Toward the Undivided
Sacred Sex, The Hermaphrodite, and the Dual Nature of God
The roots of sacred sex are ancient. Down through the centuries it has been
practiced in many lands at many times, both openly and beneath the cloak of
secrecy. Chroniclers who refer to the rites of sacred sex are often vague both
as to the details involved and the rationale behind it all. Most seem in
agreement that the motivation behind sacred sex was an attempt to somehow
achieve union with the divine, or awaken within the participants a spark of the
divine. Christians, however, were almost unanimous in their appraisal of sex
practiced in conjunction with unorthodox beliefs: it was the Devil's handiwork,
plain and simple.
This notwithstanding, perhaps the most interesting and compelling rationale for
the evolution of sacred sex comes from within the context of Christianity
itself. Christian mystics, such as Jakob Boehme, Leo the Hebrew, Scrotus
Eriugena and Franz von Baader postulated a thesis based on a unique
interpretation of the Book of Genesis. According to the theory, since God
created man in His own image, Adam must have originally been a hermaphrodite, a
creature combining the attributes of both sexes. The original Fall occurred not
when Adam and Eve exited Eden, but when God robbed Adam of his original unity by
creating Eve from out of him so that he wouldn't be alone. Therefore the sexual
impulse comes from an instinctual yearning in man to try and recapture something
of the essence of his primordial condition. According to Franz Von Baader: "The
higher meaning of sexual love, which should not be identified with the instinct
for reproduction, is nothing other than to help both man and woman to become
integrated inwardly (in soul and in spirit) in the complete human or original
divine image." This notion, bizarre and eloquent at once, has recurred in
varying guises, from ancient times to modern times. We see glimpses of it in
ancient creeds such as the qabalah and alchemy, as well as in more modern
practices such as sex magick. And its wisdom was echoed in the words of Christ
when he stated, "I am of the undivided", or, "When you were one you became two.
But when you are two, what will you do?" What indeed! Though none of these
Christian writers ever gave detailed descriptions of the techniques one might
utilize to become re-integrated in "The original divine image", there are some
hints. At least one of them mapped out a series of energy centers within the
human body which man could tap into to achieve this state. And although he
stopped short of indicating the means one might employ to tap these sources, his
map showed striking similarities to the locations of the chakras in the Hindu
Yogic tradition. It is therefore safe to assume that these early Christian
mystics had some fundamental understanding of the principles underlying the
practice of Tantric sex.
The word "hermaphrodite" is a conjunction of Hermes and Aphrodite, a union of
the masculine and feminine aspects of God. The symbolism of the Hermaphrodite
and its central significance to alchemy is well-known. Its importance to
occultists in the guise of Baphomet is likewise well-known. Those familiar with
Plato will recall that in his Symposium, he contended that humans descended from
a primordial race "whose essence is now extinct" - a race of hermaphrodites. The
race was powerful, yet arrogant, and when they rebelled against the Gods, they
were in turn cursed and split in two. According to Plato, "From such an ancient
time love has goaded human beings, one toward another; it is inborn, and seeks
to renew our ancient nature in an endeavor to unite in one single being two
distinct beings, and therefore, to restore human nature to good health." He
added that , "... this was indeed our primitive nature when we constituted one
unit which was still whole; it is really the burning longing for this unity
which bears the name of love." This is echoed in Genesis 2:24, which says, "For
this reason a man will leave his father and mother to be united with his wife,
and they will become one flesh (emphasis added.)"
Whether Plato actually believed in a de facto race of hermaphrodites or merely
referred to their myth metaphorically is not important. What he cites as being
the mystical genesis of love echoes the secret doctrine of esotericists from
time immemorial. It is the same gnosis preserved by Hermes, said to represent
the wisdom of a forgotten race of antediluvian Gods. And apparently, it may well
have constituted part of the secret doctrine of Christ as well.
