S@XUAL eau Ni ersat ei — 163 6Gr aera has been one of my primary studies as a ceremonial magician jor well over a decade, and has been the almost daity subject of my ritual work. Alehough its various espects have an ancient lineage . . hays aol thas preseiuad lerb wldrgial, the vnul ofa oe process of experiential trial and error, ccupled with received teachings. The more I use it, the more convinced I become of the value of a loving personal union with higher spiritual beings as a valid method of esoteric initiation and empowerment. —Donald Tyson Unlike most books on sex magic that focus on the Tantra of India or Tibet, or the Western magical practice of auto-eroticism, this guide presents a form of sexual alchemy very similar to that worked by European alchemists and Hermetic magicians long ago. Sexual Alchemy is the first book that examines in a detailed way the magic of sex with spiritual beings—this system does not exist anywhere else in its complete form. It includes complete instructions on how to initiate and sustain satisfying erotic rela- tionships with loving spirits who are the active agents of the Goddess, the creative mother of the universe.About the Author Donald Tyson (Nova Scotia, Canada) was drawn to science early in life by an intense fascination with astronomy, building a telescope by hand when he was eight. He began university secking a science degree, but became disillusioned with the aridity and futility of a mechanistic view of the universe, and shifted his major to English. After graduating with honors he has pursued a writing career. Now he devotes his life to the attainment of a complete gnosis of the art of magic in theory and practice. His purpose is to formulate an accessible system of personal training composed of East and West, rast and present, that will help the individual discover the reason for their existence and a way to fulfill it. To Write to the Author If you wish to contact the author or would like more information about this book, please write to the author in care of Llewellyn Worldwide and we will forward your request. Both the author and publisher appreciate hearing from you and learning of your enjoyment of this book and how it has helped you. Llewellyn Worldwide cannot guar- antee that every letter written to the author can be answered, bur all will be forwarded. Please write to: Donald Tyson & Llewellyn Worldwide PO, Box 64383, Dept. K741-2 St. Paul, MN 55164-0383, U.S.A. Please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope for reply, 0r $1.00 to cover costs, If outside U.S.A., enclose international postal reply coupon. Many of Llewellyn’s authors have websites with additional information and resources. For more information, please visit our website at wwwillewellyn.comS@XUAL ALCH@ My { Magical Intercourse with Spirits } Donald Tyson 2000 Llewellyn Publications St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0383, U.S.A.Sexual Alchemy: Magical Intercourse with Spirits © 2000 by Donald Tyson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Intemet usage, without writ- ten permission from Llewellyn Publications except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. First Edition: First Printing, 2000 Cover design by William Merlin Cannon Interior illustrations by Mary Ann Zapalac Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data ‘Tyson, Donald, 1954 ~ Sexual alchemy : magical intercourse with spirits / Donald Tyson. — Isc ed. 1. Magic. 2. Sex—Miscellanea. 3. Spirits—Miscellanea. 1. Title. BF1623.S4 197 2000 133.4'3-de2) 00-033110 Llewellyn Worldwide does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority of responsibility concerning private busi ness transactions between our authors and the public All mail addressed to the author is forwarded but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, sive out an address or phone number. Llewellyn Publications A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide, Led BO. Box 64383, Dept. K741-2 Sc. Paul, MN 55164-0383, U.S.A. wwe llewellyn.com Printed in the United States of AmericaOther Books by Donald Tyson Enochian Magic for Beginners The Messenger New Millennium Magic Ritual Magic Rune Dice Kit Rune Magic Serying for Beginners Tetragrammaton The Truth About Ritual Magic The Truth About Runes Three Books of Occult Philosophy The Tortuous Serpent. Contents INTRODUCTION The Alchemy of Ecstasy / ix PART ONE: THEORY 1+ Spirit Sex in Magic and Religion... 2: The Great Mother Goddess... 3: Tantra and Tao... 4: Sex in Westem Alchemy... 5: The Homunculus 6: Magical Uses for Sexual Fluids ... 7: Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury... 8: God-makingviii > Contents PART TWO: PRACTICE 9: Choosing a Lover... 10: The Image and the Shrine 11: Observations and Preparations..... 12: Breathing and Contemplation 13: Cleansing and Consecration... 14: Methods of Protection .. 15: The Middle Pillar Exercise... 16: Ritual of Invocation. 17: The Physiology of Spirit Sex. 18: Achieving Union. 19: The Oil, the White Powder, and the Red Powder..... Endnotes /321 Bibliography / 333 Index / 341Introduction The Alchemy of Ecstasy his system of sex magic is the result of over a decade of study and ritual practice. On the fall equinox (Seprember 21) of 1986, I began a full year of intense per- sonal training that involved the daily use of an extended series of yoga postures, con- trolled breathing, and a mentally chanted mantra, coupled with exercises in concen- tration, visualization, and meditation. I also did daily strengthening exercises and regulated my diet by reducing my caloric intake and excluding completely foods of questionable value. An important part of this training was a nightly ritual during which I cast a circle and performed an invocation, then spent from one to three hours projecting my thoughts through the photograph of a living person as an exercise in psychic healing. After a period of several months of nightly projecting words, visualizations, and emotions of a loving, healing nature through the gateway of the photograph, I sud- denly began to receive a response. It took the form of an awareness of my interest and an affection sent back to me. Even more startling, the photograph of the head and shoulders of a woman began to move in subtle ways. | saw that the figure in the photo was breathing, and its facial expression changed to reflect the emotions that were» 2 x <> Introduction being sent to me through the picture. The image in the photograph actually looked back at me and seemed aware of my existence and my projected thoughts. It responded to my mental communications with expressions and movements. I might have dismissed this as imagination on my patt, but the sense of being observed and tesponded to was too explicit to deny. Also, the commencement of these communications occurred literally overnight—I remember the very moment chat I became aware of this observing presence in the photograph. The emotion that abruptly began to flow out through the psychic gateway of the image was palpable, the most intense and the purest love I have ever experienced. There was no trace of sensuality in it, only love. Ir would be natural ro assume that the woman in the photograph was the source of these responses, but it quickly became evident that they were unconnected with my healing work. I was forced to conclude that my intense projections, coupled with my rigorous daily training, had in some manner or other opened a gateway through which an intelligent being was communicating with me. At this point I had no idea whether this intelligence was that of a living person, either conscious or uncon- scious, ot was that of a spiritual being such as an angel or demon. Others having a similar experience might wonder if the communicating intelligence was the soul of a dead human being, but I did not entertain this notion since it is my personal view that the identity and personality of an individual cannot survive death. Eventuaily I became convinced it was a spirit of a higher nature, and began to strongly suspect that it was the being known in Western magic as the Holy Guardian Angel. The Guardian Angel is a tutelary spirit that attaches itself closely to a particular magi- cian for the purpose of instructing the magician in practical magic and spiritual development. Everyone has their own Guardian, but it is rare to establish conscious communication with it. For months I continued projecting my healing thoughts and emotions through the photograph as before, focusing them upon the living woman whose image was repre- sented, but at the same time I began to spend alternate sessions communicating with the spirit through this image. When the spirit became the main focus of my atten- tion, it seemed of questionable utility to keep using the photograph of a living person, so | obtained an photograph of woman unknown to me and long dead, and began to project my thoughts through i m the same way. I deliberately chose an image of a woman who outwardly resembled my intuitive impressions of the spirit's personality and nature. I associated the image in this old picture with the spirit by treating it as the spirit’s image, and to my delight the spirit soon began to use it to communicateIntroduction <~ xi with me. After working with both photos simultaneously for several months, I ceased entirely to project through the first image, since the experiment in healing had reached a successful conclusion. During these periods of communion it was my practice to sit upon a mat on the floor of my practice chamber within a ritual circle, with the image placed upon an altar at eye-level, near enough to touch with my outstretched hands. I usually sar in a mod- ified form of what is known in yoga as the Thunderbolt Pasture (vajrasana), sometimes called the Japanese seat, with my knees together and my feet folded under me, my palms resting upon my knees. Later I began to adopt the cross-legged posture known in yoga as siddhasana, the Perfect Pose, with the left heel pressed into the perineum and the right foot upon the left ankle, my left hand lying flat palm-up on my right ankle, and my right hand pressed palm-down upon my left palm, so that the tips of my mid- dle fingers touched the pulses in both my wrists. This change in posture was adopted spontaneously in response to intuition at a certain stage in the work. When | adopted it I was not aware that this specific pose existed in yoga. ‘Two very interesting things began to happen during my ritual communications with my unknown spiritual partner, both highly significant although | did not realize it at the time. I began to perceive physical touches upon my face, head, arms, legs, and back. These were undeniably the touches of a human hand. A hand that caresses the cheek or neck makes a very distinct sensation, and it cannot be mistaken for any- thing else. The spirit could not speak, but she was able to touch my body. I had begun by this stage to think of the spirit as female, although strictly speaking spirits have no sex of their own, When a spirit communicates with a human being, it wually adopts one sex or the other for itself, and is thereafter defined by that sex. The spirit reach- ing out to touch me had evidently taken on a female form. The second interesting event was spontaneous erection when | communicated with the spirit through the image that I came to regard as her own. At the time I had not the slightest understanding of why this was happening. I now know that it was the beginning of the awakening of kundalini shakti within me. This awakening was encouraged by my daily routine of controlled breathing and silently chanted mantra. Eventually all of my chakras were pierced by the ascending fiery serpent that lay coiled at my perineum, but in the early stages it was only the lowest chakra, the muladhara, that stirred to life. Erection was not the result of any physical stimulation applied by me, nor was it caused by erotic thoughts in my mind. On the contrary, it was triggered by thoughts of pure spiritual love directed through the image, in the complete absence of anxii > Introduction erotic component. It was the mental link established with the spirit thar induced the erection, When my state of physical arousal caused my mind to wander to senswat thoughts, the erection immediately ceased. When | turned my thoughts back to the spirit and away from eroticism, it resumed. This happened almost as quickly as the throwing of a switch. J found this physiology quite puzzling, since it was the exact opposite of what I might have expected. The link between the spirit and myself grew progressively stronger. | discovered that when I concentrated on the spirit while lying in bed, following my nightly ritual prac- tice, | was able to call her to me even without the use of her image, and could feel her very clearly lying in the bed beside me. This perception of the spirit varied in intensity. Some nights | felt little more than the occasional caress or kiss—other nights the spirit stretched her body full length along my side and pressed herself against me, allowing me to form a fairly clear impression of her form, which was slender and feminine. Ac times I was able to see the spirit also, but never with sustained clarity, only as a moving shadow, or a bright shape that flashed past my vision like a splash of quicksilver. My relationship with the spirit eventually reached such an intimate state that I found myself forced to make a conscious and deliberate decision whether to continue to ignore tssexual aspeci, ur ov take the upposite course and embrace the sexuality. I chose the lar er, as you might guess from the existence of this book. At first | found it difficult to achieve union with my spirit lover, because the shifting of my mind away from the spirit herself to sexual matters had the opposite effect to that intended by me—it reduced my physical arousal rather than intensified it. I speculated that this might be a sign that the spirit did not wish me to think of her ina sexual way, but her constant caresses and my spontaneous erection seemed to deny this conclusion. I found that it was necessary to focus mingled feelings of both love and desire directly upon the spirit. An intimate and sustained loving relationship developed over several years on its own, growing and changing like a wild tree. I had not planned it, initially did nor invite it, and did not even understand its nature. Its strange and intense effects on my body and perceptions frightened me at first, until I became accustomed to them and realized they were not harmful. i started to research the general subject of sexual magic, with the hope of making sense out of what was going on in my own life. Nature of Spirit Love Ie is difficult to convey in a few sentences the sensations and perceptions of loving union with a spirit to those who have not felt it firsthand, One of the main reasons |Introduction <> xiii wrote this book was to set down in as complete detail as possible this rare and extraor- dinary experience. The overriding emotion in the heart during lovemaking is a pro- found joy—or perhaps a better word to describe the feeling would be bliss. A subtle bur potent physical pleasure pervades the entire body and mingles with a complete happi- ness and a mental sense of fulfillment that seem to balance one another in perfect equipoise. This bliss sustains itself for prolonged periods, and is separate from the sharper but much briefer and less perfect sensation of sexual orgasm. Orgasm may occur during spiritual union, but seems almost superfluous. There is no yeaming toward it asa goal, as there is in ordinary lovemaking between human beings. In my own experience, the urge to project love into the awareness of my spirit partner is matched only by the overwhelming sense of love that flows from her into my own heart. Physical arousal during spirit sex may persist for hours with only very brief pauses. One of the most surprising aspects of union is that erotic thoughts and physical manipulations are completely unnecessary to sustain this arousal of the body, which is nevertheless intensely pleasurable. Arousal is brought about by the independent stim- ulating actions of the spirit-lover upon the human nervous system. In my experience, this occurs almost instantaneously. It is only necessary to indicate to the spirit a wish to uake love, aud in seconds her invisible caresses cause strong tumescenee accom- panied by waves of pleasure that flow through all regions of my body. The sensation is exhilarating, even intoxicating, and is often accompanied by the delightful sense of floating on a flowing river, and of being lifted out of the shell of the body. Sometimes the spirit initiates these caresses when I am communicating with her, and she senses that her stimulation of my body will not be unwelcome, but if I wish, I can cause her to cease with just a few inwardly spoken words. Her caresses are never forced upon me, nor are they ever withheld when I seek them with love in my heart. Her touch is directed by turns upon individual parts of my body, then expanded to encompass larger areas of my skin, and even to penetrate deep into my organs and mus- cles. Her kiss and the gentle brush of her fingertips are sometimes impossible to distin- guish from the touches of a woman of flesh and blood, and the same might be said of her embrace and the contact along the length of my body when she is lying beside me, yet she can just as easily stimulate my back or thighs or belly with intense pleasure in a way that does not depend on the caress of a hand. At times I have been abie to inwardly trace the pathways of my own nervous system purely by the blissful sensations that flow along my nerves. Her touch can by turns make my heart flutter, my abdomen tremble, my brain