Sexual ritual
Encyclopedia
Sexual rituals fall into two categories: culture
-created, and natural behaviour, the human animal having developed sex
rituals from evolutionary instincts for reproduction, which are then integrated into society
, and elaborated to include aspects such as marriage rites, dances, etc. Arguably indeed, 'sex in its more ritualized and symbolic varieties...has moulded the shape of civilization'.
Sometimes sexual rituals are highly formalized and/or part of religious activity, as in the cases of Hieros gamos
, the hierodule
and the OTO. Contemporary sacred sexual rituals have been tagged as 'structured, symbolic, manifestation, ceremonies, tradition, everyday, habit, grounding, magic, solemn'.
of growing up are what have been termed 'rites of separation from the asexual world...followed by rites of incorporation into the world of sexuality'. These may be formal of semi-formal - 'for some students, going to college is partly a sexual ritual, like the ceremonial dances of the whooping crane
' - or take the form of a more private induction: 'formal and artificial...the impression that a long-established rite was to be enacted, among Staffordshire figurs and papier-mâché trays, with the compelling, detached formality of nightmare'.
Freud was particularly interested in Ethnological accounts of 'the "ceremonial" (purely formal, ritual, or official) coitus, which takes place' in connection with 'the taboo
of virginity'.
In such a view, 'other examples of sacred or permitted public coitus of all women with all men do survive, in similarly modified "kissing" form', as under the mistletoe 'to revive the dying sun at the winter solstice, when the strongest human "life-magic", namely ritual intercourse, is to be deployed'.
has pointed out that 'rituals pervade our daily life and give it a sense of ceremony and celebration(...)a ritual, through your own unique symbolic gestures...will help you transform your lovemaking into a special and sacred act'.
Erving Goffman
has noted however 'the considerable informational delicacy of this form of interaction', and how 'individuals may use darkness to ensure strategic ambiguity'.
, sexual rituals may emerge as a necessary part of sexual activity. For the criminologist, 'sexual ritual involves repeatedly engaging in an act or series of acts in a certain manner because of a sexual need'. Within a relationship, 'the Compulsive libido
type takes advantages of opportunities to use the specific sexual ritual that causes intense arousal, and in its stronger form, the Compulsive lover can only arouse using the sexual object or ritual.
In any relationship however, 'a sexual habit that becomes routine or stylised...can lead to a sexual ritual', so that 'if you don't have a way to talk to your partner about your sexual relationship, you may find yourself...stuck in sexual rituals that could be limiting your sexual enjoyment': as a wife might say, '"Same old technique, same old Lewis. It's you all right, I'd know that old routine anywhere'. Thus one's sex life may all 'be about rituals: the ritual of sex in the morning, or the ritual of sex at night; and the ritual of sex at anniversaries, and the ritual of sex at Christmas'.
of India
, Bhutan
, Nepal
and Tibet
, yab-yum
is the male deity
in sexual union with his female consort. The symbolism is associated with Anuttarayoga tantra where the male figure is usually linked to compassion and skillful means (upāya-kauśalya
), and the female partner to 'insight' (prajñā).
The symbolism of union and sexual polarity is a central teaching in Tantric Buddhism, especially in Tibet. The union is realised by the practitioner as a mystical experience within one's own body. Yab-yum is generally understood to represent the primordial (or mystical) union of wisdom and compassion.
Tantric Buddhism is itself an outcrop of Tantrism
, advanced techniques of which included 'the ritual sex act (Maithuna
) which was a feature of Tantric yoga'. Given that 'sex is holy to a Tantric...Tantric art, writings and religious rituals glorify sex'.
, as 'in our secular culture sexuality often replaces religion as a means of pursuing the meaning of life'.
Alan Watts
maintains that 'when you are in love
with someone, you do indeed see them as a divine being...through a tremendous outpouring of psychic energy in total devotion and worship for this other person'. A woman may 'want someone who adores me...like he was adoring my breasts with his hands'. A man (more ambivalently) may muse on 'the white breasts he worships; adores; is scared of; detests'. For Shakespeare, 'this is the liver-vein, which makes flesh a deity, a green goose a goddess; pure, pure idolatry'.
In the further reaches of chick lit
, ' the male organ...becomes a tower of strength, a tree trunk in girth, the pillar that sustains the universe...a Pillar of Hercules, sustaining heaven' - evidence perhaps that 'the phallic religious tendency is alive in the modern and the civilized...a compulsive fascination' with what Jung
termed 'the phallus as the quintessence of life and fruitfulness'. Correspondingly, the Western adept may borrow, in the quest 'to create a Sacred Space...names given to the vagina in the East, including Valley of Joy, Great Jewel, Pearl, Lotus Blossom, Moist Cave, Ripe Peach, Enchanted Garden, and Full Moon'.
, the hero is throughout 'hounded by the mighty rage of Priapus
of Hellespont' - almost certainly because early on he 'has offended Priapus...by impersonating him in some sexual ceremonies'.
