Shamans and Sex
Presented by Stanley Krippner.
Unlike practitioners from many religious and contemplative
traditions who abstain from sexual activity, many shamanic practitioners use
sex as a part of their training and practice. On the other hand, sexual
abstention is common before specific rituals such as the gathering of peyote
buttons and various purification ceremonies. The "moon lodge" custom in some
Native American tribes, though a purification, did not reflect a denigration
of women's menstruation as "unclean" (as was the case in some early Western
traditions), but an acknowledgement of women's power and an opportunity for
them to spend time together apart from other members of their social group.
Join Stanley Krippner for a look at the complex issues surrounding sex and
its relationship with shamanic practices.
