collapse

* Recent Posts

Re: "Christ Is King" by SirPalomides
[Today at 04:12:49 pm]


"Christ Is King" by Altair
[Today at 01:09:34 am]


Re: Cill Shift Schedule by SunflowerP
[Yesterday at 11:04:57 pm]


Re: Stellar Bling: The Good, the Bad, the OMG! by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 11:21:37 pm]


Re: Spring Has Sprung! 2024 Edition by SunflowerP
[March 21, 2024, 10:24:10 pm]

Author Topic: Magic and Male Chastity  (Read 2400 times)

Demophon

  • Master Member
  • ******
  • Join Date: May 2015
  • Banned!
  • Posts: 258
  • Country: ca
  • Total likes: 15
    • View Profile
Magic and Male Chastity
« on: December 07, 2016, 08:45:20 pm »
I was wondering, as I've seen abstaining from sex suggested in books written by male magical practitioners, such as Raymond Buckland, if there was something to it that's important to people with male bodies that isn't necessarily the same for female magical practitioners. I have heard of male mystics in India who abstain from sex because they view semen as their life force and don't want to relinquish it, and there is the Catholic priesthood, who I wonder if part of their celibacy has to do with preserving their power and life force in order to direct it towards their sacramental ministry, which has religio-magical characteristics. I realize this might not be a conscious motivation, as their vowed chastity mostly has to do with temple purity of the priesthood, and not being attached to a spouse and family so they have to devote to their ministry, but I wonder if there might be an underlying motivation related to other male mystics and magic workers.

Sexual release is pretty draining for men, which could be why semen is regarded as the life force of people with male bodies, particularly in south and east Asian cultures. It also has the power to create another living body, so it is pretty powerful stuff. Preserving that power through abstaining from ejaculation just logically makes sense when it comes to magical work. In my personal experience, I feel like I have a lot more energy and vitality if I refrain from even self-induced sexual release, and let that life force energy build up.

I don't know what it's like to have a female body, but I imagine it's a bit different, physiologically. For men, there is some recovery time needed after orgasm, but women are sexually insatiable, which probably has evolutionary origins to allow for sperm competition through multiple lovers within a short window of time. Anyway, women don't relinquish their life force during sex, and if anything, they receive it from their male partner, if male partners are what they're into. Males are temporarily weakened by sexual release, generally speaking, in a way I don't think women are. Because of this, i think there is some validity in the idea that abstaining from sex is beneficial for males involved in spiritual/magical/mystical work. Just a theory.

Vixen

  • Journeyman
  • *****
  • Join Date: Sep 2016
  • Posts: 207
  • Country: nl
  • Total likes: 15
  • We're all mad here
    • View Profile
  • Religion: Pagan
Re: Magic and Male Chastity
« Reply #1 on: December 08, 2016, 06:56:38 am »
Quote from: Demophon;199835
For men, there is some recovery time needed after orgasm, but women are sexually insatiable... Males are temporarily weakened by sexual release, generally speaking, in a way I don't think women are.

Well, just my two cents. If I am not weakened or in need of recovery after orgasm, you didn't do it right. :whis:

Anyway.
Interesting concept. I am not into magic or using life force as a means to accomplish something but I am intrigued by your theory. And whatever I am writing here is not based on any studies or writings in particular, just my own ramblings.

In my opinion, woman have been repressed for centuries and are just now coming back into their own power. Woman have never been allowed to achieve orgasm or celebrate their own sexuality. So I can see that female orgasm would be a way to celebrate womanhood, to celebrate the power over their own bodies and their own spirituality. The energy being released during an orgasm would be a very powerful tool in any kind of ritual, especially in fertility rituals.

Men have never been repressed to the same extent, if ever, so the psychological impact of being able to orgasm would not be as great as with woman.
On the other hand, using the sexual energy that is generated while achieving orgasm would in my opinion be just as powerful in ritual, I would think. The only difference being that, like you said, a man would spill his seed. His seed, being a living and life-giving substance, would in my opinion represent something much more powerful.
How you look on that would be to each their own to decide. One can see that as an offering to the gods, or as a waste.

