Churton - Gnostic mysteries of sex : Sophia the Wild One and erotic Christianity

GNOSTIC MYSTERIES
of SEX

Gnostic Mysteries of Sex takes us on a wild ride through the secret, enigmatic and heretical world of Gnostics, medieval troubadours, the visions of Blake, and the counterculture of the 1960sall united in their quest for union with God. The reader should not be fooled by Tobias Churtons inimitable style of writing, because beneath his humor and provocative statements, theres a profound understanding of one the greatest mysteries of all timethe power of sexual gnosis.

HENRIK BOGDAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG

In Gnostic Mysteries of Sex, Tobias Churton works to heal Western civilizations deepest woundthe millennia-old divorce of sex and spirit. Revealed herein are the dangerous and radical sexual secrets that the Church could not eradicate, kept hidden by the occult underground through long centuries of persecution, torture, and crusade. And here is the radical message of the Gnostics, as shocking and critically important now as it was in the second centurythat sex is the gateway of liberation, and the kingdom of heaven is within.

JASON LOUV, AUTHOR OF GENERATION HEX AND COAUTHOR OF THEE PSYCHICK BIBLE

If you think the last word has long since been said on the subject of sex, then you need to read this book. The question of how to reconcile sex with spirituality has long preoccupied the religious culture of both East and West. Churton explores how the Gnostics had their own approach to this issue, an approach that he traces down the centuries through the Rosicrucians and the work of poets such as Andrew Marvell and William Blake. Their message, Churton shows, points the way to a glorious synthesis of the sexual and the spiritual.

CHRISTOPHER MCINTOSH, PH.D., HONORARY UNIVERSITY FELLOW AND WESTERN ESOTERICISM LECTURER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER AND AUTHOR OF THEROSICRUCIANS

One of the worlds greatest scholars of what Blake calls the excluded tradition, Tobias Churton brings together a profound knowledge of Western esotericism with extensive new research to weave a rich and multifaceted tapestry detailing the long-hidden mysteries of sexual gnosis. Including in-depth analysis and detailed commentary on select sacred and heretical texts from Epiphanius, Hippolytus, Valentinus, Blake, Crowley, and more, Gnostic Mysteries of Sex is an illuminating volume filled with passion, truth, fascinating detail, and dynamic historical perspectives.

JOHN ZORN, MUSICIAN

Churton brings to this frank and deeply insightful study a surprisingly personal and moving narrative. The late scholar of Gnosticism Ioan Couliano once said the Gnostics were the champions of free thoughtasserting a freedom to explore every logical possibility of their complex demiurgic estrangement from God and nature. Its not so surprising then that sexual metaphysics and practices in all of their permutations were explored, along with the big questions they pose, and the gnosis they transmit. As Churton observes, The new heaven and new earth result from an improvement of sensual enjoyment. There was, and is, need of it.

STEPHEN J. KING (SHIVA X), GRAND MASTER, ORDO TEMPLI ORIENTIS

Readable and hugely informative, Churton makes a solid case that explains the Christian teachings on sex as reactive to the non-canonical texts. As Churton writes, sex is the essential battleground between heresy and orthodoxy. I suspect this may be a totally new branch of scholarship.

VANILLA BEER, ARTIST

An erudite view of a fascinating subject. Highly recommended.

DONALD TRAXLER, TRANSLATOR OF THE WORKS OF MARIA DE NAGLOWSKA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I should not have made my way down this intriguing road to the futurea possible future anywayhad it not been that Jon Graham, Acquisitions Editor of Inner Traditions, kindly suggested that I write a book about the lascivious one, or Prunikos (spellings vary): the Virgin-Whore goddess of wisdom, also known among some Gnostics as Barbelo, the real Mother, according to Sethian Gnostics, of Jesus, and all redeemed children of the knowledge of the heart. This grew into the present attempt to cover the entire aspect of sexual practices and erosophies of the first great Gnostic movement, with a mind to some of the inheritors of those extraordinarily daring traditions that answer the question: What is the true meaning of sex? Without Jon, this book would not exist.

I should also like to thank, for their help and encouragement, Samantha Roddick, who reminded me of the significance today of the Gnostic concept of androgyny for sexual freedom, and Jean Luke Epstein, for his generous, thoughtful spirit.

Trying to fathom the mystery of Barbelo provided happy cause to contact again the insightful David Tibet, this time in his role as Coptologist. He very astutely passed on my initial forays into the etymology of Barbelo to Coptologist and scholar of esotericism Professor Dylan M. Burns at Leipzig University and to fellow Coptologist Professor Hugo Lundhaug of Oslo Universitys theology faculty. Their thoughtful, critical comments I found most helpful in focusing my research. They may still not approve of my conclusionstime will tellbut these conclusions are better presented and thought through thanks to their generous responses to Davids inquiry on my behalf.

I must make special mention of Paul Bembridge, my colleague at Exeter Universitys Department of Western Esotericism. His response to an inquiry I put to him concerning William Blakes golden riddle (as I have called it) was truly fabulous, and kick-started an even deeper probe into the startling world of seventeenth-century esoteric symbolism than I had anticipated. Thank you, Paul.

This book extends my work on the Gnostics, which now stretches back over thirty years and which has taken many forms: essays, books, TV documentaries, lectures, DVDs, music, and a number of movie scripts. In all that time, I have wonderful memories of conversing in depth with some of the greatest scholars on this subject who have ever lived. I am thinking of Hans Jonas, Gilles Quispel, Elaine Pagels, James M. Robinson, R. McLachlan Wilson, Kathleen Raine, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, Frank van Lamoen, and Christopher McIntosh.

In trying once more to understand the mystery that persists in understanding the Cathars and the troubadours, I think with fond affection of past conversations with Joost Ritman, Esther Ritman, Grard Zuchetto, Anne Brenon, Michel Rocquebert, R. I. Moore, Columba Powell, and Heinz Reinhoffer. For Sasha Chaitows ready response to inquiries concerning the wonder that was Josphin Pladan, I am truly grateful.

This book is really about the secret meaning of love, so I dedicate it to my wife, Joanna, and daughter, Merove Sophia, for though I have written much, I could never find the words to express what you mean to me.

INTRODUCTION

THE GNOSTIC SEX BOOK

O h GawdNot another sex book! The oldest game in the world and yet another twist on a tired old thread: Is that what we have here? Well, Im bound to say no! But having said so, I must confess to sharing the reservations of many who might see a title like this and think it is merely another sex guide we can all do without. You know the kind of thing: Domestic Tantra for Nonbelievers or The Ultimate Secrets of Sacred Sex. God forbid!

Lets face it, most of us have some kind of problem with sex somewhere down the line, whether it be quality, quantity, cultural inhibition, disability, or something else, but we cant honestly say that the plethora of sex guides have helped all that much. For starters, the pictures dont have quite the resonance they did back in the 1970s! Experience, on the other hand, is a great teacher, but her fees can be very high. As for the price of wisdomunlike our contemporary tsunami of Internet pornwisdoms price is far above rubies, coming, unlike rubies, from far above.