The Gospel of Thomas was part of the collection of Gnostic gospels known as the
Nag Hammadi Library, which were lost until the mid-20th century when they were
discovered in Egypt. In The Gospel of Thomas, Christ teaches a doctrine very
different in nature to that adopted by mainstream Christianity. Some Orthodox
Christians deny the validity of this Gospel, while others embrace it as a very
beautiful text, as important (if not more so) as any found in the New Testament.
Scholars argue back and forth over whether the Nag Hammadi books were
essentially Christian texts aimed at a Gnostic audience, or essentially Gnostic
texts aimed at a Christian audience. A third possibility exists, especially in
regard to The Gospel of Thomas. What if what this book contains is in fact
closer to what Christ actually taught? Could this Gospel retain some fragments
of Christ's true doctrine as it existed before it was sanitized, edited and
doctored to suit the political agendas of those doing the editing? It's
certainly an intriguing possibility.
The author of The Gospel of Thomas is said to be Christ's own twin brother
Thomas, and it is to be assumed that if any of Christ's disciples were to truly
grasp his teachings, who would be more likely a candidate than his own twin?
There is much in The Gospel of Thomas that would have invoked the displeasure of
the fathers of the early church, such as Christ's admonition that he was
"everywhere" and not to look for him in a building. Even had the rest of the
gospel passed muster at the Council of Nicea, that line would surely have been
deleted. A lot of the text is fairly straightforward, but certain passages are
bizarre even by Biblical standards. Or perhaps, in the Biblical context. For
example:
"Jesus said to them, When you make the two one, and when you make the inside
like the outside, and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below,
and when you make the female one and the same, so that the male be not male, nor
the female female... then you will enter (the kingdom.)" (See: Gospel of Thomas)
This is very explicit. Very specific. And not the least bit Christian. It speaks
of an initiatory process of Gnosis, a process that requires no churches, no holy
men, no prayers of forgiveness. And it should have a familiar ring to students
of the occult, for it is very similar to words contained in the Emerald Tablet
of Hermes:
"True it is, without falsehood, certain and most true. That which is above is
like that which is below, and that which is below is like that which is above,
to accomplish the miracles of One Thing. And as all things were by the
contemplation of one, so all things arose from this One Thing by a single act of
adaptation. The father thereof is the Sun, the mother the Moon... the power
thereof is perfect." (See:
Emerald
Tablet)
Not only do Christ and Hermes seem to be coming from the same place, it's
amusing to note that Christ is far more explicit in his use of Hermetic
symbolism than was even old Hermes himself, the putative father of the
alchemical arts. Christ was clearly invoking the archetype of the primordial
hermaphrodite, inferring that the state of unity it symbolized was a
prerequisite for (or synonymous with) "entering the kingdom." Elsewhere in The
Gospel of Thomas, Christ tells his disciples, "When you make the two one, you
will become the sons of man..." And still elsewhere he says, "I am he who exists
from the undivided." Although such esoteric teachings don't appear elsewhere in
the officially sanctioned scriptures, they are certainly in keeping with some
aspects of the Judaic tradition from which Christ emerged, and seem to figure
prominently in the traditions and symbolism of various groups said to have been
custodians of the secret doctrine of Christ.
From the Zadok priests of the Temple of Solomon to the Knights Templar, and from
the Freemasons to the Rosicrucians, all employed symbols representing the union
of opposites, and the balanced union and equilibrium of male and female force. A
brief overview of the symbols used by these groups should reveal a striking
consistency of fundamental outlook
Symbol of the Zadok Priests
The X worn on the forehead of the Zadok priests of the Temple of Solomon was symbolic of the union of the chalice and the blade. The chalice, as receptacle, was a female symbol. The blade, as phallus, was a male symbol. Even the Temple of Solomon itself was a qabalisitic symbol, its pillars of Jachin and Boaz representing the equilibrium of creative force and destructive force.
The Seal of Solomon
The Seal of Solomon represented much the same thing as the Temple of Solomon: an equilibrium and intertwining of opposites: in this case light and darkness, or spirit and matter. Spirit is associated with the masculine principle, matter with the feminine.
