[This lesson builds on How Sex Became Sacred, which explains that sacred sex is rooted in the very essence & nature of life. Sex in the Cradle goes on to describe how our earliest civilizations honored & celebrated that natural truth of life.]


In the beginning....

Rarely has such a phrase wielded more power over the human psyche as to the origin and true nature of our existence. And well it should, for whether you accept it in a religious sense - defining how God created us - or in a Darwinian sense - stating how we were when life was simpler and more natural - it conjures up visions of our primal human condition. 'In the beginning' reminds us of our roots, our pure nature, our original human design. In doing so, it inspires questions relevant to our present day: are we living the purpose for which we were created? Have we fallen from divine grace? Or as evolutionists might simply say, has humanity lost its natural innocence?

In short, the way things were 'in the beginning' serves as a wake-up call as to how they're meant to be NOW. It alerts us to the ideas and events over the millennia that have slowly eroded our original purity and innocence. It also inspires us to regain our lost heritage -- to return to a way of life that is our birthright, and therefore also our destiny. And perhaps most important, it shows that in awakening to innocence we are not forging new ground, exploring uncharted territory, or venturing into the unknown; rather, we are coming full circle, returning to a higher truth that was once ours, but that we somehow lost along the way. We are simply returning home to the way we once were, and are always meant to be.

Our heritage shows us the way home to ourselves. So let's explore how it was 'in the beginning', and see what it reveals about how life today ought to be.

The civilization we build always reflects our culture. It expresses our self-image, whether it be sophisticated & technological as in the west today, artsy & romantic as in much of old Europe, philosophical & cultural as in ancient Greece and Rome, richly spiritual as in much of Asia, or deeply attuned to nature as were the ancient Egyptians, Druids, Native Americans, and more.

It should therefore not be surprising that humanity's earliest societies reveal our simplest essence, our fundamental inborn nature, our purest self-identity. After all, there weren't a lot of extraneous ideas to latch onto -- it was just us, nature, and well...that's about it. It's no wonder that we, in the innocence of our youth as a species, had a natural view of things.

To learn what that natural life view was, let us return to the cradle. Not the cradle of infancy, but the cradle of civilization.

PART I - SACRED SEX IN THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION

On our journey, we'll travel back in time to ancient Sumer, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. We'll also time-travel to other scattered societies of that age. But first, let's look at the pre-civilization cultures that evolved into them, before recorded history. There we'll find the archetypal images at the core of the human psyche, that shape our view of who we are.

You might think that we know nothing about such early history, because there is no written record. But our early ancestors left behind something that is nearly as clear a sign of their culture -- prehistoric art.

Art is a good indicator of our view of the world and our place in it, because we create it solely for self-expression, not utilitarian need. Self-image and cultural values, not functional use & need, shape art. Art represents how the artist and culture view themselves. Classical, medieval, Renaissance, colonial, folk art, and others all expose the culture that created them. They also serve as an historical record of that culture, giving future generations a peek into those values. So it is with prehistoric art.

Art is purely for creative expression (it may also have ceremonial or spiritual significance, but these serve as cultural indicators in the same way). In art, we are free to create what we want. In doing so, we create what we value and what inspires us -- expressions of who we are. This was as true in ancient times as it is today.

To see more goddess figurines, visit the Sacred Sex Art Archive

Some of the earliest finds of sculpted art from pre-civilization are what archeologists commonly call 'venus figurines'. Hundreds of these figures, dating from 25,000 BCE, carved from stone, bone, ivory, terra-cotta, and other materials, and found throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and later (c. 3,000 BCE) in the Americas, typically have one thing in common: they depict the fertile, matronly nature of the female form. The numerous examples of such carvings (and notable lack of male figures) have led many scholars to suggest that early societies venerated the female form, associating it with the earth-mother. The reason for this is easy to see.

Since the dawn of humanity, the earth has provided what we need in order to survive and grow -- food, water, clothing, and shelter. This same relationship was seen between women and children. Mothers not only gave birth - life itself - but also fed, clothed, and sheltered their children. Also like the earth, which rotates through the seasons, women go through cycles. In both cases, these cycles are directly related to fertility -- the creation of food and newborns.

