Multiplicity: According to the Qílóra
WHAT IS MULTIPLICITY / PLURALITY?
Like many things, the answer to this question depends upon who you ask. If you ask other multiple systems you might get a different reply. And among ourselves, Eve will give you her own opinion of the word/concept, and it might differ from that of Juju's or Julia's, etc. But we have talked about it and debated it in-house, and come up with something to write here, regarding the definition of this word.
To us, multiplicity is very simple. It is the word that describes the activity of more than one person/soul/personality which uses a single human body to interact with the 3D world.
WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL-MULTIPLICITY?
This is a term which is used to differentiate people who might be ill with MPD or DID ("multiple personality DISORDER" or "dissociative identity DISORDER") from those of us who are not sick because of our being plural, and therefore are not suffering from a disorder, but are instead simply living an alternative to singlet (one mind, one body) way of life. There is even much contention over whether or not MPD/DID (often considered to be two names for the same disorder) is the same state of being as multiplicity.
Some members of the community wonder if MPD/DID might not be constructs that are "doctor created" if not encouraged, in which the patient becomes increasingly dependent upon the therapists in order to make some sense of their lives. As opposed being encouraged to communicate and organize themselves, work together as individuals, and live together as a functional community.
A short description of functional-multiple system, is one in which the members of the system are living according to the the needs of the community and the body as a whole. Choosing lifestyles that fulfill their own needs and desires, but do *not* (intentionally) behave in ways that would harm the group as a whole.
A functional-multiple system is capable of working and living in modern societies, and maintaining healthy (enough) ;-) relationships.
One very important aspect is that the members of a functional multiple system are in communication with one another. This communication may take the form of sharing thoughts with one another, or leaving notes in journals / memo-pads or voice / e-mail. Each system has its own system. ;-)
Among functional-multiple systems it is common to find "co-consciousness" and/or "co-fronting". Co-consciousness is exactly as it sounds, the sharing of one another's thoughts. Possibly one member of the system fronting and interacting with the world, and with some or all of the members sharing in the thoughts / experience(s) from behind the scenes. Co-fronting is similar to this, but includes the simultaneous interacting of more than one member with someone outside of the system.
The way Juju describes this is to tell a friend: "Imagine you're on the fon with me and Jules' at the same time... we're both listening in at the reciever, at the same time, but every now and then we each will speak up and join the conversation..."
WHAT IS A SYSTEM?
A system is the group of persons who share the same body. This group may include many different forms of "person" accordingly. It is common to find systems which have animals/totems, otherkin, mythological persons, soul-bondings, etc., along with the more "normal" identity of a human-being. Many members of a system might choose to remain in-house because of the societal and physical difficulties with their living in the body and interacting in the 3D.
Each mulitple system has different ways of referring to themselves. The word "system" is a polite default that a person can use when speaking to multiples. We often call the Qílóra a "household".
This group of people might have many things in common, as small societies often do: i.e. similar taste in music, similar hobbies, similar mannerisms. And there are ways in which these people differ from each other: i.e. taste in music, hobbies, mannerisms ;-) What one can add to this list of possible differences, is endless: prejudices, genders, pet-peeves, sexual orientations, food allergies or sensitivities, religious beliefs, level of education, etc.
When interacting, the members of a system may live a completely 3D life with their own friends, family, lovers, employers, etc. Or they may choose to limit their interactions to a small group of "others", or perhaps (as some of us have chosen) have no interactions at all with those outside of our household, and keep all relationships exclusively in-house.
WHY ARE YOU MULTIPLE?
We believe that our multiplicity comes from many factors. We *do* believe that our early physical and emotional abuse did encourage us to become closer to one another, and band together as a family. And this might be one of the reasons that we have been able to remain in such steadfast contact with one another throughout our shared lives. But as for how we became into being, we aren't sure.
