Love in Vaestism

In Vaestic societies, there exist several concepts approximating the notion of love. Broadly speaking, five categories are distinguished: Pokhot (romantic-sexual infatuation), Oticisdi (familial love), Obici (the love between husband and wife in Vaestic marriage), Pokorstvo/Uciteli (the two elements of a master-student relationship) and Ljuba (feelings of affection between friends). These categories are separate; although there may be overlaps, there is no general term for or understanding of a single kind of 'love'.

Pokhot

Pokhot refers to sexual or romantic infatuation. In Vaestic thought, Pokhot is an acceptable immaturity for the young but is stigmatised in older people, who are expected to be mature enough to marry and produce children, although those who are rich enough and can afford to sustain both a Unity and such relationships are tolerated. Pokhot is not considered to be a sensible basis for marriage, although it often forms the basis of relationships of concubinage, which allow for legal protection of a woman and any potential offspring by a married man. Individuals engaging in relationships of Pokhot were traditionally encouraged to remain celibate or at least avoid pregnancy; in many regions of modern Vaestdom, premarital sex in Pokhot is no longer condemned but the use of contraception is mandated. Pokhot is not considered to be an exclusively heterosexual feeling and some Scholars have even recommended the pursuit of homosexual Pokhot relationships in order to avoid pregnancy, although others consider homosexual relationships of this kind to be more of an eccentricity. Several stories in the Pochizinia, as well as many examples in the popular genre of Pietographs, warn about the foolishness of Pokhot.

Oticisdi

Oticisdi refers to the familial love which exists between siblings, between parents and children, and between members of a broader extended family. The Vaestic conception of Oticisdi includes bonds of affection, but ideally revolves around the discharging of duties of care and dissemination of Knowledge within a family: these duties include the arrangement of marriages for children by parents or, if parents are absent, by older siblings, a general imperative to protect and ensure the wellbeing of siblings, and, especially in the case of parents, the transmission of Knowledge to a new generation. Oticisdi is expected to exist between two men (invariably brothers) or two women (sometimes sisters) who are husbands or wives in the same Unity: the ideal Vaestic family is one unified by Oticisdi.

Obici

Obici is the reciprocal feeling that exists between spouses in a given Union. It is considered as very much distinct from Pokhot, and since polygamy and polyandry both occur in Vaestism, it is not seen as exclusive. A relationship of Obici includes ideas of division of labour, of affection and care, of fertility and of the creation of a stable environment for the rearing of children; it also, as is usual in Vaestic thought, is expected to involve some element of education from a husband who is superior in Knowledge. For this reason, marriages between younger men and older women, or between highly-educated women and less educated men, are essentially proscribed with only a few exceptions. Obici is considered to be exclusively heterosexual since its main purpose is the production of children. Some Vaestic thinkers have argued that a spouse should feel equal Obici towards all of his or her spouses; in most Vaestic cultures, however, it is expected that the first wife be given precedence within a Union as the oldest and longest-established.

Pokorstvo/Uticeli

Pokorstvo refers to the relationship a student has with his master, and Uticeli to the relationship a master has with his student. Neither kind of feeling is reciprocal; rather, the two are complimentary. In many Vaestic cultures these relationships may include a sexual element, although in modern Vaestdom it is generally considered distasteful for such relationships to proceed to the stage of full sexual relations. Typically, relationships of this kind develop between teachers and favoured students, and their main purpose is of course the transmission of Knowledge; the pupil submits to the master in respectful, loving obedience and the master imparts knowledge and assistance in paternalising, generous affection. Pokorstvo-Uticeli is also often invoked in the discourse of the political Banner to provide a source for common and coherent feeling; citizens of the Banner are expected to see the Banner, which represents the corporate knowledge of all of the individuals within it, as a master to whom they should submit in a relationship of Pokorstvo. The Standard-Bearer in this model is the representative of the state and its knowledge, whose affection towards his people should be met with acquiescence on the part of his respectful, adoring populace.

Ljuba

Ljuba refers to the bonds of affection that develop between friends. It is possible to feel both Ljuba and, for example, Oticisdi for a favoured sibling; Ljuba is quite a broad, non-sexual feeling between social peers and near-equals, which comes from enjoyment of one another's company.