To the simple-minded people of early societies, these were all great mysteries of life. Why women bled in cycles that follow the moon, how they grow babies like the earth grows fruits & grain -- these were likely things that captured the minds of those whose lives revolved around such events. It's therefore only natural to see why the earth was venerated as a mother, and her fertility - as well as our own - was honored.

It's easy to speculate that early hunter & gatherer tribes, facing rugged conditions and common need for brute force, were male dominated, but evidence suggests this was not the case. Sculpted venus figurines aside, paleolithic art drawn on cave walls shows not only as many female figures and symbols as male, but also that the female symbology occupies a more central place in the art. Drawings typically depict female fertility signs at the center, with male tribe members all around engaged in the hunt.

This suggests that our early ancestors saw female fertility as a sign of luck, bringing success to the hunt, and other tribal activities. This has led some scholars to propose that women had an important shamanic type role in the tribes, equal in value to the man's. Another factor that may have contributed to this was her role in ancestral worship.

Ancestral worship was no doubt a significant part of paleolithic life (evidenced by elaborate burial sites that have been found). The early clans people likely viewed their forebears as protectors from the other world. At the same time, these nomadic tribes had little or no formal family structure on earth. Man & woman were not married, and families did not exist in the sense that we know them today. Instead, women were likely regarded as the sole parent of children; the father was either unknown, or more likely, the primitives were even unaware of the male's reproductive role. From all physical appearances, women just seem to 'grow' babies. Ancestral lines were therefore matrilineal, and it fell to the women to carry out this all-important ritual worship.

Indeed, lack of awareness of the male role in reproduction may also be responsible for what many scholars call a 'goddess culture' among these early societies. Viewing women as the sole givers of life, it would have been easy to conceive of a primordial mother -- a supernal ancestress who gave birth to all life. After all, it was a power - the power to give life - which no man had. This would certainly explain her place in the paleolithic art & artifacts.

In such a society, where its reproductive role may not have been known, sex was likely seen as a way for man to connect to this strange and powerful woman. She was full of mysterious wonders (menstruation) and powers (childbearing, nursing) linked to her sexuality, and he was sexually attracted to the body parts that produced these wonders. The sex act then, was likely seen as a link to these wonderful mysteries. And the pleasure of it all no doubt told them that these mysteries were to be celebrated. That is the likely origin of the culture of celebratory sex that was to thrive for millennia before our prudish moralism shut it down.

Whatever the details of these early societies, this much is clear: that men & women each had valued roles and status, and that fertility and sex were part of the natural order of life.

The veneration of fertility and sexuality took even stronger hold when the first full-fledged civilizations cropped up.

Civilization began to take root when nomadic hunters & gatherers discovered farming. This enabled them to settle in fertile regions, and build their culture. These cultures naturally grew off the bounty of the land, and the seasonal cycle of mother earth - her fertility cycle - grew more & more ingrained in society. Also, growing knowledge of the male reproductive role, likely gleaned from seeing how seed grows into crop, solidified the sanctity of sex. The male planting of seed in the female became directly linked to planting crop seed in the ground.

The very fact that the ancients held this view indicates their belief that sex is sacred, since there is no physical connection between the two. Sex could only increase crops if it had some sacred power.

This link was vital enough for the ancients to build their cultures around it. The sex act was widely honored, regularly celebrated, and even religiously observed, as a fertility rite. Sex was celebrated for bringing forth nature's bounty, in harmony with her fertility cycle, the seasons. It also became linked with the general welfare and prosperity of the people. Our ancestors saw the link between human fertility and the flourishing of civilization in a spiritual way.

Just how clearly and closely sex was linked to fertility of the land and prosperity of the people is evidenced by the archeological finds of one of our earliest civilizations.

Sumer, in the ancient land of Mesopotamia, left behind a rich written lore on clay tablets attesting to the sacred view of sexuality. Central to this was their ritual & belief surrounding the goddess Inanna.