Most of us think that our brain tumor, which is a lump of scar tissue (see: "our Body") might have caused our ability to percieve and experience the world from seperate perspectives and alternate points of view, and altered our perception of physical, emotional, and visual stimuli (i.e. a photo that is "too green" to Juju, might seem pleasant to Julia, and what Eve percieves as too sweet, Jules thinks is *juuuuuust* right) ;-)
HOW MANY ARE IN YOUR SYSTEM?
We have many systems/households that share this body, and it is basically not possible for us to take a complete census of all residents. However, of our "fronting system" (the Qílóra) has approximately 20 or so people (at last count). This number is subject to change for several reasons. The system members could simply decide to relocate into another system in this body, they could also die or leave this body entirely. We also have had system members enter our systems from outside (become born into our systems), and that could increase our numbers.
WHAT WERE YOU LIKE BEFORE YOU WERE MULTIPLE?
We have no conscious memory of life before multiplicity. We might have been too young to recall this time, or we might simply have been born this way, and ergo, there is no before-time.
DON'T YOU WANT TO INTEGRATE?
No.
HOW CAN YOU BE HAPPY BEING SO SPLIT? DON'T YOU *WANT* TO HEAL AND BE A SINGLET?
The first point to make, is that we are not split or fragmented. None of us is unable to function, on our own, as a whole person. We are not Sybil. We are not a group of tiny splinters...... Now onto the next point...
"Integration," within the Functional Multiple Community is akin to Suicide/Murder. We manage a greater level of cooperation and solidarity than any modern political organization/country.
No one is beating down France, Germany, or America's door to convince all of the populous of these countries to give up their individual rights and identities and *merge* into a single person. To suggest such a thing of a country, would be ludicrous, and we feel the same can be said of our own Functional System.
To use a small handful of our fronting-members as an example:
Eve, is a modern jewish woman (ethnic Lubavitcher), who is married to her husband in-house. They are raising their family together (2 sons, a daughter and now expecting their second daughter).
Julia, is an owner/operator of "Jujubee's Translation Services" and has amassed an inventory of several thousand rare/out-of-print books that are in non-english languages (mostly Russian, French, and German). She is a Roman Catholic and jokes often of running off to join a convent. She loves to knit victorian lace and spends most of her free time doing so, or perhaps reading/studying her German.
Jules, is a young man who works for Jujubee's. He learned German from Julia and believes that this helped him overcome some of his dyslexia. He is too shy to meet many people on his own, but when he does find himself a boyfriend he is one to thoroughly dedicate himself to their relationship. He was raised Catholic but religion is not something he takes too seriously. He'd rather just spend time with his loved ones and enjoy life while he can.
Ulla, she be pagan, hear her roar! She would describe herself as a young woman who fluctuates between a bi-wannabe and a feminist from Hades. A sweet person who loves animals and plants and cares for them as if they were children of her own. She plans to adopt one or 2 kids at some point in the future, and also has dreams of becoming a physical therapist. At the moment she is the owner/operator of "Domestic Goddess", a hobby-business which she uses to supply her 3D contacts with ritual/medicinal herbs, supplaments and environmentally-minded health and beauty aids.
This is a very modest slice of our "system". None of us are certain that it is possible to literally *merge* just these people we listed, into a single lump; and not have this action result in significant losses for every person we just mentioned. Would Eve need to relinquish her religious identity in order to conform with Julia's? Or vice versa? The list of these types of questions, could be endless. But the bottom line is this: ALL beings who exist with/in this body, have a right to exist, simply because they *do* exist.
No laws are being broken. No other humans that we come in contact with, are being harmed in any way, by our living as a society. (Confusing singlet friends does not count as harm!) ;-). So "integration", should such a thing actually exist, seems only possible to us via a large amount of sorrow and denial of human-rights and through a great amount of loss to all parties. We will not be doing such a thing. Ever.
IS THAT ALL YOU CAN TELL ME??
Nope ;-) Feel free to ask us anything you would like to know and we will give you *our* interpretation of the answer. We don't mind people asking about how / what / why / when / where, etc. We would only expect that you are not intentionally malicious or rude towards us, in any correspondance. If you were to behave that way, well, don't hold your breath for a reply ;-)