From sacrifice to sacrament
The subject of Female sexuality and patriarchal religious dogma has been a source of exploration, in both philosophical debate and theological enquiry throughout the centuries.
From the exhortations of Aquinas to the second Vatican council, questions to do with women’s bodies, women’s place within the Christian church, within the home, with regards non choice in matters of birth control, her “duties” to her husband etc. have opened up a deeper conversation regarding women, sexuality and the so-called token feminine face of god.
As a young nun in the sixties, I already knew that being a woman prohibited me from having my voice heard within the assemblies of Church gatherings. I had learnt that women must keep quiet and follow the dictates of tradition even when that tradition is abusive and controlling. Did you know that nuns still bound their breasts in the seventies? Mother church did not like women’s bodies at all.
Popes throughout church history have defended the state of priesthood as sacrosanct therefore not available to the unclean, menstruating woman. Many dubious theories and mistaken translations of the Bible have reinstated these ideologies. In particular, Eve our first mother was portrayed both as temptress and the first woman to say ‘no’ to the father. And through her, we, her children, inherited the curse of Original Sin. Therefore this state of sin was not something we acquired through years of personal wrongdoing rather, because of the sinfulness of the mother, our original nature was tainted.
Eve had the audacity to disobey the father
She listened to her own wisdom or Gnosis and decided that the knowledge of the tree of life, should have been available to male and female alike. There seems to be a fairness in the psychology of woman, a sense of sharing. The synergy of Unity consciousness which cooperates and aligns itself with wholeness, does not fit the separatist gospel of Mother church.
When it comes to sexuality women have an innate sense of timing and completion. The soul or life force lives in the now and vibrates at a deeper, slower frequency than the driven ego mind with its end gaining. The soul’s natural state of waiting, watching with, being present to what is, is what the feminine knows. Young women have learnt to wait, to watch with themselves every month, they know their own inner rhythms and answer to the laws of Mother Nature rather than to the rules and dictates of consumerism whether that comes from industrialism or religions.
From what I know of Karezza (The word itself kind of caresses me!), it is the act of bonding with a partner not necessarily with a view to sexual interaction and seems to follow a natural rhythm, a sensual flow. A flow that is ignited by the power of sensitivity, presence and respect. Having lived in a society where goal setting, success orientated forward thinking, penetrative commercialism and penetrative sex is the norm then anything that slows us down is feared …because it appears new. And how we need it!
This slowing down is a godsend for women
At long last we are presented with a natural form of sexuality, sensuality that fits our biology and more right brain magnetic energy. Maybe this is one way we can let men see that the feminine is powerful, because she knows the timing of things…and she can teach men how to love and delight in her body not use it as a sacrifice to the god of the father.
I would love to hear men sharing what this slower, non-goal-oriented bonding with their partners might be like for them. It is good to share both sides…