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
-created, and natural behaviour, the human animal having developed sex
Human sexual behavior
Human sexual activities or human sexual practices or human sexual behavior refers to the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts from time to time, and for a wide variety of reasons...
rituals from evolutionary instincts for reproduction, which are then integrated into society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
, and elaborated to include aspects such as marriage rites, dances, etc. Arguably indeed, 'sex in its more ritualized and symbolic varieties...has moulded the shape of civilization'.
Sometimes sexual rituals are highly formalized and/or part of religious activity, as in the cases of Hieros gamos
Hieros gamos
Hieros gamos or Hierogamy refers to a sexual ritual that plays out a marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. It is the harmonization of opposites...
, the hierodule
Hierodule
In ancient Greece and Anatolia a hierodule, from the Greek ' , was a temple slave in the service of a specific deity, often with the connotation of religious prostitution. Her prostitution would technically be excused because of the service she provided to the deity...
and the OTO. Contemporary sacred sexual rituals have been tagged as 'structured, symbolic, manifestation, ceremonies, tradition, everyday, habit, grounding, magic, solemn'.
Rites of passage
Part of the rites of passageRites of Passage
Rites of Passage is an African American History program sponsored by the Stamford, Connecticut US public schools. The program consists of an extra day of schooling on Saturday for 12 weeks, service projects, and a culminating educational trip to Gambia and Senegal. Gambia and Senegal are the...
of growing up are what have been termed 'rites of separation from the asexual world...followed by rites of incorporation into the world of sexuality'. These may be formal of semi-formal - 'for some students, going to college is partly a sexual ritual, like the ceremonial dances of the whooping crane
Whooping Crane
The whooping crane , the tallest North American bird, is an endangered crane species named for its whooping sound. Along with the Sandhill Crane, it is one of only two crane species found in North America. The whooping crane's lifespan is estimated to be 22 to 24 years in the wild...
' - or take the form of a more private induction: 'formal and artificial...the impression that a long-established rite was to be enacted, among Staffordshire figurs and papier-mâché trays, with the compelling, detached formality of nightmare'.
Freud was particularly interested in Ethnological accounts of 'the "ceremonial" (purely formal, ritual, or official) coitus, which takes place' in connection with 'the taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
of virginity'.
Wedding as orgy
Freud also noted that in 'numerous examples of marriage ceremonies there can be no doubt that people other than the bridegroom, for example his assistants and companions (our traditional "groomsmen"), are granted full sexual access to the bride'. To his followers, 'the wedding as orgy, with the bride taking on all the men present, is the clear historical reality behind the modern jokes...and the climactic line-up or "gang"-kissing of the bride, by all the men present'.In such a view, 'other examples of sacred or permitted public coitus of all women with all men do survive, in similarly modified "kissing" form', as under the mistletoe 'to revive the dying sun at the winter solstice, when the strongest human "life-magic", namely ritual intercourse, is to be deployed'.
Interaction ritual
To the sociologist looking upon 'sexual intercourse as interaction ritual...sexual intercourse is the ritual of love; it both creates and recreates the social tie (since Durkheimian rituals need to be repeated periodically, as solidarity runs down), and symbolizes it'. In similar fashion, Margot AnandMargot Anand
Margot Anand is a French author, teacher, seminar leader and public speaker. She has written numerous books including The Art of Sexual Ecstasy; The Art of Everyday Ecstasy; and The Art of Sexual Magic....
has pointed out that 'rituals pervade our daily life and give it a sense of ceremony and celebration(...)a ritual, through your own unique symbolic gestures...will help you transform your lovemaking into a special and sacred act'.
Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman
Erving Goffman was a Canadian-born sociologist and writer.The 73rd president of American Sociological Association, Goffman's greatest contribution to social theory is his study of symbolic interaction in the form of dramaturgical perspective that began with his 1959 book The Presentation of Self...
has noted however 'the considerable informational delicacy of this form of interaction', and how 'individuals may use darkness to ensure strategic ambiguity'.
Compulsions
In perversionPerversion
Perversion is a concept describing those types of human behavior that are a serious deviation from what is considered to be orthodox or normal. Although it can refer to varying forms of deviation, it is most often used to describe sexual behaviors that are seen by an individual as abnormal,...
, sexual rituals may emerge as a necessary part of sexual activity. For the criminologist, 'sexual ritual involves repeatedly engaging in an act or series of acts in a certain manner because of a sexual need'. Within a relationship, 'the Compulsive libido
Libido
Libido refers to a person's sex drive or desire for sexual activity. The desire for sex is an aspect of a person's sexuality, but varies enormously from one person to another, and it also varies depending on circumstances at a particular time. A person who has extremely frequent or a suddenly...
type takes advantages of opportunities to use the specific sexual ritual that causes intense arousal, and in its stronger form, the Compulsive lover can only arouse using the sexual object or ritual.
