Although the Wraeththu in the initial three novels have, by the time the stories take place, developed quite advanced societies and cultures, one issue which is not fully discussed is the question of taboo, culturally forbidden or avoided actions or objects. In human societies, taboos have important roles to play. Although Wraeththu societies largely turn their human cultural backgrounds upside down, the same basic requirements for psychosocial norms would presumably be apparent.

The most common taboos in human anthropology include those that deal with sexual activity, familial relationships, and food or cleanliness. Assuming for a moment that Wraeththu, being an offshoot of humans, would carry their own human cultural traits into their lives as hara, but with a whole new set of sexual possibilities, what then would their taboos accomplish for the species?

Physical vs. Cultural Theories of Taboo

Anthropologists have theorized on the main purpose of taboos. Physical and material anthropologists, who look to the physical and biological world to answer questions of culture, generally posit that taboos exist for the biological well-being of a society or culture. A basic example of this is the common prohibition against incest, mating within the family, as it can concentrate genetic flaws, creating children that are more flawed, retarded, or even incapable of living or reproducing. Similarly, a food taboo might be useful to eliminate certain diseases; the common prohibition against cannibalism can be seen in this light as a safety precaution against picking up diseases from other humans, which is easier than picking up diseases from dissimilar animals.

A main argument against the physical model is that many taboos long predate any concept among their practitioners of the scientific principles that support a physical prohibition. Most arguments that base taboos within physical safety are done so after the fact, and most primitive peoples develop their taboos long before they discern any understanding of genetic or germ theories. Modern human scientists can theorize about their own genetics, yet still be as governed by them as if they knew nothing about the principles.

Presumably, Wreaththu, whose other behaviors (such as the sterile inception experienced by Pellaz) suggest that they have an understanding - if not necessarily an appreciation - for the scientific principles that govern their own genetics, would still be governed more by the natural inclination of their genes. In other words, the knowledge of how the material world effects one's inclinations will rarely change those inclinations, at least on a societal scale - not for primitive humans, modern humans, or even Wraeththu.

Cultural anthropologists suggest a different basis for taboos, one which is harder to criticize. Claude Levi-Strauss suggests that taboos exist to keep social order within the group, or create distinctions between groups. Within a social group, incest can cause difficulties within the family, for instance. Between groups, differing food prohibitions can be used to draw lines -- those people we don't like eat their dead, so we don't.

As with most theoretical ways of looking at society, there may be strong arguments for either the physical or cultural aspect, but by considering both, we may get the clearest picture yet.

Sex and Incest: Human vs. Wraeththu Sexuality

Within the Wraeththu novels, we learn little about food and cuisine. However, because sexual behavior plays such a strong role, it presents a fascinating question about sexual taboo among hara, both as a larger society and within smaller cultural groups. In particular, how is incest viewed in a society wherein many of the common barriers of human sexuality are lost?

By "common barriers," I mean gender and age. Sex, in this case, should be understood as both useful for the physical act of reproducing offspring and for the social act of creating bonds for the rearing and socializing those offspring.

Within human society, the divided genders mean that most people commonly become sexually active only with the other gender, thereby making same-gender incest somewhat less common than non-incestuous same-gender sex. This is, of course, less common and less reproductively useful than heterosexual sex. Of course, the existence of a single gender and the possibility of any two hara being capable not only of sex but of reproduction means that the true physical sexual delineation among Wraeththu is, of course, non-existent, even if some hara do choose specific gender roles that recall human gender differentiation.

Also among humans, age differences vary in a broad understanding of three sexual phases -- sexually undeveloped, sexually mature, and menopausal / andropausal -- which draw barriers between people as sexual partners. The general human population does not become sexually involved prior to reaching sexual maturity. Likewise, while sexual activity is not impossible after menopause (or the male equivalent, which is known as viropause or andropause, or commonly as "male menopause"), it is not usually part of the common sexual practice and rarely is reproductive.

More importantly, within the human reproductive cycle, sexual behavior between people at differing stages is not generally successful or useful to the species. Given the average lifespan of 70 years, an average human spends about 12 years (or 17%) in the pre-reproductive stage, and 25 years (or 35%) in the post reproductive stage, leaving only about 48% of life spent in sexual maturity.

Wraeththu, who spend the vast majority of their lives in the sexually mature stage, possibly with no tie in the post-reproductive stage, and whose lives are considerably longer, can therefore ignore the age delineation almost entirely. Assuming a 150-year live cycle, with sexual maturity achieved at around 8 or 9 years of age, they spend almost 95% of their lives in sexual maturity. This can allow the very old and the very young to be sexually mature at the same time, something that simply does not easily happen within human biology.

An excellent example of this is in the Swift-Seel pair bonding. We know from textual evidence that Seel and Cal were human contemporaries, with Cal being a couple of years older than Seel. While no actual age is ever given for Cal, At the beginning of Enchantments, Seel claims to be 21, meaning Cal is around 23. After nearly a year in Saltrock and couple of years of travel, at most, Cal and Pellaz encounter the harling Swift, who seems to be around 6-8 years old, meaning he is actually about 3-4 years old. He reaches sexual maturity around 9 or 10 years of age, making Seel about 30 at the same time. A twenty year difference is not unknown among humans, but certainly strains at the edges of sexual maturity. Among hara, the difference could be twice as great and still be acceptable.

