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Notes On Sexual Magick

© Mogg Morgan 3 April 1994

Introduce myself -

sexual folklorist?

Purpose of Talk:

To give an introduction to a controversial aspect of modern paganism and magick

Last month we had 'conjuration of demons', tonight sexual magick.

Plan:

Basic definitions,

Selective history of magick

Brief look at various sub-disciples within sexual magick tradition.

Why is it controversial?

Offends the puritanical and therefore give pagans a bad name

Glamorous,

dangerous

distinctive feature of magical tradition

Primitive - or primeval?

Basics

Define Magick

Important magical concept - gnosis

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Define Sexual Magick

Define Sex Magick

Sexual Magick can perhaps be seen as a specialism within a wide spectrum of magical techniques.

Sexual Results magick -

:[Story of how I found sexual talisman.

The use of smell and its relation to sexuality

Found at threshold - like ancient Hebrew technique of placing words of power at thresholds.]

Through this experience, I was taught a new , for me at least, technique of magick.

A safe experiment that could be done at home?

warning - shows danger of making such a talisman and keeping it - best destroy it and forget it.

Is it possible to practice magick without a sexual component?

Magick for the sexually disabled? Yes why not.

History

The history of magick is the history of humanity.

Magick = culture

The examples are mind-blowing:

Writing: - its mythology tells of its magical origin. The beginning of writing can be seen in early

magical symbols and signs which preceded it.

Speech: The vocal chords were not evolved for speech or language. Perhaps speech also originates

in the magical state know as glosso-lalia or chaos language.

Art, Poetry, musick, drama.

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[Show slide of lascauz rock painting]

Art is special

draw attention to early writing

Only humans make art

Earliest example has example of sexual magick -

Notoriously difficult to interpret these drawing in absence of written explanations

However, magick can help us do this, because we are exploring the same space.

The drawing shows what we did on our holidays.

The drawing is a depiction of the afterlife sex and plenty of food.

The drawing shows sexual results magick - preferred interpretation.

If I had all night, I could perhaps go through all of the worlds major cultures and pick out this theme

of sexuality and magick as it manifests itself.

From Stone age cave art

To ancient Babylon, source of the modern myth of Babalon - the whore.

Ancient Egypt, where the act of creation is likened to an act of masturbation.

Greek and Roman, and so on.

Lets come up to date

We, are the Gothic people

Our tradition of sexual myths and legends has been lost - or largely so

Mary Magdalan, in the gothic tradition is a non-sexual dominitrix.

Lost, perhaps as a result of the witch hunts? debatable

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Whatever the reason, it is largely lost.

Perhaps this is a good thing.

Allows us to bring a fresher approach.

Now we are again free to create our own tradition.

Most pagans now borrow freely from any tradition that suite them, but primarily from Alchemy,

from Tantrism/Taoism and from Christianity.

More recently some I looked to systems like the runes, which are very novel indeed.

1. Alchemy -

'one of the longest documented and most consistent traditions with magick.' Richard of Glastonbury

said this?

Which seems to mean the black arts or arts of announce Egypt, although many of its techniques are

Arab in origin.

Arab culture has no connection with ancient Egypt,

Egypt is now an Arab country?

Major influence on medieval Arab culture (1500 years ago?) , including its magick - was India.

(Sources see. Alburuni's India blah blah.)

Fact: the numeral we call Arab numeral are Sanskrit characters

the word zero is a Sanskrit term sunya, meaning emptiness.

QED? I doubt it.

[Jung's study of Alchemy: Does he mention any Indian texts? A quick look say not - certainly

Nagarjuna not mentioned in index]

Translation are difficult to come by but they exist e.g. Nagarjuna. (2000-1500 years ago)
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Alchemy (in these texts = weird chemistry

Before this alchemy was something else.

The Hindu word for alchemy = rasayana = the study of the fluids of the body, the substances of lust,

the substance of the emotions.

Real alchemy = sexual magick

There are record in the Bod in Oxford that show that the magicians during the time of Henry the

eighth, knew the true meaning of Alchemy and were experimenting on those lines.

e.g. Three Spirits in a chamber.

text taken from compilation of particularly clever group of 'cunning' men.

