Sex in Ancient Cultures -- Sex in Modern Times

Low Bandwidth Version

Sex in Ancient Cultures --
Sex in Modern Times

by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki

Continued from Part I

Rome

All forms of worship gradually slide into decline and decay - nothing lasts forever. Rome became the most decadent of all the ancient civilizations - as great as it had been, so as low did it fall. By the end, the early purity of the festivals in honor of the phallus and the vulva had gone for good. The debaucheries of its rulers became a top-heavy weight and Rome fell, dragging with it the then civilized world and opening the doors to the Dark Ages.

Rome had always been a city where prostitution flourished fed by the appetites of both men and women. There were many different grades of this ancient profession and the women who practiced them were by no means all from the lower levels of society. The highest grade was that of the Delicatue, the kept women of the wealthy and prominent men. Next were the Famosae usually the daughters and even the wives of wealthy families who simply enjoyed sex for its own sake. Then there were the Dorae who habitually went naked even in the town and by contrast the Lupae, or she-wolves, who plied their trade under the fornices or arches of the old temples, bridges, and the Colosseum. It is from this word that we get 'fornication' as an expression of debased sex. It was one of these lupae, called Laurentia, who found the twins Romulus and Remus and fed them saving their lives. The Elicariae were the bakers' girls who sold the phallus-shaped cakes m the markets and earned a little extra on the side. Copae were the serving girls in taverns and inns who could be hired as bedmates for the night by travelers, and the Noctiliae were the nightwalkers. Add to these the Bustuariae, Blitidae, Forariae and Gallinae, and you will get some idea of how low Rome sank.

India

The Triple God of India is the Trimurti, consisting of Brahma Vishnu and Shiva. Each God is one with his consort, forming not three but six deities. This links back to the Hebrew symbol of the six-pointed star as being the universe in total balance. For the Indians sex was the highest form of worship and their Gods used it to maintain the balance between the universe and chaos.

Sex in the Modern World

Today sex is a paradox. In many ways it is flaunted in full view, in others it is hidden away as if it were something shameful. Our society is divided into several groups: the prudes, the shameless, and those for whom sex is meat and drink. For a very few, it is still the sacred fire of life.

Clothing

Modern clothing varies from month to month; what is in fashion today has disappeared in a few weeks. Always it has followed the way that men see women.

In medieval times, women shaved their eyebrows, plucked out their lashes, and wore heavy dresses that made them look desirably pregnant. For the men, the fashion was decorated codpieces that (usually) lied about their owner's attributes! Sixteenth-century women had panniered skirts and wooden corsets for a narrow waist and a wide hip line, matching the men's padded doublets and tight-fitting hose. The seventeenth century lowered the neckline for women almost, and in some cases, right to the nipples, while the men wore silk and lace and periwigs. By contrast the Puritans covered everything up to the neck!

The 1800s brought high-waisted, neo-classical dresses in fine silks and cottons, worn with little underneath and wetted with lavender water to make them outline the body. Men wore tight pantaloons, knee breeches and make up! By the nineteenth century, men made do with suits not too far removed from our own day, but the ladies had changed shape again and were now in crinolines, one of the most awkward shapes ever invented for sitting in. Edwardian times saw the arrival of the full-busted lady with a bustle and hats the size of carriage wheels, then the First World War brought all that to an end and the twenties saw in the 'flapper' with knee-high skirts, flat chests, and a diabolical line in underwear known as directoire knickers. From there, it was a short step to mini skirts and the constantly changing fashions of today. Bosoms and hips have disappeared and returned with bewildering rapidity, but underneath there is still woman.

Advertising

To induce people to buy anything today it seems it has to be sold with sex as a carrot - soft drinks, perfume, soap, cars, houses, and even insurance. The phallic emblem has returned and the connotation is unmistakable as the young nubile girl tips her head back and drinks from a bottle. Chocolate is sold with the aid of a beautiful woman in her underwear suggestively sliding a bar of the merchandise between her lips. The soap and deodorant and toothpaste ads make sure you get the message that unless you use their product you cannot win a mate. Even coffee and liqueurs are sold by appealing to the romantic in us that longs for the two performers in a British advertisement to get it together. Smell different, taste sweeter, look slimmer, travel further, live faster - we can have it all so long as we buy what the advert people tell us to buy, and sex is the motivation.

Life-styles

The horse was once the preferred method of abducting your woman, now it is the Porsche, the Ferrari, and the Lamborghini, if you are really into wish-fulfillment. If not, then any small(er) car will do. Either will be an unconscious extension of your lover's physical attributes. Other items also serve this purpose: a woman's lipstick advertises a second and hidden mouth; her handbag is a symbol of her self, her secret womb where her private and personal treasures are kept. Even if you are a modern feminist with the ability to make your own way in the world, even if you are an independent man not looking for a wife and mother for your children, all these ancient impulses are working inside you. Fight against them and you end up with enough neuroses to choke a cat. Work with them, acknowledge them, but set them aside, and they will lie quietly and sleep.

If you do not enjoy sex, well that's too bad, it's good for you, like spinach, but your creative power will not go away. Use it in another manner, but always creatively. You cannot get rid of it with cold showers, but if you turn to a creative outlet, it will get used up safely. How about trying painting, writing, photography, gardening, sewing, embroidery, cookery, bricklaying, burnt poker work, and/or taxidermy?!

We live in a world so different from that of the ancient peoples that their reaction if they were brought up to our time cannot possibly be imagined. Faced with a car, a train, a jet, or even something totally simple like a bar of soap or a toothbrush, they just would not be able to cope. The simplicity of their time has been lost forever and with it a kind of innocence. Their idea of sex was, like their lives, simple. It was there, it was immensely enjoyable, you used it, often. What a lot we have lost.

Throughout the recorded history of the world and its religions, the power of sex has been a motivating force, even if not recognized as such. It has been lifted high and cast down to the lowest point by humanity, but it has never ceased to be, of itself, the supreme gift of the Creator.

Read and Leave Comments About This Article

This article is excerpted with permission from "The Tree of Ecstasy: An Advanced Manual of Sexual Magic" by Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki. ©1999. Published by Samuel Weiser, York Beach, ME.

Info/Order this book

About The Author

Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki travels the world lecturing on all aspects of the occult and is the author of many books, including "The Ritual Magic Workbook".

Low Bandwidth Version