Sæculum

First Appearance and Context

In avout (cloistered scholars) discourse, Sæculum names the worldly realm outside a community’s walls and stands as the counterpart to the Mathic World (cloistered avout realm). Reference entries and current conversation use it when preparing for travel under Peregrin (sanctioned outside travel), highlighting the contrast between cloistered life and the variability outside.

Concept and Description

Sæculum denotes the non‑mathic sphere of people, institutions, media, and devices beyond concents. It is the realm governed by the Sæcular Power (worldly civil authority) and distinguished from intramuros (inside the walls) practice by different speech registers, customs, and a faster tempo of change. Avout treat it as a boundary concept: crossing into the Sæculum entails observing the spirit of the Discipline (mathic rules) while coping with ordinary worldly logistics (clothing, money, transport, vernacular language).

At Tredegarh, one observer describes the immediate environs outside the Day Gate as landscaped grounds and old estates used by Sæculars. The “Inviolateness” of the Precipice at the Concent of Saunt Tredegarh (monastic complex) is said to rest on a standing arrangement between the mathic world and the Sæcular Power; the granite beneath is described as tunneled for storage of nuclear waste.

A traveler’s reflection emphasizes that going extramuros (outside the walls) can reveal not only the commercial and urban texture of the Sæculum but also the older “ground state” of the world—landscapes and remnants that predate present cultures. In that framing, the Sæculum and the mathic world are described as having diverged from a common origin roughly seven thousand years ago; this is presented as an in‑the‑moment observation rather than formal doctrine.

Use in Current Discourse

• Travel norms voiced by avout: a solitary Voco (formal summons to travel) is said to send one person forth in a way that strains the Discipline; a mass assembly at a Convox (large assembly of avout) allows many to travel together and preserve it within their Peregrin group. These statements reflect speakers’ understanding in the moment and may vary by community.
• Practical measures cited: pairing more extramuros‑fluent Tenners (ten‑year cohort) with Hundreders (hundred‑year cohort) for language and everyday dealings; leaving in small, staggered groups; riding in private vehicles driven by outsiders; and adopting ordinary clothing and kit to reduce attention while abroad. Food distinctions are noted as well, such as separating “food from the Sæcular world” (extramuros groceries) from produce grown within Tredegarh’s arboretums.
• Ceremonial presence: during a major aut at Tredegarh, visitors’ pews are described as sparsely occupied by Sæculars. Newly inducted travelers symbolically enter “as Sæculars” through the visitors’ approach and depart into the math, underscoring the boundary between outside and inside.
• Governmental response: following a destructive incident at a coastal research site, speakers report that the Sæcular Power cordoned a landing area, performed decontamination and screening, and arranged transport toward a Convox centered at the Concent of Saunt Tredegarh.

Related Concepts and Affiliations

• Counterpart: the mathic world names life and institutions inside the walls; Sæculum names the outside realm.
• People and authority: the Avout are the mathic community who engage with the outside at regulated moments; the Sæcular Power is the external authority whose directives, when properly conveyed, can set travel in motion via rites such as Voco and in assemblies termed Convox.
• Terms and usage: “Sæcular world” is a common phrase in speech for the same concept; extramuros (outside the walls) is a near‑synonym used for practical movement across the boundary.

Current Status

Active point of reference: many Evoked (formally summoned) avout are presently traveling through or interacting with the Sæculum in and around a Convox at Tredegarh. Accounts describe Sæcular attendance in visitors’ spaces and ongoing coordination with the Sæcular Power while preserving elements of the Discipline during travel and assembly.