Sæculum

First Appearance and Context

The term is used by avout when discussing contact between a math and the outside world. In preparations surrounding Apert, elders contrast the inward life of the community with the unpredictable realm outside the Concent and its authorities in the Saecular Power. Matters touching this interface are described as the responsibility of the Warden Fendant. In everyday speech, avout also use the phrase “Sæcular world” to describe roles and habits beyond the walls (for example, careers in commerce) or to note when a person has been “touched by the Sæcular world.”

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

Sæculum denotes the worldly sphere beyond mathic walls (often rendered simply as “extramuros”). Avout invoke it to distinguish their Disciplined life from the practices, fashions, and sudden changes prevalent outside. It frames security posture and limited, regulated contact during Apert, when visitors from outside may briefly interact with the community under supervision.

• Jurisdictional boundary: During the formal handover at Apert, an outside official delivers oaths and rings a bell marking the moment when newcomers are transferred from Sæcular to mathic jurisdiction. From that point, the math assumes responsibility for housing, feeding, care, discipline, and burial.
• Destination after anathematization: When an avout is declared anathematized, they are expelled beyond the gates into the Sæculum (e.g., departing through a day gate) and re-enter ordinary worldly life.

Relationships

• Counterpart to the Mathic World, which names life and institutions within the walls.
• Associated with the Saecular Power, a non‑mathic authority recognized outside the walls.
• Monitored for the community by the Warden Fendant, who maintains the outward watch.
• Interface points include Apert, when the gates open and brief contact occurs.
• Rapid changes attributed to the outside world are invoked in internal histories alongside calamities remembered as The Three Sacks.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Usage: In conversation, “Sæculum” and “Sæcular world” are used to point to the same outside realm; avout may describe a person or object as having been “touched by the Sæcular world.”
• Register and boundaries: Hierarchs take care not to let “Sæcular information” slip in relaxed settings (such as meals with avout), underscoring the boundary between cloistered and outside knowledge.
• Everyday life glimpsed: Avout who have spent time extramuros describe entertainment such as speelys, visits to bars, and casual conversations with slines.
• Divergent knowledge: Accounts note that some slines hold beliefs at odds with mathic theorics (for example, asserting that the sun revolves around Arbre), illustrating differences in education and outlook between the spheres.

Current Status/Location

From within a Decenarian math, the structure and intentions of worldly authorities remain indistinct, and avout rely on the Warden Fendant’s outward watch. In preparation for Apert, the community moves items of greatest importance into protected spaces, reflecting a cautious posture toward potential disturbances arising from the outside world.

Recently, an aut of anathematization resulted in an avout departing the chancel and leaving the walls to re-enter the Sæculum. Within the math, political or technical developments originating outside are treated as Sæcular events, and sensitive facilities may be closed or restricted when such events are suspected or under inquiry.