SACRED SEXUALITY
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the relationship between sex and spirituality?
Historically, sex and spirituality have been uneasy bedfellows -- while some ancient religions did include sexuality in their rites, others sought to control sexuality, either by suppressing it or by severely limiting its expression. Most of the dominant religions in the world today are sex-negative, preaching the suppression of the sexual urge or the channeling of that urge into socially-acceptable forms (marriage as reproductive arrangements).
Which ancient traditions chose to include sexuality as a spiritual act?
The Sumerians performed the Sacred Marriage, a union between a priestess of their goddess, Inanna, with a priest-king, as a means of obtaining the favor of this goddess for their cities. In Greece, this type of ritual sex was referred to as the Hieros Gamos; and evidence indicates that it was also practiced by the Egyptians in the cult of Isis up until the Roman era. Hints from various ancient sources indicate that a Hieros Gamos may have been part of the Eleusinian mysteries.
Sacred prostitution, a means by which men could visit temples and have sex with temple prostitutes in order to commune with a particular goddess, was practiced in numerous ancient Middle Eastern cultures, and in India up until the 1950s.
In India, the Tantric tradition, overseen by the god Shiva and his consort Kali/Parvati, continue for hundreds (possibly thousands) of years before being incorporated into Buddhism. Practitioners of Tantra seek enlightenment and union with the Divine through sexual rites and other forms of meditation and ritual.
After Tantra was brought to China by traveling monks, it was combined with Taoist philosophy and Chinese medical theory, and was used by those who sought to increase health and (in some cases) achieve physical immortality (through sexual techniques thought to prolong the vitality of the practitioner).
Some sects of early Christianity incorporated sexual rites into their religious practices; all of these sects were persecuted into extinction by the Roman Catholic Church once it was able to successfully consolidate its political standing as the sole religious institution of Europe.
What is sacred sexuality?
Sacred sexuality is a form of spirituality which sees sex as a means of experiencing or communing with the Divine. Sacred sex harnesses the power of sexuality for the purposes of accelerating personal transformation and enhancing spiritual growth. Sacred sexuality has been practiced throughout recorded history: in India, Tibet and China; and throughout the Middle East and Europe.
Sacred sexuality is an ecstatic path -- its practitioners use sex as a means of inducing an ecstatic trance state which enhances their perception of the Divine and reduces or eliminates their sense of themselves as separate from the Divine.
What are the advantages of sacred sexuality? What are the disadvantages?
ADVANTAGES:
Increased vitality and health
Enhanced perception of the Divine in all aspects of your life
Intensification of pleasure, both sexual and otherwise
Deeper intimacy, not only in your romantic relationships, and but in all relationships
Release of negative conditioning
Deeper sense of communion with the Divine
DISADVANTAGES:
Potential physical discomfort (sacred sex techniques increase the flow of energy through your body, and can aggravate existing physical conditions).
Potential emotional discomfort (sacred sex techniques require a great deal of honesty -- as you begin to explore your sexuality, you will be exploring your entire being -- sexuality touches all areas of the psyche. Negative mental conditioning, repressed emotions, and spiritual weakness will be brought to the surface of your consciousness, where you will be forced to deal with them.)