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Sacred sex and imagery

From cat@luckymojo.com  Thu Aug 27 15:01:59 1998
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Message-ID: <35E5E69D.2BC7@luckymojo.com>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 15:07:09 -0800
From: catherine yronwode 
Organization: Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
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To: "nagasiva, tyagi" 
Subject: Re: Sacred sex and imagery (was:  Tantra/Kama Sutra)
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Newsgroups: alt.magick.tantra
Subject: Re: Sacred sex and imagery (was:  Tantra/Kama Sutra)
References: <6ruhfm$m39$1@news.kornet.nm.kr>
<35E47D52.4FE0@luckymojo.com> <6s38d6$6a7@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>

Ingeborg S. Norden wrote:
> 
> catherine yronwode wrote in message <35E47D52.4FE0@luckymojo.com>...
> 
> >[much detailed discussion on Tantra, its relationship with various 
> > texts and religion/spirituality]
> 
> >Also note that whereas many traditional Indian tantrikas use names 
> >such as Siva and Sakti for the Divine Couple, there are Christian 
> >karezzans who restrict themselves to metaphors of Christ and the 
> >Bride of Christ.
> 
> Hmmmm, reminds me of a Jewish couple turned Wiccan that I knew a 
> loooooooong time ago.  During one of our long theological bull 
> sessions, they asserted that a strictly metaphorical interpretation 
> for the Song of Solomon was ridiculous:  "God feeling horny towards 
> Israel or the Church?  Come *on!*" In a way they had a valid point--
> dismissing all those graphic, sensuous descriptions as JUST a symbol 
> of divine love for an institution would be wrong.  Wiccans should know 
> better though, at least in theory: the Great Rite, which enacts the 
> union of male and female divine forces, is a first-hand step beyond 
> describing the same idea in text!

A book just recently published (i heard it reviewed on National Public
Radio, but didn't write down the title) asserts that the "Song of    
Solomon" was indeed about carnal love. I've always thought as much,
but then, i am just a cultural Jew raised by atheist parents!
 
> >In recognition of my own personal heterodoxy, I twist a specific 
> >Christian phrase and tell folks that "I have accepted Lord Siva as my 
> >personal Saviour." Some people getthe meaning, others do not.
> 
> I seem to understand at least partially--that your relationship with 
> Siva is as intimate and meaningful as a devout Christian's 
> relationship with *his* deity.  

Yep. You got *that* right! 

> But do any actual Hindu texts speak of Siva as 
> "saving" his followers from an undesirable afterlife in some way?  

Yes, they do. Siva is said to grant his devotees liberation from
suffering in lifetimes to come. Or to dance on those who submit to him
until they -- and the entire universe -- is destroyed. Whichever comes
first.  :-)

> As for myself, I have tried to integrate sacred-sex practices into my
> Northern spirituality. (Of course there is no full-fledged Teutonic
> equivalent of the texts we've discussed here; but a few scattered 
> allusions and images have definitely provoked my thoughts.)  I won't 
> claim that the rituals I've devised are authentic--unless some Heathen 
> peeping Tom finds a way to travel back in time, I'll never *get* 
> anything as authentic as traditional Tantrikas have.    But what I 
> do is still consistent with Norse imagery and belief, and (just as 
> important) it actually works for me. There is a definite sense of 
> connection to my god's holy, creative power; something more is going 
> on than just provoking a physical response to a stimulus.

Hey, you don't need to fall into the orthodoxy of believing that just
because a text is a few hundred or a few thousand years old, it
represents a higher or better glimpse of ETERNAL truth than what you
yourself see when you look into your beloved's eyes today. The detailed
attention paid by some retro-tantrikas to ancient strictly-followed
forms of ritual are, in my opinion, limitations on something more
immense than any given guru, culture, or religion can describe. I like
Sanskrit as well as the next post-modern hippie, but i have to laugh at
the way some folks defend their hegemony over some Sanskrit word or
another. Do they think Siva and Sakti really CARE?

My mission in this newsgroup and on the web has been to testify to the
myriad "spontaneous" discoveries of sacred sex that resemble but are not
directly indebted to an Asian religious lineage. These "non-tantra
tantras" are our best proof that the experience of sacred sex is a
universally HUMAN experience. And that human universality is in turn our
best clue that this bliss, this ecstasy, this consciousness of the
divine in sexual union is available to all those who seek it, regardless
of their race, creed, or country of national origin. 
 
> >Om Namah Sivaya! Thank You, Jesus! Blessed Be the Name of the Lord!
> 
> Right on...and might I add, "Hail Freyr!"  :-)

Aboslutely! 

catyananda the blessed, bride of siva

Sacred Sex: http://www.luckymojo.com/sacredsex.html

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