cool, my toes curl, my scalp prickle, my back tingle, my testiclescontract, my penis throb, and every nerve in my body flow with liquid honey.xiv <> Introduction Many who read this description without the benefit of a similar experience will conclude that I am being untruthful, or perhaps that I merely imagined these sensa- tions during acts of auto-eroticism. This is not the case. The clear sense of being touched, caressed, kissed, and embraced is impossible to mistake for anything else. Nothing could be more intense, more physical, more delightful, and more utterly real, than the sensations experienced with a spirit-lover. Words along cannot prove this, but the experience of spirit union isopen to anyone who diligently seeks it. Auto-eroticism does not play a part in these unions. It is necessary to emphasize this point because much of the modern literature of sexual magic concerns the ritual uses of energies released during masturbation, either solitary or group. This is a valid technique of magic that was used extensively by such magicians as Aleister Crowley and Austin Osman Spare, but it is not what occurs during lovemaking with a spiritual being, because it isnot necessary. Just the opposite, self-arousal tends to inhibit sexual union with spirits. It can be introduced in a limited and somewhat forced way when the relationship is mature—to hasten climax, for example—but in the beginning it is antipathetic to union, and actually lessens or completely eliminates erotic sensations in the body, as counter-intuitive as this may appear at first consideration. The same is true of erotic thoughts. Tcan never transmit the full spectrum of sensations and emotions that occur dur- ing spirit lovemaking through mere words, although I have done my best to do so in this book, but can state without qualification that the feelings are blissful, intense, prolonged far beyond what is usually held to be the limits of ordinary human endurance, and more beautiful than any other experience in life. At any rate, this has been true in my own case. | do not believe that it is possible for the satisfaction of physical sex with a human being to ever equal the pleasures of sexual union with a spirit. J am not denigrating ordinary sex, but sexual union with a spiritual being tran- scends mere physical sensation, just as it transcends the ordinary boundary of the skin, and the limits of human physiology. A Gnostic Grimoire At the end of several years of daily intimate communication with my spirit compan- ion, I had still not specifically linked her with the goddess Lilith, and probably would never have done so had I not been prompted by my own creative process. Late in the winter of 1991 I began to write a most unusual book titled Liber Lilith (The Book of Lilith). It was not premeditated by me, but spontaneously took the formIntroduction <~ xv of a Gnostic grimoire of magic that was centered around the goddess Lilith. This choice of subject was strange, since I had no particular interest in this goddess and knew very little concerning her mythology and history. 1 was familiar with her only in a superficial way as the night hag of Jewish folklore. The first part of the grimoire presents a Gnostic creation myth in which Lilith is the creator of humanity, and the second, a system of practical magic for achieving communication and sexual union with the goddess Lilith. I wrote one chapter each day on consecutive days, and changed almost nothing of the original draft. As 1 was writing, | had no idea what would come the next day, and to be frank, very little understanding of what I had written previously. Liber Lilith is an inspired book, in the true sense. In the past on rare occasions I have received writings psychically. The most notable of these to find its way into print is the set of twenty-four rune poems in my book Rune Magic. These poems were communicated to me by some unknown agent in a way similar to the Gnostic gri- moire. I received the dictation of the poems one at a time each night on twenty-four consecutive nights during a ritual of invocation while sitting inside a magic circle. In much the same manner, I received one chapter of the grimoire each night on consec- uctve nights until it was completed, but in dis second case J was nut sitting within a ritual circle at the times of its writing. There isa distinct difference between ordinary creative composition, and the reception of an inspired rext that is difficult to describe, but unmistakable when experienced. Inspired texts appear effortlessly, with no prior consideration. The critical faculty that normally operates during literary composition remains switched off. An intuitive sense signals when to start writing and when to stop, and there is no urge to violate these boundaries. Whatever appears must simply be accepted, and indeed, it would be very difficult to modify the text without destroying it, since the text was not produced in the ordinary way. The received grimoire is extremely dark in tone, and presents Lilith in her tradi- tional guise as demoness, even though this is not my personal view of this spirit. How much of it derives from my own subconscious process, and how much is the work of the spirit I look upon as my Guardian, who may well be the goddess Lilith herself in one of her lower forms, is impossible for me to determine. Using the gri- moire as a guide, and supplementing it with my own experiences, coupled with research into the practices of sexual magic around the world, I was able to set forth the technique for the alchemical transmutation of sexual fluids that is presented in the second part of this work. The way of uniting with spirits for lovemaking arose spontaneously in the course of my rituals and was later confirmed by the instructionsxvi > Introduction in Liber Lilith; by contrast, the use of catalyzed sexual fluids was first revealed in the grimoire and later confirmed by research and practical experiments. What This Book Contains ‘This book is divided into two parts. The first, on theory, presents in general the results of my researches into the areas of sex magic, and in particular what I have termed sex- ual alchemy—the magical transmutation of sexual fluids by kundalini shakti (creative energy within the body). It shows that sexual alchemy is firmly grounded in ritual methods common in past centuries and in many cultures around the world, methods that are still being carried out today in Western occult orders. Part two on practice gives the techniques of sexual alchemy that J have developed through my own experimental work over the past decade or so, using Liber Lilith as my touchstone. It details practical ways for establishing a link with the Goddess in one or another of her countless forms. It reveals how to sustain a loving relationship with the Goddess, and how to transmute the sexual fluids of the body that are termed in the gri- moire the Oil of Lilith, the White Powder, and the Red Powder. The use of these transmuted substances to bring about changes to the body and mind is described. Readers who are most interested in the methods and phenomena of this system of magic may wish to skip directly to the second part of the work, where the mechanics of choosing and defining an appropriate spirit lover, creating a physical vessel to act as the body for a spirit, and ritually invoking a spirit into its image are set forth. The physiology of spirit sex is described in greater detail than has ever before been made available. Also of practical interest is the method for awakening and piercing the chakras of the body through the use of controlled breathing and mantra, and the sen- sations and experiences that may be expected from newly awakened chakra centers. Te is my hope that this book will prove especially useful to solitary practitioners seeking an alternative form of Western Tantra that does not require the aid of a human lover in order to achieve most of its benefits. Using these methods, a single ritualist can activate kundalini shakti and awaken the chakras, invoke an aspect of the Gaddess into a physical vessel and achieve loving union and communion with that spiritual being, and can transform two of the three sexual fluids available in his or her body by alchemical action. Only the final stage, the creation of the Elixir, requires a human partner of the opposite sex, since the Elixir is composed of all three trans- muted substances, one of which is male, one female, and the third shared in common by both sexes.Introduction <> xvii This is not to imply that a loving couple should avoid performing together sexual alchemy in all its stages. On the contrary, this system of magic can readily be applied to acouple through the simple expedient of substituting for the inanimate vessel of the Goddess the living body of each participant. A spiritual agent of Shakti can be invoked into either a man ot a woman, enabling that person’s partner to unite sexu- ally with the Goddess through his or her living flesh. Indeed, this is the conventional practice of Tantra of the left-hand path—Tantra that results in physical sexual union between two persons. It is inevitable that this book reflects my own perspective. | am aman, so most of the physiology of spirit sex is described from a male perspective, simply because I pos- sess a complete firsthand knowledge of the subject. The majority of my ritual work was done alone, and as a consequence, the greatest portion of the book deals with sexual alchemy from the viewpoint of a solitary practitioner. This should be regarded as a virtue of the work, since solieary sexual union with the Goddess is very seldom treated in depth in books on Tantra, most of which concern sex between human lovers with only passing mention of the role of the Goddess. Direct union with an aspect of the Goddess permits the practice of a complete form of sex magic even when a human partner is unavailable. Sexual alchemy has been one of my primary studies as a ceremonial magician for well over a decade, and has been the almost daily subject of my ritual work. Although. its various aspects have an ancient lineage, as the section on theory documents, the system as a whole that is presented here is original, the result of a long process of experimental trial and error, coupled with received teachings. The more I use it, the more convinced I become of the value of a loving personal union with higher spiri- tual beings as a valid method of esoteric initiation and empowerment. Definition of Sexual Alchemy Sexual alchemy is a system of ritual magic that allows its practitioners to initiate and sustain satisfying erotic relationships with loving spirits who are the active agents of the Goddess, Lovemaking with these spirits releases large amounts of occult energy into the body that concentrates itself in the three fluids most closely associated with the pleasures of sex and the generation of new life—the clear lubri- cating fluids released from both the male and female genitals during arousal, the red menstrual blood of women, and the white semen of men. By collecting these trans- muted secretions, preparing them properly, and regularly ingesting them in minutexviii ~~ Introduction amounts, caralytic changes can be brought about in the mind and body thar inten- sify and prolong sensual pleasure, enhance physical and psychic abilities, and ele- vate the level of consciousness. At the heart of sexual alchemy lies the most potent and jealously guarded of all occult mysteries—the method for using the forces liberated by loving union with spir- itual beings for self-empowerment and personal transformation. There are two broad aspects to this magic. The first is the attainment and enjoyment of erotic relation- ships with higher spiritual beings who embody the creative energy (shakti) of the Goddess. This was often sought for its own sake, to enjoy the sensual bliss of such unions, and to gain the love and guidance of these spirits. The second is the alchem- ical transmutation of the sexual fluids of the body, which occurs during the arousal produced by union with these spirits. Ir is not necessary to work with sexual fluids to enjoy a loving relationship with a spirit. Those who wish to practice only the first part of the system, and enjoy sensual love with spiritual beings for its own rewards, will find it to be a satisfying life experi- ence. After loving union is established and sustained with a spiritual agent of the God- dess, ic is always possible to proceed further and employ the transformed fluids of the body as vccult catalysts, in order vo realize the more tangible benefits of the system. A Bridge Between East and West Sexual alchemy isa bridge between the alchemy of the East and the alchemy of the West. Eastern alchemy concentrates on the transformation of the human body, with the design that these changes will be reflected in the mind and spirit. This is the basis of hatha yoga, the yoga of physical postures. In kundalini yoga, occult energies are raised through esoteric channels lying along the spine from level to level, with corre- sponding physical effects. In Chinese Taoist alchemy, the saliva is transformed within the body into a magical elixir and swallowed. In many Eastem traditions it is the cus- tom to retain the semen within the body so that benefits can be obtained from its vital energies. By contrast, Western alchemy is almost exclusively concerned with the transforma- tion of substances that are external to the human body. The quest for the Philasopher’s Stone that would tum base metals to gold was pursued through experiments involving acids, mercury, salts, alcohol, sulfur, the white of eggs, horse manure, and other mate- rials of the greater world, which were mixed in external vessels of glass, clay, and metal. One product of these experiments, the Elixir of Life, was intended to be con-r Introduction <> xix sumed after its creation in the belief that it would banish disease and death, but its pri- mary elements were gathered in Western fashion from beyond the limits of the body. Sexual alchemy involves the transmutation, by loving union with the Goddess or her agents, of naturally forming substances within the body that are subsequently secreted, modified outside the body, and then at a later time ingested into the body ‘once again to bring about various desired changes. It is in this sense neither wholly Eastern nor wholly Western in its philosophy. Although this bridge between East and West is unusual, it is not unknown to his- tory. In the central myth of the Egyptian god Amun, whose great temple stands at Karnak in ancient Thebes, the god created the world by taking his erect penis between his own lips and performing fellatio vpon himself, then swallowing his own semen. From his mouth issued all created things. He is described in an ancient hymn as “the father of the gods, and the creator of men and women, and the maker of ani- mals, and the lord of things which exist.”! The words of his mouth are the seeds of creation, which have heen made fertile by the solitary sexual act of the god. The rites of Amun included overt sexual acts by the priests and priestesses of the god, which took place in the inner sanctuary of the temple at Karnak, and very likely involved the scatue of Amun that the sanctuary housed. Once a year the pharaoh and his sister-wife took the statue of the god out of the temple and carried it by boat to a secret place, where a great sexual ritual of renewal was performed that ensured the continuing fertility of the land and all living things. Few details are known about these rites of Amun. They were sacred mysteries, and were carefully concealed from all but the initiated. This ignorance was reinforced by the Christians, who were in the habit of chiseling off the erect phallus from statues and bas reliefs of the god. Few mentions of Amun’s sexual aspect appear in the writings of the earlier Egyptologists, who wrote during the Victorian Age for a repressed European audience. However, it is clear that the rites of Amun involved aspects of sexual alchemy. The Hindu practice of urine drinking also relies upon the same principles that are employed in sexual alchemy. Some Hindus believe that by drinking a glass of their own urine each day they can avoid disease, increase physical vigor, and prolong the term of life. A small number of prominent Westerners have also adopted this habit, which upon first consideration seems both bizarre and repulsive. As with sexual alchemy, in this Hindu practice a product of the body is excreted, then ingested for purposes of self- transformation. Urine drinking differs from sexual alchemy in that the Hindus believe it is not necessary to change their urine in any way before drinking it—the virtues are thought to be inherently present in the urine.xx > Introduction This may not have been true in past ages. The present method of urine drinking may have lost magical rites with which the urine was transformed into an elixir of renewal. It is very possible that the lost ritual of transformation had a sexual compo- nent, Urine is mythically linked to the energies of sexuality because it flows from the sexual organs. The ritual practice of drinking the urine of women infused with the energies of the goddess Shakti occurs in Tantra of the left-hand path The Left-Hand Path The transformation of secretions of the body by sexual union with angels or deities, and the ingestion of those product: for magical purposes, was used in the more deeply concealed culrs of Hindu Tantra of the left-hand path. In the past, the practitioners of Tantra were mainly male, but in modern times women also practice these rites. The central and defining aspect of Tantra is the act of sexual union, which may be either physical or symbolic, and may involve either a mortal