Sacred Sexuality: The Erotic Spirit in the World's Great Religions — Occult Philosophy

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Sacred Sexuality: The Erotic Spirit in the World's Great Religions

Name: Sacred Sexuality: The Erotic Spirit in the World's Great Religions
Price: 19.99 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780892811267

✍️ Feuerstein, Georg

Reader Score

4.6

(1 review)

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📚 WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT

Georg Feuerstein embarks on a comprehensive journey through history and across global spiritual traditions, illuminating how sexuality has been revered as a sacred, transformative practice. He posits that much of our contemporary struggle with intimacy stems from a societal divorce between the erotic and the divine. This seminal work reintroduces the concept of sacred sexuality, drawing from diverse sources like ancient mystery rites, tantric wisdom, and indigenous goddess worship, to reveal an inherent spiritual dimension in our most intimate experiences. It’s an invitation to rediscover fulfillment by integrating the sacred into the sensual.

Feuerstein, Georg

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Occult Philosophy

Praise for this book

“A remarkably complete book stocked with the knowledge of esoteric Asian traditions never before seen by Western eyes.”

— The Village Voice

🏛 Inner Traditions International 📅 2003 📖 256 pages 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9780892811267

Fun Fact

Feuerstein's 'Sacred Sexuality' is a monumental work, offering an unparalleled cross-cultural exploration of the erotic as a spiritual path. Its strength lies in its meticulous scholarship and its daring thesis, challenging readers to rethink one of humanity's most fundamental drives. While it provides profound historical and philosophical context, those seeking explicit modern practices or a 'how-to' guide for tantra might be left wanting. Nevertheless, it's an essential text for anyone serious about bridging the divide between body and spirit, placing it firmly as a cornerstone in the study of esoteric sexuality.

📝 Description: Sacred Sexuality: The Erotic Spirit in the World's Great Religions

A historical, cross-cultural survey of sexuality as a sacred spiritual practice - Examines sacred sexuality in the world's religious and mystery traditions - Explores contemporary "sexual stress syndrome" resulting from the absence of the sacred in sexual practice - Reveals how to find the sacred in the ordinary This book examines the history of sexuality as a sacramental act. In spite of our culture's recent sexual liberalizations, sexual intimacy often remains unfulfilling. Georg Feuerstein instructs that the fulfillment we long for in our sex lives can only be attained once we have explored the spiritual depths of our erotic natures. Feuerstein delves into a wide variety of spiritual traditions--including Christianity, Judaism, goddess worship, Taoism, and Hinduism--in search of sacred truths regarding sexuality. He reveals that all of these great teachings share the hidden message that spirituality is, in essence, erotic and that sexuality is inherently spiritual. From the erotic cult of the Great Mother and the archaic ritual of hieros gamos (sacred marriage) to the institution of sacred prostitution and the erotic spirituality practiced in the mystery traditions, Feuerstein offers a wealth of historical practices and perspectives that serve as the bases for a positive sexual spirituality suited to our contemporary needs.

📑 What's inside

Acknowledgments Preface
Part I. Contemporary Sexuality: Its Failures and Possibilities
1. Taking Stock: The Sexual Wasteland
The Age of Sexual Bewilderment
The Sexual Stress Syndromes
2. Tracing the Roots of the Modern Sexual Dilemma
Guilt: The Feeling of Being Found Out
Shame: The Feeling of Being Unworthy
Our Heritage of Sexual Guilt and Shame
The Denial of the Body
Guilt, Shame, and Ecstasy
Sexual Addiction as Avoidance of Bliss
The Quest for Transcendence
From Sexual Malaise to the Loss of the Sacred
3. The Hidden Window: Spiritual Breakthroughs in Sex
Sex, Love, and Transcendence
The Power of Love: Erotic and Spiritual Breakthroughs
Sex: The Hidden Window
Part II. Sacred Sex Through the Ages
4. Sacred Sex and the Goddess: Ancestral Wisdom
The Erotic Cult of the Great Mother
An Erotic Flashback to 20,000 BC
Sex, Magic, and the Life-Force
The Sexual Tragedy of Agriculture
The Goddess and Her Lover
5. Sacred Marriage and Sacred Prostitution
Hieros Gamos: The Sacred Marriage
The Phallic Principle
Phallic Worship
The Rule of the Phallus in Greece
Sacred Prostitution in Ancient Greece
The Sexual Servants of Mesopotamia and Egypt
The Temple Prostitutes of India
The Story of Sunta
The Contemporary Reappraisal of Sacred Prostitution
6. Erotic Spirituality in the Mystery Traditions
The Mystery Cults of the Ancient World
The Corn Mother Demeter and Her Votaries
Dionysos: God of Wine and Ecstasy
The Phallic Orpheus
Pan: The Lusty Goat-God
Cybele and Attis
The Mystery Cult of Isis and Osiris
7. Spiritual Eroticism in]udaism
Sex, Power, and the Goddess among the Ancient Hebrews
The Hebrew Sexual Heritage
8. The Eclipse of Eros in the Christian Tradition
The Christian Sexual Heritage
Mary: Virginal Mother and Bride of Christ
Eve, the First Man, and Guilt
9. The Medieval Love Mystics, East and West
The Resurgence of Eros in the Middle Ages
The Troubadours: Erotic Idolators
The Lover Within: Bridal Mysticism
The Mystical Eros in Islam and Judaism
On the Nuptial Couch with Krishna: The Hindu Version of Bridal Mysticism
10. The Jewel in the Lotus: The Lessons of Tantrism
The Secret Circle: A Story Set in India Around 1200 A.D
Tantrism: The Historical and Cultural Context
Maithuna: The Love-Play of God and Goddess

