Alice Bunker Stockham - Karezza: Ethics of Marriage

In memory of
Alice Bunker Stockham (1833-1912),
an outstanding woman,
gynecologist, and social reformer

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek:

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet ber www.dnb.de abrufbar.

Reprint of the second edition: Chicago 1903

(First edition: Chicago 1896)

Cover photo:

Cherry blossom in Bonn

(H. Schott, 2016)

SCHOTTs NEUE BIBLIOTHEK / 3

2017 Heinz Schott

Herstellung und Verlag: BoD Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt.

ISBN: 9783744804783

The author's work, TOKOLOGY, was written from years of professional experience to meet a demand among inquiring women on subjects that deeply concern the physical life of the wife and mother. In these later years the world of thought has grown and new discoveries have been made in spiritual as well as material science.

In answer to hundreds of letters of inquiry I send out this message - KAREZZA, elucidating a theory of conjugal life, in which there is a love communion between husband and wife from which results a mastery of the physical and complete control of the fecundating power.

In The Familiar Letter of TOKOLOGY subjects usually considered delicate innature and difficult to handle are presentedindirectly and briefly. In an early edition those interested in a "wiser parentage" are cited to a pamphlet written by a distinguished minister, who therein had given to the world a new and unique theory of controlling propagation. Afterwards to my regret and the disappointment of numerous correspondents it was discovered that the work was out of print.

In later editions of TOKOLOGY, alluding to methods of limiting offspring, the following paragraph occurs: "By some a theory called sedular absorption is advanced. This involves intercourse without culmination. No discharge is allowed. People practicing this method claim the highest possible enjoyment, no loss of vitality, and perfect control of the fecundating power."

Many readers asked for further explanation. It proved that the word Sedular is not found in the dictionaries, but as used in this connection means pertaining to seed, and is so defined in the glossary of the book.

KAREZZA elucidates the above paragraph; gives a high ideal to parental functions; pleads for justice to the unborn child; teaches that the control of procreation is possible with every husband and wife; gives honor to womanhood, and, most of all, controverts the prevailing ideas of baseness and degradation associated with the sexual nature.

KAREZZA may be considered a supplement of TOKOLOGY, and like that, does not deal with ideals, but with tested theories and practical truths. They have been lived and demonstrated, and are here presented to the reader as living facts.

Men and women must learn the significance of the sexual relation, and its possible influence upon life and character. Copulation is more than a propagative act; it is a blending of body, soul and spirit, ennobling or degrading according to the attitude of the participants. For both husband and wife it has a function in soul development that hitherto has been prevented and perverted by the traditional uncleanness attached to this relation. According to man's edict, nature made but one mistake in the evolution of life, and that is, in the human reproductive organs. Reverse this edict, let the search-light of truth illuminate this subject, and a satisfactory solution of many social problems will be evolved. No part of the body should be under condemnation. The young may be enlightened upon important subjects, while the knowledge of sexual science will open the door for the truemarriage.

KAREZZA makes a plea for a better birthright for the child, and aims to lead individuals to seek a higher development of themselves through most sacred relations. It presents truths that are attainable, and when the goal of mastery is reached, the ideal marriage will be consummated in united lives, giving a prophecy of generations of desired and welcome offspring.

Let there be light.

Man is a trinity of spirit, soul and body. Spirit is the source or God-life of man from which all proceeds. Soul is spirit in action, and embraces all that is recognized as individual, personal existence. Soul includes the intellect, the emotions and the sensations. It is the thinking, loving, living realm of man. From the Spirit through conscious training one is capable of developing unlimited forces and possibilities. Soul looks within, to the All, for life, knowledge and power which it expresses without, through the physical. As thought precedes action, so nothing can appear or manifest itself in the body that has not been conceived or thought of in the soul. Soul may recognize spirit as a governing principle, or it may look out through the senses for material manifestations, depending upon symbols only for its concept oflife.

Voluntarily and consciously man may choose between these two roads, - the spiritual or material. In his philosophy, he may recognize and believe all power and all life is from and of the spirit; or, in his philosophy, he may attribute all development, all growth, all evolution from and through matter.

In the spiritual view, recognizing the Divine principle as an ever present, active energy, as life and intelligence operating through the soul upon matter, one comes to conclusions that make all of life's problems less difficult.

Creative energy, expressing through the sexual nature an instinct to perpetuate life, has its origin in, and is coexistent with life itself. It is the power back of all purposes and plans. It is the self-impelling force that gives the ability to do and perform. It is the origin of all activities of child life. It is the inventive genius and impelling factor of all man's handiwork - the thought force of mechanics and machinery.

Both the macrocosms and microcosms of the universe are expressions of the law of life, instinctively put forth by creative energy. This force operates in the multiplication of atoms, in the drawing the pollen upon the stigma; in the attraction of sperm to germ cells. It is the segregation and aggregation of all molecules of matter, founded on the duality ofsex.

The processes of growth and fulfillment of functions are propelled by this omnipresent energy of spirit, which is inherent in, and operative through, all nature. It is back of the physical life of man and other animals, and expresses itself through them. Only when it comes with the strong voice of life demanding perpetuation, is it especially a manifestation of the sex nature - a fulfillment of the law of growth, development and increase. Atoms, cells and plants, are unconscious of this life force, and animals conscious only in a small degree.

Man not only has consciousness of this energy, but through his intelligence is capable of developing greater consciousness of its operation and the law governing it. He knows that he knows, and in this knowledge lies his superiority over the brutes.

This recognition and knowledge makes it possible for man to train this creative potency in all life's purposes and uses. From the inception of the bud of life to its fructifying stage, he may be the master and maker of conditions. There is no karma for him that is not within his own power to mold and make; no passion to usurp authority, no desire that he may not guide and direct. The perfectness of his nature is evolved through the recognition, direction and appropriation of the creative energy, the occult forces of life.