To see more images of Inanna, visit the Sacred Sex Art Archive

Inanna was goddess of, among other things, love & fertility. That the Sumerians saw an intimate connection between human and agricultural fertility is graphically depicted in their celebration of the spring growing season. This annual rite also vividly illustrates their sacred view of sex.

Called Hieros Gamos by the Greek historians who later wrote about it, this most important ritual of the year means 'Sacred Marriage'. The multi-day celebration coincided with the spring equinox, which marked the Sumerian new year. Its purpose was to win goddess Inanna's blessing for the king's rule, to safeguard the people, and to ensure a fruitful growing season.

That in itself is of little note. What is striking though, is how they consecrated these beliefs. That is to say, this was not your common coronation, nor a typical Native American rain dance to nourish crops. The status of sex in the Sumerian scheme of things shows itself in the nature of this ritual:

Hieros Gamos took the form of a marriage between the current ruling king, and the goddess Inanna, complete with - even featuring - sexual consummation. The ritual was performed by the king and the temple priestess in the role of Inanna.

The sacred marriage took place in the main temple, where the king waited for the priestess, in her role as the goddess, to receive him. One verse from the tablets proclaims how, by their sacred union, "The throne in the great sanctuary is made glorious like the daylight" and the king like the Sun-god. It also states that the Sumerian people "prosper before him."

Other verses from the period give a much more graphic view of the Sumerian view of sex. If any doubt remains about the link between fertility of the land and that of the womb in the eyes of our early ancestors, the verses of the Gudea Cylinders, circa 2,100 BCE, dispel it:

Quote:

[Inanna is speaking to the king, Dumuzi.] My vulva, the horn, The boat of Heaven, Is full of eagerness like the young moon. My untilled land lies fallow. As for me, Inanna, Who will plow my vulva? Who will plow my high field? Who will plow my wet ground? As for me, the young woman, Who will plow my vulva? Who will station the ox there? Who will plow my vulva? Dumuzi replies: Great Lady, the king will plow your vulva, I, Dumuzi the King, will plow your vulva. Inanna accepts him, saying: Then plow my vulva, man of my heart, Plow my vulva.... [Descriptive narration]: At the king's lap stood the rising cedar. Plants grew high by their side. Grains grew high by their side. Gardens flourished luxuriantly. Inanna sings: He has sprouted; he has burgeoned; He is lettuce planted by the water. He is the one my womb loves best. My well-stocked garden of the plain, My barley growing high in its furrow, My apple tree which bears fruit up to its crown, He is lettuce planted by the water.... Dumuzi sings: O Lady, your breast is your field. Inanna, your breast is your field. Your broad field pours out plants. Your broad field pours out grain. Water flows from on high for your servant. Bread flows from on high for your servant. Pour it out for me, Inanna. I will drink all you offer.... [Inanna is speaking:] .... Before my lord Dumuzi, I poured out plants from my womb. I placed plants before him, I poured out plants before him. I placed grain before him, I poured out grain before him. I poured out grain from my womb.

Besides the clear agrarian reference, the verses clearly show that the Sumerians did not view the rite as mere physical sex between people. The high priestess saw herself as an embodiment of the Goddess on earth, and held her sexuality as sacred:

Quote:

Last night as I, the queen, was shining bright, Last night as I, the Queen of Heaven, was shining bright.... My lord Dumuzi met me....[He] is ready for the holy loins.

It is also clear that the purpose of the rite was to bring more than good crops. It was meant to bless both the king and the people. And Inanna is explicit about the source of that blessing. After singing, "Let the milk of the goat flow in my sheepfold," Inanna reveals what her 'sheepfold' womb (which she also calls the 'house of life') does for her people:

Quote:

My husband, I will guard my sheepfold for you. I will watch over your house of life, the storehouse, The shining quivering place that delights Sumer - The house that decides the fates of the land, The house that gives the breath of life to the people. I, the queen of the palace, will watch over your house.

After Inanna calls for the "royal bed" and the king caresses her on it, Inanna blesses him:

Quote:

.... He caressed me on the bed. Now I will caress my high priest on the bed....I will decree a sweet fate for him. The Queen of Heaven,...Inanna, the First Daughter of the Moon, Decreed the fate of Dumuzi: In battle I am your leader, In combat I am your armor-bearer, In the assembly I am your advocate, On the campaign I am your inspiration. ....In all ways you are fit: To hold your head high on the lofty dais, To sit on the lapis lazuli throne, To cover your head with the holy crown, To wear long clothes on your body, To bind yourself with the garments of kingship, To carry the mace and sword, To guide straight the long bow and arrow, To fasten the throw-stick and sling at your side, To race on the road with the holy sceptre in your hand, And the holy sandals on your feet, To prance on the holy breast like a lapis lazuli calf. You, the sprinter, the chosen shepherd, In all ways you are fit. May your heart enjoy long days. That which [the gods have] granted -- may it not be changed. ....Inanna holds you dear.

An assisting priestess then leads Dumuzi to the "sweet thighs" of Inanna and beseeches her on behalf of the people:

Quote:

My queen, here is the choice of your heart, The king, your beloved bridegroom. May he spend long days in the sweetness of your holy loins. Give him a favorable and glorious reign. Grant him the king's throne, firm in its foundations. Grant him the shepherd's staff of judgment. Grant him the enduring crown with the radiant and noble diadem. From where the sun rises to where the sun sets, From south to north, From the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, From the land of the huluppu-tree to the land of the cedar, Let his shepherd's staff protect all of Sumer and Akkad. As the farmer, let him make the fields fertile, As the shepherd, let him make the sheepfolds multiply, Under his reign let there be vegetation, Under his reign let there be rich grain. In the marshland may the fish and birds chatter, In the canebrake may the young and old reeds grow high, In the steppe may the mashgur-trees grow high, In the forests may the deer and wild goats multiply, In the orchards may there be honey and wine, In the gardens may the lettuce and cress grow high, In the palace may there be long life. May there be floodwater in the Tigris and Euphrates, May the plants grow high on their banks and fill the meadows, May the Lady of Vegetation pile the grain in heaps and mounds. O my Queen of Heaven and Earth, Queen of all the universe, May he enjoy long days in the sweetness of your holy loins. -- translation taken from Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth, by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer

There can be no doubt that the Sumerians viewed the sacred marriage of their king to the Goddess as intimately connected to the food bounty and general welfare & prosperity of the people. Its description is both sensual and reverent, beautifully capturing the heart of a culture.

Hieros Gamos was well established in Sumerian society by 3,500 BCE, and likely existed less formally for centuries, if not millennia, before. Indeed, it was no passing fad or fringe social idea -- records indicate it lasted over 2,000 years as an annual rite. Some scholars believe it existed in primitive form for 5,000 years or more.

Hieros Gamos also was not some exclusive rite known only to the priestly class. It was a communal celebration involving the whole society, which participated in the festivities and witnessed the ritual coupling, even chanting ceremonial verses during the act. Thus it was the common view of the citizenry that sex was sacred, and intimately tied to the collective welfare.

Nor was sacred sex a once-annual ritual with little presence in everyday life. Temple priestesses devoted to Inanna and other goddesses of the time practiced sacred sex rites with common citizens as part of daily life. Some scholars today refer to such practice as 'sacred prostitution', defining it as little more than common prostitution legitimized by temples of the time. While some of the practice no doubt fits that label, it is plainly wrong to lump all of it in the same category.

For one thing, that simplistic view conflicts with the evidence suggested by the Hieros Gamos ritual (and the pre-civilization culture that evolved into it). More concretely though, evidence from the later and similar Babylonian culture, clearly shows that there were different types of temple priestesses, engaged in distinct sexual practices.

In Babylon, such women were classified in no less than three ways; among them:

• Ishtaritu - virgin priestesses who exclusively served goddess Ishtar (the Babylonian equivalent of Inanna), and made love only with the divine as part of their inner spiritual practice;
• Qadishtu - learned priestesses who invoked Ishtar when performing the love act with men, to link sex and spirit in the people they served (qadishtu literally means 'sanctified or undefiled woman'); and
• Harimtu - affiliated with the temple, but more akin to a common prostitute.

Babylonian lovers, c. 1,900-1,700 BCE	carving found in the Judean desert, c. 18,000-12,000 BCE

• Land ownership brought competition for resources, conflict over territory, and ideas of dominion over others (human slaves, wives as property to work home & land).
  
• Women, with their capacity to birth the needed agricultural labor force, became one of society's most valuable commodities, contributing to their label as property.
  
• Marriage, stable family structure, and the idea of patrilineal descent led men to restrict sexual access to their women, in order to guarantee familial inheritance. Customs or practices that encouraged open sexuality were eliminated.
  
• Invasion by warring, male-dominated pastoralists overthrew the peaceful male/female balanced societies (this idea is questioned by some scholars, especially with regard to the Indus Valley Region).
  
• Civilization brought about a more diversified society, with broader achievements typically for men; open sexuality (falsely) became viewed as a distraction to those advancements.
  
• Civilized society, with its increased thinking and leisure time for ruling men, encouraged the rise of male-dominated 'ethics', promoting values that limited the rights & powers of women.

PART II - SEXUAL CHALLENGE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The first shift toward patriarchal society in the cradle of civilization region came from the Old Testament Hebrews. The time period for this major transition is 2,000-1,000 BCE.

In order to accurately understand the events of this era, we must give it proper perspective. Our contemporary religious view of this period is overly simplistic. We see this time as a monotheistic intercession, and quickly dismiss everything before it as false pagan belief. Unfortunately, the Biblical evidence itself does not support that view. Rather, it suggests that the Old Testament builds on the lore of the civilizations that preceded it, even while radically adapting it to fit the new patriarchal worldview.

While that may sound like an extreme statement, consider these cornerstone Old Testament beliefs, and their likely origins as reconstructed from archeological finds:

• Creation (Genesis 1.2-10) - the earlier Sumerian lore also held that the world was formed out of the watery abyss, and that the heavens and earth were divinely separated from one another;
• Creation of man out of earth/clay (Genesis 2.7) as in the Sumerian version;
• Creation of Eve out of Adam's rib (Genesis 2.21-22), like the Sumerian story of Ninti (literally, 'she who makes live') who cures Enki's rib (the Hebrew name for Eve, in Genesis 3.20, is 'Chavah', meaning 'life' or 'living');
• Garden of Eden (Genesis 2.8-14), like the Sumerian 'Dilmun', is a pure and holy land, overflowing with sweet water, wherein the Sumerian god, like the Hebrew one, causes plants & trees to grow;
• Adam & Eve/tree of knowledge of good & evil/serpent/fall of man (Genesis 3) - these draw on various Sumerian sources;
• Noah & the flood (Genesis 6-8) - a nearly identical story exists in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, including saving all the animals;
• Infant Moses (Exodus 2.3) - King Sargon of Accad was also left in a river basket as an infant and rose 'from an ark of bulrushes';
• Parting of the sea (Exodus 14.21) - Sumerian god Marduk defeated the ocean goddess, Tiamat by splitting her apart;
• The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20.3-17) - these bear resemblance to a list in the Egyptian Book of the Dead (written circa 1240 BCE, the same time generally attributed to the Exodus from Egypt).

PART III - 'SACRED SEXISM' IN ANCIENT GREECE

Greece in the millennium before Christ - the height of its influence - did not have the patriarchal influence from religion that we saw in the Middle East. Nevertheless, the sacred sex culture that had spread to the Mediterranean was still strongly impacted by patriarchal ideology, this time in a secular way -- through the rise of male-dominated philosophy & ethics.

What is interesting is that this led to a much different culture than was developing in Old Testament Israel. Whereas the Hebrews subjugated the early sacred sex cultures through a general prohibition against sex (and polytheism), the Greeks instead embraced sexuality (for the most part), but took many of the sacred sex customs, gave them a male slant, and used them to suppress the rights and powers of women.

Thus, the Greeks both contributed to and detracted from sacred sex tradition in society. Unfortunately, even in embracing sacred sex ideas, the male-bias inherently brought a loss of wholeness that dissipated much of sex's sacred value. Let's start with the positive and see where sacred sex went astray.

The Greek contribution to sacred sex can be summed up in one word: Eros. To the Greeks, Eros was the glue or magnetism that holds the universe together. It is the interrelatedness of all life, and the harmony between all beings.

Today, most people equate the word Eros with love and sexuality. There is good reason for that, but Eros is so much more. Love and lovemaking, in bringing people together in union, were part of Eros, but a fuller definition is what we would call 'God's Love' -- that all-attracting force that makes creation a unified diversity, a uni-verse. To the Greeks, human love and sexuality were simply ways to participate in that greater Eros.

Eros is not the physical sex act itself; it is the meaningful connection you feel during sex. That connectedness is not just with your immediate partner, but rather to creation as a whole. You feel a sense of belonging, inclusion, and oneness with creation during sex. That experience, which is exactly what sacred sex creates, is Eros.

Unfortunately, like so many sacred sex ideas, Eros has been demonized by modern religionists and moralists, who equate it with lust & sin. But to the Greeks who evolved the idea, it was exactly the opposite. One hymn to Eros, whom the Greeks personified as a god, calls him "great, pure, lovely, and sweet", and requests him to rid the heart of evil. Thus Eros is purifying, not degrading.

In his Symposium, Plato notes the distinction between sacred and profane love, and describes Eros as the driving power that leads the soul from physical love all the way up to the love of everlasting 'ideas', Plato's version of eternal Truths. Benjamin Jowett, in his Introduction to the Symposium, comments:

Quote:

"Plato seems also to be aware that there is a mystery of love not only in nature, but in man, extending far beyond the mere immediate relation of the sexes. He is conscious that the highest and noblest things in the world are not easily severed from the sensual desires, or may even be regarded as a spiritualized form of them.... Love is with Plato not merely the feeling usually so called, but the mystical contemplation of the beautiful and the good. The same passion which may wallow in the mire is capable of rising to the highest summit -- of penetrating to the inmost secret of philosophy."

While these ideas, like most ancient sacred sex understanding, have largely faded from view, some traces of sacred sex have come down to us from Greece, hidden right before our eyes...or rather, ears. Perhaps the best legacy left behind by the Eros-loving Greeks is the word 'orgasm'. This term, which describes the typical goal of sex, comes from the Greek root orgas, which means - in language strikingly reminiscent of the sacred sex connection between human & agricultural fertility - a 'well-watered, fertile spot of land; a rich tract of land sacred to the gods and goddesses' (Liddell-Scott Greek-English Lexicon).

Another term has similar sacred sex meaning, although this one has been turned completely upside down. The word 'orgy', today viewed as a hedonistic debauchery, comes from the Greek root orgia, meaning 'secret rites, secret worship, practised [sic] by the initiated'. This term was likely used to describe the Hieros Gamos rites practiced by the early sacred sex cultures.

Unfortunately, the Eros-centered sexual ideals of Greece did not translate into a genuine sacred sex society, due to the patriarchal bias attached to it. Instead, a male-dominated society emerged, with only sacred sex vestiges. Cursory thought might assume this patriarchal society to resemble the one rising in the Middle East out of the Old Testament influence, but this was not so. The reason was the style of male domination. While the transition to patriarchy in the Middle East was driven by religion, Greek patriarchy was fueled by its secular counterpart: philosophical ethics. This led the Greeks down a different road with regard to sex. Whereas the Hebrews downplayed it entirely, the Greeks embraced it, but from a very male-centric view.

It is not possible to say exactly what compelled the male oriented sexual views held by the Greeks. It is not even possible to know for sure that such ideas belonged to the masses, or whether they were only those of the prominent philosophers, from whom we have our image of ancient Greece. A likely scenario is that the male philosophers, seeing their gender as the thinker leaders of the day (in Plato's words, 'philosopher kings'), and dismissed the value of women in society, except to serve men. This idea was then institutionalized through law and custom, and filtered down to the masses.

A more critical view of the male philosophers is that in all their pondering over sex and ethics, they came to fear their own sexual desires, and so sought to limit the power of women to influence them. This may not be far from the truth, in that it fits with the view that women and their sexuality stand in the way of patriarchal goals. To the Old Testament Hebrews, those goals were of worship and obedience to God. To the Greeks, they were the creation of civil society. In either case, it is sad thinking that women are responsible for male weaknesses, whether religious or secular. If man has not found God, or achieved something in worldly life, is woman to blame? Psychologists today would call it denial -- refusal to take responsibility for one's own life.

Whatever the underlying cause, it gave rise to axioms like the following, from Pythagoras. Best known as the 'Father of Mathematics', he likely did not please his mother with this statement regarding the origin of man & woman: "There is a good principle, which has created order, light, and man; and a bad principle, which has created chaos, darkness, and woman." Misogyny aside, the statement is plain false, as it rests on the false principle of dualism. For a complete understanding of this, see the Myth of Evil Forum.)

Aristotle made a similar blunt assertion: "....the male is by nature superior, and the female inferior; and the one rules, and the other is ruled....' (Politics Bk. 1, Ch. 5).

These ideas, and others like them, dug the foundation for Greek patriarchal society. But the male philosophers were not the only contributors; strong military, athletic, and political subcultures, all dominated by men, fed the patriarchal ideology. This male-centric view was institutionalized into law by Solon in 594 BCE. Under it, women had virtually no rights. All this led classical scholar Eva Keuls, in her book The Reign of the Phallus, to refer to ancient Greece (known today as the mother of democracy) as a 'phallocracy'.

Indeed, the odd mix of sacred sex in a patriarchal society produced exactly that. To explore how it showed itself in ancient Greek culture, we must look to the twin ruler of the time. For alongside any phallocracy, phallic worship invariably co-reigns, whether overtly or disguised as the underlying ideal of male supremacy. In the case of the Greeks, it was both.

We have already discussed the idea of worshipping the Divine and its powers in physical form (see Part II - The Old Testament). In so far as a culture honors God/dess in the form, and not the idol itself, it is a valid form of worship. We can assume, from the Greek idea of Eros, that to some extent anyway, this was the case. The only issue then is that the Greeks didn't give as much reverence to the Divine Feminine. With that perspective, let's look at how the patriarchy showed its love for Eros.

Archeological finds and accounts of the time include many instances in which the phallus, or its representation, made an appearance.

Nudity in Greece was openly accepted. The human body was like that of the gods, a thing of beauty; to show it was to honor the gods. Thus in the fields, in athletics, in bath houses, on the battlefield, on stage, at festivals, and out on the street, it was not uncommon to see a nude (typically male) body. The word gymnasium, which in ancient Greece was often a place of general education, comes from the Greek gumnos [gymnos], meaning 'naked'. Socrates even advocated nudity as a form of honesty.

The Greeks also accepted the connection between human & agricultural fertility that we saw in the early sacred sex cultures. In a carry-over from the ancient sacred sex fertility rites, the Greeks associated the genitalia with cornucopia, the horn of plenty.

To many, exposing the genitals was a way to ward off evil and bad luck. This is not surprising given the embodiment of Eros there. Interestingly, this custom was adopted much later by churches in Great Britain, many of which are adorned with images of women, called 'sheela-na-gigs', displaying their genitals to keep evil at bay.

Phallic representations were also commonly shown in public. To invoke virility & fertility, Greek men and women alike waved wooden phalluses during religious processions. They also placed phallic images at their doors and at gravesites as a sign of protection, practices that were later copied by Rome. The following two images from ancient Pompeii are likely similar to what could be found in Greece:

Left-hand image is from a Roman home; inscription reads, 'here dwells happiness'

While phallic worship was clearly more prevalent, the female genitalia was not entirely ignored. As in other early sacred sex cultures, women's wombs were associated with earth, fruit, caves, shells, and even doorways -- places from where life emerges. Fertility goddesses were often depicted with the cornucopia, mentioned earlier.

Still, the phallus was supreme in Greece, and worship of it reached its height in the god Priapus. In the Greek pantheon of deities, Priapus was Aphrodite's 'deformed' son. Quotes are used because many men of today (and indeed, women) would hardly call it a deformity. Priapus's physical aberration consisted of a huge, ever-erect phallus. The virility he represents must have enduring appeal, for even today when visiting Greece, it is common to find souvenir sculptures of this well-endowed deity.

In reviewing the open sexuality of early Greece, remember that such displays were not considered obscene. This is a moral judgment applied millennia later by conditioned religionists & puritans. To the Greeks, the phallus (and also the 'cteis', or female genitalia) embodied Eros, the unifying bond of love & life. Adorning themselves and their homes with it, and waving it in processions, were simply ways of honoring Eros. In that light, it is more proper to call it Eros worship than phallus worship.

The philosopher Voltaire echoed this sentiment in his following comment on Priapus worship:

Voltaire said:

"Our ideas of propriety lead us to suppose that a ceremony which appears to us so infamous could only be invented by licentiousness; but it is impossible to believe that depravity of manners would ever have led among any people to the establishment of religious ceremonies. It is probable, on the contrary, that this custom was first introduced in times of simplicity, that the first thought was to honor the deity in the symbol of life which it has given us."

Our prudish cultural bias leads to much cultural misinterpretation. As a graphic example, Greek art is filled with winged penises, often being ridden by women. Most modern scholars dismiss these as the erotic musings of a phallic culture. But to the Greeks, this was a portrayal of the capacity of sex to uplift us through Eros. They saw in the word pteros, which means 'wing', the ending -eros, and so used wings to represent their loftiest sexual ideals. Thus winged sexual organs signified sacred sex to the Greeks.

Like the patriarchal Hebrews though, the phallus worshipping Greek culture had a flip-side -- the denigration of women. This is reflected in the common Greek attitude toward sex: that it was meant mainly for male pleasure. In many ways, the almighty phallus was a weapon, not a pleasure-giver. Women not only had few rights as mentioned earlier, but they were also treated as property & slaves. To the typical Greek man, a wife was merely a child bearer and domestic servant; the idea of giving her pleasure was uncommon. Often, men did not even seek their own pleasure in their wives, but rather found it in prostitutes, and even then, commonly among young boys.

Indeed, Greek male-centeredness was so strong that Plato, in noting the distinction between sacred and profane love (mentioned earlier, from his Symposium), went on to say that the former is achievable by men alone. This, and similar sexist views, justified the limited opportunities for women in early Greece.

This is most evident in the different status of women working in the temples dedicated to Greek goddesses. Unlike their earlier sisters in Middle Eastern Sumer, Greek temple maidens were typically there in forced servitude or due to financial need. And while there were certainly genuine priestess-types who offered themselves as embodiments of their temple goddess, they were by this time outnumbered by temple prostitutes who knew and practiced only a shadow of sacred sex. Still, there were exceptions to this reduced status, but this occurred outside the temple setting, and had more to do with social graces than with sacred sex.

Following are the main classes of women in early Greece:

• Housewives - these married women often remained cloistered in the home where their virtue and usefulness - but not sexuality - were preserved (sexuality was reserved for the other classes of women);
• Hierodule (literally 'temple servant') - temple priestesses, often dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, who served in the tradition of early sacred sex cultures;
• Temple prostitutes - lesser status women who also served in the temple, but whose sense of sacred sex was likely limited to soothing the aggressions & passions of men, thus making them more fit for civil society;
• Hetaerae - these high-class courtesans of the wealthy, who were not associated with temples and knew little of sacred sex, enjoyed more social status than any other women (some became so wealthy and powerful that they at times ruled various cities or were deified after death; others made great contributions to Greek society);
• Auletrides - a lesser educated and prominent class of courtesans primarily known for their singing, dancing, & musical talents;
• Dicteriades - common prostitutes who worked in brothels, taverns, and on the streets, and who simply struggled to survive; they served the many commoners, and as an indication of their popularity, tax revenues from their earnings were enough to finance a temple dedicated to Aphrodite; and
• Common slaves - women who were at the domestic & sexual mercy of their male owners.