Sacred Documents of the Amazon Nation

Amazon Rights

Right to Challenge (RtC): The Right to Challenge is afforded to every Amazon in the Nation. The RtC means that any Amazon may challenge another Amazon to a fight in order to settle a dispute. (Please note below the Royal Rule to Rite to Challenge) Once a challenge is made, it must be carried out to the end. Both the challenged and the challenger may choose their weapon or their champion to fight in their place; but she may not choose both champion and weapon. Traditionally, the RtC was to the death; however Amazon law shall now only bestow that decision to the Amazon Queen of the tribe. If she is unable to decide within one day of the challenge, then this decision may be passed to her Regent.

The rule: only Royal Amazons may challenge Royal Amazons. This is known as the "Royal Challenge." Only when someone of royal Amazon blood makes the Royal Challenge, must it be honored.

The victor of the RtC takes her opponent’s title(s), position(s), and in legal cases where a challenge has been invoked, the victor is considered right in the eyes of Amazon law.

Right to Contest (RtC): The Right to Contest may only come from an Amazon of the same house as one of the challenging parties. If she disagrees with the outcome of a challenge, she may choose to contest it- thereby declaring her intent to challenge the ruling. If this happens, both the Queen and Council of Amazon Elders must be in agreement before any action is taken. The following are legal and possible measures:

  1. Allow the contesting party to fight her opponent. The victor will be the final word.
  2. Deny the contest, thereby upholding the final end of the challenge.
  3. Conduct a closed meeting, whereby both sides present their cases and the Queen’s judgment is final.

Right to Sanctuary: This Rite is protected and intended to provide Amazons the power to aid and protect another outside the Amazon Nation. If the Amazon deems the need is dire, she may appeal to the Council of Amazon Elders for her tribe’s sanctuary. The Amazon invoking her Rite to Sanctuary must make her plea before the Council of Amazon Elders and the Queen, herself. The deciding parties shall each retain one vote when petitioned for the right to sanctuary. This vote will be made with the utmost integrity and immediacy, as needed. A yea vote will be known when the Amazon rises from her seat. A nay vote, therefore, when she does not. The decision of the Council and Queen will be final. The Right to Sanctuary does not currently include males above the age of seventeen.

Right to Religion (RtR): The Right to Religion guarantees that any Amazon in the Nation may choose a religious faith to follow without fear of prosecution or persecution. However, whichever organized religion an Amazon chooses to practice, she may never follow any edict or provision which endangers Amazons or breaks Amazon law. If she acts or speaks harmfully against the Sisterhood, she forfeits her station within the Nation and may be expelled or executed. Any religion that suppresses rights protected by the Amazon Nation is null and void, and subject to the full wrath of Amazon might.

Pro-Choice Right: This Right guarantees that every girl and woman in the Amazon Nation may choose to have a child or an abortion. Furthermore, this rite is irrevocable and provides that every impregnated Amazon will be educated fully regarding her options, and her life will be protected until or beyond the time of birth.

  • Full Pregnancy Disclosure: An Amazon unexpectedly impregnated must provide full disclosure of her pregnancy.

Right to Nok’tana: A nok’tana is a personal journey or quest an Amazon undertakes, traditionally by her own choice. Before leaving her tribe, an Amazon must declare her intentions to leave on this journey and ensure that her station is securely filled in her absence. While gone, the Amazon should use the journey to answer questions about herself, and she may return home to her tribe when she is ready.

  • A Latra may not invoke her right to nok’tana during times of war or any time during which her leadership cannot be turned over to an adequate successor.
  • Any Amazon that leaves on nok’tana without explicitly informing either her tribe or her Latra forfeits her right to return to the tribe, unless otherwise decided upon the unanimous voice of the Council.

Rituals

Combative. Combative rituals are those that involve Amazon-to-Amazon combat. Used in training and in challenges, they are dangerous and regarded as…

"The Fire Stakes" Logs are placed over a deep pit (usually six to eight feet deep). A fire is lit in the pit and opponents must face each other with their weapons, using only the logs to stand on. The first to fall into the pit loses. For training purposes, the pit will not be lit afire, and the first opponent to lose her balance and fall in will lose. This ritual is extremely dangerous and should not hastily be decreed in a challenge. Once decreed, no challenge may be revoked without the Queen’s sole authority.

"The Ring" In a circular ring, the two opponents must face off without weapons. A ring of Amazons lines the outside of the ring itself, staffs held horizontal. The fighter left standing is the victor. This challenge is not fought to the death. If one opponent kills the other, her life is forfeit and may only be spared by the consent of her entire tribe.

"Stinging Staffs" As the name denotes, this ritual entails the use of staffs. Though variations of this exercise (or challenge), exist, the most common is to place two or more opponents on a "field." The field may be any shape, length, width, or height. Thusly, the ground may differ in areas. However, the participants must know all the boundaries of the field. Any opponent to step out of the field, whether by accident or incident, is disqualified. The only weapons that may be used are staffs. If the staff breaks, the fighter is disqualified. The objective is to strike a total of three non-fatal blows to your opponent, without being struck thrice first- and without any part of your body leaving the field.