In any relationship however, 'a sexual habit that becomes routine or stylised...can lead to a sexual ritual', so that 'if you don't have a way to talk to your partner about your sexual relationship, you may find yourself...stuck in sexual rituals that could be limiting your sexual enjoyment': as a wife might say, '"Same old technique, same old Lewis. It's you all right, I'd know that old routine anywhere'. Thus one's sex life may all 'be about rituals: the ritual of sex in the morning, or the ritual of sex at night; and the ritual of sex at anniversaries, and the ritual of sex at Christmas'.
Tibetan art
In the Buddhist artTibetan art
Tibetan art refers to the art of Tibet. For more than a thousand years, Tibetan artists have played a key role in the cultural life of Tibet. From designs for painted furniture to elaborate murals in religious buildings, their efforts have permeated virtually every facet of life on the Tibetan...
of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Bhutan
Bhutan
Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, yab-yum
Yab-Yum
Yab-yum is a common symbol in the Buddhist art of India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet representing the male deity in sexual union with his female consort...
is the male deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
in sexual union with his female consort. The symbolism is associated with Anuttarayoga tantra where the male figure is usually linked to compassion and skillful means (upāya-kauśalya
Upaya
Upaya is a term in Mahayana Buddhism which is derived from the root upa√i and refers to a means that goes or brings one up to some goal, often the goal of Enlightenment. The term is often used with kaushalya ; upaya-kaushalya means roughly "skill in means"...
), and the female partner to 'insight' (prajñā).
The symbolism of union and sexual polarity is a central teaching in Tantric Buddhism, especially in Tibet. The union is realised by the practitioner as a mystical experience within one's own body. Yab-yum is generally understood to represent the primordial (or mystical) union of wisdom and compassion.
Tantric Buddhism is itself an outcrop of Tantrism
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
, advanced techniques of which included 'the ritual sex act (Maithuna
Maithuna
Maithuna or Mithuna is a Sanskrit term used in Tantra most often translated as sexual union in a ritual context. It is the most important of the five makara and constitutes the main part of the Grand Ritual of Tantra variously known as Panchamakara, Panchatattva, and Tattva Chakra. Although some...
) which was a feature of Tantric yoga'. Given that 'sex is holy to a Tantric...Tantric art, writings and religious rituals glorify sex'.
Private worship
A sex organ 'makes an admirable fertility symbol, and has been worshipped as such privately from time to time, or even publicly...gives dramatic promise of productivity and protection'. Such "worship" may only become more common in late modernityLate modernity
Late modernity is a term that has been used to describe the condition or state of some highly developed present day societies...
, as 'in our secular culture sexuality often replaces religion as a means of pursuing the meaning of life'.
Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
maintains that 'when you are in love
Falling in love
In romantic relationships, "falling in love" is mainly a Western term used to describe the process of moving from a feeling of neutrality towards a person to one of love...
with someone, you do indeed see them as a divine being...through a tremendous outpouring of psychic energy in total devotion and worship for this other person'. A woman may 'want someone who adores me...like he was adoring my breasts with his hands'. A man (more ambivalently) may muse on 'the white breasts he worships; adores; is scared of; detests'. For Shakespeare, 'this is the liver-vein, which makes flesh a deity, a green goose a goddess; pure, pure idolatry'.
In the further reaches of chick lit
Chick lit
Chick lit is genre fiction which addresses issues of modern womanhood, often humorously and lightheartedly. The genre sold well during the 1990s and 2000s, with chick lit titles topping bestseller lists and the creation of imprints devoted entirely to chick lit...
, ' the male organ...becomes a tower of strength, a tree trunk in girth, the pillar that sustains the universe...a Pillar of Hercules, sustaining heaven' - evidence perhaps that 'the phallic religious tendency is alive in the modern and the civilized...a compulsive fascination' with what Jung
Jung
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology.Jung may also refer to:* Jung * JUNG, Java Universal Network/Graph Framework-See also:...
termed 'the phallus as the quintessence of life and fruitfulness'. Correspondingly, the Western adept may borrow, in the quest 'to create a Sacred Space...names given to the vagina in the East, including Valley of Joy, Great Jewel, Pearl, Lotus Blossom, Moist Cave, Ripe Peach, Enchanted Garden, and Full Moon'.
Literature
In the SatyriconSatyricon
Satyricon is a Latin work of fiction in a mixture of prose and poetry. It is believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript tradition identifies the author as a certain Titus Petronius...
, the hero is throughout 'hounded by the mighty rage of Priapus
Priapus
In Greek mythology, Priapus or Priapos , was a minor rustic fertility god, protector of livestock, fruit plants, gardens and male genitalia. Priapus is marked by his absurdly oversized, permanent erection, which gave rise to the medical term priapism...
of Hellespont' - almost certainly because early on he 'has offended Priapus...by impersonating him in some sexual ceremonies'.