THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
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To: alt.magick
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Re: Value of the LBRP.  Just for Banishing?
Date: Sun, 17 Nov 2002 07:25:26 GMT

Asiya wrote:
> [M] wrote

> > The way I see it, it is as rediculous to say that the clitoris (or
> > any physical female body part) is the female Phallus ...
[...]
> > Looking for physical "equivalents" for something you don't have is
> > misleading, and takes one away from the magickal meaning of the
> > physical symbol.  I, as a woman, don't have a Phallus physically,

Actually you do, whether you acknowledge it or not. 

Check out the online Hyper Dictionary:

     Phallus. The penis or clitoris, or the embryonic or 
     primitive organ from which either may be derived. ... 
     www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/phallus 

Johns Hopkins University Medical Glossaary of Terms:

     Corpora: The main part of the phallus (clitoris or penis).
     Glans: The conical portion of the tip of the phallus 
     (clitoris or penis).
     www.hopkinsmedicine.org/pediatricendocrinology/ cah/cahc.html

The American HeritageŽ Dictionary of the English Language:

     Phallus. The sexually undifferentiated tissue in 
     an embryo that becomes the penis or clitoris. ... 
     www.bartleby.com/61/32/P0233200.html 

That old stand-by, Dr. Spock:

     Boy or Girl? The Development of the Fetal Genitals
     ... The gonads will become ovaries or testicles, the 
     phallus will become a clitoris or a penis, and the 
     genital folds will become labia or scrotum. ... 
     www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5276,00.html

It is fetal sensitivity to testosterone that causes the male fetus'
phallus to grow larger than the female fetus' phallus. 

In humans, anything that eliminates testosterone uptake in the male
fetus -- a genetic condition known as androgen insensitivity syndrome
(AIS) for instance -- will result in the birth of a human who is
geneticly male but has a clitoris-sized phallus. 

If the level of fetal testosterone uptake is low but not absent in a
male human fetus, the phallus will grow into a penis but the urethra may
not run down its lenth -- that is, the urethra will exit the body
directly below the phallus, as it does in female humans, a condition
called Hypospadias. 

Conversely, anything that elevates testosterone levels in a female human
fetus will lead to the development of a female with a very long,
penis-like clitoris  -- one up to 3" long outside the body, plus the
crura or forks, laying under the skin along the rims of the vulva,
giving it a total length of 6 to 7 inches. Such women are unusual, but
they do have ovaries, etc. and are karotypically female. Porn movies
featuring women with large phalli have a devoted following, i have been
told (i've never seen one), and the trait runs in certain families and
genetic populations. 

Now, if you really want some interesting reading, the long, erectile
phallus (clitoris) of the female Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is
something you might want to check out. 

     Genitals: boneless phallus 5.8 to 7.8 in (14.5-19.5cm), equally 
     developed in both sexes
     sailfish.exis.net/~spook/hyenatxt.html

Endocrinological investigation into why female Spotted Hyenas have
phalli as long as male Hyenas do came up with the predictable results:
fetal testosterone levels are higher in Spotted Hyaenas than in most
other mammals:

     Androgens and masculinization of genitalia in the spotted
hyena.     
        ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~licht/Antiand_199abs.htm 

Testosterone levels are so high in the female Spotted Hyena fetus, in
fact, that the female's urethra runs the length *inside* her phallus --
just as the urethra does in male humans and male hyenas. In other words,
she has the opposite of Hypospadias -- she has a fully plumbed clitoris.
Not only that, in order to mate, the male Spotted Hyaena inserts his
phallus (penis) inside the full length of the female's phallus
(clitoris). Not only THAT, because her vagina is inside her phallus, the
female Spotted Hyena gives brth to her young through her phallus, like
she's coming pups, if you can visualize that. 

     The vagina of the hyena runs through the phallus
     www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal

Spotted Hyenas of both sexes greet each other by erecting their phalli,
by the way:

     The social ceremonies of the hyena have drawn attention 
     since they convey dominance relationships in the clan.  
     Greeting ceremonies, for example, consist of two hyenas 
     presenting each other with an erect phallus
    
www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/Behavior/Spring2002/burke/SpottedhyenaBasicInfoBio323.htm

Well, people are not Spotted Hyenas, but cross-species anatomical,
endocrinological, and morphological similarities are significant in
developing our understanding of the pan-mammalian model -- and in this
case they can help us understand the structure of the human phallus. 

You know, i really value one thing Crowley valued and promoted heavily
in his practice of Magick -- and that is "the method of science." 

According to science -- specifically the sciences of fetal development,
physical anatomy, endocrinology, and so forth, the penis is a
hyper-developed clitoris. The exact same tissue bud in the fetus forms
both. Both have the same paths of ennervation, the same sense-cells,
etc. In fact, they both have the same NUMBER of pleasure-sensing cells,
but in the man those cells are spread over a greater surface area. This
is why women are sexually more sensitive to touch (and much be touched
more gently) than men.

> > When I do the qabalistic cross, I don't substitute clit 
> > for Phallus.

You don't need to "substitute". Your clitoris IS your phallus. Get used
to it, gal! 

> > female sexual energy is not simply passive and receptive.
> > It is just as "phallic" as male sexual energy.  But I can't fuck 
> > you with my clit, honey.  

A woman can fuck with her clitoris. Plenty of men i know can testify to
that. Fucking is not about being a penetrator. It's about getting
aroused, creating friction and pressure, and coming in a wave of
convulsive, pleasurable spasms. Read more about the clitoris during
intercourse at 
     http://www.luckymojo.com/tkclitoris.html

> > There *is no female equivalent*.

Hundreds -- thousands -- of medical doctors and mamalian biologists
affirm that the penis and clitoris are equivalent, and they refer to
both as the phallus. 

You don't agree with that. 

Maybe this brief attempt at education will open your eyes. Maybe it
won't. 

I will not take offense if you ignore me, Dr. Spock, Johns Hopkins
Medical University, and everyone else cited here -- i tried.  

Some people think the earth is flat. So it goes. 

> > Anyone who thinks this is some kind of irrelevant feminist
> > rant is completely missing the point.

It has nothing to do with feminism in my mind. It's just biology,
science, medical anatomy, and endocrinology. 

> That is pretty much how I see it and work with the concept. 

Folks, i have no agenda here. If you two women want to fly in the face
of all the evidence i have laid before you and insist unto death that
neither of you has a phallus -- well, that's your right, of course. But
don't expect your local lexicographer, gynecologist, endocrinologist,
mammalian biologist -- or me -- to agree with you. 

You both DO have physical phalli.  

Peace be with you. 

cat yronwode 

Karezza and Sacred Sex ------ http://www.luckymojo.com/sacredsex.html