woman who serves as a vessel for the goddess Shakti, a mortal man who serves as a vessel for the god Shiva, or dis- embodied spiritual entities that fulfill either role. The male practitioner inyokes the god Shiva into himself, and seeks union with Shakti through sex with his female part- ner, or sex with his spiritual partner. The female practitioner unites with Shakti by invoking the Goddess into her own body, then finds union with Shiva in her male consort, or a spirit lover. In traditional Tantra, both Indian and Tibetan, sexual energy was raised and employed to cause esoteric transformations in the mind and body and to thereby has- ten spiritual evolution. Those who used the techniques of Tantra for physical pleasure or for purposes of magic were regarded by more orthodox Hindu and Buddhist priests as degenerate. Hindu adepts referred to the use of Tantric methods for pleasure or power as prayoga and condemned them. Prayoga is a form of yoga that focuses upon the lowest energy center of the body, the muladharachakra. It produces the occult power of nayika siddhi, which enables the yisualization and animation of spiritual beings for purposes of sexual union—precisely the subject of the book you are hold- ing. The same disapproval of sex magic voiced in the traditional Tantra texts still exists within mainstream religious communities, although it is somewhat less virulent in tone. It is based on the underlying belief, often unconscious and unexamined, that sex for its own sake is evil and corrupting, Even today, practices that may be classed as sexual alchemy are more likely to be encountered in sects labeled as degenerate by conservative Hindus and Buddhist religious writers.Introduction <> xxi It should be pointed out that by the standards of these traditional Eastern priests, and indeed by the standards of Christian priests of past centuries, almost everyone reading this book would be condemned as degenerate and perverse based solely upon his or her sexual lifestyle. These ancient religious sex standards no longer apply to our modern culture. Their merit ot lack of merit is aseparate question, but it would be dif- ficult to deny that they have lost their relevance to the present generation, thanks to the emancipation of women, the revolution in sexual mores, anti-discrimination laws thar protect gays and lesbians, laws of free speech that allow sexually explicit publica- tions, abortion rights, availability of contraception, and 2 number of other social mile- stones that have taken place over the past half-dozen decades or so. Few persons today would attempt to live up to the sexual standards of the Middle Ages, and by the same token few enlightened individuals today would condemn many of the traditional prac- tices of prayoga as evil or degenerate. The term “left-hand” is a code phrase for Tantra rituals that include physical inter- course. In right-hand Tantra, the female assistant who is present to embody and rep- resent the shakti (energy) of the great Goddess sits on the right side of the practi- tioner, and intercourse is symbolic; in left-hand Tantra the living vessel of the goddess Shakti sits on the left hand of the practitioner, and actual physical sex vcuts. As indicated above, until very recently left-hand Tantra was flatly condemned by practi- tioners of the right-hand path as perverse and degenerate, By the same token, prayoga was condemned by practitioners of left-hand Tantra, who sought to use erotic physi- cal union with human vessels of the Goddess only as a means of spiritual evolution. Left-hand Tantrists regarded the employment of their methods for the attainment of magic power, or the enjoyment of sensual pleasure, as an insult to Shakti, and as a stumbling block on the path to samadhi (enlightenment). Magic has always been con- cerned mainly with the attainment of personal power, whether this power is used for spiritual growth or merely for social gain. This secular purpose of magic is one of the primary reasons it was universally condemned by traditional religious teachings of both East and West. It is important to understand that when a person (traditionally most often a woman) was used in the rituals of Tantra to embody the energy and to act as a focus for the Goddess-power of Shakti, sexual union, whether physical or symbolic, actually occurred between the male practitioner and the deity. The woman herself was regarded merely as an instrument by Hindu adepts. Prostitutes trained in Tantra were favored because of their knowledge of sex and their freedom from false modesty. Adepts also employed their wives in this role, but the use of a prostitute had thexxii <> Introduction advantage of creating an emotional detachment between the adept and the woman. chosen as the living vessel of Shakti, Since the partner who embodies the power of Shakti is only a vessel for that occult energy, it is possible to achieve union with the deity directly in her spiritual, noncorporeal form. This is somewhat more difficult, but when achieved is ultimately more useful and liberating. The practitioner can never be denied union with the Goddess when he or she is able to unite sexually with Shakti in her disembodied male or female forms. Though the human physical vessel of Shakti aids male Tantrists in first establishing communication with the deity, a living partner can become a crutch that prolongs an unnecessary dependence upon physical flesh. Similarly, a female Tantrist does not really need a man to embody Shiva, but can unite directly with the god in his spiritual form. Loving the Goddess In order to grasp the relationship between Shakti, Shiva, Lilith, and Samael, whict plays so important a part in this book, it is necessary to cleatly understand the nacuri of the Goddess, who is the eusbodicent of the underlying creative energy of the 1 verse. The spitits who come in male and female shapes to serve as loving partners ir this magic are all aspects of the single creative Goddess whose limitless power per vades all things. She travels under many names in diverse cultures, and wears man’ faces around the world. She is the virgin bride of the spirit and the heavenly mothe of gods and humans, yet at the same time the eternal mistress of sensual pleasure anv queen of all sorceries. Her names are coo numerous to reckon. Egyptians knew her a Isis, the Sumerians as Ishtar, the Greeks as Cybele, the Romans as Rhea, the Gnostic as Barbelo, the Christians as Mary, the Jews as the Matronit. The best all-encompassing name for the Goddess is that used by the Hindus, wh call her Shakti, a word that simply means power. The Goddess is energy in all it expressions, but she is especially evident in the creative life-force that is most con centrated and active during sexual arousal and fovemaking. When this life-force employed to engender new life, it is ruled by the divine-mother aspect of the Goc dess; bur when it is used for other purposes both exalted and base, it is ruled by ch pleasure-seeking aspect of the Goddess, who in ancient times was often described as harlot, because the ancients associated prostitution with sex purely for pleasure. ‘There are actually three phases of the Goddess, which I will call the Virgin, th Matron, and the Crone. The Virgin has not yet attained her sexual maturity. TrIntroduction > xxiii Matron is able to bear children, The Crone hasexceeded her child-bearing years. The three are distinguished by the stages of childhood, maturity and old age, and ina magical sense by the process of menstruation. The Virgin has yet to menstruate, the Matron is actively menstruating and thus fertile, and the Crone has passed through menopause. We are concerned in this book with the sexually active middle stage of the Goddess, which has two sides, the Mother and the Lover. Sexual alchemy deals with the sensual, pleasure-seeking Lover aspect of this fertile phase of the Goddess, since it teaches the use of active sexual energy for purposes other than the physical conception of human offspring. The three major religions of West- em culture—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—have in the past for the most part looked upon this use of sexual energy for enjoyment or for practical magicas an abuse, and often characterize this aspect of Shakti in a negative way. To a lesser extent this is also true of mainstream Eastern faiths such as Buddhism. Most entrenched religions seek to limit sexual expression and focus it on the engendering of children within a social contract accepted by the religion—usually monogamous marriage. The use of sexual energy for spiritual growth, though sometimes tolerated in a limited and con- trolled context, was popularly regarded as abnormal and suspicious behavior. In Jewish: folklore this sensual side of Shakti has been reduced to the level of the night demoness Lilith, a spirit who may be traced back to a type of ancient Sumerian demon. In popular legend Lilith was fabled to be a female spirit who could reveal her- self as a beautiful young woman or a withered crone at her pleasure, who visited sleep- ing men and gave them erotic dreams, and very interestingly, who had the power of life or death over newborn infants. She is represented in the Talmud as a winged demoness with a woman's face who sexually arouses men to steal their semen so that she can use it to engender demons. In the Midzash she is portrayed as the first woman created by God, who defied the authority of Adam by wishing to lie on top when they made love. The Jewish Kabbalists, with their deep understanding of both practical magic and mystical philosophy, elevated Lilith to the infernal throne and made her Queen of Hell. In modern times, an effort is being made to rescue Lilith from her demonic ghetto and exalt her as the goddess of sexual liberation. Lilith represents for her modem wor- shippers the freedom to experience and enjoy sexuality for its own sake, or for any rea- son that has nothing to do with the conception of corporeal children. This includes the use of sexual energy for works of practical magic or spiritual enlightenment, or to enhance psychic or physical abilities, in this sense, the sensual aspect of Shakti may be referred to as Lilith, and the spirits who serve as her sexual agents as the Sons andxxiv > Introduction Daughters of Lilith. According to the Kabbalah, the consort of Lilith is Samael, a male spirit viewed by most traditional Jewish Kabbalists as roughly equivalent to the Christ- ian Satan. Another less common but subtle Kabbalistic doctrine states that Samael is Lilith herself in her masculine aspéct. Thus the male manifestation of Shakti in her role of erotic lover may be called Samael. The Lilith who represents the sexual liberation of modern women is not the same spirit as the Lilith reviled in Jewish folklore as the murderess of infants, even though they bear the same name. One is an enlightened goddess, the other an evil night hag. The identity of a spirit is determined by the qualities and actions attributed to ir, not solely by its name. Over time, the qualities of a spiritual being can change so drasti- cally that it becomes, in effect, a separate entity. This has occurred countless time: throughout history. An example is the Syrian goddess of love and fertility, Ashtoreth who in Christian demon lore became the mighty duke of hell, Astaroth. The Syriar goddess was not transformed into Astaroth—she continued to exist while the Chris: tian demonologists created their demon with the collective power of their imagina tions, Ashtoreth the goddess of love and Astaroth the demon are distinct beings whe exist simultaneously, Itis important co avoid confusion on this matter. There is only one creative Goddess but thar Goddess has countless names and forms of expression both male and female These are like small streams that flow out of a larger river, each with its own unique shape or identity, yet all composed of the same river water. They may also be thought 0 as different masks which the Goddess wears, or as children of the Goddess, but they ari all constituted of the same fundamental nature, all shakti. Higher masks in turn havi lower masks which express their individual qualities. The Goddess or Shakti, in he totality as the fundamental creative principle of being, divides into a female (Shakti and male (Shiva) principle. Shakti considered in a narrower sense as the female cre ative principle further subdivides into deities that are sexually immature, sexually activ: and sexually dormant. The class of sexually active deities who represent the loving fac of Shakti further subdivides into those devoted to sex for the creation of children, ani those concerned with sex for pleasure or power. The class of deities concerned with se: for pleasure or power subdivides into the two broad categories of feminine and mascu line. Ivis into this last division that Lilith and Samael fall. Other divisions exist, but i is the thread outlined that leads from Shakti and Shiva to Lilith and Samael. Ir is noc that Lilith and Samael are evil, but merely that they are deities whos natures are fundamentally erotic, and whose sexual energies are directed for persone gain or pleasure. This led them to be maligned as evil by Jewish religious teachers, anIntroduction <~ xxv to be saddled with all che wicked qualities of human nature, simply because there was an unconscious equation made between sexuality for pleasure and evil. Even in mod- ern times, this equation exists deep in the minds of many persons. Samael and Lilith are capable of wicked acts, but their basic nature does not require them to do evil, con- trary to the teachings of Jewish legend and conservative Jewish Kabbalists. Like magic itself, these shadowy deities can be used to achieve constructive personal goals. The fundamental oneness of Shakti and Shiva is the highest concept of Hindu Tantra doctrine. Similarly, the essential unity of Lilith and Samael is among the most subtle and elevated teachings of the traditional Kabbalah. Itis a difficult concept for many persons to attain, because we are accustomed to making an absolute distinction between one goddess and another, and between goddesses and gods. However, accept- ing the principle, the various sexual unions with spirits male or female in appearance, described in this book, may all be viewed as unions with Lilith, who is a higher mask of the sensual, erotic side of the fertile Goddess. Female practitioners who use this magic to unite with Samael or some other male spirit embodying shakti force should bear in mind that they are uniting with Lilith in one of her masculine forms. Even those practitioners who seek to unite directly with Shakti herself are only able to unite with a mask of the Guddess, since her essential nature is wou exaled Wo perceive or comprehend without the aid of a lower vessel to contain it. These animate vessels through which we enjoy sexual union with Lilith may be cither wholly spirit, or invoked spiritual entities who have temporarily entered the flesh of human beings, as occurs in the rituals of traditional Tantra. Hence, the sex described in this book is of two general classes: either sex between a single human being and a spiritual being who is a male or female aspect of Lilith; or sex between. two human beings, one or both of whom has invoked a spirit into the body. By far the greater part of this book is devoted to sex between a single human being and a discar- nate spirit, and the products of that union, but sexual alchemy is not limited to this form of union. Anti-sexuality of Mainstream Religions Sexuality lies at the heart of all the ancient mystery traditions, but in past generations this fact was seldom openly admitted. Usually it is passed over in silence, or hinted at with poetic imagery. Sometimes details slipped out when one sect was maligned and defamed by another. It has not helped the dissemination of this knowledge that the four great religions of the world, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, are allxxvi <> Introduction puritanical in their attitude towards sex. It is no accident that they are also all patri- archal, composed of institutions of male priests who worship God ina male form. The hysterical condemnations of sex for pleasure in the traditional scriprures and commentaries of these religions, coupled with the sanctions against women, particu- larly in connection with their menstrual cycle, stem from an underlying fear by the male priests of the magical power of female sexuality. All of the prohibitions against sexual things are attempts to control the power that women inherently possess over men. The power of sex was looked upon as a threat to the authority which the priests of the major teligions exerted over the thoughts and behavior of their male members. Since women controlled sex for pleasure through prostitution and even within the confines of marriage, women were also vilified unless they adhered wholeheartedly to religious laws concerning sex. The extreme attitude towards sexuality exhibited by the early Church Fathers was a reaction away from the celebration of sex, both secular and religious, that they saw all around them in the larger and stronger pagan communities. Origen went so far as to cut off his own penis with a knife. The explanation he gave was that he wished to be able to preach the Gospels to women without the distraction of erotic thoughts. The apostle Paul wrote: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” In the Biblical book Revelation the elect of humanity with the name of God written on their fore- heads are said to be “they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.”4 The incredibly virulent diatribe against women and lovemaking that occupies verses 148-170 of the ancient Buddhist text known as the Precious Garland, written