Different Forms of Hieros Gamos
Dec. 27th, 2008 08:30 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosStandard disclaimer: These are my experiences. Mileage varies.
While exchanging comments with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
freyasman this morning, I realized for the first time that I've been using the term hieros gamos to refer to two different-but-related experiences.
The first one relates most closely to what is, for me, the primary source of the hieros gamos: the consecration of some of the kings of Sumer through ritual marriage to Inanna.
My first experience of this was a spontaneous magical-sexual act with LM in which I acted as a priestess to ritually redeem and reaffirm his kingly nature from/over his beastly nature. It was something that happened unexpectedly, but once we were engaged in the process it was very clear what was going on, and there were marked and lasting shifts in his character and demeanor afterward. As a priestess, I was empowered by my relationship with Inanna to be able to facilitate the transformation in my partner.
Although this particular encounter was not planned between LM and myself, this was a role I had been yearning to play for decades. I hadn't expected the form it would take, but I had long felt on a very deep level that part of my "job" is to affirm and consecrate kingship. I had no idea how I was ever going to do that in this day and age, unless it was in a roleplaying situation. I consider it great blessing that I was able to do it authentically. We continued to play and work with the priestess-king dynamic during our time together, but a true "king making" only happens once in a lifetime for a particular man.
One of the things LM and I need to continue to explore together is how to use the hieros gamos dynamic of priestess-king-sovereignty to do our Work. We have done one very powerful ritual that I realize at this moment I still can not write about here.
The second form I experience is closer to what I consider "sacred prostitution" rather than "sacred marriage." In this form, I am a hierodule, a "sacred slave" (hieros doulos -- although there may be more correct form of the Greek?), who acts as a vessel or conduit between a Goddess and a man who worships Her. In this situation I am aware of being the place where Goddess and man meet: Her energy coming through me to him, his worship in erotic form coming through me to Her. Neither is making love to me, although they both use my body, but I partake of the energies flowing through me and experience pleasure. In this role, it has always been Freyja whom I have served.
I hadn't realized until writing this post that my two experiences of hieros gamos involve different power exchange roles. As the priestess, I hold the authority of the Goddess, and I am an active/yang participant in the rite. The king and I are partners, each supreme in our own sphere, and our sexual ritual is the place where those spheres overlap and further empower each other. Any power dynamic (yin/yang) takes place on an extremely subtle level, according to the needs of the moment. I respect the king and his authority, but I do not defer to him.
As a hierodule, I am in a wholly submissive/yin role. I do act, but the action is to facilitate the energy transmission while minimizing the degree to which I am involved on a conscious-personal level. It is a priestess role, but one in which the priestess effaces herself as far as possible. I am the slave of the Goddess -- and sometimes of the man; my role is to serve, not engage.
While exchanging comments with
freyasman this morning, I realized for the first time that I've been using the term hieros gamos to refer to two different-but-related experiences.The first one relates most closely to what is, for me, the primary source of the hieros gamos: the consecration of some of the kings of Sumer through ritual marriage to Inanna.
My first experience of this was a spontaneous magical-sexual act with LM in which I acted as a priestess to ritually redeem and reaffirm his kingly nature from/over his beastly nature. It was something that happened unexpectedly, but once we were engaged in the process it was very clear what was going on, and there were marked and lasting shifts in his character and demeanor afterward. As a priestess, I was empowered by my relationship with Inanna to be able to facilitate the transformation in my partner.
Although this particular encounter was not planned between LM and myself, this was a role I had been yearning to play for decades. I hadn't expected the form it would take, but I had long felt on a very deep level that part of my "job" is to affirm and consecrate kingship. I had no idea how I was ever going to do that in this day and age, unless it was in a roleplaying situation. I consider it great blessing that I was able to do it authentically. We continued to play and work with the priestess-king dynamic during our time together, but a true "king making" only happens once in a lifetime for a particular man.
One of the things LM and I need to continue to explore together is how to use the hieros gamos dynamic of priestess-king-sovereignty to do our Work. We have done one very powerful ritual that I realize at this moment I still can not write about here.
The second form I experience is closer to what I consider "sacred prostitution" rather than "sacred marriage." In this form, I am a hierodule, a "sacred slave" (hieros doulos -- although there may be more correct form of the Greek?), who acts as a vessel or conduit between a Goddess and a man who worships Her. In this situation I am aware of being the place where Goddess and man meet: Her energy coming through me to him, his worship in erotic form coming through me to Her. Neither is making love to me, although they both use my body, but I partake of the energies flowing through me and experience pleasure. In this role, it has always been Freyja whom I have served.
I hadn't realized until writing this post that my two experiences of hieros gamos involve different power exchange roles. As the priestess, I hold the authority of the Goddess, and I am an active/yang participant in the rite. The king and I are partners, each supreme in our own sphere, and our sexual ritual is the place where those spheres overlap and further empower each other. Any power dynamic (yin/yang) takes place on an extremely subtle level, according to the needs of the moment. I respect the king and his authority, but I do not defer to him.
As a hierodule, I am in a wholly submissive/yin role. I do act, but the action is to facilitate the energy transmission while minimizing the degree to which I am involved on a conscious-personal level. It is a priestess role, but one in which the priestess effaces herself as far as possible. I am the slave of the Goddess -- and sometimes of the man; my role is to serve, not engage.
