WEBVTT 00:33.500 --> 00:36.400 The Vulcans are peaceful Serene people 00:36.400 --> 00:39.800 dedicated to pacifist values and code of behavior ruled 00:39.800 --> 00:42.500 by Logic and control over their emotions 00:42.500 --> 00:43.700 live long and prosperous. 00:43.700 --> 00:45.200 f***. 00:45.200 --> 00:49.300 Are you also Captain Kirk? 00:49.300 --> 00:51.200 But there comes a point in a Vulcans life 00:51.200 --> 00:54.300 when that veneer of rationalism is strict away 00:54.300 --> 00:55.600 and a primal Force 00:55.600 --> 01:23.100 takes over. 01:23.100 --> 01:24.500 Every seven years 01:24.500 --> 01:26.800 the adult Vulcan male must endure a time when 01:26.800 --> 01:29.000 his logic is ripped from him. 01:29.000 --> 01:31.600 When a lifetime of suppressed emotion erupts to the 01:31.600 --> 01:33.100 surface. 01:33.100 --> 01:35.000 It is the pain far 01:35.000 --> 01:37.400 the time of mating 01:37.400 --> 01:39.900 Pon Farr is an ancient tribe that impels the 01:39.900 --> 01:42.400 Vulcan to return home to take a mate 01:42.400 --> 01:44.000 or die. 01:44.000 --> 01:46.600 It is a deeply personal experience 01:46.600 --> 01:49.300 few outworlders know of its existence 01:49.300 --> 01:49.800 Vulcans. 01:49.800 --> 01:52.400 Do not even speak of it among themselves. 01:52.400 --> 01:52.900 They 01:52.900 --> 01:54.200 Filled it with ritual 01:54.200 --> 01:55.300 and custom 01:55.300 --> 01:58.000 shrouded in antiquity. 01:58.000 --> 02:00.600 For such an intellectually enlightened race 02:00.600 --> 02:04.600 Vulcans have a remarkably Victorian attitude about sex 02:04.600 --> 02:06.700 that is a very human judgment doctor. 02:06.700 --> 02:08.500 And here's a Vulcan one. 02:08.500 --> 02:10.000 I fail to see the logic 02:10.000 --> 02:14.500 in perpetuating ignorance about a basic biological function. 02:14.500 --> 02:17.800 There is nothing logical about the pain far. 02:17.800 --> 02:20.300 It is a time when Instinct and emotion dominate 02:20.300 --> 02:21.900 over reason 02:21.900 --> 02:24.400 it cannot be analyzed by the rational mind nor 02:24.400 --> 02:27.100 cured by conventional medicine 02:27.100 --> 02:30.200 Pon Farr brings with it a neurochemical imbalance that 02:30.200 --> 02:32.800 leads to erratic behavior in the Vulcan 02:32.800 --> 02:33.700 nervousness 02:33.700 --> 02:35.100 sleeplessness 02:35.100 --> 02:37.400 outbursts of anger and violence. 02:37.400 --> 02:41.700 He can even become unaware of his actions. 02:41.700 --> 02:44.100 It's as if huge amounts of adrenaline are pumped 02:44.100 --> 02:45.800 into his bloodstream at once 02:45.800 --> 02:47.500 and if nothing is done about it, 02:47.500 --> 02:51.200 the physical and emotional pressures will simply kill him. 02:51.200 --> 02:53.800 It culminates in a condition known as the plaque 02:53.800 --> 02:54.700 Tau 02:54.700 --> 02:56.400 or Blood Fever 02:56.400 --> 02:58.600 with a male is overwhelmed with emotion 02:58.600 --> 03:01.900 and unable to think about anything else but satisfying 03:01.900 --> 03:04.700 his biological imperative. 03:04.700 --> 03:06.300 I've been 03:06.300 --> 03:08.400 to file 03:08.400 --> 03:10.200 my eyes 03:10.200 --> 03:12.400 are Flame. 03:12.400 --> 03:13.900 Hot 03:13.900 --> 03:15.800 is flame. 03:15.800 --> 03:18.900 This state must be followed to its natural resolution. 03:18.900 --> 03:20.800 And there are only three known ways to do 03:20.800 --> 03:21.900 that 03:21.900 --> 03:24.200 taking a mate. 03:24.200 --> 03:26.500 the ritual combat 03:26.500 --> 03:29.600 and intensive private meditation 03:29.600 --> 03:32.900 meditation is only attempted as a final Resort under 03:32.900 --> 03:37.300 circumstances when pursuit of the other options is impossible 03:37.300 --> 03:40.200 achieving psychological resolution through meditation 03:40.200 --> 03:43.500 and thus correcting the chemical imbalance requires a degree 03:43.500 --> 03:44.400 of discipline. 03:44.400 --> 03:45.900 That is extraordinary. 03:45.900 --> 03:47.700 Even for a Vulcan 03:47.700 --> 03:50.000 but such attempts are rarely successful 03:50.000 --> 03:52.900 and most often merely defer the inevitable. 