I do not believe in abstaining. Orgasm, sexuality, desire. These are all gifts from the gods and to be enjoyed. I do think that one should be more conscious of the power our sexuality can bring. Use your sexy time as a form of ritual, a gift or an offering to the gods. Celebrate the gifts you have been given. That's what I do anyway.

Does that make sense to you?
« Last Edit: December 08, 2016, 06:59:30 am by Vixen »
You're only given a little spark of madness, you mustn't lose it.

Altair

  • Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jul 2011
  • Location: New York, New York
  • *
  • Posts: 3752
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 937
  • Fly high and make the world follow
    • View Profile
    • Songs of the Metamythos
  • Religion: tree-hugging pagan
  • Preferred Pronouns: he/him/his
Re: Magic and Male Chastity
« Reply #2 on: December 08, 2016, 10:24:32 am »
Quote from: Demophon;199835
I was wondering, as I've seen abstaining from sex suggested in books written by male magical practitioners, such as Raymond Buckland, if there was something to it that's important to people with male bodies that isn't necessarily the same for female magical practitioners. I have heard of male mystics in India who abstain from sex because they view semen as their life force and don't want to relinquish it, and there is the Catholic priesthood, who I wonder if part of their celibacy has to do with preserving their power and life force in order to direct it towards their sacramental ministry, which has religio-magical characteristics. I realize this might not be a conscious motivation, as their vowed chastity mostly has to do with temple purity of the priesthood, and not being attached to a spouse and family so they have to devote to their ministry, but I wonder if there might be an underlying motivation related to other male mystics and magic workers.

Sexual release is pretty draining for men, which could be why semen is regarded as the life force of people with male bodies, particularly in south and east Asian cultures. It also has the power to create another living body, so it is pretty powerful stuff. Preserving that power through abstaining from ejaculation just logically makes sense when it comes to magical work. In my personal experience, I feel like I have a lot more energy and vitality if I refrain from even self-induced sexual release, and let that life force energy build up.

I don't know what it's like to have a female body, but I imagine it's a bit different, physiologically. For men, there is some recovery time needed after orgasm, but women are sexually insatiable, which probably has evolutionary origins to allow for sperm competition through multiple lovers within a short window of time. Anyway, women don't relinquish their life force during sex, and if anything, they receive it from their male partner, if male partners are what they're into. Males are temporarily weakened by sexual release, generally speaking, in a way I don't think women are. Because of this, i think there is some validity in the idea that abstaining from sex is beneficial for males involved in spiritual/magical/mystical work. Just a theory.

 
This totally explains why magic doesn't work for me. Too much whacking off.

I think you may be generalizing too much, though I'll leave it to the women of the Cauldron to address what does or does not happen for them during sex. As for us guys, I don't think of sexual release as relinquishing life force, as releasing pent-up energy; it's not so much that I'm exhausted afterward, as that I'm relaxed and pleasantly sated. (Which is why so many men fall asleep so easily after sex; yes, I'm one of those who will be unconscious about 30 seconds later.) Testosterone gives us an itch to be scratched, and once we scratch it, we're much more easygoing.

I think to the extent some religious traditions try to use celibacy, it's like a dam on a river: A lot of mental energy building up for a long time, that then (perhaps) can be redirected and harnessed to other purposes.
The first song sets the wheel in motion / The second is a song of love / The third song tells of Her devotion / The fourth cries joy from the sky above
The fifth song binds our fate to silence / and bids us live each moment well / The sixth unleashes rage and violence / The seventh song has truth to tell
The last song echoes through the ages / to ask its question all night long / And close the circle on these pages / These, the metamythos songs

Darkhawk

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Posts: 5219
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1123
    • View Profile
    • Suns in her Branches
  • Religion: An American Werewolf in the Akhet; Kemetic; Feri; Imaginary Baltic Heathen; Discordian; UU; CoX; Etc
  • Preferred Pronouns: any of he, they, she
Re: Magic and Male Chastity
« Reply #3 on: December 08, 2016, 10:26:19 am »
Quote from: Altair;199858
As for us guys, I don't think of sexual release as relinquishing life force, as releasing pent-up energy; it's not so much that I'm exhausted afterward, as that I'm relaxed and pleasantly sated.