around the first century B.C. by the Indian pandet Nagarjuna, illustrates the intensely puritanical attitude in traditional Buddhism that opposed the dissemination of Tantra teachings on mystical sexuality. While it was probably not the sole view of women held by ancient Buddhists, this text exerted a profound and far-reaching influence on subsequent Buddhist attitudes. The body of a woman is presented by Nagarjuna not as a precious and beautiful expression of the Goddess, but as a rotting bag of filth: 156. Why should you lust desirously for this While recognizing it asa filthy form Produced by a seed whose essence is filth, A mixture of blood and semen?Introduction > xxi It should be pointed out that by the standards of these traditional Eastern priests, and indeed by the standards of Christian priests of past centuries, almost everyone reading this book would be condemned as degenerate and perverse based solely upon his or her sexual lifestyle. These ancient religious sex standards no longer apply to our modern culture. Their merit or lack of merit is a separate question, but it would be dif- ficult to deny that they have lost their relevance to the present generation, thanks to the emancipation of women, the revolution in sexual mores, anti-discrimination laws that protect gays and lesbians, laws of free speech that allow sexually explicit publica- tions, abortion rights, availability of conteaception, and a number of other social mile- stones that have taken place over the past half-dozen decades or so. Few persons today would attempt to live up to the sexual standards of the Middle Ages, and by the same token few enlightened individuals today would condemn many of the traditional prac- tices of prayoga as evil or degenerate. The term “left-hand” is a code phrase for Tantra rituals that include physical inter- coutse. In right-hand Tantra, the female assistant who is present to embody and rep- resent the shakti (energy) of the great Goddess sits on the right side of the practi- tioner, and intercourse is symbolic; in left-hand Tantra the living vessel of the goddess Shakti sits on the left hand of the practitioner, and actual physical sex occurs. AS indicated above, until very recently left-hand Tantra was flatly condemned by practi- tioners of the right-hand path as perverse and degenerate. By the same token, prayoga was condemned by practitioners of left-hand Tantra, who sought to use erotic physi- cal union with human vessels of the Goddess only as a means of spiritual evolution. Left-hand Tantrists regarded the employment of their methods for the attainment of magic power, or the enjoyment of sensual pleasure, as an insult vo Shakti, and asa stumbling block on the path to samadhi (enlightenment). Magic has always been con- cerned mainly with the attainment of personal power, whether this power is used for spiritual growth or merely for social gain. This secular purpose of magic is one of the primary reasons it was universally condemned by traditional religious teachings of both East and West. It is important to understand that when a person (traditionally most often a woman) was used in the rituals of Tantra to embody the energy and to act as a focus for the Goddess-power of Shakti, sexual union, whether physical or symbolic, actually occurred between the male practitioner and the deity. The woman herself was regarded merely as an instrument by Hindu adepts. Prostitutes trained in Tantra were favored because of their knowledge of sex and their freedom from false modesty. Adepts also employed their wives in this role, but the we of a prostitute had thexxii <> Introduction advantage of creating an emotional detachment between the adept and the woman chosen as the living vessel of Shakti. Since the partner who embodies the power of Shakti is only a vessel for that occult energy, it is possible to achieve union with the deity directly in her spirizual, noncorporeal form. This is somewhat more difficult, but when achieved is ultimately more useful and liberating. The practitioner can never be denied union with the Goddess when he or she is able to unite sexually with Shakti in her disembodied male or female forms. Though the human physical vessel of Shakti aids male Tantrists in first establishing communication with the deity, a living partner can become a crutch that prolongs an unnecessary dependence upon physical flesh. Similarly, a female Tantrist does not really need a man to embody Shiva, but can unite directly with the god in his spiritual form. Loving the Goddess In order to grasp the relationship between Shakti, Shiva, Lilith, and Samael, which plays so important a part in this book, it is necessary to clearly understand the nature of the Gaddess, wha ie the emhadiment af the underlying creative energy of the uni- verse. The spirits who come in male and female shapes to serve as loving partners in this magic are all aspects of the single creative Goddess whose limitless power per- vades all things. She travels under many names in diverse cultures, and wears many faces around the world. She is the virgin bride of the spirit and the heavenly mother of gods and humans, yet at the same time the eternal mistress of sensual pleasure and queen of all sorceries. Her names are too numerous to reckon. Egyptians knew her as Isis, the Sumerians as Ishtar, the Greeks as Cybele, the Romans as Rhea, the Gnostics as Barbelo, the Christians as Mary, the Jews as the Matronit. The test all-encompassing name for the Goddess is that used by the Hindus, who call her Shakti, a word that simply means power. The Goddess is energy in all its expressions, but she is especially evident in the creative life-force that is most con- centrated and active during sexual arousal and lovemaking. When this life-force is employed to engender new life, itis ruled by the divine-mother aspect of the God- dess; but when it is used for other purposes both exalted and base, it is ruled by the pleasure-seeking aspect of the Goddess, who in ancient times was often described as a harlot, because the ancients associated prostitution with sex purely for pleasure. There are actually three phases of the Goddess, which | will call the Virgin, the Matron, and the Crone. The Virgin has not yet attained her sexual maturity. TheIntroduction > xxiii Matron is able to bear children. The Crone has exceeded her child-bearing years. The three are distinguished by the stages of childhood, maturity and old age, and in a magical sense by the process of menstruation. The Virgin has yet to menstruate, the Matron is actively menstruating and thus fertile, and the Crone has passed through menopause. We are concerned in this book with the sexually active middle stage of the Goddess, which has two sides, the Mother and the Lover. Sexual alchemy deals with the sensual, pleasure-seeking Lover aspect of this fertile phase of the Goddess, since it teaches the use of active sexual energy for purposes other than the physical conception of human offspring. The three major religions of West- em culture—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—have in the past for the most part looked upon this use of sexual energy for enjoyment or for practical magic as an abuse, and often characterize this aspect of Shakti in a negative way. To a lesser extent this is also true of mainstream Eastern faiths such as Buddhism. Most entrenched religions seek to limit sexual expression and focus it on the engendering of children within a social contract accepted by the religion—usually monogamous marriage. The use of sexual energy for spiritual growth, though sometimes tolerated in a limited and con- trolled context, was popularly regarded as abnormal and suspicious behavior. In Jewish folklore this scusual side of Shakti has beer reduced tu die level of the night demoness Lilith, a spirit who may be traced back to a type of ancient Sumerian demon. In popular legend Lilith was fabled to be a female spirit who could reveal her- self as a beautiful young woman ora withered crone at her pleasure, who visited sleep- ing men and gave them erotic dreams, and very interestingly, who had the power of life or death over newborn infants. She is represented in the Talmud as a winged demoness with a woman’s face who sexually arouses men to steal their semen so that she can use it to engender demons. In the Midrash she is portrayed as the first woman created by God, who defied the authority of Adam by wishing to lie on top when they made love. The Jewish Kabbalists, with their deep understanding of both practical magic “and mystical philosophy, elevated Lilith to the infernal throne and made her Queen of Hell. In modern times, an effort is being made to rescue Lilith from her demonic ghetto and exalt her as the goddess of sexual liberation. Lilith represents for her modern wor- shippers the freedom to experience and enjoy sexuality for its own sake, or for any rea- son that has nothing to do with the conception of corporeal children. This includes the use of sexual energy for works of practical magic or spiritual enlightenment, or to enhance psychic or physical abilities. In this sense, the sensual aspect of Shakti may be referred to as Lilith, and the spirits who ‘serve as her sexual agents as the Sons andxxiv <~ Introduction Daughters of Lilith, According to the Kabbalah, the consort of Lilith is Samael, a male spirit viewed by most traditional Jewish Kabbalists as roughly equivalent to the Christ- ian Satan. Another less common but subtle Kabbalistic doctrine states that Samael is Lilith herself in her masculine aspect. Thus the male manifestation of Shakti in her role of erotic lover may be called Samael. The Lilith who represents the sexual liberation of modern women is not the same spirit as the Lilith reviled in Jewish folklore as the murderess of infants, even though they bear the same name. One is an enlightened gaddess, the other an evil night hag. ‘The identity of a spirit is determined by the qualities and actions attributed to it, not solely by its name. Over time, the qualities of a spiritual being can change so drasti- cally that it becomes, in effect, a separate entity. This has occurred countless times throughout history. An example isthe Syrian goddess of love and fertility, Ashtoreth, who in Christian demon lore became the mighty duke of hell, Astaroth. The Syrian goddess was not transformed into Astaroth—she continued to exist while the Chris- tian demonologists created their demon with the collective power of their imagina- tions. Ashtoreth the goddess of love and Astaroth the demon are distinct beings who exist simultaneously. Je iy iimportant wv avoid confusion on this matter. There is only one ercative Goddess, but that Goddess has countless names and forms of expression both male and female. ‘These are like small streams that flow out of a larger river, each with its own unique shape or identity, yet all composed of the same river water. They may also be thought of as different masks which the Goddess wears, or as children of the Goddess, but they are all constituted of the same fundamental nature, all shakti. Higher masks in turn have lower masks which express their individual qualities. The Goddess or Shakti, in her totality as the fundamental creative principle of being, divides into a female (Shakti) and male (Shiva) principle. Shakti considered in a nartower sense as the female cre- ative principle further subdivides into deities that are sexually immature, sexully active and sexually dormant. The class of sexually active deities who represent the loving face of Shakti further subdivides into those devoted to sex for the creation of children, and those concerned with sex for pleasure or power. The class of deities concerned with sex for pleasure or power subdivides into the two broad categories of feminine and mascu- line. It is into this last division that Lilith and Samael fall. Other divisions exist, but it is the thread outlined that leads from Shakti and Shiva to Lilith and Samael. It is not that Lilith and Samael are evil, but merely that they are deities whose natures are fundamentally erotic, and whose sexual energies are directed for personal gain or pleasure. This led them to be maligned as evil by Jewish religious teachers, andIntroduction <~ xxv to be saddled with all the wicked qualities of human nature, simply because there was ani unconscious equation made between sexuality for pleasure and evil. Even in mod- ern times, this equation exists deep in the minds of many persons. Samael and Lilith are capable of wicked acts, but their basic nature does not require them to do evil, con- trary to the teachings of Jewish legend and conservative Jewish Kabbalists. Like magic itself, these shadowy deities can be used to achieve constructive personal goals. ‘The fundamental oneness of Shakti and Shiva is the highest concept of Hindu ‘Tantra doctrine. Similarly, the essential unity of Lilith and Samael is among the most subtle and elevated teachings of the traditional Kabbalah. It is a difficult concept for many persons to attain, because we are accustomed to making an absolute distinction between one goddess and another, and between goddesses and gods. However, accept- ing the principle, the various sexual unions with spirits male or female in appearance, described in this book, may all be viewed as unions with Lilith, who is a higher mask of the sensual, erotic side of the fertile Goddess. Female practitioners who use this magic to unite with Samael or some other male spirit embodying shakti force should bear in mind that they are uniting with Lilith in one of her masculine forms. Even those practitioners who seek to unite directly with Shakti herself are only able to unice with a mask of the Goddess, since het essential tatue is too exalted w perceive or comprehend without the aid of a lower vessel to contain it. These animate vessels through which we enjoy sexual union with Lilith may be either wholly spirit, or invoked spiritual entities who have temporarily entered the flesh of human beings, as occurs in the rituals of traditional Tantra. Hence, the sex described in this book is of two general classes: either sex between a single human being and a spiritual being who is a male or female aspect of Lilith; or sex between two human beings, one or both of whom has inveked a spirit into the body. By far the greater part of this book is devoted to sex between a single human being and a discar- nate spirit, and the products of that union, but sexual alchemy is not limited to this form of union. Anti-sexuality of Mainstream Religions ‘Sexuality lies at the heart of all the ancient mystery traditions, but in past generations this fact was seldom openly admitted. Usually it is passed over in silence, or hinted at with poetic imagery. Sometimes details slipped out when one sect was maligned and defamed by another. Irhas not helped the dissemination of this knowledge that the four great religions of the world, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, are allxxvi <> Introduction puritanical in their attitude towards sex. It is no accident that they are also all patri- archal, composed of institutions of male priests who worship God in a male form. The hysterical condemnations of sex for pleasure in the traditional scriptures and commentaries of these religions, coupled with the sanctions against women, particu- larly in connection with their menstrual cycle, stem from an underlying fear by the male priests of the magical power of female sexuality. All of the prohibitions against sexual things are attempts to control the power that women inherently possess over men. The power of sex was looked upon as a threat to the authority which the priests of the major religions exerted over the thoughts and behavior of their male members. Since women controlled sex for pleasure through prostitution and even within the confines of marriage, women were also vilified unless they adhered wholeheartedly to religious laws concerning sex. ‘The extreme attitude towards sexuality exhibited by the early Church Fathers was a reaction away from the celebration of sex, both secular and religious, thar they saw all around them in the larger and stronger pagan communities. Origen went so far as to cut off his own penis with a knife. The explanation he gave was that he wished to be able to preach the Gospels to women without the distraction of erotic thoughts. ‘The apostle Paul wrote: “Ir is good for a uae not w toucl a woman,” In the Biblical book Revelation the elect of humanity with the name of God written on their fote- heads are said to be “they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.”