The Woman Who Vowed (The Demetrian)

by Ellison Harding

  CHAPTER III

  THE CULT OF DEMETER

  For some distance we walked in silence. At last I said: "You will not besurprised to hear that I am bewildered; everything is in some respectsso much the same and in others so different."

  "I am curious to know what bewilders you most."

  "Well, it is bewildering enough to be told that you are actually livingunder the regime of Collectivism--a thing which we always consideredimpossible; but I confess what piques my curiosity most is this cult ofDemeter----"

  A scowl came over Chairo's face.

  "How much do you know about it?" said he.

  "Nothing, except that Lydia is a Demetrian and that she is to be marriedto some mathematician----"

  "Married!" interrupted Chairo. "It cannot be called a marriage! It is adesecration!" He paused a moment as if to collect himself and then beganagain in a calmer voice:

  "It is difficult for me to speak of it without impatience; butdeclamation which is well enough on the rostrum is not tolerable inconversation, so I shall not give way to it. The cult of Demeter is anabomination--one of the natural fruits of State Socialism, which, to mymind, means the paralysis of individual effort and death to individualliberty. I lead the opposition in our legislature, and you will,therefore, take all I say with the allowance due to one who hasstruggled, his whole life through, against what I believe to be anintolerable abuse. The cult of Demeter is nothing more nor less than theattempt to breed men as men breed animals. It totally disregards thefact that a man has a soul, and that the demands of a soul arealtogether paramount over those of the body. To attempt to breed menalong purely physical or mental lines without regard to psychicalaspirations is contrary not only to common sense, but to the highestreligion. Did not Christ Himself say, 'What shall it profit a man if hegain the whole world, and lose his own soul'?"

  "You quote Christ," interrupted I. "Is it possible that the Christianreligion can live side by side with the cult of Demeter?"

  "Yes," said Chairo, "and this is perhaps just where the mischief lies.Christianity has remained among us as the religion of sacrifice; and thepriests of Demeter bolster up their hideous doctrine and theirexorbitant power by appeal to this religion of sacrifice."

  "But where," asked I, "do they derive this power of theirs?"

  "Where else," answered Chairo, "but through the hold they have upon theimagination of the women--that terrible need for ritual which has giventhe priest his power ever since the world began. Gambetta was right, 'Leclericalisme; voila l'ennemi.'"

  "Do you mean to say," asked I, "that superstition has survived amongyou?"

  "No, you cannot call it superstition; the time has long since passedwhen the priesthood could impose on the minds of men throughsuperstition; but just because they now appeal to a higher and noblerfunction of mind are they the more dangerous."

  "Tell me," I said--I paused a moment, for I was very anxious to ask aquestion and yet a little afraid to do so.

  But Chairo looked at me again with a look so frank that I ventured:

  "Tell me," I said, "is Lydia going to accept the mission?"

  "No one can tell," said Chairo. "She is profoundly religious, profoundlypossessed with this notion of sacrifice; she has been brought up tobelieve the mission of Demeter the highest honor which the state cangive, and it comes to her now clothed with all the mysticism of astrange ritual and a religious obligation. Think of it: just because shehas the talent of rapid calculation, a knack which you in your time usedto exhibit as a freak in a country fair, she is to be sacrificed--ah, ifit were only a sacrifice I shouldn't complain--but she is to becontaminated. She is to be contaminated, because, forsooth, it isbelieved that by coupling this knack of calculation with one possessinga profounder genius for mathematics, she will bring into the world abeing further endowed with mathematical ability. What if she did; isthere not something in the world worth more than mathematics?"

  "And what mathematician will be selected?" asked I.

  "That is the wicked part of it," answered Chairo; "that matter isabsolutely in the hands of the priests. My God!" he said, "I shall notendure it."

  His eyes flashed, and his voice, though low, rang as he spoke thesewords. But we were now approaching the Hall and we saw the Pater, asthey called him, sitting upon the veranda. "I have spoken vigorously,"he said in a lower voice, as we approached the Hall--"perhaps toovigorously; but I do not mean to disguise my intention. I would notspeak in this way upon a public platform, because they would endeavor tostop me, and the issue would be raised before public opinion is ripe forit. But I warn you the Pater is on the side of the priests, and so, toavoid discussion, which we seldom allow to interfere with the harmony ofour domestic life, I recommend you not to speak of these things to thePater when I am present."

  The Pater arose and advanced to meet us, holding out his hands toChairo.

  "Welcome to Tyringham," he said. And then looking toward me he added:"You could not get hold of a better man to explain to you the changesthat have occurred since your time, but I warn you he will not give youan optimistic view of them."

  I smiled, but said nothing.

  After a few words about the weather and the crops Chairo left us, and Iat once began upon the burning theme.