Physical Theories about the Incest Taboo as Applies to Wraeththu

One point made clear is that Wraeththu are physically far superior to humans. They are healthier and more efficient, nearly incapable of falling ill. Their bodies process food better, producing less waste. Obesity is nearly impossible. This suggests a cellular efficiency and presumably a genetic one as well.

Therefore, there is little evidence that the Wraeththu physiology has any need for a physical / material taboo against incest. Simply put, if two hara might, in reproduction, create an offspring of poor efficiency, cellularly or genetically sub-par, then reproduction would simply not occur. The offspring would not be viable; the two hara would, presumably, be effectively infertile together, though both might be perfectly fertile with other hara. Another possibility is that the natural efficiency would fix any genetic mistakes in vitro.

Westermarck suggests that the incest taboo is both biological and psychological, and that family members usually lack physical attraction. This idea of "familiarity breeds contempt" is supported in some primate species, but because the biological component seems to be missing among hara, it does not seem to be a useful theory.

In any case, there is little need for an incest taboo on the purely physical / material level.

Cultural Theories about the Incest Taboo

Far more applicable and interesting are the cultural theories about the incest taboo.

In general, cultural anthropologists believe that incest taboos are widest or most general in those societies where the social and familial structure is least organized. To understand this, one must first understand that the concept of "family" varies widely from (human) culture to culture (see chart 1.1).

1.1 Kinship groups: Family   1. Nuclear family: a group of primary relatives     a. family of orientation: F, M, Z, B, Ego (self)     b. family of procreation: ego and his/her spouse (W and H, S, D)   2. Extended family: a group of co-resident kin a. bilateral extended: nuclear family with other kin drawn from both maternal and paternal sides. Key: father = F; mother = M; sister = Z; brother = B; daughter = D; son = S, husband = H; wife = W

In Western society, for instance, the nuclear family is the primary social structure, with secondary levels playing varying levels of importance -- each member's own nuclear family members may or may not be part of the core family, depending on the individual situation. In other words, one's cousin can be seen as one's nuclear mother's nuclear sister's nuclear child, three nuclear steps away. For most people in Western society, this is part of the family, by virtue of being so closely connected to the nucleus. However, with a single change -- one's cousin by marriage, such as one's biological cousin's stepsibling -- the physical connection is broken. In that case, the social structure determines the relationship. Such an affinal cousin whom has been raised far away is a stranger; an affinal cousin who is raised in the same town may be as close as a sibling.

Affinal relationships illustrate the possibility of incest within Western culture quite well. While most members of Western society would not consider becoming sexually involved with a cousin, either biological or affinal, if the cousins were not raised together, the sexual pairing between legal but non-biological cousins is trivial. They are not related on any physical level, and the only barrier to a sexual pairing is emotional or social. In Western society, therefore, where the nuclear family is the primary social structure, incest taboos are limited to close kin. Even fictive relationships -- those established by agreement rather than biological connection, such as god-parents or an "uncle" who is one's father's best friend, not blood relation -- have little bearing on incest taboos. They do run afoul of power and age taboos, but they do not technically fall under the label of incest. In most cases, a pair-bonding like this would cause social stress, but if it occurred between consenting adults, would have to be accepted at leas grudgingly among humans.

Among Wraeththu, however, this might raise an eyebrow but cause few other issues. For instance, the Swift-Cal pairing (both at Swift's Febraiah and later, after Terzian has left for war with the Gelaming), strains human taboos. While of no blood relation to Swift, Cal, as Swift's father's second consort, is in an equivalent position as a human step-mother or polygamist sister-wife (a term used by polygamist wives for each other) to Swift's hostling ("mother"), Cobweb. Likewise, Terzian's sexual use of Gahrazel, his friend Ponclast's son, is acceptable to Ponclast - although it bothers Swift on many levels.

Among affinal relations, far more importance is placed on the familiarity of the couple than the actual kinship. For example: if parents with children from previous pairings are joined, and their biologically unrelated children are reared together, a sexual pairing between those children will generally be considered incestuous. However, if two adults pair sexually, and then the parent of one joins with the parent of the other, the situation, while certainly confusing, is not incestuous or distasteful.

In some cultures, however, an affinal cousin is as close a kin as one's own sibling, and such a pairing would be completely unimaginable. These cultures, which employ a far less structured or broader kinship model, create larger and more encompassing "families," and therefore must prohibit more potential sexual pairings under incest taboos. The Cheyenne, for example, have a less structured kinship model. Therefore, incest possibilities, and the attendant taboo, are much larger.

Kinship systems around the world employ some concepts that are completely unknown in Western society. For instance, parallel cousins and cross cousins may be allowed different levels of sexual pairings; in the West, no such distinction is drawn based on the gender of the parent or his / her sibling, so no incest distinction is possible either.