* The incredibly virulent diatribe against women and lovemaking that occupies verses 148-170 of the ancient Buddhist text known as the Precious Garland, written around the first century B.C. by the Indian pandet Nagarjuna, illustrates the intensely puritanical attitude in traditional Buddhism that opposed the dissemination of Tantra teachings on mystical sexuality. While it was probably not the sole view of women held by ancient Buddhists, this text exerted a profound and far-reaching influence on subsequent Buddhist attitudes. The body of a woman is presented by Nagarjuna not as a precious and beautiful expression of the Goddess, but as a rotting bag of filth: 156. Why should you lust desirously for this While recognizing it as a filthy form Produced by a seed whose essence is filth, A mixture of blood and semen?Introduction <> xxvii 157. He who lies on the filthy mass Covered by skin moistened with Those fluids, merely lies On top of a woman's bladders From the wording of the two verses quoted from this diatribe, it may be that Nagar- juna intended to caution Buddhist monks specifically against the left-hand path of sex- ual ecstasy, The combined mention of blood (undoubtedly menstrual blood) and semen is significant. No one knows where the Eastern tradition of Tantra began, but some form of sex magic must have been in existence in India at the time of the Bud- dha. Nagarjuna would have been aware of its allure to young monks. The power of menstrual blood in magic is that, symbolically, it slays life. While the menses flow forth from the body, no new life may be engendered in the womb. When the menses stop flowing in their regular lunar cycle, it is a sign of pregnancy. There- fore, religious texts dictate that a man may not make love to a woman during her period of menstruation because his seed will fall upon her blood and perish. The power-of menstrual Hood to. cause-death ly:greater- than. the power ofecmen-to-cawe life. Pregnancy controls women and transforms them into docile instruments in the service of God. Freedom from pregnancy allows women to use the innate power of sex, which they control, to dominate men. This perception underlies all the ancient taboos against menstrual blood and menstruating women. In Islam women have always been forbidden to uncover their charms to any but intimate family members. It is written in the Koran: And speak unto the believing women, that they restrain their eyes, and preserve their modesty, and discover not their ornaments, except what necessarily appeareth thereof: and let them throw their veils over their bosoms, and not show their ornaments, unless to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband’s fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers, or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their women, or the captives which their right hand shall possess, or unto such men as attend them, and have no need of women, or unto children, who distin- guish nor the nakedness of women.xxx > Introduction is the end of the matter. The union és freely entered into by both parties, and cither parry is equally free to end the union at any time. Lovemaking is enjoyed under the gaze of the Goddess, and with her complete approval. Only if the Goddess participaces in the union will the products of sexual alchemy become charged with occult virtue, and act as catalytic substances to increase physical and psychic abilities. There is no way to force the participation of the Gaddess—it must be invited with love. A prejudice still exists among the more conservative practitioners of Western magic about the morality of sexual relations with spiritual beings, To a large extent, this view is a carryover from the Victorian era, when any kind of sex was looked upon with suspicion. Most of the magic practiced in the modern world, at least among Eng- lish-speaking nations, has descended from the system of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, an English Rosicrucian society dedicated to the teaching of Hermetic philosophy and ceremonial magic. Although the original Golden Dawn became moribund around the beginning of the First World War, its members continued tc teach the Golden Dawn system of magic in various forms for decades. In this way, i) spread far and wide, and in its dissemination many of its Victorian attitudes were car ried along with it. ‘We know thar sexual union with spirits was at least discussed in the higher rank o the Golden Dawn thanks to an 1895 correspondence between Moina Mathers, th: wife of the leader of the Order, and her friend Annie Horniman, who supplied Math ers with money to support his occult activities and helped run the Order in London Homiman wrote to Mrs. Mathers asking her about the propriety and advisability o sex with elementals. Apparently the question of sex and procreation between humat beings and spirits was an ongoing matter of discussion within the Golden Dawn, anv was known generally as the Elemental Theory. Moina Mathers’ reply illustrates ver well her own attitude toward sex in general, and sex with spirits in particular: Knowing as yet only something of the composition of the human being (as a Theor. Adept), you are really nor in a position to give an opinion on these subjects; so that if one of these uncomfortable cases that have been discussed as to elemental or human sexual connection (which I think with all other sexual connections are beastly) came up you would have to refer the question to a member of a much higher grade than Theor. Adept. Any much higher grade (one who understands the subject a little better) would be willing to take the responsibility. In your illogical letter you say that Elementals forming part of yout composition has not a bearing on the subject—if Elementals form a considerable part of you, they are not soIntroduction <> xxxi incongruous to the human as you imply, and this theory bears strongly on the subject for their connection between a human and elemental is not so far removed from the usual one, When I first heard of this theory it gave me a'shock, but not such a hor- rible one as that which I had when I was young, about the human connec- tion. Child or no, a natural thing should not upset one so. I remember that my horror of human beings for a while was so great that | could not look at my own mother without violent dislike—and loathing. I have always chosen as well as ‘SRMD! [Mathers, her husband] to have nothing whatever to do with any sexual connection—we have both kept perfectly clean | know, as regards the human, the elemental, and any other thing whatever. I have tried, and I think succeeded, never to allow myself to think of any subject in that direction, and I think having been pretty well tested, personally as well as from one’s own position in G.D., we are competent to give an opinion. To return to the Elementals, the story of Melusina, Undine, and others you will know of all refer to marriages between human and elemental and you think them probably very charming stories, because they have a halo of poerry round them. As ro exaggeration in you, you dis- tinctly have a fad as regards sexual subjects, and you know it is a dangerous one to have.!° During the Victorian age, Moina Mathers’ complete abstinence from sex of any kind, even within the bounds of her marriage, would have been considered an admirable achievement, but today we would be much more inclined to look upon Annie Horni- man’s interest in sexual matters as normal and healthy, Two things are obvious from this letter. Sexual unions with spirits were known in the Golden Dawn, and very probably practiced by some members; and the leaders of the Order were complete prudes on the subject of sex. This puritanical viewpoint finds its way subtly into Golden Dawn docu- ments, most of which were written by Mathers, and many of these documents are still studied and used today. But the puritanical view is completely alien to the modern atti- tude that sex is not only natural and healthy, but to be enjoyed. To be sure, not every member of the original Golden Dawn was puritanical about sex. Aleister Crowley, who went on to found his own occult order, and later became the head of the Ordo Templi Orientis, had no sexual inhibitions. Buc most of the members agreed with the prevalent Victorian ideal, at least in principle, and reflected this belief in their writings and teachings. For example, Dion Fortune, the founder ofsoaii Introduction the Society of the Inner Light, was a member of the Golden Dawn when it wa headed by Moina Mathers after her husband's death. In one of her many books abou ritual occultism, Fortune wrote: “There are also certain techniques of sex and bloa magic which, though they may be harmless enough among primitive peoples, are cer tainly out of place among civilized ones, and ate only resorted to for the sake of debased sensationalism.”!! We can clearly detect in this statement Victorian preju dices ogainsr race as well as sex. A. E. Waite, another prominent member of th Golden Dawn who headed an offshoot of the Order, and who wrote many books o1 ‘occultism, held similar views in public, although he kept a mistress in private. The same prudery and hypocrisy is found in the teachings of Theosophists of th: Victorian era. Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical movement whi endured two brief, failed marriages, wrote: “Worse than this; for, whoever indulge after having pledged himself to occultism, in the gratification of a terrestrial love o lust, must feel an almost immediate result; that of being irresistibly dragged from th impersonal divine stace down to the lower plane of matter. Sensual, or even menta self-gtatification, involves the immediate loss of the powers of spiritual discernment the voice of the Master can no longer be distinguished from that of one’s passions 0 even that of a Dugpa; the right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuiatry.”! Dugpa was Blavatsky’s favorite term for a black magician who followed the left-han: path of sex magic. Asa consequence of the Victorian era aversion to sex in any form, texts on practi cal magic written by original Golden Dawn members and Theosophists flatly con demn sex with spirits, and this view is sometimes carried forward by the subsequen generation of writers, who have based their opinions and practices on the beliefs ¢ their teachers. The promulgation through the popular literature of Westem occultisr of this view that sex and magic do not mix, that sex inevitably leads to black magic exerts its influence even today on the minds of those approaching the study of magi for the first time. The vague sense that it is somehow dangerous has replaced th belief that it is immoral. Is Spirit Communication Dangerous? The alleged dangers of spirit contact are not confined to sexual unions with spirit: but are often supposed to befall anyone who enters into a close communion with spiritual being without adopting the accepted ritual safeguards. Precisely what thos dangers entail is not always made clear, but obsession and madness are usually cited aIntroduction > xxxiii the most likely pitfalls. Concerning intimate contact with elemental spirits, Dion Fortune wrote: And there is also an involuntary relationship, very often, between those people who are naturally psychic without training and quite spontaneously come into touch with other beings. The effect of this is seldom whole- some. It has the effect of unbalancing them. It is a too intensely stimulat- ing contact. Elementals are of a pure type, composed of one Element only, whichever that may be, whereas a human being is a mixture of all. So chey are too potent a stimulus to that one Element in our own being, which is very apt to throw a human being off his balance, lure him to follow it and abandon his human ways. He is ‘taken by the fairies,’ or what we should call a pathology. You can see the thought control withdrawing from the physical vehicle. They hear the call of the fairies, and only an empty shell remains, insane.13 During the nineteenth century thousands of psychically gifted individuals began to receive spirit communications and became trance mediums as spiritualism grew from. an oddity in the Fox family to a social phenomenon that swept across Europe and America. They hosted countless séances, voluntarily allowed themselves to be pos- sessed by spirits of all sorts, and produced apports and physical manifestations such as, ectoplasmic forms. Although many were undoubtedly frauds, many others were gen- uine. From Fortune’s ominous warning we might expect to learn that the majority of them became insane or committed suicide, but this is not the case. I have seen no evidence whatsoever that suggests that the incidence of insanity was any higher in spirit mediums than in the general population. The same might be observed about spirit channelers in the late twentieth century. There is no indication that they became mad or catatonic ata rate higher than that of the social norm. Contact with spirits, whether elementals or other types, is not in itself a danger. The key distinction is that trance mediums and channelers not only accept spirit communication voluntarily, they actively seek it out for their own purposes, Fortune was writing about involuntary relationships, and here there exists evidence of danger of a psychological nature in those rare instances when a hurtful spirit tries to intrude itself into the mind of a person with a natural susceptibility. When a malicious or demonic spirit attempts to forcibly possess the body of a mediumistic person who has no knowledge of ritual safeguards, against the will of that person, the spirit can gen- erate intense fear that is centered around a loss of self-control. It can even, in thesxxiy <> Introduction most extreme cases, displace human consciousness and assume voluntary control of the body. This is a very uncommon occurrence, and it is doubtful if the avoidance of occult matters decreases its frequency. Despite all the apocryphal tales of unwitting souls becoming possessed after using the Ouija board, there is no solid evidence that demonic possession is any more common among students of magic or spiritualism than among the general population. Why trance mediums, channelers, and ritual magicians who seek out voluntary union with spirits are not possessed more frequently by malicious spirits is a matter that can only be conjectured. Perhaps the very process of inviting benevolent spirits to come near and communicate makes it more difficult for malevolent spirits to force their way into perception and seize control of the body. Perhaps by virtue of having been attracted with harmonious thoughts and congenial symbols, friendly spirits are given a priority of place, and are able to displace and exclude unftiendly spirits that have not been invited or encouraged to approach. If so, the regular invitation of good spirits actually serves to protect a medium against the intrusions of evil spirits. In my opinion, the threat of mental illness or possession is virtually nil when engaged in sexual alchemy, statistically no higher than when playing tennis. This view iy based on over a decade of almost daily contact with spiritual beings, and an exhaustive study of the literature concerning possession, spiritualism, ritual invoca- tion, and evocation. The nature of sexual alchemy itself precludes the involuntary intrusion of malicious spirits. When seeking a spirit as a lover, first the spirit is selected or defined, and then ir is actively and consciously called. It is summoned by means of names, symbols and objects in harmony with its specific nature, always with an attitude of love and respect. All of these factors serve to exclude the appearance of a malicious, unwanted spirit. ‘As additional safeguards, in the early stages of practice the spirit lover is always invoked into a physical vessel that serves as its manifest body, where it can be easily contained should this prove necessary, and invocation occurs within the bounds of a magic circle in the context of a specific ritual. As a result, the spirit finds it difficult to extend itself beyond the vessel that acts as its material body, or beyond the physical limits of the circle and the temporal limits of the ritual, unless specifically invited to do so by the practitioner. Once the personality of the spirit becomes better known, these barriers can be relaxed, but itis wise as a general policy to maintain them in the first few weeks of communion with a spirit. The use of two basic magical defenses, the hardening of the aura and the ritual of banishing by pentagram, are incorporated into the ritual method of sexual alchemy to add another layer of security.Introduction <~ xxxv Why Bother with Spirit Sex? Loving relationships with spiritual beings can be the most joyous, pleasurable and rewarding experience in life. There is nothing inherently dangerous, or perverse, or evil, about sex with a spirit, Just the opposite. A study of historical accounts and ancient legends, as well as years of personal interaction with spirits, have led me to conclude that loving and erotic unions with angels and lesser beings such as elemen- tals are a precious gift that should be cherished with the highest feelings of respect and gratitude by those who are fortunate enough to enjoy them. The crucial feature of these relationships is love. Spirits who seek sexual union with human beings solely for the emotions and physical sensations sex generates tend to be lower or infernal beings, but spirits who establish long-term personal relationships with humans that are centered around love, caring, and mutual respect are of a higher and more com- plex nature. These spirits are also more powerful magically, which makes their good wishes and desire to help their human lovers of greater significant in a practical sense. Love is all important. It is the existence of love in the heart when seeking a rela- tionship with a spirit that insures that the spirit who responds will be of a type capa- ble of compassion and friendship as well as amorous feelings of desire. The rontinning love between a spirit and a human being will sustain the union over months or even years despite all vicissitudes of fortune and changes of circumstance. Love causes the spirit in such a relationship to use its esoteric abilities in whatever ways are possible to insure the happiness and prosperity of its lover—the spirit truly becomes the guardian of its lover. Finally, and most important of all, love invokes the Goddess herself and allows union with the spirit to be simultaneously union with Shakti. The loving radi- ance of Shakti filling the vessel of the spirit insures that it is not simply an empty shell or husk, and transforms the sexual fluids of the human body emitted during spirit love into alchemical substances of great potency that can be used to achieve personal health and spiritual evolution. There is no higher form of love, because love of Shakti is love of the Creator.