Sex from Sacred to the Profane
As temples were built in honor of the Goddess the responsibility of initiation
was given to the temple priestesses. Some women were trained to become Temple
Prostitutes, whose main role was to restore men back to wholeness after the war
and help them to reconnect with their souls and heart. These women would dance
the dance of Shakti and be a vessel for the Goddess to come through. The
personal self has stepped out of the way and became a vehicle for the energy of
the Goddess to flow through her.
In the temple of love, the sacred prostitute’s primary offering to the goddess
was her welcoming of the stranger, thought to be the emissary of the gods or
perhaps the god incarnate. If she were a maiden, he initiated her into the
mysteries of her feminine sexuality under the aegis of the goddess.
“The Holy Whore as "a woman, who, through ritual or psychological development, has come to know the spiritual side of her sexuality, her true Eroticism, and lives this out according to her circumstances." -The Sacred Prostitute, Nancy Qualls-Corbett
In the fertile areas of the world where people were more agrarian-based, and respected nature and the Goddess, the waring more nomadic tribes began to move across the Bering Strait and invaded these peace-loving people. As a result these nomadic raiders generally wiped out all of the men and boys and intermarried with the women. Over time these goddess-based cultures began to embrace the values of their conquerors.
Sex began to become profane with the onset of the Church's gradual annihilation
of the role of the goddess. As Christianity became more politically based and the desire for power over the people more prevalent the role of the temple priestesses was diminished. The Demise of seeing sex as a sacred act began when the worship of the goddess was discouraged and all that she represented was no longer being practiced. The sacred feminine
went from holy to unholy, from sacred to profane and the sacred prostitute was
drastically altered. There came a time when the goddess was no longer worshiped;
the physical and spiritual aspects of the feminine were declared evil.
From this point on women who represented sexuality and the goddess were also condemned by the Church Patriarchs as, “the embodiment of sensuous seduction, the reason for man’s downfall; she was tempted by evil forces and in turn tempted man.” -The Sacred Prostitute, Nancy Qualls-Corbett
So the act of sex was also condemned and taught that it could
only be done for the procreation of the species.
Sex then became profane and all-natural bodily functions became gross, shameful,
and not to be spoken of. As you may know, anything that is forbidden becomes a
taboo, and all taboos become desirable. Women are convinced over thousands of
years, that having sexual desire is not a feminine quality so that any woman who
desired sexual gratification must be unfeminine and a “whore”.
Diana Rose Heartman in her article Musings of the Sacred Whore, states, “The
word 'whore' actually comes from the Hebrew root word ‘hor’ meaning dark pit or
hole. The Spanish word for whore, puta, derives from the Latin term for a well,
but the Latin term for the grave, literally "a hole in the earth," is puticuli,
meaning womb of rebirth. These terms for whore were not derogatory. The Latin
term had its root in the Vedic, an early Sanskrit language, wherein the word
puta is defined as pure and holy. The cave, the pit, the hole, and the
bottomless black lake were metaphors for the Great Goddess.“
In Kathleen Barry's book, The Prostitution of Sexuality, she says that
"sexual exploitation objectifies women by reducing them to sex; sex that incites
violence against women and that reduces women to commodities for market
exchange. Sexual exploitation is the foundation of women's oppression socially
normalized."
I have always considered myself to be a sex-positive individual and a rather
open-minded woman when it comes to sex practices and all the different ways in
which we humans like to "get off" or find our pleasure. As a woman who has been
a sex educator and a teacher of sacred sexuality as well as a sexual healer, I
have personally experienced what it means to be classified as a "sex worker" by
the culture at large.
Today we see the result of these beliefs that have become
normalized in our culture. Sex for the most part has become a thriving industry
that makes billions of dollars yearly. Who sells these products? Women. It is a
woman's body that is the commodity once again, and women, even well-paid women
in the sex industry, are unconsciously supporting the system that exploits them
and sex.
The prostitution of sexuality is in full swing and because it is big
business it is unlikely to change.
So what can you do, given that we are living in a world where sex is seen as
entertainment rather than a sacred act of love.
The following are a few things
we can do to help shift sex from the profane back to the sacred.
- Open to a deeper sense of self and be willing to see the act of sex, whether it be for the sake of pleasure or love, as sacred.
- Learn more about sacred sexuality, Tantra, and other forms of 'high sex' which have made a comeback and continue to grow in popularity.
- Educate your kids about the sacredness of lovemaking and the sex act itself, as well as encourage young girls to see themselves as valued for all of who they are, not just for their sexiness or beauty.
- Take a stand and say 'no' to the exploitation of teen girls and boys by the media. Join in partnership with other organizations that are in support of stopping this type of exploitation.
Comments
Post a Comment