Rites and Ceremonies

Initiation. Only female children of the Sisterhood may be initiated into the Tribe. Seven days after the infant’s release from the hospital, she must be taken to the Shamaness who will initiate her into the Tribe. At this time, the infant’s name will be finalized and the Shamaness shall present a token of the Tribe – embossed with the symbol of the Tribe – to her mother.

Naturalization. When a woman who has already had her first wave or is older than twelve wishes to join the Tribe, she must appeal to the Tribal Council for admittance. When it has been determined that the applicant is worthy of induction, she will be naturalized into the Tribe. The Ti’Sa will determine an appropriate date for her Naturalization within a month of her acceptance by the Tribal Council. In this waiting period, the applicant is allowed to participate in charity works with her potential Sisters, but is strictly forbidden from participating in any rites and cannot see the sacred symbols or the secret documents of the Amazon Nation. When her date of Naturalization has been determined, the new-Athelfi will be initiated into the Tribe by the Ti’Sa and presented a token of the Amazon Tribe according to the stipulations presented above in the Initiation ceremony.

First Blood. When it has been determined that a young Amazon has had her first wave, there shall be a ceremony to celebrate her ascension into womanhood. This ceremony can be as large or as small as the girl requests. The Shamaness must be present to confirm the occasion. During the ceremony, the Athelfi shall be officially inducted into the Sisterhood and the Shamaness will present her with a necklace that symbolizes her Tribe.

Last Blood. When an Athelfi has moved beyond childbearing age, she must receive a rite of Last Blood. Just as First Blood, it is a celebration of a new era in the Athelfi’s life. She can have as many or as few Sisters with her, but the Shamaness must be present to confirm the occasion. No token of this ceremony needs to be presented, unless the Athelfi requests such a symbol.

Royal Rite of Caste Ceremony. Queens may bestow their belongings and title on an Amazon they deem worthy, should they have no heirs of their own. The formal ceremony must take place during a full moon. The Latra will convene the Tribe to ensure that witnesses are present. The ceremony takes place around the central fire with speeches, singing and dancing. The main participants are blood-bonded by the Shamaness and considered closer than blood sisters from that night on. At the end of the rite, the Latra shall present the Laca with a symbol of her new status, which is to be worn at all times. This piece must be small. It may be a hair braid that can be adjusted as the hair grows, or a ring with the Laca birthstone.

Rite of Caste Ceremony. All Amazons can bestow their earthly belongings on any other Amazon they deem worthy. This ceremony is the same as above with the following differences. In the event that the first Amazon dies, the other shall inherit all belongings and positions within the Tribe that the first held. If the inheritor cannot fulfill the requirements of the position, the inheritor may pass on that position to another she deems worthy.

Rite of Caste. In extreme occasions, an Amazon may bestow their rite of caste on another Amazon without ceremony. This is usually performed only when an Amazon knows herself to be dying. If this Amazon does die, the caste is respected as her last request and will be carried out as if the full ceremony had taken place.

Handfasting Ceremony. When two Athelfi have made a lifetime commitment to each other, they must petition the Ti’Sa for a date for the handfasting ceremony. After consulting her calendars using the dates of the two Athelfi as a guide, the ceremony shall be conducted. The Ti’Sa, two witnesses (one from each Athelfi), and the two Athelfi must be present for the union to be blessed. The Athelfi can write short vows that will be read at the ceremony. Once the ceremony is completed – when a cloth embossed with the Tribe’s symbol is wrapped around both hands –, it is binding and the Athelfi cannot seek union with others. Such action will result in violator’s expulsion from the Tribe.

  • When two Athelfi of different Tribes wish to commit to each other, one must seek release from her original Tribe to be initiated into the other before the ceremony can take place. She may, however, have her Athelfi from the other tribe present at the Handfasting Ceremony.
  • When an Amazon wishes to be handfasted to a male, the Amazon must leave the tribe, although she and any daughters she may bear from the union may return.
  • Amazon Law prohibits uniting any two Amazons sharing the same bloodlines (i.e. true blood sisters, cousins, aunt, mother and daughter, etc).

Rite of Totems. The Kuk’Tai performs the Rite of Totems, a sacred and private rite between the Amazon and the Shamaness. Once performed, the Amazon will discover her totem, which she will have for the rest of her life. There may be more than one totem per Amazon, discovered through other means than the Rite. It is up to the Amazon if they wish to disclose the totem that protects them.

Rite of Passage. When an Athelfi dies, she will receive the Rite of Passage that ensures her safe journey to her afterlife. This ceremony will be conducted to instructions set forth in her Final Will and Declaration. If there is not one available, she shall be cremated according to current state or local regulations and her ashes kept in a sacred urn. A representation of her body (made of cloth) shall be created and wrapped in furs, blankets, or other suited cloth before she is placed on a wood or stone pyre constructed in her honor. A dirge shall be sung as her body in effigy is committed to flames. The Ti’Sa will say a final prayer in her name. The Latra, Lyna, or representative of the Tribal Council must be present.

Mourning Period. The time during which Athelfi are in mourning shall be no less than one full day and no more than one full day and night, unless amended by the Tribal Council. This period shall be a time for repentance for sins against the fallen Sister and celebration of her life.

   
 

 

Xena Warrior Princess is  © Studios USA, Universal City Studios, Inc. Webset design and content ©2010 Crescent Designs for Themiscyra Amazon Nation. Many thanks to Mike's Xena Page for most of the captures.