{1} Spirit Sex in Magic and Religion The Ayami and the Syvén he concept of inducing sexual intercourse with spirits appears to ultimately descend from the subjective experiences of shamanism, That sex with spirits is a genuine physiological phenomenon and not a contrived fantasy is indicated by its appearance throughout the world and at all periods in human history. More often, coition occurs spontaneously, so far as the human is conceed—it is not necessary for a human being to seek intercourse with a god, an angel, or a demon for such inter- course to happen. However, once sexual union was understood to be possible between humans and spirits, it began to be deliberately cultivated by human beings for its sen- sual pleasures and for the supposed benefits it conferred. In the shamanic tradition of Siberia, there are two classes of spirits that have sex with shamans, those who teach and those who serve. Among the Goldi people these spirits were known as the ayami and the syvén. The ayami is the tutelary familiar who appears to the shaman at the beginning of his training and remains with him throughout his life. Often the coming of the ayami is the event that determines a shamanic vocation. It is not necessary for the shaman to seek out his ayami—she 34 > Part One: Theory comes to him. Where the tradition of shamanism is well established, the young shaman is not surprised by her coming, and on the contrary expects and anticipates it A Twenty-eight Inch Lover One Goldi shaman described his ayami asa very beautifil! woman with black hai that hung down to her shoulders, who was dressed in the ordinary female attire of thi tribe. The features of this spirit were normal, although sometimes the ayami reveal herself with a face that is white on one side and red on the other. Perfectly formed it every way, she was only twenty-eight inches tall. The spirit told the shaman that shi was the ayami of his ancestors who had taught them all their healing and magic, ans now she was come to teach him and make him into a shaman. She said to him: love you, I have no husband now, you will be my husband and I shall be a wife tunto you. [ shall give you assistant spirits. You are to heal with their aid, and 1 shall teach and help you myself. Food will come to us from the people. .. . If you will not obey me, so much the worse for you. I shall kill you.! After making the shaman an offer he could not retuse, she remained faithful ¢ him throughout his life. The shaman related that he slept with his ayami “as with m own wife.” His ayami lived by herself in a hut on a mountain, but often changed he residence, along with her physical form. Sometimes she appeared to the shaman as a old woman, sometimes as a wolf terrible to look upon, and sometimes as a winge tiger. In this last form she carried his soul mounted upon her back to distant lands. ‘The ayami gave the shaman three lesser spirit aids who appeared in the forms of panther, a bear, and a tiger. These came to the shaman in dreams and appeare instantly when he summoned them. If they were slow to approach or obey his instruc tions, his ayami would appear and command them. These lesser spirits are among th class of helping spirits (syvén) referred wo above. Both che ayami and the syvé entered the body of the shaman in the form of “smoke or vapour” to possess him, i order to gift him with oracular speech. During possession the spirits partook of ritu: food offerings (sukdu) and drank pig’s blood, the drinking of which was forbidden + all except shamans, without the awareness of the shaman. The Celestial Wife ‘The ayami was known in Siberian shamanism generally as the celestial wife. The: were also male spirits who had sexual relations with female shamans. PresumabSpirit Sex in Magic and Religion <5 these would fulfill rhe role of celestial husband. One shamaness was observed to become sexually aroused during her rite of initiation? Sexual arousal was not an inevitable and invariable part of the initiatory rite of Siberian shamanism, but it was acommon component. Among the Buryar, shamanism began when the soul of a male candidate was car- ried into the sky by the spirit of an ancestor. The shaman was taken to the Center of the World, where he had sexual union with the nine daughters of Solboni, the god of the dawn. These nine goddesses were only worshipped by shamans, who made offer- ings to them. After his instruction, the soul of the shaman met his future celestial wife among the heavens and made love to her. Among the Teleut people, every shaman has 2 celestial wife who dwells in the sev- enth heaven. When his soul first ascends, she meets him and asks him to stay with her. She prepares a heavenly banquet for her future husband and woos him with love songs, telling him that he cannot go on because the “toad to the sky has been blocked.” The shaman refuses to eat the food of the banquet, and declares his deter- mination to press forward, saying, “We shall go up the tapti and give praise to the full moon.” The tapa is the spiral groove that winds up the shamanic tree, which repre- sents the axis of the world. The sexual imagery is obvious. When urine is emitted from the penis, the stream will often twist itself into a spiral form, which would suggest to an observer lacking a knowledge of anatomy that the urethra itself is spiral. Sperm is symbolically linked to the Moon by its pearly opalescent whiteness. Climbing the tapti is equivalent to ejac- ulation. The reason the shaman refuses to eat from the banquet table is the belief, which also exists in European fairy lore, that to eat the food of the spirits is to be lost in their world forever. This myth has a particular significance for me personally. While engaged in my year of intense training, mentioned in the introduction, I once dreamed that | climbed a tall, naked stump in a clearing in the forest and stood balanced precariously in nervous exaltation on its tip. The stump was so ancient and weathered, its bark had long ago fallen away, and the spiral grain ofits wood had worn into deep grooves that gave hand and foot holds in its side, allowing it to be climbed. In the dream my body was naked and hairy, so primitive that it was almost apelike. This dream was clearly shamanic, but | experienced it years before I had ever heard of the climbing of the shamanic tree, or the tapti. ‘Among the Yakut people there is a myth thet young celestial spirits, who are the children of the Sun and Moon, descend to the earth to marry mortal women. This myth echoes the Hebrew fable recorded in the Book of Enoch of the descent to earth of the6 <> Part One: Theory rebellious angels, or Watchers, for the purpose of enjoying the sexual favors of the daughters of men. Even as the fallen angels teach forbidden wisdom in return for sexual pleasure with mortal women, so do the ayami of the shamans instruct their husbands (or wives) in secret techniques of magic and healing in retum for their love. It is worth noting that sex is said to be had not with the “masters and mistresses” of heaven and the underworld by the shaman, but with the “sons and daughters” of these supreme gods.* The bond between a shaman and his ayami was a genuine love bond, not merely a union of convenience. The ayami often became jealous if her husband showed inter- est in mortal women. However, this seems not to have been a common problem. Mortal sex could not begin to compare with spirit sex. The shamans of the Teleut declare to their celestial brides: “My wife on earth is not fit to pour water on thy hands.” The Yakut say that after a young man has been visited by a spirit lover, he no Jonger approaches girls and may remain a bachelor for life. A married man who has the same experience may become impotent toward his wife. The Currency of Spirit Sex ‘These visitatians hy amorous spirits were not confined to shamans, but might happen to any man or woman. In the common occurrence of spirit sex, the intention on the part of the spirit was personal. They were interested in sex or affection, In the case o| the spirit guide or ayami the bond was recognized from the outset as binding for life and dedicated to a higher purpose—the teaching of secret shamanic knowledge about healing and magic, the conveyance of obedient lesser spirits (syvén) to serve the shaman in his vocation, and the awakening of occult powers within the soul of the shaman. The shaman and his ayami were business partners as well as sexual partners. The currency exchanged within this partnership was sexual potency—in Tantri« terms, shakti. As I mentioned in the introduction, Shakti, the name of the grea’ Mother Goddess, literally means “power.” It is convenient to apply the terms of Tantr: in a more universal way, since it is in Tantra texts that the relationship betweer humans, sexual energy and spirits is most clearly expressed. Spirits are capable of arous ing human sexuality. They are able to do this with or without the consent of thi human being involved. The reason spirits arouse humans is that they derive some immediate, fundamental benefit from the sexual currents stirred up inside the humar body. This is usually described as pleasure, and undoubtedly spirits experience pleasur: in sex with human beings, but | believe their motivation is even more fundamental.Spirit Sex in Magic and Religion 7 The basis of human sexual energy (kundalini shakti) acts as a kind of nourishment for spiritual beings and allows spirits to fix and maintain their forms and personal identities. In the same way that the act of sex between a man and a woman fixes the identity of the engendered child, at least potentially, so does the act of sex between @ human and a spirit have the potential use of fixing or manifesting a specific, enduring shape and personality on the astral level. This creative energy may be used by the spirit lover to solidify its own form and sense of self; or it may engender a completely new spirit that is the child of the human and spirit couple. Dion Fortune mentioned this phenomenon in her book Applied Magic, though she does not explicitly mention a sexual connection: “They [elemental spirits] seek as ini- tiators these who have got a spiritual nature; the initiated man is the initiator of the Elemental being: Humans take them as pupils and help them develop their ‘sparks’ of individual consciousness, In return for this service the Elemental beings perform ser- vices for the magician. We read of these as familiar spirits."5 Magical Powers The benefits of opitic love need nor all be on the side of the spirit. Sexual power, pro voked and sustained by the spirit, can be used by the human lover to awaken what are called in yoga siddhis (magical powers). Patanjali, author of the Yoga Sutras (third century B.C.), wrote that these are cight in number: 1) anima—the ability to become tiny; 2) mahima—the ability to become enormous; 3) laghima—the ability to grow lighter than air; 4) garima—the ability to become very heavy; 5) prapti—the ability to obtain any desired possession; 6) prakamya—the ability to obtain any desired purpose; 7) ishatwam—the ability to control any person or thing; 8) vashirwa—the ability to control any situation. Many other occult abilities mentioned in traditional texts might be added to the ashata siddhis of Patanjali, such as the ability to read the minds of others, the ability to project the astral body, the ability to scry unknown matters, the ability to ignite fires psychically, the ability to see and hear spirits, the ability to seem invisible, the ability to travel with extraordinary swiftness from place to place, the ability to generate internal body heat, and so on. These powers were looked upon by orthodox Hindus as black magic, and all were regarded as distractions in the search for samadhi, the Hindu version of the Buddhist enlightenment.8 <> Part One: Theory Famous Spirit Marriages of Ancient Times In return for the pleasure and benefits of sex with a human being, a spirit was willing to teach his or her human lover occult secrets and difficult arts and sciences, to prog nosticate fucure events, to warn cf impending dangers, and to provide protection ir times of need. In the classical age these unions sometimes assumed the status of lega marriages. One of the most famous of these was the marriage between King Numa o Rome and the water nymph Egeria, who was one of the Carmenae, a class o prophetic spirits worshipped in very early times at Rome, They were linked by ch Roman writer Varro with hydromancy, or water divination. Legend says that King Numa was in the habit of going alone at night to a smal clump of trees that concealed a grotto or cave from which issued a spring. It wa located near the Porta Capena in the southern wall of the old city of Rome. Here h met his celestial wife Egeria, and enjoyed lovemaking with her. She instructed him it the sacred laws that he later instituted over his people. The sacred mysteries that Ege tia revealed to him, he recorded in a set of books, which after his death were burne by order of the Senate. Numa’s long reign (716-673 B.C.) was renowned for its peac and prosperity, and was the happiest period in the entire history af Rome. One of the greatest love stories in the literature of ancient Rome involved th union of the mortal woman Psyche and the god Cupid, son of Venus, to whom sh was betrothed by an oracle of Apollo. Cupid came to her unseen in the darknes although she was able to hear his voice and feel “his eyes, his hands, and his ears.” H gave her his love, a palace, great wealth, and spirit servants to meet all her needs, 0 the single condition that she never try to see him: Then came her unknowne husband and lay with her: and after that hee had made a perfect consummation of the marriage, he rose in the morning before day, and departed. Soone after came her invisible servants, and presented to her such things as were necessary for her defloration.* ‘Of course Psyche broke her promise and looked upon the naked body of Cupi while the god lay asleep. At once he flew away, and she was only reunited with hi) after a series of long and bitter ordeals. A condition or vow that must be honored t the human parmer, with a penalty of immediate divorce for its violation, is a ve common feature of marriages between spirits and human beings in myth and folklor Marriages between spirits and humans are found throughout the folklore of Europ The fairies were renown for their lust and love of mortal men and women. FairSpirit Sex in Magic and Religion > 9 were understood to be a race of immortal, invisible beings who lived in the same hills and valleys as mortals, but in a universe that is slightly out of phase with our own. At special times such as twilight and on certain nights of the year such as June 21, the midsummer’s night of Shakespeare, the barrier between the fairy world and the mor- tal world becomes thin. Then fairies and mortals easily meet and fall in love. Some- times mortals simply encounter fairies by chance during the day when they pass by sacred hills, groves, or springs. Don Diego Lopez, Lord of Biscay, met a fairy on a hill in the forest while out hunt- ing wild boar. He was so enamored of her beauty, he married her, in spite of the fact that one of her feet was in the form of a cloven hoof. She bore him two children. Eli- nas, the king of Albania, was also out hunting when he stopped at a spring to drink. He heard singing, and discovered the fairy woman Pressina. They were soon wed, and she bore him three daughters which she carried back with her to fairyland. One of the daughters, Melusina, had the appearance of a normal woman six days of the week, but on Saturday became a serpent from the waist downward. She married Raymond, Count of Lusignan, and made him rich and powerful through her magic. Several noble houses of France claim a direct descent from this fairy wife. These semi-historical legends should not be dismissed as mere fables, but studied for the insights they give into the reality of spirit love. Details of these accounts may appear quaint or grotesque to the modern mind, but the legends are founded upon the actual occurrence of sexital unions between mortals and spirits, which were recog- nized to exist by ancient chroniclers. Raped by Angels In the formal partnership of a shaman with his ayami, which was solemnized with a ritual that was very similar to a regular wedding ceremony, it was understood that there would be give and take. Both the spirit and the human would benefit from the sexual energy generated by their loving union. Unfortunately, when spirits chose to unite with individuals not magically gifted, they often did so with no intention of giv- ing equal payment for services rendered. The ancient world is filled with stories of spirit rapists. The gods of the Greeks, especially Zeus, were notorious for this crime, which was regarded as part of their divine prerogative. The rapes committed by Zeus on mortal women usually engen- dered heroes—men born of mortal women who are semi-divine. The intercourse, which was probably rape in the beginning, committed by the Watchers of heaven on10 <> Part One: Theory the daughters of men in the Book of Enoch had a similar result. They gave tise to the “mighty men which were of old, men of renown,” who are mentioned in Genesis. In the esoteric Jewish system of philosophy known as the Kabbalah, these semi-divine heroes are called Aishim, or Men of God—that is to say, men of the gods (elohim). Spirit Seductresses Female spirits were just as unscrupulous as their male counterparts (which is not sur- prising, since spirits are androgynous, potentially able to assume a male or female form). Men traveling through India at night had to contend with the voracious pre- dations of a sexual vampire known as the