its a Greek ritual which means a sacred marriage. its done somewhere around the equinox, mid-March, in spring. it dates back more than 2000 years. Egyptian priests and priestesses performed it regularly to celebrate the reproductive power of the female. the women wear white gossamer gowns and golden shoes. they hold golden orbs. the men wear black tunics and black shoes. both men and women wear androgynous masks.
Heiros Gamos looks like a sex-ritual but has nothing to do with eroticism. It is a spiritual act. historically, intercourse was the act through which male and female experienced God. the ancients believed that the male was spiritually incomplete until he had carnal knowledge of the sacred feminine. physical union with the female remained the sole means through which man could become spiritually complete and ultimately achieve Gnosis- knowledge of the Divine. since the days of Isis, sex rites had been man's only bridge from earth to heaven. by communing with woman, man could achieve a climatic instant when mind was totally blank and he could see God.
Physiologically speaking, the male climax is accompanied by a split-second entirely devoid of thought. a brief mental vacuum. a moment of clarity during which God could be glimpsed. Meditation gurus achieved similar states of thoughtlessness without sex and described Nirvana as a never-ending spiritual orgasm.
Sex begot new life-the ultimate miracle- and miracles could be performed only by a God. the ability of women to produce life from her womb made her sacred. a God. intercourse was the revered union of the two halves of the human spirit- Male and Female- through which male could find spiritual wholeness and communion with God.
The Hiero Gamos isn't a perversion. its a deeply sacrosanct ceremony.
Early Jews believed that the Holy of Hollies in Solomon's temple housed not only God, but also His powerful female equal, Shekinah. Men seeking spiritual wholeness came to the temple to visit priestesses- or hierodules- with whome they made love and experienced the Divine through physical union.
The Jewish tetragrammaton YHWH- the sacred name of God, in fact, is derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union b/w masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah.
Our ancient heritage (e.g., Khajuraho, Konark) and our vey physiologies tell us sex is a natural- a cherished- route to spiritual fulfillment. And yet, modern religions decies it as shameful, teaching us to fear our Sexual Desires as the hand of Evil....