While incest taboo is practically universal, not all societies react the same way. Western society is not even the most reactionary. For instance, among some offshoot LDS (Mormon) polygamists, it is common for a polygamist group's leader to marry his daughter to his brother. Also, often in Western society, age difference is more important than the relationship, the focus seeming to be more on power than kinship. Most Westerners are sickened by a 65 year old man marrying his 16 year old niece, but less frightened by it if both are the same age, as can happen in large families. Likewise, a 65-16 marriage with no familial relationship is frightening to us, but first cousins of the same age merely garner pity. Nevertheless, age is not a factor among hara, and neither is power in this understanding of the word.

The Role of Women / Hostlings in Incest Taboo

One example stands out as an exception: in a family structure like the Terzian-Cobweb-Swift group, Cobweb is the one person most functional in making it a family and also would seem likely to be the stopgap in anything too kinky going on in his home. It may be primarily women who force the issue of incest taboos, and among hara, the hostlings. The primary caretaker and life-giver, i.e., human mothers and Wraeththu hostlings, can be seen as the primary boundary against incest. Unfortunately, the only good example of this in the novels id Cobweb whose primary motive for opposing the Cal-Swift relationship is more personal than anything else, because he has very good reasons to dislike and distrust Cal.

Interestingly, the most common form of incest tends to me father-daughter. Likewise, older-man-younger-woman pairings are relatively common, probably for good biological (although not for good sociological) reasons -- women tending to be more fertile and considered more attractive in youth means that younger women are going to be preyed on by older men, whether incest is a factor or not. While the issue of fertility does not play a role among the hara, the driving force behind such pairings (incest or otherwise) seems to be men.

Incepted Wraeththu, having started out life as boys with the intention of growing up into men, may therefore have less of an issue with incest. The lack of female component in their society may mean that there are fewer stopgaps. In groups where some hara are relegated to the "female" role (as Cobweb plays), hostlings and beautiful sex toys, we might expect to see more incest taboos. In groups where all hara are equal, approaching an Ursula K LeGuin-esque "Winter" world, we might expect to see less powerful incest taboos, or none at all. In fact, hara like Cal, with his attitude that humans are devils, might reject human society do fundamentally that they would embrace anything that humans reject. The fact that Cal has relations with all members of Terzian's family - first the patriarch, Terzian, the the son, Swift, and finally - it's hinted - the "matriarch," Cobweb -- suggests that there is a total disregard for the human mores he grew up with, either deliberately or not.

Another role is the history of the hara themselves. Incepted hara would probably carry those taboos that they grew up with, possibly for life, although 150 years of life might erode that. Nevertheless, first generation hara would presumably be raised with some of the taboos of their parents' human society. On the other hand, it seems that no single hara society is comprised of an ethnically singular group, nor have they been around to become ethnically / culturally / genetically related. Therefore, a combination of social laws might exist in the same household, leading to a lot of confusion for the young.

All of this would seem to point to the idea that an incest taboo would be unlikely among hara, but could exist in certain family structure. Thus, it wouldn't be a taboo so much as a personal choice. Any har who doesn't recognize someone as a relative would have no reason to avoid aruna with him. Any har whom, on discovering he is sexually involved with a stranger or who turns out to be his half-brother would necessarily be far enough removed from human society (both biologically and socially) for it not to bother him unduly.

Conclusion

Malinowsky and Freud both suggest that incest taboos exist to prevent breakdown of family togetherness, and Cohen suggests that core family incest taboos (i.e., within a nuclear family) create boundaries for privacy necessary for psychological well being. Widespread breakdown can lead to breakdown of the whole society. Proper socialization involves creating a bond with one's caretakers, and later distancing that bond ("growing up"). Cohen also suggests that the taboo against distant relation incest is there to strengthen bonds with other groups by forcing alliances.

Within Wraeththu society, however, we see too many different forms of "family" within even a single cultural group to draw any conclusions. It would seem that the "an ye harm none, do what thou wilt" attitude of the Wraeththu, paired with no strong biological reason against it, would make at least some forms of incest almost universally acceptable. While we never see any hara engaging in aruna with his own hostling, the Gahrazel-Terzian and Swift-Cal pairings are almost as close to human incest as one can get, yet they do not appear to break taboos. An important question is if a hostling and harling were in some way stranded together, would the need for aruna override the relationship? Unfortunately, further research (perhaps something in the new books?) would have to be conducted to answer this question!

Wraeththu, with such a widespread and varied social structure, might be expected to have strict taboos. However, in such a society, the Swift-Seel pair-bonding would probably be unacceptable both because of age and because of the prior Swift-Cal and Seel-Cal relationships. Likewise, the Swift-Cal link would definitely be unacceptable. The lack of a biological component obviously plays an important role in allowing incest, suggesting that the material theories are more applicable to the hara, albeit in an inverted way: because there is no biological reason to ban incest, incest is acceptable.