03:52.900 --> 03:54.300 I said 03:54.300 --> 03:58.200 go away. 03:58.200 --> 04:01.100 The preferable response to pain far is to fulfill 04:01.100 --> 04:02.200 the impulse 04:02.200 --> 04:07.500 as nature demands. 04:07.500 --> 04:10.700 Those already partnered in a Vulcan Union consummate the 04:10.700 --> 04:13.200 cycle every seven years 04:13.200 --> 04:15.700 as it was in the dawn of our days 04:15.700 --> 04:18.500 as it will be for all tomorrow's 04:18.500 --> 04:18.800 to you. 04:18.800 --> 04:19.300 My husband. 04:19.300 --> 04:21.600 I consecrate all that I am to tell my 04:21.600 --> 04:22.700 wife 04:22.700 --> 04:23.100 from you. 04:23.100 --> 04:25.400 I receive all that I am 04:25.400 --> 04:27.700 as it was in the beginning. 04:27.700 --> 04:29.500 So shall he be now 04:29.500 --> 04:31.000 two bodies 04:31.000 --> 04:34.500 one mine? 04:34.500 --> 04:36.900 for those not yet joined to another 04:36.900 --> 04:40.300 their blood fever is channeled through some very strict 04:40.300 --> 04:42.300 and elaborate rituals 04:42.300 --> 04:46.000 what the are about to see 04:46.000 --> 04:49.600 comes down from the time of the beginning 04:49.600 --> 04:52.000 without change. 04:52.000 --> 04:54.000 This is the Vulcan Hart. 04:54.000 --> 04:56.500 This is the Vulcan Soul. 04:56.500 --> 04:57.600 This is 04:57.600 --> 04:59.800 our way. 04:59.800 --> 05:02.700 The Vulcan marriage is typically arranged in childhood by 05:02.700 --> 05:03.800 the parents 05:03.800 --> 05:05.100 at age 7 05:05.100 --> 05:07.500 the boy and girl are betrothed in a ceremony 05:07.500 --> 05:10.500 where they initiate a telepathic meeting Bond 05:10.500 --> 05:12.700 locking their minds together so that at the proper 05:12.700 --> 05:13.500 time 05:13.500 --> 05:14.800 they would instinctually 05:14.800 --> 05:17.800 be drawn to one another again 05:17.800 --> 05:19.700 to pray. 05:19.700 --> 05:21.000 Parted from me 05:21.000 --> 05:23.300 and never parted 05:23.300 --> 05:26.100 never and always touching 05:26.100 --> 05:28.300 and touched. 05:28.300 --> 05:28.900 We meet 05:28.900 --> 05:31.900 at the appointed Place 05:31.900 --> 05:33.800 parted 05:33.800 --> 05:35.100 from me 05:35.100 --> 05:37.600 and never parted 05:37.600 --> 05:39.700 never and always 05:39.700 --> 05:42.700 touching and touching. 05:42.700 --> 05:44.100 I await you 05:44.100 --> 05:46.100 when it is not possible to unite with his 05:46.100 --> 05:47.200 promised one 05:47.200 --> 05:49.500 either due to death or the sheer impossibility of 05:49.500 --> 05:50.600 returning home. 05:50.600 --> 05:52.800 The male is free to choose a different mate 05:52.800 --> 05:54.400 in a declaration called 05:54.400 --> 05:54.900 cool not 05:54.900 --> 05:55.700 so leak. 05:55.700 --> 05:59.300 Let me take this opportunity to declare Koontz Alik 05:59.300 --> 06:03.800 my desire to become your mate. 06:03.800 --> 06:04.900 In human terms. 06:04.900 --> 06:06.200 I am 06:06.200 --> 06:08.300 proposing marriage. 06:08.300 --> 06:11.100 Do you accept 06:11.100 --> 06:13.800 either upon acceptance of the Kunitz Olek or the 06:13.800 --> 06:16.300 more conventional reuniting of the betrothed 06:16.300 --> 06:18.600 the male and female meet in a Vulcan ritual 06:18.600 --> 06:20.800 known as cannot qualify. 06:20.800 --> 06:23.100 It is a term which means both marriage 06:23.100 --> 06:24.700 and challenge 06:24.700 --> 06:27.300 a reflection of a time in the distant past 06:27.300 --> 06:30.900 when Vulcans killed to win their mates. 06:30.900 --> 06:34.200 The cannot caliphate traditionally takes place on land held 06:34.200 --> 06:36.200 by the family of the Vulcan male. 06:36.200 --> 06:39.000 The groom is accompanied by his closest friends 06:39.000 --> 06:39.900 the bride 06:39.900 --> 06:41.400 by a marriage party 06:41.400 --> 06:44.400 the ritual begins when the groom summons the bride 06:44.400 --> 06:54.100 and her attendants. 06:54.100 --> 06:56.400 The marriage party arrives on foot in the custom 06:56.400 --> 06:57.600 of the Ancients 06:57.600 --> 06:59.600 dressed in ritualistic finery 06:59.600 --> 07:02.000 in a possession bearing the one who will officiate 07:02.000 --> 07:04.600 over the ceremony 07:04.600 --> 07:08.700 this sufficient and sometimes be a high-ranking Vulcan dignitary 07:08.700 --> 07:14.300 depending on the status of the families involved 07:14.300 --> 07:16.100 carry far. 07:16.100 --> 07:17.300 Kelly far 07:17.300 --> 07:18.300 or commencement 07:18.300 --> 07:20.900 ceremony precedes 07:20.900 --> 07:23.500 typically this involves the bride and groom renewing the 07:23.500 --> 07:23.900 vows. 07:23.900 --> 07:25.200 They took his children 07:25.200 --> 07:27.300 retreating to a private location 07:27.300 --> 07:29.600 to consummate their bond, 07:29.600 --> 07:31.900 but the bride's does have the right to send 07:31.900 --> 07:38.400 the proceedings into a completely different direction 07:38.400 --> 07:41.100 if the woman wishes to divorce her arranged Husband 07:41.100 --> 07:41.900 by law. 07:41.900 --> 07:43.700 She can choose canopy 07:43.700 --> 07:44.800 the challenge 07:44.800 --> 07:46.900 forcing the mail to fight for her 07:46.900 --> 07:49.100 as it was in primitive times. 07:49.100 --> 07:50.800 She then leaves her tell him 07:50.800 --> 07:53.400 Green to become the concert of Victor 07:53.400 --> 07:56.200 as it was in the dawn of our days 07:56.200 --> 07:58.200 as it is today 07:58.200 --> 08:01.100 as it will be for all tomorrow's 08:01.100 --> 08:02.600 I make my choice. 08:02.600 --> 08:03.900 The one named declines. 08:03.900 --> 08:04.700 The challenge. 08:04.700 --> 08:07.400 Another champion is selected on rare occasions. 08:07.400 --> 08:09.600 It is even permissible for the female to fight 08:09.600 --> 08:13.600 on her own behalf. 08:13.600 --> 08:15.800 We will soon decide that if anyone is gonna 08:15.800 --> 08:18.100 smash your arrogance elevation, I will 08:18.100 --> 08:21.800 I take your challenge myself. 08:21.800 --> 08:23.800 She has the right to choose her own Defender 08:23.800 --> 08:24.800 even herself 08:24.800 --> 08:26.500 when the challenge is to begin 08:26.500 --> 08:29.100 the groom receives a purple sash tied around his 08:29.100 --> 08:30.200 waist. 08:30.200 --> 08:32.600 Then the opponents are presented with their first weapon 08:32.600 --> 08:33.600 of combat 08:33.600 --> 08:36.000 the Lear Papa. 08:36.000 --> 08:37.900 With a curved blade on one end 08:37.900 --> 08:39.500 and a heavy bludgeon on the other 08:39.500 --> 08:41.800 the lire per he's a lethal instrument of Vulcan 08:41.800 --> 08:49.400 Custom. 08:49.400 --> 09:05.800 It is a fight to the death 09:05.800 --> 09:07.400 both survive deliver 09:07.400 --> 09:09.800 combat continues with the on moon 09:09.800 --> 09:12.600 a long leather strap waited at the ends, 09:12.600 --> 09:14.600 which itself can be a formidable weapon in the 09:14.600 --> 09:21.500 hands of a skilled combatant. 09:21.500 --> 09:29.700 Reika 09:29.700 --> 09:31.700 once an opponent is vanquished. 09:31.700 --> 09:34.700 The Victor is free to claim his prize 09:34.700 --> 09:37.300 but mating does not always followed a challenge 09:37.300 --> 09:37.700 for once. 09:37.700 --> 09:40.200 The combat has purged The Blood Fever 09:40.200 --> 09:41.200 clear heads 09:41.200 --> 09:42.500 can now Prevail 09:42.500 --> 09:46.300 start. 09:46.300 --> 09:49.000 She is yours. 09:49.000 --> 09:50.500 Pon Farr 09:50.500 --> 09:51.700 the insanity 09:51.700 --> 09:52.900 the madness 09:52.900 --> 09:55.200 some see it as the price Vulcans pay for 09:55.200 --> 09:57.500 their strict adherence to logic and discipline at the 09:57.500 --> 09:59.700 expense of their emotions, 09:59.700 --> 10:01.200 but it can also be seen 10:01.200 --> 10:03.500 as one of the unique characteristics of a culture 10:03.500 --> 10:05.000 that is as rich as 10:05.000 --> 10:06.900 any in the Galaxy 10:06.900 --> 10:09.400 it is one of the defining experiences of what 10:09.400 --> 10:11.300 it means to be Vulcan 10:11.300 --> 10:12.300 a benchmark 10:12.300 --> 10:14.300 in the lives of this complex 10:14.300 --> 10:15.800 and Fascinating People.