The Templar Cross
The equilateral cross of the Knights Templar is also a representation of the intersection of masculine force with feminine force: the former represented by a vertical line, the latter a horizontal.
Symbol of Freemasonry
The well-known square and compass of Freemasonry is yet another symbol of the conjunction of masculine and feminine principles. The square is used to draw a square, a male symbol. The compass is used to draw a circle, a female symbol. The circle contained with a square thus represents, yet again, the same equilibrium of opposites. And some believe that either emblem of the Masons is patterned after, or indeed suggestive of, the Seal of Solomon. Alternate explanations of this symbol exist wherein the symbolism is precisely the opposite, yet the ultimate meaning is identical.
The Rose-Cross
The Rose-Cross, or Rosy Cross assumes many forms, but again, the symbolism inherent is identical. The cross is a male symbol, the rose female. This emblem, however, is far more specific in its iconography, the cross representing Christ, and the rose Mary Magdalen. Besides representing her, however, the five-pointed rose often employed is also associated with both Venus and Lucifer.
The Fleur-de-Lys
The Fleur-de-Lys is the pre-eminent heraldic emblem of French royalty, and is
said to represent a lily, symbolic of Davidic descent. While flowers in general
symbolize the female reproductive organ, the lily is even more suggestive of a
vulva than most. But unlike most flowers, the lily possesses a phallic rod which
thrusts forth from its interior, making it uniquely hermaphroditic in its
symbolism.
All of these symbols have additional layers of meaning, and many can be
explained in alternate terms as well For instance, it has been pointed out that
the Rose-Cross, or rosa crux, was a deliberate misrepresentation of what was
originally called the ros crux. Rose means rose, but ros actually meant dew, the
substance which the ancient alchemists claimed was able to transmute base matter
into gold. Rosicrucians took advantage of the confusion between the two terms to
consciously camouflage their true intentions in an ambiguous, seemingly
unthreatening icon. And both interpretations, ultimately, are equally alchemical
in nature. In fact, all the symbols discussed could be understood in an
alchemical context: they all represent an integration and transcendence of
opposites, and a conjunction of male and female principles.
Why would Christ tell his disciples to make the male like the female and the
female like the male, so that the male wouldn't be male, nor the female female?
And how were his disciples to accomplish this feat, this blending and union of
male and female? Simple: sacred sex. In what more direct manner could man or
woman experience the essence of their counterpart and achieve (if only briefly)
union with it? Modern readers are undoubtedly familiar with this concept as it
applies to Tantra and Western sex magi, but believe it or not, it constituted
part of many traditions that pre-dated Christ. Many examples could be cited, but
the tradition closest to Christ and with which he would have been most familiar
was orthodox Judaism itself. The Zohar says, "The Holy One... does not choose to
dwell where the male and female are not united." And elsewhere, even more
specifically:
"The King (God) seeks only that which corresponds to Him. Therefore, the Holy
One, blessed he be, dwells in him who (like Him) is one. When man, in perfect
holiness, realizes the One, He is in that one. And when is that man called one?
When man and woman are joined together sexually..." (Zohar 111, 81a.)
The Jewish mystics of Sabbatism practiced a "messianic mystery of awakening"
which for them was akin to the Great Work of Alchemy. For them, woman was "a
door of God, through which one enters into God." The coming of the Messiah, they
believed, happened on a purely personal rather than collective level, and could
be occasioned via sexual union. Salvation was not some external condition
granted by a Savior, but occurred only through a direct experience of God based
on personal Gnosis. Sabbatists believed that direct knowledge of God exempted
them from strict adherence to Mosaic Law. It was precisely such an attitude on
the part of Christ which lead to his eventual downfall. Personal Gnosis could be
gained only through sex, the union with man's "other half", woman. Sabbatist
Jakob Frank said that "all the Hebrews are in great ill luck because they are
waiting for the coming of the Savior and not the Woman."