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💎 Expert review

“

💎

Esoterica Books editorial team

Occult literature desk

Georg Feuerstein offers a compelling synthesis of global religious perspectives on sexuality, arguing that our contemporary struggles stem from divorcing the erotic from the divine. While the breadth of sources is impressive, this book may not suit readers seeking practical, step-by-step sexual techniques or those strictly adhering to dogmatic traditions that view sexuality solely through a lens of prohibition. It is best for those open to philosophical and historical exploration rather than immediate instructional guidance. The text invites a shift in perspective, though its academic tone might feel distant to some seeking purely emotional connection.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

📖 Why choose it

📖

Why this book is worth reading

Readers seeking to heal the disconnect between their spiritual aspirations and physical desires will find profound solace here. This book is ideal for those feeling a void in modern intimacy, offering a roadmap to integrate the sacred into the sensual. It appeals to seekers of global wisdom who wish to understand how diverse cultures have honored erotic energy as transformative. By exploring these ancient mystery rites and tantric principles, individuals can rediscover fulfillment and view their deepest erotic nature as a portal to the divine, rather than something separate from it.

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Esoterica Books —

⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

If you feel a persistent yearning for deeper meaning in your intimate life, or if you're a student of comparative religion seeking to understand the spiritual dimensions of human sexuality, this book offers profound insights. It's for those ready to challenge conventional views and explore the…

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Esoterica Books editorial team

Georg Feuerstein offers a compelling synthesis of global religious perspectives on sexuality, arguing that our contemporary struggles stem from divorcing the erotic from the divine. While the breadth of sources is impressive, this book may not suit readers seeking practical, step-by-step sexual techniques or those strictly adhering to dogmatic traditions that view sexuality solely through a lens of prohibition. It is best for those open to philosophical and historical exploration rather than immediate instructional guidance. The text invites a shift in perspective, though its academic tone might feel distant to some seeking purely emotional connection.

❓ Frequently asked questions

While it illuminates principles for a more sacred approach to intimacy, this book is primarily a scholarly and philosophical exploration of historical and cross-cultural traditions, rather than a step-by-step manual.

No, Feuerstein provides a sweeping survey across numerous spiritual paths, including Christianity, Judaism, Taoism, Hinduism, and various goddess worship traditions, demonstrating the universality of sacred sexuality.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Global Erotic Wisdom

Feuerstein meticulously uncovers how diverse spiritual paths, from Taoism and Hinduism to ancient Goddess cults and early Christian sects, have historically revered sexual union as a conduit to the divine. He reveals shared insights into its mystical power, demonstrating a cross-cultural recognition of the erotic as sacred.

Modern Disconnect & Healing

The author diagnoses the prevailing societal anxiety and unfulfillment surrounding intimacy, positing that its origins lie in the severing of sexuality from its spiritual roots. He offers a compelling argument for reintegrating this sacred dimension as a pathway to deeper, more meaningful erotic experience and personal wholeness.

Reclaiming Sacred Eros

This work guides readers beyond superficial understandings of sex to reclaim the inherent spirituality of their erotic nature. It demonstrates how to transform ordinary physical acts into profound, soul-stirring experiences, suggesting that true intimacy blossoms when the body, heart, and spirit are united in sacred purpose.

📜 Historical context

Feuerstein's work stands firmly within the tradition of comparative religious studies, particularly those exploring the esoteric and often-overlooked aspects of faith. Published in an era when spiritual seeking often intersected with personal liberation, it provides a crucial academic and spiritual anchor for understanding how sexuality has been interwoven with devotion and enlightenment across millennia, offering a powerful counter-narrative to purely secular or puritanical perspectives.

📚 Glossary

Hieros Gamos
Sacred Prostitution
Erotic Spirit

📔 Questions to reflect on

Reflect on your own experiences with intimacy. Can you identify moments where your sexual encounters felt deeply spiritual or transcendent? What were the circumstances surrounding these experiences?
Feuerstein suggests modern society suffers from a 'sexual stress syndrome.' In what ways do you observe or personally experience a disconnect between sexuality and spirituality in contemporary culture?
Consider a spiritual tradition mentioned in the book (or one you know). How might its view of sacred sexuality offer a new perspective on your own understanding of eroticism and divinity?