Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Professional Lover from a Past Life
I have always been subtly attracted to the concepts of "courtesan" and "geisha" (see Wikipedia for good descriptions of these terms.) The professional psychic I consult says that I have definitely had past lives in my current profession. Perhaps that is why it feels so familiar and comfortable--a literal "hand-in-glove" fit. I have seen visions--were they past-life memories (?)--of myself from time to time over the years in a little French cottage in the woods, waiting for the wealthy man who was my lover to come and visit me. These images have come to me throughout my life--well before I ever considered engaging in this type of work. I've always felt like: "Yes--I could see myself living that way, and I would be happy in that lifestyle."
I also resonate with the term "sacred" or "temple" prostitute--even--although these are the very dismissive, biblical terms for "priestesses of the Goddess"--followers of the great religion of female divinity which spanned much of the globe long before the followers of male gods took over in pre-biblical times. Some of the ancient "fertility goddess" figurines may date back as far as 25,000 years, and, were mostly seen as charms for reproductive purposes by early male archeologists, instead of icons of the sacred Mother Goddess. The "Venus of Willendorf" statuette is a prime example. The book When God Was a Woman, by Merlin Stone, covers this topic in great detail. She posits the very likely theory that the male-god religions went to great lengths to invalidate and even demonize the earlier, female-worshiping religion, and so also the ritual sexual practices of its followers, by extension.
Stone writes in her book how the male-oriented, Indo-European invasions of much of the civilized world in pre-biblical times led to the diminution of woman's' role and status in society. Before this time, many of these societies were matrilineal--that is, property and social standing were passed down through the mother's side of the family. Because these more aggressive, male-dominated invaders saw God as male, women became mere chattel, which is still the case in many parts of the world today.
The priestesses of the Goddess were the avenue of worship for male followers of the temple of the female divinity. By performing sacred, sexual rites with one of these women, the devotee was in effect performing a highly devout ritual form of worship, in which he united with the Great Goddess. The wonderful book The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, beautifully illustrates this practice. This long novel is primarily a re-telling of the King Arthur story from the women characters' points of view, but it also dramatically tells of the clash of the ancient, Great Religion of the Goddess, and the new religion of Christianity.
This "clash of religions" is one reason, many scholars believe, that there are so many proscriptions and regulations of the sex act within the three faiths of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In order to quash the deeply embedded beliefs and practices of the sex-as-worship Goddess religion, they had to impose harsh and rigid sanctions upon anyone who "continued in the old ways," even to the extent of the threat of eternal damnation in Hell. Hence, all of the references in the bible to the spiritual damage inflicted by the practice of fornication, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, and of course, to availing oneself of the services of "whores."
It has come to me many times over the past year and a half that there are deeper issues involved in my new job than it just being a great source of income for me. I have already mentioned that it has had a very positive effect upon me personally and in my life in general, and even some of my clients have used the term "healing"--more on that in a future post. But it's beyond that: I see that it has implications for the empowerment and continued liberation of women (see http://www.feministissues.com/existential_fem.html). And from an even more expanded point of view, this work has something to do with the return of Female/Goddess energy to the planet, so that it can balance-out the male force which has reigned for so long.
It seems to me that while there is something of a government crack-down on the escort industry these days (reference last years voluntary closing of Craigslist's adult services section under pressure from multiple states' attorneys general), the profession seems to be becoming more and more "mainstream"--and even tolerated--in many quarters. The freedom and independence and privacy afforded by the Internet, for both clients and providers, is a big part of this process, I'm sure. Time will tell which way it will go. Thanks for reading!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Please 'Follow' me!!!
Wow--after only five days, I'm getting great responses to Journal of a New Age Escort! Thanks to all of you who commented via various channels. Your support and appreciation mean a great deal to me! It would be lovely, also, if you could "Follow" the blog--that is, subscribe--by clicking the "Follow" button in the upper right hand corner. You can do so either publicly or privately. You will then be alerted to all of my new postings automatically. My next entry is coming soon. Stay tuned!!!
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