Her orders had been simple. Create a strategy to subjugate the indigenous population. Preferably, leaving no indication that control was coming from external sources.
It was unusual for her to awaken in the middle of the night. But there it was. The idea, whole and complete, like a blueprint.
Years ago, after identifying Earth as resource rich. Her people had begun an immigration program to populate the planet. The indigenous humans were proving difficult to subjugate. Wily, creative with strong communal ties they challenged any attempts to control.
A new approach was needed. Years of study had shown two powerful behavioral needs in humans. Challenge and accomplishment and Sexual Drive. This bit of information formed the seed of her new idea. .
Because her people had similar physical characteristics to the humans, a group of leaders would be formed to implement a new belief system. Much of the foundation of the new system would be derived from the existing religions that celebrated the natural world around them and the abundance it provided.
With a couple of subtle and powerful differences.
There would be one, all-powerful god.
A god that would be unwilling to share power with any other.
A god that would respond with swift and deadly force against any attempt to usurp power.
Here was her brilliant twist. This new god would not only take credit for all human accomplishment, this god, would make it a sin for any human to feel pride. The pride of accomplishment would not only be denied, it would be forbidden.
In addition, this new god would create distinctions around sex.
Good sex and bad sex. She had observed, up to this point, sex and sensuality had been one of the truest forms of human self-expression. With creativity, passion, love even despair, the bond formed between humans based on touch, sensual or sexual, was essential. As essential to life as food or water. The human soul is nourished by touch, in a way for which there is no replacement. Her years of experimenting on them had generated a huge body of evidence that one of the most devastating experiences for humans was touch deprivation. This new god, this new religion would allow sexuality only between male and female, and, only with church sanctioned unions. All others would be declared bad and wrong.
This powerful crushing of the human soul would weaken them, leading to a more profound dependence on the church. The church, in return, would seemingly offer answers to unanswerable questions and ersatz love. Love that looked right but would be devoid of the essential ingredients that nourish the human soul.
These insights implemented and coupled with the magic of illusion, confusing ritual and regal, yet bewildering costumes, would draw the humans into a soul-crushing trap.
Loyalty and allegiance to the church would erode communal bonds. Conflict over acceptable beliefs would feed the flames of chaos. True human needs would be obfuscated and dominated by the demands of the church.
All this would provide rich soil for a flourishing garden of strife.
The humans would continue to mine and extract the rich resources of the planet for export by their oppressors, unknowing and with the vengeance of religious fervor. Over time she would contribute bits of technology to one side or another with the intent of maintaining strategic imbalance.
She was proud of her plan. It was simple and effective.
She had no doubt the council would accept it later in the day.
Implementation could begin immediately.