Okushaz

It's time to talk about the second magical phenomenon - okushaz (jeartoy oquşaz, from the verb oquş "to tie"). Here we will talk about all sorts of near-sexual things, so if you are scared, it is better to close your eyes right away.

Brief definition, like from a textbook: okushaz is a psychomagical phenomenon that manifests itself in the emergence of sexualized attraction between a dzheart and a person due to close physical contact. It does not depend on the gender of the individuals and lasts on average from two weeks to a month; the maximum recorded period is three months.

I won't talk about the physiology - let someone else explain that. I'd rather talk about the cultural aspect of this phenomenon.

First of all, "sexualized" means exactly what it means. That is, such attraction can be compared to half-romantic, half-sensual love - when you constantly want to be close to the object of passion, hug, cuddle, rub cheeks and do all sorts of similar things. It rarely happens that you want to jump into bed right now.

Secondly, even though we live in an enlightened and free time, okushaz is still very stigmatized - somewhere between menstruation and venereal diseases. If this happens to you, then it is not customary to talk about it, because you will get condemning shakes of the head and many sighs.

The roots of such attitudes should be sought in the time when the Jearts first began to live next to humans in the territories of Orova. Their relations, to put it mildly, did not go well right away: I have already written about the Urtians, who, without a second thought, decided to kill a bunch of Eryakhshars - and I can also mention the Hellenic-Roman invasion of their territory, when people made cloaks for themselves from the skins of those killed there. Excuse me, but even now I feel some kind of ogresia and my teeth are grinding.

In general, it is clear that with such a relationship, it was at least very strange for a dzheartu to fall in love with a person or vice versa. Over time, many religions reinforced this attitude, writing okushaz into the category of pernicious passions - including because it could be of the same sex. That's how we got what we have now.

The phenomenon itself is not so relevant nowadays, since there is a drug with a prolonged action (for both dzhearts and humans), which eliminates any possibility of its occurrence. But nevertheless, it happens that a dzheart has lived among his own all his life, and then ends up in human society - or vice versa - and then all sorts of incidents happen.

Finally, I will say honestly: this happened to me once too. But I do not regret it at all and consider the two weeks spent with that girl to be some of the brightest moments of my life.