our grandparents. As removed as they are from humanity, they are much further from us than our parents. They do things we shall never understand.
Goddesses, Titans, Fates, and more all have their realms to control. The Goddesses of Olympus control aspects of our lives. Love, Beauty, the success of battle, the success of a hunt. All these things and more are within their realm. The Titans are less attached to humans and more to the world itself. They embody the planet, the elements, and world’s stability. The Fates take the threads of our lives and those around us and weave it into the tapestry of destiny. They can look at it and see all the past and present, and even have a sense of the future from the patterns of our lives.
Since Diana’s entry into the man’s world decades ago, Amazon culture has learned of other cultures. The ways of the Sufi, the Monks of Tibet, Hinduism, Islam, the Judeo-Christian ideology, the Shinto and Buddhist traditions, and even the more modern Neo-Paganism have infiltrated the current beliefs of most Amazons. With the learning days and the sharing days, rituals of outside religions have been introduced and have begun to merge with Amazon traditional beliefs. Some have even gone vegetarian and pacifist.
What the current religion of the Amazons is, none can truly tell. Each person has their own belief and will argue it to the death. It is however still common to hear Amazons invoking Hera, Artemus, Athena, or Nike when going into battle.
One special note on religion: It is on Hippolyta’s orders that all seek their own paths in religion, and not follow a’ tribal deity.’ Hippolyta worships Hera above all for herself, but does not enforce that belief upon anyone. She also leads discussions of philosophy and religion on Paradise Island quite often. Amazons know their queen is human, and do not doubt her ability to be wrong or to err. They commonly call her on small decisions. Amazons have an almost religious devotion to Hippolyta. Her commands are never questioned in battle, and all Amazons willingly lay down their lives for her. Outside battle, Amazons speak up if they disagree, but they never disobey.
The Amazon Ideal 6 - Cooperation and Independence
The Amazons are a warrior race with a fierce sense of independence. Each warrior is well trained in combat and has years of philosophy discussion and training. Even before our immortality, our race believed in educating ourselves. There is strength in all knowledge.
As warriors we know the importance of following orders for success in battle. Other parts of life are similar. Achievement of goals is often done best in a group with one leader. only by having the strength of will to submit ourselves to control may we know the freedom of cooperation.
There are also times for independence. As Amazons, we are taught to follow our hearts and work for the betterment of The Sisterhood. It is our duty to fight for what we believe in. If we disagree with an order or a process, we MUST take our stand and speak of it. We can not do this in the midst of battle, but we can do it in all other things. Our Queen expects our loyalty and respect, but she also expects us to tell her when we have information that she does not. If we have a reason to change the path our order puts us upon, we should tell her, and let her decide.
We are independent in most parts of our life, but we are a small island world. We must depend on each other or we will not and could not survive. We are more than a community, we are a family, a Sisterhood. We serve The Sisterhood and it protects us and makes us all stronger, safer and better. The Queen is our chosen guide for the sisterhood. She is the hand that wields the sword. We are the sword she wields. A sword that fights the hand that guides it becomes quickly lost.
The Amazon Ideal 7 - Amazon Government
Amazon government is based on strength and intellect. The strongest of us was elected our Queen. Hippolyta freed the Amazons from servitude from Heracles and Ares. She brought us into favor with Hera, and made us immortal with her deal to protect the gateway for the gods.
Aside from Queen Hippolyta, the Amazons have a council of 12. The council are advisors to the queen, but also empowered to make decisions in her absence. Since we are on a small island, it is rare that the queen is absent. The advisors of 12 are separated into 3 groups of 4 advisors as follows:
HEALTH ADVISORS: (which include)
1) Healing/Medicine, (the body of the Amazons)
2) Morale/politics/religion (the mind of the Amazons)
3) development and duties (the work of the Amazons)
4) rules of Law (the discipline of the Amazons)
WORLD ADVISORS: which include
1) Island resources (food and supplies)
2) Weather and natural disaster preparation (forecasting, facilities & supplies)
3) Outside influences, Physical (other races, animals, etc.)
4)Outside influences, mystically (The Gods, the invaders for the portals, etc)
BATTLE ADVISORS
1) Warrior Training (preparing our strength)
2) Island Protection (protecting our Sisterhood)
3) Weapons and battle supplies (outfitting our armies)
4) Strategic planning (watching around us with a military eye)
Military decisions are made by the military structure. The Strategic Planning advisor from the council of 12 is second in command of the military. The Island Protection and Warrior training advisors are third and fourth. The Queens Bodyguards are 5th and 6th. Succession goes by seniority from that point on.
For more Amazon Ideals email Razor at razorindigo@yahoo.com