 
There's a long tradition of using that energy building and then release as part of spellwork, of course.  The trick is getting the mental discipline to direct the energy towards the magically selected goal, rather than towards the getting off.
as the water grinds the stone
we rise and fall
as our ashes turn to dust
we shine like stars    - Covenant, "Bullet"

Jenett

  • Senior Staff
  • *
  • Join Date: Jun 2011
  • Location: Boston, MA
  • Posts: 3743
  • Country: us
  • Total likes: 1235
    • View Profile
    • Seeking: First steps on a path
  • Religion: Initiatory religious witchcraft
  • Preferred Pronouns: she/her
Re: Magic and Male Chastity
« Reply #4 on: December 08, 2016, 12:59:55 pm »
Quote from: Altair;199858

I think to the extent some religious traditions try to use celibacy, it's like a dam on a river: A lot of mental energy building up for a long time, that then (perhaps) can be redirected and harnessed to other purposes.

 
Personally, I think the way religions look at sex is a lot like how religions look at food: that it is a powerful force in human existence, and that some religions play with restricting that (celibacy, fast days, foods that aren't eaten at all), and some play with embracing that (sexual pleasure as a vehicle for worship or magic, feasting, use of specific ritual foods.) A lot of religions do a little of both, in some direction, because otherwise humans being humans, it comes bursting out.

On that note: I can't speak to the general experience of women and sex (because, well, there isn't one and generalising about this kind of stuff generally leaves some people out, and hurts other people, and is inaccurate beside, so I'm pretty much at 'why do that'?), but I can speak to my experience.

Which is basically "It's variable." But on the whole, I would describe it as maybe 6 months of insatiability total since puberty (which for me is just about 30 years), maybe 18 years of sex and orgasm being a regular part of my daily life (not necessarily daily, but regularly), and the remainder where I have gone "Ugh, no" for one reason or another for more than a week or two at a time.

I'm 41 now, so I've had a female body which has gone through puberty, and is pretty much in the last range of pregnancy being possible. That body has had months and years where I wanted a lot of sexual pleasure, with a range of degree. (I've had short periods of time where it was on my mind a lot, and a lot longer periods of 'an orgasm before bed is a nice way to go to sleep but not necessary')  

But my body's also had years where I didn't want any of that. I've been on birth control options that completely killed my libido, and others that made penetrative sex painful and orgasm difficult to come by. (Note that this included something - the Pill - that if I were younger and had fewer stroke risks, I would be taking now for medical reasons, not for birth control. A lot of medications affect sexual response and experience.)

I've had the same effects when I was *not* on hormonal birth control, though for shorter periods of time, and not usually as painful (but for a bit in there with more migraines, significant cramps, and off-cycle bleeding, many of which did not lead to wanting much sexual pleasure in my life.)

I've had other medical issues (which in my case are more common in women than men, on the whole) which lead to exhaustion to a degree where anything other than pure necessities didn't get done, and sex and orgasm was not really necessary, even in its simplest and most self-produced form.

And I've never even been pregnant! Which I am given to understand causes even more changes, plus all the related complications of parenting affecting one's sex drive and opportunities and so on.
Seek Knowledge, Find Wisdom: Research help on esoteric and eclectic topics (consulting and other services)

Seeking: first steps on a Pagan path (advice for seekers and people new to Paganism)

Immortal

  • Apprentice
  • ***
  • Join Date: Dec 2016
  • Posts: 26
  • Total likes: 0
    • View Profile
Re: Magic and Male Chastity
« Reply #5 on: December 08, 2016, 03:50:12 pm »
Quote from: Jenett;199863
Personally, I think the way religions look at sex is a lot like how religions look at food: that it is a powerful force in human existence, and that some religions play with restricting that (celibacy, fast days, foods that aren't eaten at all), and some play with embracing that (sexual pleasure as a vehicle for worship or magic, feasting, use of specific ritual foods.) A lot of religions do a little of both, in some direction, because otherwise humans being humans, it comes bursting out.