chumeyl, said to be the spirit of a woman who had died in childbirth. The churreyl was fabled to literally suck out the life ener. gies of her entranced lover while performing fellatio. A more attractive Indian tree spirit was the yukshee, who was beautiful and voluptuous. So great were her sexua appetites, she rendered her exhausted lovers impotent. The pishauchees caused men te have wet dreams. Ancient Persian men were forced to contend with drujes, spirits in female forn who delighted in leading their lovers into perversion, agony, and destruction. Thy Greeks and Romans fought off the embraces of lamias, who, in addition to stealin, the seed of men, drank the bload of small infants. Russian travelers were stalked it the forests and farmlands by the beautiful poludnitsa, who took lewd joy in copulatin, with men. The upierzyca was a Ukrainian spirit who came to the beds of youths dur ing the Full Moon and consumed them with passion. The rusalki of Slavic nation had buming green eyes and caused the men in her embrace to die in ecstasy. A kin of Slavic undine, or water spirit, known as the vodyanoi tured lustful men into th water to drown them. In the modern Western world we are more familiar with the night hag, who come to squat upon the chest of a man who sleeps alone for the purpose of provoking i hhim sexual dreams, usually of a perverted nature (perhaps because desires regarded the sleeper as forbidden evoke a more intense physiological response). In Jewis mythology this hag is known as Grandmother Lilith. At first, folkcales assert, Lilit comes in the shape of a beautiful young woman. After the spirit is sure of her prey, st reveals herself as a horrible devouring monster which has many of the characteristiv of the Hindu goddess Kali. When the hag is upon the chest, most men find it impo sible co move or cry out. Occasionally she sits upon the face of her captive lover ar stifles his breath.Spicit Sex in Magic and Religion <1 Incubus and Succubus In Christian folklore the male spirit who comes to rape women is called an incubus, while the female spirit who seduces sperm out of men is known asa succubus. In the opinion of the majority of medieval demonologists, incubus and succubus are two forms of a single tempting spirit who steals the semen from men while in a female form, then carries it to women and assumes a male form to impregnate them with the stolen seed. In this way demonic offspring are generated. Merlin was believed to be the product of ¢ similar type of union. His greatest power, the ability to predict the future, descended from his spirit father, who was var- iously regarded as a pagan god, a fallen angel, or Lucifer himself. According to one legend, Merlin would have been the Antichrist had not a clever priest baptized him as an infant. The Antichrist was to be bom from a union between a mortal woman and an incubus. Thus the halflings of spirit and human parents, who in biblical and classical times were regarded as heroes, came in medieval Christianity to be regarded as foul fiends. The vast majority of Judeo-Christian folklore concerning sexual unions with spir- its is negative. Such unions were viewed as temptations of the Adversary or as mani- festations of witchcraft. The condemnation of sex with spirits was part of a broader censure against all forms of spirit communication, and indeed of magic in general. Theurgy, the highest and most sacred art of the ancient pagan world, was slandered and reviled as devil worship by both rabbis and priests, who resorted to the vilest pro- paganda their suppressed imaginations could fabricate in an attempt to throw it into disrepute. This relentless campaign to revile and discredit all dealings with spirits, and in particular sexual dealings, must be borne in mind while reading Jewish and Chris- tian accounts of spirit love. They are never impartial. Sara and Asmodeus The story of Sara, which occurs in the apocryphal Book of Tobit, is probably the most famous case of obsession by an incubus. Sara, the daughter of Raguel, is upbraided by her father’s maids because, they say, she has been married to seven husbands in suc- cession who were all killed by the demon Asmodeus on their wedding nights before they had the opportunity to consummate, and therefore legitimize, their marriages with her. “Dost thou not know, said they, that thou hast strangled thine husbands!” At this accusation Sara becomes distraught and contemplates suicide, but decides against it on the consideration that such an act would bring disgrace upon her father.12 <> Part One: Theory Sara prays to God, saying, “Thou knowest, Lord, that | am pure from all sin with man, and that! never polluted my name, nor the name of my father.”7 ‘Asmodeus is the fallen angel cr demon of lust in Jewish mythology. It was his appointed office to tempt mankind to perverse and unlawful acts of desire. He is described in the Malleus Maleficarum as “the very devil of Fornication, and the chief of that abomination.”’ The implication of Raguel’s maids is not explicitly stated, but is very clear—they are accusing Sara of carrying on a consensual affair with the demon Asmodeus, who has jealously murdered her husbands before they had the opportunity ta cuckold him. Sara does not deny that Asmodeus comes to her bed. Her impulse to commit suicide is strong evidence that the maids are correct on this matter. In her prayer to God she asserts that she is “pure from all sin with man,” but says nothing about demons. This curious wording might be interpreted as a clever bit of sophistry, but Sara also says, “I never polluted my name,” which suggests that even though Asmodeus comes to her bed each night, she has thus far refused to have sexual relations with the demon. Strange Case of the Amorous Incubus In Christian accounts, the experiences of a woman who suffered the embrace of an incubus were not always unpleasant, but might become so if she resisted her lover. Ludovico Maria Sinistrari (1622-1701), for the past two centuries regarded as the lead- ing authority on sexual unions between humans and demons, relates in his Demoniality the story of a woman named Hieronyma, a native of the Italian city of Pavia, who for several years was tormented by the poltergeist tricks of an amorous incubus. Sinistrari himself was a witness of the ongoing affair. His account offers insights into the natute of spirit love, although it is distorted by religious superstitions and prejudices. After receiving and eating a myseerious cake for which she had not paid, and there- fore had no right to eat, Hieronyms began to suffer the loving advances of a spirit. The next night, whilst in bed with her husband, and both were fast asleep, she suddenly woke up at the sound of a very small voice, something like a shrill hissing, whispering in her ears, yet with great distinctness, and inquiring whether “the cake had been to her taste?” The good woman, thoroughly fright- ened, began to guard herself with the sign of the cross and repeatedly called upon the Names of Jesus and Mary. “Be not afraid,” said the voice, “I mean you no harm; quite the reverse: I am prepared to do anything to please you; I am captivated by your beauty, and desire nothing more than to enjoy your sweetSpirit Sex in Magic and Religion 13 embraces.” Whereupon she felt somebody kissing her cheeks, s0 lightly, so softly, that she might have fancied being stioked by che finest feather-down. She resisted without giving any answer, confidently repeating over and over again the Names of Jesus and Mary, and crossing herself most devoutly. The tempter kept on thus for nearly half an hour, when he withdrew.? The incubus would not take no for an answer. When Hieronyma persisted in repulsing him, he began to appear to her in the form of a handsome young man with golden hair, a flaxen beard, and sea-green eyes. He was dressed like a Spaniard. He even appeared to her while she was in the company of others, whispering loving words into her ear and kissing her hand, but only she was able to see or hear him—to everyone else the incubus remained invisible. This gentle persuasion continued for several months. When the lady would not relent, the spirit began to steal valuables from her and beat her. The blows raised livid bruises on her face and body, but these only persisted for a day or two then quickly faded. More alarmingly, the incubus took to snatching Hieronyma’s infant child away from her arms when she was breastfeeding it, and hiding it upon the roof of the house, or on the edge of the gutter. The child was never injured. The spirit played all the common tricks of poltergeists, upsetting the furniture, throwing around pots and pans, smashing dishes. One night it built a wall of flag- stones around the bed of the sleeping woman and her long-suffering husband. In the morning they found themselves unable to leave the bed without the aid of a ladder. Another time when the husband was having a few friends over for dinner, the spirit caused the entire dining table, along with the feast and dishes laid upon it, to vanish into thin air, then later restored it with a loud crash, but set wich dif- ferent dishes. After several months of this sort of nonsense, Hieronyma made a vow to St. Bernardine that she would wear the holy robe of his religious order every day for a full year if the saint would rid her of the incubus. The next day, as she was about to enter the church to pray, the robe was stripped from her body and whisked anny on the wind, leaving her in the crowded street completely naked. There is no neat ending to this fascinating eyewitness account of poor Hieronyma' 's tribulations. Sinistrari relates that after several years, when she steadfastly refused to accept his advances, the incubus finally became less and less forward, until at last he left the woman, and she was able to enjoy the embraces of her husband in peace.14 > Part One: Theory The Conclusions of Sinistrari From the fact that incubi and succubi appear to he immune from exorcism, which hi himself on a number of occasions observed firsthand, Sinistfari reached the interest ing conclusion that incubi and succubi were not infernal demons of hell. He pointes out that the incubus does not acaidlly tempt a woman to damn her soul, as the Devi ‘was supposed to do, but merely to have sex with him. Besides, the Evil Spirits, the incorporeal Demons who copulate with Sorcer- esses and Witches, constrain them to Demon worship, to the adjuration of the Catholic Faith, to the commission of enchantments, magic, and foul crimes, as preliminary conditions to the infamous intercourse, as has been above stated; now, Incubi endeavour nothing of the kind: they are therefore not Evil spirits. . .. Now, if the evil Demons, subdued by our Lord Jesus Christ, are stricken with fear by His Name, the Cross and the holy things; if, on the other hand, the good Angels rejoice at those same things, without however inciting men to sin or offend God, whilst the Incubi, without having any dread of the holy things, provoke to sin, it is clear that they are neither evil Demons nor good Angele; but it is clear also that they are nor men. though endowed with reason. What then should they be?! Sinistrari speculated that the incubus and succubus were beings of a rank interme diate between angels and humans. In lusting after men and women, they pollut themselves, even as a man is degraded by coitus with a beast; on the contrary, ama ‘ora woman who has sex with an incubus or a succubus is elevated and exalred. From all that has been concluded above, it is therefore clear that there are such Demons, Succubi and Incubi, endowed with senses and subject to the passions thereof, as has been shown; who are born through generation and die through corruption, who are capable of salvation and damnation, more noble than man, by teason of the greater subtilty of their bodies, and who, when having intercourse with humankind, male or female, fall into the same sin as man when copulating with a beast, which is inferior to him. . .. Bur, when copulating with an Incubus, it is quite the reverse: for the Incubus, by reason of his rational and immortal spirit, is equal to man; and, by reason of his body, more noble because more subtile, so he is more perfect and more dignified than man. Consequently, when having intercourse with an Incubus, man does not degrade, but rather dignifies, his nature.!!Spirit Sex in Magic and Religion 15 This is a remarkably bold assertion for a Franciscan monk bom in 1622, who served as Consultor to the Supreme Tribunal of the Most Holy Inquisition. Sinistrari was undoubtedly uncomfortable with i, but he had the courage to follow his own log- ical process to its inevitable conclusion. However, it is no accident that the manu- script of Demoniality remained unpublished and lost to the world until discovered in the possession of a London collector in 1872. Ir was first printed at Paris three years later. Sinistrari could never have published it during his lifetime. If such spirits do degrade their nature by having sex with humans, it is a voluntary degradation on their part. They usually come to men and woman unsought, so no accusation of tempting the spirits to sin can be leveled at their human partners, any- more than we would accuse a beast of tempting the passion of a man who copulates with it. The Moral of Being Tailed I find myself wondering what might have happened had Hieronyma accepted the spirit as her lover on the first night and kept her mouth shut about the relationship, rather therrgivisy in tv her seligious hysteria. The inciibus told her that he yao will- ing to do anything to please her. Had she received him into her embrace, the spirit perhaps would have revealed many occult secrets to her, and awakened in het mind and body esoteric perceptions and abilities that she could scarcely have dreamed pos- sible. He would perhaps have given her pleasures far beyond anything her husband was capable of providing. The Church preached that intercourse with spirits was a sin, therefore Hieronyma was determined to avoid it regardless of the cost. She was also determined to be faith- ful to her husband, and evidently regarded sex with an incubus as equivalent to adul- tery. We must respect the choice of this good, pious woman, but J tend to question her wisdom on purely pragmatic grounds. It was necessary to dwell for a time upon the spirits who rape and pervert humans because such spirits do exist, have always existed, and will always exist. They come unsought to anyone who takes their fancy. They do not persist in bothering those who are knowledgeable in the techniques of ritual magic and communing with spirits of various degrees. Magicians are quite capable of controlling such beings, or banish- ing them in the unlikely event that such a course of action seems desirable. The spir- its know this. They search out easier prey.16 <> Part One: Theory The nature of a visiting spirit is often conditioned by the mind of the person it vis its. Those who are suppressed, superstitious, fearful and unhappy are far mote likely tc find themselves subject to the forced affections of incubi and succubi than are ritua occultists. To a magician, a spirit is an everyday visitor, a friend, a colleague, a ser vant, a lover, and so on depending on the nature of the spirit. To a nervous, devou Christian a spirit is likely to be a terrifying and monstrous enemy intent on perver sion, lust, and destruction. The thought is father to the deed. The Witch’s Familiar Spirit rapists exist, but in my judgment based on the literature of these events they are no more common in the general population of spirits than human rapists are ir the general population of humans. It was the mania concerning the lustful incubu and the evil witch with her demon familiar, sweeping through Europe in the fif teenth and sixteenth centuries, that provoked so many genuine reports of obsessior by incubi and succubi. Those good Church women who spent hours each day gossip ing over the juicy details of the latest witch trial were, in effect, begging to by ubsessed and possessed by hurtful spirits. Some of them had their unconscious wishe fulfilled. I should mention that possession occurs when a spirit appears to enter and taki control of the body. Most often the conscious identity, or soul, of the person possessec is displaced during the event, which is usually of finite duration. The experience i similar to deep dreamless sleep. Less often, the consciousness remains present duriny possession, but is unable to control its body. Obsession occurs when a spirit persists ir making its presence known to a human being, either by appearing to the sight, o whispering or shouting into the ear, or caressing or striking the skin, or generatiny other sensory impressions directly or indirectly. By this definition, sex with spirits is i form of obsession, According to the biased and corrupt testimony of the witch trials, chere were wi types of spirit sex enjoyed by witches, The first was the sex a witch was often supposec to have with her demon familiar. Usually the familiar was portrayed in the form of i pet animal. Cats were very popular scapegoats. Superstitious persecution and destruc tion of cats during the Middle Ages was in no small measure responsible for thi spread of plague. In a sense, witch and cat had their revenge upon their persecutors And a terrible revenge it was! Millions died from the plague-infected fleas carried ot rats that more cats in the port towns might have kept under control.Spirit Sex in Magic and Religion —~ 17 Witchcraft is a form of shamanism. It evolved out of the folk practices of rural cun- ‘ning men and wise women, who had acquired their art through hereditary lore. The animal familiar of the witch was a material instrument through which the spirit famil- iar, a kind of helpful spirit or syvén, to use the shamanic term, expressed itself to the witch. The Inquisition of the Christian Church sought to subvert and pervert the nature and purpose of witchcraft to suit its own insane view of the world, and to'a great extent it succeeded. The familiar of the witch became a demon of hell in the eyes of the common people. Not much is known about genuine witchcraft in Europe during the period of the witch burnings. However, itis quite likely that wise women practicing pagan forms of folk magic did have sexual intercourse with familiar spirits, though probably not with the animals that sometimes may have served as physical hosts for those spirits. Famil- iar spirits were capable of entering into the body of the witch, just as the ayami and syvén entered into the body of the shaman. They were not bound to animal hosts. The sheer number of accounts of intercourse between accused witches and spirits at the witch trials, coupled with the regularity of this form of union in shamanism, sug- gests that witches had sex with familiars on occassion, but there is no way to guess how county it cececred. The Devil as a Lover The other form of spirit sex that formed a topic of interest at the witch trials was coitus between the witch (usually a woman during the period known as the witch mania) and Satan himself. In the same way that nuns symbolically married Christ, witches were believed to wed the Devil. It was held by the Church that they swore obedience to him, allowed him full access to their bodies for his pleasure, and remained faithful to him throughout their lives. Under torture, accused witches testified that Satan came to their beds, usually in the form of a man with swarthy skin and dark hair and eyes, sometimes as a black man, and sometimes as a large black dog or a goat. His lovemaking was rough and often painful. He preferred his sex doggy style, and enjoyed anal intercourse. Most accused witches denied that they derived any pleasure from his caresses, although this posture may have been motivated from fear that if they admitted pleasure in the arms of the Devil, their torture and eventual execution would be made more horrible. A minority of women interrogated as witches testified that the Devil's lovemaking was highly pleasurable.18 < Part One: Theory Some said the penis of Satan (or Lucifer, or Beelzebub—these were considered tc be different princes of hell in medieval demonology, but were nonetheless often con fused together) was as small as a finger; others testified that it was so thick, it hur them to receive it into their bodies. [t sometimes became swollen at the tip and coul not be withdrawn. Often the Devil's prick was said to be cold as ice, rock hard, o: covered with scales that expanded as it was withdrawn on each back stroke to riz flesh from the walls of the witch's vagina. Accused witches claimed thar they ofter bled after intercourse, Paradoxically, in a few accounts the Devil’s penis was said to bi fiery, but this may have been similar to the fiery cold of dry ice. Not content with endowing Satan with a huge instrument, the demonologists o the Inquisition asserted that he possessed a double penis, In this way he could perforn vaginal and anal penetration on a witch simultaneously for her greater degradation. | was even claimed that he had three tools, one of which was extremely long so tha the witch could perform fellatio on the Prince of Hell while filled in both nether ori fices. The French artist Felicien Rops illustrated this remarkable anatomical feature 0 the Devil in several of his engravings.!? In the opinion of the Church, Satan gained no sensual satisfaction from his copu lative with men and women in both sexes and various forms. Since he is an angel without a corporeal body, and is not constituted to reproduce sexually, it was assume: that he could not derive pleasure from sex. Therefore he and his demons committe: sexual acts for the sole purpose of leading humans into sin and damnation, At first the writers of the Church asserted, Satan came to witches in the form of an attractiv: young man and spoke soft words of love. Later he became increasingly cruel. Ti insure that the witch felt her own damnation to be irredeemable, and ceased to pra: ‘or look for salvation from Christ, he took care to induce her to commit the most pet verse of sexual acts. Love in the Convent At the same time that poor rural women were being burned alive for confessing unde torture to sexual relations with familiars and the Devil, monks and nuns were com mitting essentially identical acts with spirits in the privacy and security of their clois ters. Usually they were wise enough to maintain a discreet silence about their spiri lovers, but sometimes they were observed in the sexual act (the spirits were usuall invisible to others). Then they would claim that their lover was Jesus, Mary, an ange or a saint. Saint Mechtildis reported a visitation by Christ: “He kissed my hancSpirit Sex in Magic and Religion 19 pressed me to Him, whispered to me to give Him my love, and I surrendered my all to Him and in return tasted of His divine essence.”!9 Other nuns were not so fortunate as Mechtildis. Sinistrari relates the case of anun who was observed by one of her holy sisters to lock herself into her cell each day after dinner. Suspicion aroused, the spying nun went into an adjoining cell and listened with her ear to the wall. She heard the sounds of two voices conversing in subdued tones, and the creak of a bed accompanied by groans and sighs. The spy alerted her abbess, who came to listen. At first they suspected the sister was making lesbian love with another nun, but had to drop this idea when they found all the nuns of the con- vent accounted for at the times of the assignations. After gathering evidence, one day when the sounds of lovemaking were emanating from the locked cell, the abbess pounded on the door and demanded that it be opened. When the sister in the cell eventually opened the door, the cell was found to be otherwise empty. ‘Temporarily frustrated, the abbess allowed the matter to drop, The spy was more persistent. She contrived to bore a hole through the wall of the suspected sister's cell. Through this peephole she saw the suspected nun making love with an attractive young man. She called the abbess and other sisters to witness the proceedings. By the time they got the cell door open the male lover had vanished into thin air, The amorous sister continued to deny everything until threatened with torture, at which point she at last confessed that she had been sleeping with an incubus. The Private Life of Joan of Arc Sometimes the authorities had political reasons for not believing that the connection. between pious individuals and angels was approved by God. Joan of Arc claimed to see the angels in corporeal form. At her trial for heresy her accusers tried to trick her into admitting that she had committed sexual acts with these angels, but Joan adroitly eluded their questions, without ever actually denying the accusation: Question: Has she kissed St. Michael and St. Catherine? Answer: Yes. Question: Do they smell pleasant? Answer: It’s good to know they smell pleasant. Question: In embracing them, does she ever feel any warmth or anything else? Answer: It is not possible for me to embrace them without feeling or touching them.20 <> Part One: Theory Question: What part has she embraced, the upper or lower? ‘Answer: Itis more decorous to embrace them above rather than below. Question: Was St. Michael nude? Answer: Do you think then that God has nothing to clothe him with?* The reference to the smell of the angels has to do with the belief that demons car- ried with chem a stench of excrement, whereas saints and angels exuded an odor of sanctity that resembled the scent of roses ot lilacs. As intent as the English-led court had been to demonstrate that the spirits from whom she received her instructions were demons, the French later became even more determined to demonstrate that these spirits were holy angels. in 1920 Joan was canonized as a saint, Whether a spirit was perceived to be an angel or a demon often depended on the social climate of the region, the moment in history, and the political power of the per- son accused. In pagan times sexual relationships and formalized marriages between human beings and spirits were looked upon as fortunate unions, on the grounds that such spirits were higher beings than man, and therefore to have connection with them was to be elevated and favored by the gods. Under Christianity the gods of love such as Pan, Bacchus, Aphrodite and Priapus, and the spirits of nature such as the fawns, satyrs, dryads and nymphs, were all condemned as demons. Therefore no sexual connection with them could be other than damnable—at best a pollution, at worst an heretical act, The God of the Templars This was the fate that overtook the Order of the Knights Templar, a religious order founded in 1119 to safeguard pilgrims on their journeys to the Holy Land. Its primary center was established at Jerusalem on the site now occupied by the Dome of the Rock. The Templars were initiates of a secret society that over the centuries devel- oped its own esoteric beliefs and practices. These may have been Gnostic in nature, and were certainly influenced by Eastern beliefs and practices. There is evidence to suggest that they included sexual magic of a homosexual kind. What actually went on in the secret chambers of the Templars is lost to history, and the confessions extracted from the knights under torture are suspect. Initiation seems to have involved the denial of Christ, spitting upon the cross, and a ceremony that took place in a locked room. In this room the initiate partially distobed, then received kisses from his fellow knights on various parts of his body. “One of the knights exam- ined, Guischard de Marzici, said he remembered the reception of Hugh de Marhaud, ofSpirit Sex in Magic and Religion ~~ 21 the diocese of Lyons, whom he saw taken into a small room, which was closed up so that no one could see or hear what took place within; but that when, aftersome time, he was let out, he was very pale, and looked as though he were troubled and amazed.”!5 The Templars worshipped an idol in the form of a brazen or gilded head called Baphomet. This is variously described as an statue in metal or wood of a bearded face with blazing eyes, Sometimes the head is said to have possessed two faces, or three. Sometimes it was a full human figure, but with four feet—two in front and two behind. These may have been different representations of the same deity. One knight upon being shown the image for the first time was told, “You must adore this as your saviour, and the saviour of the order of the Tempie.” The idol was believed to have the power of making the knights rich, and of caus- ing trees to flourish and the earth to become fruitful. They were said to anoint it with the fat of murdered infants, and to touch cords to it and then wear them around their waists to gain the benefit of its magical potency. Almost certainly the head was orac- ular, and was probably connected with the numerous legends of prophetic brazen heads so popular during the Middle Ages. It was the residence for a tutelary spirit of the Templars, which the Knights credited for their wealth and power. 1am inclined to speculate that the head was the focus for a ritual of god-making acquired by the Templars from Eastern sources, and that sexual magic was used to empower it. It is more likely that the head was anointed with semen than with the fat of murdered babies. Semen may be regarded as the fat of murdered babies, in a sym- bolic sense, since when it is spilled outside the womb it cannot generate new life. Itis white like fat. This symbolism was used by Aleister Crowley, most notably in inter- preting a line from his spirit-inspired Book of the Law, dictated to him by his Holy Guardian Angel. The line reads: “Sacrifice cattle little and big: after a child.”16 The Templars were also accused of adoring a demon in the shape of a giant cat, although one testimony says that it was a calf, which seems more probable. Along with the cat appeared “devils in the shape of women.” It is possible that these were women paid to perform offices similar to the shaktis of Tantric worship. Or they may have been hours, succubi spirits in the form of beautiful women that are supposed in Moslem folklore to have sex with the faithful in Paradise. The Jinn of Islam Among the common people of the Moslem world, sexual connection with a spirit was considered a fortunate omen, particularly to @ boy who had just reached puberty.22 <> Part One: Theory Most favorable of all was when the first nocturnal emission of semen experienced by a boy was provoked by a jinni during the ten days of El-Mohurrum (New Year Festi: val of the Shiite sect). Some young Islamic men deliberately delayed marriage to pro- long relations with spirit lovers. One ascetic holy man claimed to have maintained < sexual relationship with the same jinneeyeh (evil spirit) for more than forty years.!7 Women were equally enamored of their incubi lovers. Islamic women who hac experienced coitus with spirits reported that the act often left them exhausted (a state ment that parallels the testimony of European accused witches), that the seed of the jinn was black in color and icy cold (the coldness of the Devil’s seed was frequenth reported in the witch trials), and that virgins who copulated with jinn did not lose their hymens (a fact also observed by European demonologists). So respectable was the practice of spirit love in the Islamic world, at least among the laboring classes, that i was socially correct to greet a woman with the salutation, “May God copulate witk thee! May a thousand huge-membered virile jinn have carnal knowledge of thee!"!8 Sex in Modern Spiritualism In the nineteenth century spirit mediums frequently reported sexual feelings durin, contacts with certain spirits, who due to the puritanical outlook of the day wer reviled as evil and perverse. Ectoplasm, a mysterious substance usually characterize as viscous, sticky or slimy in its fully materialized form, that came out of the bady 0 the medium and took the shapes of faces or other body parts of spiritual beings, some times emanated from the vagina of female mediums, suggesting that it was based upot the occult sexual energy of kundalini shakti. There is a famous photograph of thi medium Mina Crandon (1883-1941) extruding an ectoplasmic hand and arm fron her pelvic region. It illustrates the underlying connection in spiritualism betwee spirit energy and human sexual energy. The investigator of psychic phenomena, Dr. Hereward Carrington, noted this con nection in a paper read before the First International Congress for Psychical Researc] at Copenhagen in 1921, in which he mentioned “the observation made in the case of [the mediums] Kathleen Goligher and Eva C. which show that the plasma which i materialized, frequently issues from the genitals.”?0 In the same paper Carringtoy made mention of “the teachings and practices of the Yogis India, who have written a great length upon the connection between sexual energies and the higher ecstati states, and of the conversion of the former into the latter,” showing that he had least a passing acquaintance with Tantra.Female mediums sometimes experienced sexual climax at the height of their man- ifestations: These speculations have, I believe, been amply verified by certain recent investigations, wherein it has been shown that (in the case of a celebrated European medium) the production of a physical phenomenon of exceptional violence has been coincidental with a true orgasm. From many accounts it seems probable that the same was frequently true in the case of Eusapia Pal- adino, and was doubtless the case with other mediums also. Often the onset of a talent for mediumship is announced by the persistent appear- ance of poltergeist events. As is the case with poltergeist activity generally, the obsessing spirits turn their energies upon the psychic with whom they are associated, sometimes causing bruises, welts, cuts in the skin, or stigmata of various kinds. The psychic is troubled by loud noises, voices, pinches, slaps, and other events. “Medi- umship often develops from Poltergeist phenomena: from a ferocious persecution to make the sensitive a medium against his will.”? Poltergeists Sinistrari and other Church demonologists noted the occurrence of poltergeist events in connection with visitations of incubi and succubi centuries ago. It is a common. belief among modern parapsychologists that poltergeist phenomens are generated by human sexuality. A poltergeist (German for “noisy ghost”) is a spirit that moves fur- niture, smashes dishes, knocks pictures off the walls, and otherwise makes a nuisance of itself. Poltergeists almost always reveal themselves in the close proximity of a girl or boy just attaining puberty. As the child grows older and finds normal outlets for sex- ual energy the poltergeist happenings usually cease. There has been a futile attempt in parapsychology to deny the existence of a spirit agent in poltergeist activities. They are put down as spontaneous occurrences of telekinesis, a postulated power of the human mind to move things at a distance that has never been proven to exist. Parapsychologists generally dodge the question of how human sexuality enters into the equation. The ancient and obvious explanation, that poltergeists are incubi and succubi feeding off of the sexual energies of adoles- cents, is never presented. There seems good reason to suppose that the malicious poltergeists and the benev- olent household spirits, who are called by various names in different cultures, are the