  I repeated to him the substance of what Chairo had said, leaving out theheat, the indignation, and the threat. I sat down on the balcony withthe Pater, and he, after listening to me, began:

  "Chairo is a man of extraordinary gifts, and has, of course, the qualitywhich generally attends these gifts--inordinate ambition. Such men arenaturally prone to favor individualism as opposed to collective action,and to desire the rewards that come from individual success. It was suchmen as Chairo who prevented so long the realization of Solidarity, andwho will always constitute a formidable opposition. Nor, indeed, wouldit be well for the state that they should cease to exist; for theCollectivist community would soon lapse into mere routine andofficialism, were it not kept perpetually at its best by the oppositionof just such as these.

  "Unfortunately in this particular case his opposition is rendered notonly acute but dangerous, by the fact that he has come into collisionwith one of the most precious institutions of the state, through hisinordinate passion for Lydia. Indeed, I had Chairo in mind when I saidto you, as we parted, that the economic problem presented by thedistribution of wealth was by far the least of the problems thatpresented themselves. The desire for the accumulation of wealth is anartificial desire; it grew with the institution of private property, andwhen the institution of private property was abolished the desire for itvery soon, in great part, disappeared. But the desire of a man for awoman is an elemental passion which has its root deep down in thenecessities of human nature. This passion will always be with us andwill always tend, when coupled with such abilities as Chairo's, todisrupt the state."

  "But," I interrupted, "is not this cult of Demeter a dangerous thing?"

  "To the mind of Chairo," answered he, "inflamed as it is by his love forLydia, undoubtedly it is. But all those who belong to Chairo's party andhate Collectivism because it doesn't furnish them the reward which theyfeel due to their ability, are using this issue in an attempt to breakup the entire system. But consider for a moment what is this cult ofDemeter which you think so dangerous. In the first place there is in itno coercion, absolutely none: the priests tender to such women as theythink proper the mission of Demeter, and this mission can be accepted ordeclined; no disgrace attends the declining of it; the woman to whom itis offered is absolutely free. In the second place, the cult is to theutmost degree reasonable. Let us, for a moment, glance at the notionsthat have prevailed on this subject in times past.

  "From the earliest civilization the notion has prevailed that the mosthighly religious act a woman could perform was to make the sacrificeinvolved in celibacy. We see it in one of its most beautifuldevelopments at Rome. There, to the Vestal Virgins was entrusted themaintenance of the sacrificial flame; to them were accorded the highesthonor
s of the Roman state, the most favored places at all statefunctions; they alone, except the consuls, were preceded in the streetby lictors, and if, in walking through the streets of Rome, they met acriminal going to execution, he was immediately set free. The sacrificerequired by this institution was chastity. So, in the Christian Church,those of both sexes who desired to give themselves particularly to theworship of Christ secluded themselves in convents and took the vow ofchastity. Yet what a barren piece of sentimentality it was! We respectit still, because there was in it the element of sacrifice; but a womancapable of such self-sacrifice as this commits a crime against the bodypolitic by refusing to become the mother of children; it is just fromsuch women as these that we want to raise new generations, capable ofcarrying the torch of civilization onward in its march. The realsacrifice to be demanded of these is not chastity; it is the surrenderof personal inclination to the benefit of the commonwealth. The realsacrifice consists in refusing to leave the maternal function at themercy of a momentary caprice, and, on the contrary, in consecrating itto a noble purpose and to the general good. But you can hardlyunderstand all this till you have heard the story of Latona, who foundedthe cult--the first and greatest saint in our calendar."

  The Pater did not persuade me; it was horrible to me that it should bein the power of any man or men, by appealing to a woman's willingness tosacrifice herself or by the exercise of priestly craft, to condemn herto marriage without love, which, to my mind, is its only justification.

  "And you think," said I, protesting, "that it is right to sacrifice thelove of a woman for life?"

  "No," interrupted the Pater, "not for life! There you labor under amistake. Let me tell you what happens: if a woman accepts the missionshe becomes attached to the temple of Demeter, and while attending uponthe ritual is slowly prepared for the act of sacrifice; this is a periodof seclusion and prayer. Not that we believe in the existence of agoddess Demeter, but that Demeter represents to us that divinity in ourown hearts which puts passion under constraint, and makes of it, not acapricious tyrant, but a servant to human happiness--our own happinessbest understood, believe me--as well as the happiness of the community.And so the Vestal--for so we entitle her--invokes and keeps herself incommunion with this special divinity within us each, and without us all,until her heart is lifted into a consciousness of her mission as thehighest possible to her sex. Compare that, my friend, with the maternitywhich is often the undesired consequence of a caprice or ceremony. Butas I have already hinted, the sacrifice is neither imposed at all, noris it suggested for a lifetime.

  "Indeed, the Demetrian ceremony, once consummated, often results inpermanent marriage; upon this point the woman has the first word;though, of course, the ultimate conclusion must rest upon the consent ofboth. For example, the woman decides the question whether thebridegroom shall become known to her. Some women, in whom the instinctof the mother predominates over that of the wife, elect never to knowthe father of their child; and as soon as pregnancy is assured, ceaseall relations with him. Others, indeed the great majority, becomemystically attached to the man who, in the obscurity of the Demetriantemple, has accomplished for them the mission of their motherhood; theyask to see him; and if upon fuller acquaintance both consent, aprovisional marriage is celebrated between them."

  "Provisional marriage!" exclaimed I, aghast again.

  "All our first marriages are provisional," answered the Pater withmagnificent disregard for my indignation. "What can be morepreposterous--more fatal to happiness--than to commit a man and womanfor life to bonds accepted at an age when the mind is immature, andunder an impulse which is notoriously blinding. It became a commonplaceparadox in your time that the fact of being in love was a convincingargument against marriage; for a human being in love is one who has beenby so much deprived of reason--by so much deprived of the exercise ofthe very judgment most necessary to select a life companion. Look backat the consequences of your institution of marriage: in your time itwas already in process of dissolution; the facility of divorce hadalready destroyed the indissolubility of marriage, and made of it a meretime contract. And divorce, that the clergy of your day regarded as atrespass of Immorality on the sanctity of the marriage tie, was, as amatter of fact, the protest of Morality against the immoral consequencesof the indissolubility of the marriage tie. No, there are two essentialelements in sexual morality: one is temperance; the other is sacrifice.All are expected to practise the one; the few only are capable ofpractising the other. The art is to frame institutions which recognizethis and to accommodate the institution to the temperament of therace----"

  "Yes," interrupted I, "but this is just where you fail; how are youaccommodating your Demetrian institutions to such temperaments as thoseof Lydia and Chairo? Do you not see that by imposing them in such casesas theirs you are risking the wreck of your entire system?"

  "You are perhaps right," answered the Pater. "I am not initiated intothe secrets of the priesthood; but it may be easily guessed that uponthe application of the system there may well be divergence of opinion.We have already seen the system result in infamous outrage in theSouth, and give rise to the necessity of government intervention--a verydangerous thing in such questions."

  "But how do you practise this system of provisional marriage?"

  "Simply enough: the first marriage is always provisional; if a child isborn, the marriage must last until the child is weaned; at that time theparties are expected either to renew the vow of fidelity in the templeof Demeter, or to renounce it. They can at that time renounce it withoutdisgrace, though it is seldom renounced without heart-burning; one wantsto renounce and the other to renew. But both know in advance that theday of the weaning--which is a function of the cult--is the day uponwhich final vows are to be pronounced; both prepare for it, and itsinevitable coming insures on the part of the one who most desires therenewal a conduct of a nature to insure it. But renunciation on the partof either involves no disgrace. A second renunciation after a secondmarriage is otherwise. There is no institutional obstacle to it; each orboth can at any time renounce; but public opinion has happily created asentiment against a second renunciation, which makes them rare. This isjust where the system broke down in the South; the public opinionagainst repeated renunciations did not exist; caprice became the orderof the day; the priests of Demeter became corrupt; and sexual disorderinvolved, as it always must, every conceivable other disorder in thestate."

  "And what was done?" I asked.

  The Pater looked grave: "The Government interfered and substituted statecontrol for individual control. It is this that furnishes to Chairo andhis party their strongest weapon. State control is abominable;institutions like ours are possible only in a community possessed ofsuch a moral sense as prevails in these New England States."

  "But how could the Government undertake control of marriage?"

  "By an extension of our State Colony system; this you will understandonly when you have seen the working of the State Colony system foryourself."

  One thing more I was eager to know. "What had the gesture of Lydia, asChairo kissed her hand, meant; was it an acceptance?" I asked the Pater,and he answered:

  "Just as it is no disgrace to a man that a woman should not return hislove, so is it no disgrace to a woman that she should withhold heranswer. In your time a woman who did not respond affirmatively ornegatively to a proposal of marriage was accused of playing fast andloose. But we do not regard it as a bad thing for a man to be keptwaiting, or for a woman to keep him waiting; indeed, I am reminded of aword of one of your own authors who said that there was no bettereducation for a man's character than the effort to win the love of aworthy woman. And so, when a man has altogether made up his mind that heloves a woman, he does not feel it necessary to keep his love secrettill he knows whether the woman will accept it; on the contrary, hemakes open confession of it as Chairo did. And the woman, if she is notprepared to decide, responds to such an act as Chairo's, with a sign ofthe cross to indicate that she is for the time being se
t apart untilsuch time as she has prayerfully considered. And in Lydia's case, thishas a double signification; her choice is doubly religious, in that shenot only has to consult her heart as to her love for Chairo, but alsoher conscience as to her duty to the cult."

  I was glad that the reapers began returning and that our conversationwas brought to a close by their return, for I was fairly tired. Great aswas my curiosity to know more of these singular institutions I felt theneed of thinking a little about them before my mind was crowded withfurther information. And so I gladly returned to the men's quarters,which were becoming crowded with those who had more right there than Ito a plunge in the crystal pool. We were soon ready for lunch, and I wasaccompanied thither by Chairo, Cleon, and Ariston.