On that note: I can't speak to the general experience of women and sex (because, well, there isn't one and generalising about this kind of stuff generally leaves some people out, and hurts other people, and is inaccurate beside, so I'm pretty much at 'why do that'?), but I can speak to my experience.


 
I agree with what most of what Jenett said, only I have had medical problems requiring medication that ruined my sex life for 15 years with one break in which my husband was having a medical problem which ruined our sex life, now for the last year, me on new meds, and he is doing much better, but now I have a new medical problem ruining my sex life... curse inserted here!

All that time I have been insatiable and have orgasmed like twice I think, not for lack of trying. When I do orgasm it is in multiple stages... and I still am wide awake afterward, so yes, I should be exhausted, but no I can't sleep right away... so I don't understand the male experience at all, sorry...

But from a female point of view, Well, I really have trouble seeing woman and even goddesses as powerful because of my lousy upbringing, from how my parents got along and their attitudes toward each other, and in their attitudes toward me compared to their attitudes toward my brothers. I still don't know how to fix that in me...

I have always related more to men possibly because of this - an Athena/Aphrodite kind of girl combo here. Bisexual, but in a heterosexual, monogamous marriage, me being more masculine than hubby a lot of the time emotionally and goal-wise I feel. Sorry for my gender stereotypes, yes I am full of them... Although I usually wear a long dress and sit like a guy, lol... much more comfy!

So, in the end, my two cents are: forced chastity did nothing good at all for my spiritual life, maybe even it made me more scatter-brained and a lot less powerful (I feel powerful for days after an orgasm), and I could see that working ritually in my favor once we get things straightened out; and astrology has more to do with my sexual needs than probably anything else, me being Aries sun, Capricorn moon, and Pisces rising, and my hubby being Capricorn sun, Scorpio moon, Virgo rising, whereas my spiritual needs are also covered by those factors.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings,

Love,
Immortal
Pagan/New Age Shaman wannabe, baby Druid, studying Wicca. I want to be an Interfaith Minister. I have been a Christian, a baby Buddhist and an atheist (kind of).

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
26 Replies
5350 Views
Last post July 26, 2012, 06:11:44 pm
by SunflowerP
5 Replies
1892 Views
Last post April 30, 2013, 11:50:01 pm
by victoreia
3 Replies
3348 Views
Last post February 13, 2020, 02:49:24 pm
by Eastling
24 Replies
4036 Views
Last post July 30, 2015, 07:07:28 am
by Fallron
9 Replies
2691 Views
Last post November 04, 2016, 10:47:42 am
by Jenett

* Who's Online

  • Dot Guests: 197
  • Dot Hidden: 0
  • Dot Users: 0

There aren't any users online.

* Please Donate!

The Cauldron's server is expensive and requires monthly payments. Please become a Bronze, Silver or Gold Donor if you can. Donations are needed every month. Without member support, we can't afford the server.

* Shop & Support TC

The links below are affiliate links. When you click on one of these links you will go to the listed shopping site with The Cauldron's affiliate code. Any purchases you make during your visit will earn TC a tiny percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you.

* In Memoriam

Chavi (2006)
Elspeth (2010)
Marilyn (2013)

* Cauldron Staff

Host:
Sunflower

Message Board Staff
Board Coordinator:
Darkhawk

Assistant Board Coordinator:
Aster Breo

Senior Staff:
Aisling, Allaya, Jenett, Sefiru

Staff:
Ashmire, EclecticWheel, HarpingHawke, Kylara, PerditaPickle, rocquelaire

Discord Chat Staff
Chat Coordinator:
Morag

'Up All Night' Coordinator:
Altair

Cauldron Council:
Bob, Catja, Chatelaine, Emma-Eldritch, Fausta, Jubes, Kelly, LyricFox, Phouka, Sperran, Star, Steve, Tana

Site Administrator:
Randall

SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal