Copywrite Loraine Hutchins
Preface to Erotic Rites dissertation, 2001: Order Erotic Rites Now!
To research contemporary U.S. sacred sexuality traditions and trends I had to confront the secret symmetry of sex and religion, an extremely taboo topic, while simultaneously juggling apparent contradictions -- of sluts and goddesses, of what is holy and what is not, what is forbidden and allowed, by whom, and why and how. In addition to directly interviewing practitioners of these emerging traditions, I chose to personally acquire training in sacred sex approaches and to engage in participant-observation of sacred erotic group rituals. So I wrestled intimately with my own sexual/spiritual issues at the same time I researched how others dealt with theirs. Both the hubris and the absurdity of inquiring academically into these most private, conflicted aspects of people's lives often dumbfounded me. What does it mean to write about contemporary sacred sex, what are the personal and political implications of choosing this as a doctoral dissertation topic in the academy? How dare I study sacred erotic rituals of healing and pleasure, especially at a time of violent religious wars, a time when women and children are still abused and sold into sexual slavery, when hunger, homelessness, and racial hatred abound, when the rape of Mother Earth's resources continues? Yet, as sex becomes ever more depersonalized, how dare I not speak out?
At the beginning of this research I went looking for teachers who could show me how to balance and integrate my spiritual, political, and erotic longings, wise ones unencumbered by fear or prejudice about all the different ways people love and create erotic community. Instead I learned to fall back on my own strengths and insights, finding myself becoming one of the wise ones who educate those in the sacred sex field and elsewhere - about woman-hatred, homophobia, pan-sexuality, and how oppressions interconnect to keep erotic spirituality from truly flowering. As I studied recorded reflections and analysis on sacred sexualities, and sought people creating diverse erotic rituals in many different parts of the United States, I found that the most overly-eroticized and sexually-objectified groups -- such as women and queer people -- those suffering most from sex-specific oppressions, are also creating some of the most universally tender and caring sacred sex rituals and modes of sexual healing.
I also found many people searching for mind-body fulfillment as a basis for erotic spirituality. But as for an intentional community where sexuality is sacred today; except for brief bittersweet intervals, I never found such a place of safety and renewal. Instead I found that the process of dismantling oppressions is desperately needed before we even know what sacred sex really looks like. I found that longing for sexual healing is a sacred act itself, and that I am not as alone in my grief as I feared. I found other seekers who dream this same dream of erotic wholeness, and I discovered that allowing ourselves to yearn and hope helps embody this dream. For without the memory, or at least the vision of paradise lost, we would not realize why we are weeping, or have the faith to reach out and join hands to create the welcoming communities where sexuality may someday be truly sacred.
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