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Sex and Spirit
Ecstasy and Transcendence, Ritual and Taboo, The Undivided Self
Rating :
rating
Author(s) :
Clifford Bishop
Pages :
184
Pub Date :
1996
Edition(s) at Erowid :
1996(pb,1st US ed,fine)
Publisher :
Little, Brown and Company
ISBN :
0316096067
BACK COVER #
A fascinating and thought-provoking exploration of the powerful relationship between sex and the human spirit in different cultures from ancient times to the present day.

  • Includes superb pictures from around the world, mostly in full-color, showing art, artifacts, architecture, and erotic carvings, as well as photos of rituals and practices

  • Elucidates such key subjects as fertility, virginity, androgyny, phallic worhip, rites and ceremonies, erotica and pornography, taboo, initiation, and love

  • Examines techniques of ecstasy, such as Tantra, in which ritual sexual pleasure is used as a means of attaining spiritual transcendence

  • Marshals a wealth of disparate material with scholarship and skill to show the complex tensions between the spiritual, the psychological, and the physical

  • Concludes with a reference section on tinted paper, including a glossary of terms and an overview of love spells and marriage ceremonies from different times and cultures