The words of Christ from The Gospel of Thomas are completely resonant with those
of Jakob Frank, Hermes, Plato, and that which is found in the Zohar. In fact,
all these seem to constitute a single doctrine, existing on a continuum. In the
West we find their echoes in alchemy, in the East, Tantra. And wherever such
ideas are to be found, we find also the figure of the Hermaphrodite, often as
God. The androgyne of alchemy is well-known, as is the qabalistic figure of Adam
Kadmon. In India, we find the Tantric God Hari-Hara: half Vishnu and half Siva.
Hari is a Hindu name of the sun, Hara is a feminine version of Hari. This
figure, in one guise or another, recurs in many cultures. But where did the
archetype originate? Seemingly, at what is generally believed to be the dawn of
monotheism.
In 1353 B.C., Amenhotep IV became Pharaoh of Egypt. Soon after ascending to the
throne, he ended a 1,700 year tradition of worshipping many gods, and instituted
a new era in which one universal God would replace them: the sun god Aten. He
changed his name to Ankenaten, meaning "Servant of Aten", and proclaimed himself
as a living manifestation of God on Earth, the Son of the Sun. He closed the
temples at Egypt's religious center of Thebes, and shifted the nation's
spiritual focus to the Temple of the Sun at Karnak. He and his Queen Nefertiti
presided over outdoor sun worship at sunrise, noon, and sunset. By doing away
with hundreds of gods (and the priests who presided over them), he cleared the
way for a more direct experience of the one universal God whom he proclaimed.
And in so doing, he also set the stage for the acceptance of his own role as the
representative of that God, a living divinity on Earth.
The principle of Aten went beyond mere sun worship, such as the later
manifestations of Sol Invictus and Mithras. For the Egyptians, and Ankenaten,
Aten was the all-encompassing principle of creation itself, and was both
masculine and feminine. As a result, this concept is reflected in statues of
Ankenaten, and he is depicted as a hermaphrodite, sporting a beard, but with
breasts and wide hips. This is interesting on two counts. First, and most
obviously, this would appear to be the earliest known example in which a
hermaphrodite is used to symbolize God as a union of masculine and feminine
symbols. Secondly, and perhaps more significantly, how is it that such an
esoteric concept and symbol could survive Ankenaten's short reign to re-emerge
repeatedly in diverse cultures across the globe? After all, Ankenaten only ruled
for a mere 17 years, some 3,350 years ago. After his reign, the Egyptians were
anxious to return to the worship of their old gods, and were eager to forget
about both he and Aten.
Some scholars claim that Ankenaten's doctrine was preserved by Moses, who may
have been one of his high priests. Indeed, there is circumstantial evidence in
the Bible to lend credence to such a claim. Exodus states that Moses was
Egyptian, and Acts states that he was 'learned in the wisdom of the Egyptians."
Even Sigmund Freud in his book Moses and Monotheism suggests that Moses may have
been an Egyptian with high status in Ankenaten's court. Others (Laurence Gardner
among them) go further still, and insist that Moses and Ankenaten were in fact
the same person. Though such a supposition may initially seem outlandish,
Gardner (and indeed others) give a surprising amount of seemingly credible
evidence in support of the view (too much, in fact, to recount here). If true,
this could go a long way towards explaining how groups of Christian and Jewish
mystics could later adopt doctrines so bizarre as to bear seemingly no relation
to orthodox Christianity and Judaism (i.e. God as hermaphrodite, sacramental
sex, etc.) It could further explain the migration of identical concepts to all
parts of the civilized world. And although Ankenaten is said by Egyptologists to
have died in 1334 B.C., it's interesting to note that his body has never been
recovered.
In addition to the more modern notion connecting Moses to Ankenaten, there is
a theory that dates back to the middle ages equating both men with the legendary
Hermes. And there is even an inscription in the tile work of an ancient Italian
cathedral that reads: "Hermes Mercury Trismegistus, contemporary Moses."
If Moses was synonymous with Ankenaten, and Ankenaten was synonymous with
Hermes, this could definitely explain the similarities between the Emerald
Tablet and what Christ said in The Gospel of Thomas. It has been shown that much
of Moses' exoteric doctrine (the 10 Commandments, etc.) is a recapitulation of
material found in the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Could it not be possible that
he also passed down the esoteric doctrine of the Egyptian Mysteries - the secret
knowledge of the Pharaohs?
According to legend, Ankenaten was the second incarnation of Hermes, and was in
possession of the Emerald Tablet containing the secret gnosis of the ages, which
was passed down to him by Thoth (the original Hermes.) It further states that
Moses;' sister Miriam smuggled the Tablet out of Egypt during the Exodus. While
it's impossible to determine definitely whether or not Moses and Ankenaten were
one and the same, what's most important to the scenario is that Moses would seem
to have had intimate knowledge (and perhaps possession) of the Emerald Tablet.
This would go a long way toward explaining the overwhelming similarities between
the esoteric doctrine of Hermes and that of Christ. This doctrine, as you'll
recall, was said to have represented the secret teaching of a forgotten race of
Gods, and was preserved by Hermes after the flood. This is interesting, because
the ancient Egyptians felt they were descendants of Osiris, a god who came to
Earth from the heavens to teach his secrets to mankind. A similar myth existed
in Sumeria, a civilization which predated Egypt and was said to have exerted a
profound influence on its culture. Ever increasingly, certain scholars are
beginning to suggest that this oft-repeated tale is something more than a mere
myth, that someone had to have given such cultures as these some kind of secret
knowledge which allowed them to accomplish feats which cannot be replicated
today, even with the aid of modern science and technology. The arguments in
favor of such a premise are both numerous and well-known, and hardly bear
reiterating here.
Whatever forgotten race taught the ancients the secrets of metallurgy, building,
astronomy, sacred geometry and the rest, also taught them a fundamental
understanding of life and of God. Glimpses of this understanding can be seen in
the primary principles behind alchemy, the qabalah, Eastern Tantra, and Western
sex magic. It represents an ongoing thread that weaves its way through esoteric
traditions in both the East and the West. We see it encoded in the dominant
religious symbolism of cultures across the globe, virtually hidden in plain
sight. Throughout the centuries, it has been a Royal Secret known only to the
elite of any given epoch. From the rulers of ancient Egypt to the rulers of
ancient Europe, and from the architects of the Renaissance to the founding
fathers of the United States, this gnosis has constituted the central axis
around which their world view was ordered. It has remained a jealously guarded
secret, its custodians recognizing that its wisdom was intended only for an
elect few capable of inwardly grasping its full purport. For all lesser men,
incapable of either fully understanding or judiciously applying the doctrine, it
was destined to be at best confusing, at worst ruinous. As far as is known, this
Royal Secret was only ever proclaimed publicly for a short period of time during
the reign of Ankenaten (some 17 years beginning in 1353 B.C.) It proved
disastrous, and perhaps taught subsequent bearers of the secret that esoteric
doctrine as exoteric public policy (or state religion) was simply untenable.
Consequently, the doctrine was veiled in the esoteric language of symbol,
folklore, and such mythical archetypes as that of the primordial man as God, the
hermaphrodite. In these various guises, the Royal Secret has weathered the
centuries, surviving all manner of suppression, persecution, and inquisition. As
library after library of ancient wisdom was consigned to the flames by various
orthodoxies, the sacred gnosis was never vanquished. And for those with the
ability to peer beyond the veil of myth and symbol, it remains their unique
inheritance.
Inheritance, in fact, may be the operative word in describing the transmission
of this sacred wisdom, because a central theme that recurs in the sagas relating
to the Royal Secret is that its guardians have been descendants of the forgotten
race, and presumably genetically predisposed to comprehending it; as though its
legacy lives on in their ancestral memory. And let's face it, ancestral memory
(however submerged or unconscious it may be) is one of the defining attributes
of man. It guides him in his choices, his actions, his likes and dislikes. It
causes him to feel a deep resonance towards certain things, ideas and symbols,
even if the reason why is unknown to him, or not readily apparent. Likewise, it
engenders in him a complete lack of resonance for countless other things, ideas
and symbols. He never questions why certain things simply don't interest him -
he instinctively understands that they aren't for him.
Though modern man has lost virtually all conception of ancestral memory, the
ancients no doubt understood the fundamental power it exerted over the psyche of
man., which could well be another reason why they distilled their esoteric
teachings into archetypal symbols that would not only serve to preserve the
doctrine, but to trigger the ancestral memories slumbering in the blood of
future descendants of the forgotten race.
Further Examples of the "Two as One" in Myth and Legend
Ialdaboath
The Goddess Sophia (emblematic of wisdom) gave birth to Ialdaboath, a being with the head of a lion and the body of a serpent. In ancient Egypt the same word that signified "lion" also signified the sun. And as the lion's mane echoed the sun's blazing rays, he was king of the beasts, just as the sun was the King of the Heavens and the Earth. The serpent was terrestrial rather than celestial, and identified with darkness and shadow. Consequently, Ialdaboath was a union of both, and was said to exist "part in fire, part in darkness." Some Gnostics equated Ialdaboath with the Demiurge.
Abraxas
Abraxas was a Hermetic Gnostic deity, depicted with a rooster's head, human torso and serpents for legs. The rooster obviously crows at dawn, and represents dawn, the sun, light. The serpents represent the inverse of this. Abraxas was the one who divided into masculine and feminine aspects, giving birth to Aeons, alternately good and evil. Each Aoen in turn gave birth to further good or evil Aeons, until such time as there were 365 of them, constituting the wholeness of the plenoma.
The Naassenes
The Naassenes were a Gnostic sect who believed that the original Adam was a hermaphrodite. The word "Naassene" is rooted in Naas, Hebrew for "serpent", and the group revered the serpent of Genesis for advising Adam and Eve to take the fruit from the Tree of Life.
The Little Interrogations of Mary
A Gnostic text referred to by Epiphanius, in The Little Interrogations of Mary Christ takes Mary to a mountaintop, produces a woman out of his side, and proceeds to have sex with her! This is said to be symbolic of Christ's role as a "second Adam."
Eros
When the black night was impregnated by the wind, it produced a silver egg: the moon. From this egg was born Eros, a god with four heads and both sexes.
Arsenothelys
A word by coined Simon Magus to denote the Primordial Man. It is a conjunction of the Greek words for male and female
Syzygy
An alchemical pair conjoined of a union of opposites.
Ark of the Covenant
According to certain scholars, the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant represent the two anointed messiahs that stood on either side of the Throne of God (which the Ark was supposed to symbolize.) On the right-hand side stood the Archangel known as Michael, on the left, Lucifer. Supporters of this theory maintain that Michael represents the masculine aspect of God, Lucifer represents the feminine aspect, and together the two symbolize the dual nature of deity. The feminine nature of Lucifer, they claim, is the reason why "he" is identified as Venus, the Morning Star, and has been synonymous with characteristics traditionally deemed female, such as instinct, beauty, pride, and of course, temptation.
Deus
The Latin word for God, Deus, seems to retain a vestige of the ancient understanding of the dual nature of deity. In many languages, the word denoting "Two" has either a spelling or a sound very similar to the word Deus, for instance, deux, dos, dua, deuce, and so forth. This becomes even more explicit when examining the specific terms some of the countries apply to God. For example, the French Dieu echoes deux (two) very closely, and the Spanish Dios is derived from the word dos by the mere addition of an "I."
Elohiym
The Hebrew word for God, Elohiym - also retains a vestige of the dual nature of a deity. Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." In the Strong's Dictionary Concordance the definition of Elohiym has a dual meaning of God/Goddess. 2) (plural intensive - singular meaning) 2a) god, goddess