Shows some of their range from simple traditional spells to sex magick rituals with possible Gnostic

content.

2. Tantrism and Taoism

Define Tantrism

Taoims, seems to be a development of Tantrism, as it moved further east through China.

Dhyana = Zen

For last 200 years British Business men in India have been collecting porno sculpture.

[show slide examples]

No regid distinction between religious and sexular imagery.

'Love well made leads to liberation' Bhima in Mbh

Taken out of context, this collecting of sculpture leads to 19th century pseudo Tantrism

The almost real maccoy.

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Tantrism and Taoism show us how much of our own sexual magical tradition we have lost.

Knowledge of astrology and eroticism - kalas,

sexual anatomy and more

Full of Paradoxes

Most Indian practitioners have a love/hate relationship with women

a conflict between asceticism and eroticism

[Slide of Shiva lingam).

Symbol of chastity and control?

[slide of Krishna and radha]

Metaphor of highest religious state.

Kinds of sexual magick

Some magical systems of this century have developed a system of grades.

Approximately 1-10 grades (0-11),

which may seem a lot, but compared with Freemasonry, which has about 33, its an improvement.

Some magical orders link these grades to different type of magical practice. viz.

8,

9,

11.

a lot of debate over this.

New wave magical orders are abandoning this very formal way of looking at sexuality and magick

in favour of a more freestyle approach.

In my book I argue this more closely, saying the distinction is hard to maintain.

e.g. Three sprits in chamber, what is it?

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In 'Tantrism' there are some other styles of sexual magick.

:Shiva and expert partners

For example Agasyta and Lopamudra

A ritual interlude
Lopamudra [priestess]: For many years I have exhausted myself with abstinence and I have
become old just the same. Age wears away the beauty of a body. [Therefore] men should make
love to their partners.

The pious sages of ancient times, who conversed about sacred truths with the gods, ceased from
abstinence for it did not do any good. [Therefore] women should make love to their partners.

Agastya [priest]: Not in vain is all this (abstinence), which the gods encourage. We two must
undertake all struggles. By this we will win the race that is won by a hundred artifices, when we
unite together as a pair.

We will reap the rewards of sexual intercourse when we do it in the ritual way. Let us therefore
now agree to make love.

(Ritual intercourse now takes place. Then:)

Lopamudra says: Desire for the bull who roars and is held back has overcome me, coming upon
me from all sides.

Agastya says: The desire of my swelling phallus which is held back, overwhelms me, coming upon
me from all sides.

By this Soma, which I have drunk, in my innermost heart I say: 'Let him forgive us if we have
sinned, for a mortal is full of many desires.'
Lopamudra is a very interesting woman, a kind of succubus created by the Vedic sage Agastya. The
first part of her name (lopa) is probably the name of some variety of bird. After Agastya made her, he
brought her up as his daughter until she was old enough (perhaps) for the sexual ritual described above.
In the meantime he conquered the demon Ilvala to provide her with wealth. Significantly she is said to
be the author of the Rig Veda, parts of which were written before the ancient Indo-European people
moved into the Indian subcontinent from ancient Iran, circa 1500 BCE.1 Her legend is constantly retold
throughout later mythology, especially in connection with Shiva.

Agastya & tamil Siddha

Krishna, the sahajiyas. Emotional attachment to the forbidden object of desire.

Homoeroticism - Arjunas penance, the consequence and Tamil Siddha

1 Information from M Monier-Williams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, New Edition, (OUP 1979)

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Conclusion:

Perhaps a footnote for Christianity

Attempts to make a modern synthesis.

New themes of modern times:

Importance of love -

(love marriage a Christian not a pagan ideal - well yes to some extent, but what about sappho).

Importance of enjoying yourself whenever you have sex - Reich not

Mantak Chia [internal martial arts - need for open minded research on this, as there is a lot of bull-

shit about.]

Poetry the common result:

finish with lines from Gitagovinda.