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Tantric Tools for Self-Discovery
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Tantric
Tools for Self-Discovery |
by Elizabeth A. Allen
Tantric
Sex for Women: |
When
I got Tantric Sex for Women: A Guide for Lesbian, Bi, Hetero and Solo
Lovers in the mail to review, I thought I was getting a how-to guide
for endless orgasms. Perhaps author Christa Schulte would tell me how
to attain Nirvana through screwing! Not knowing anything about Tantric
sex, but always seeking out good love-making, I cracked the book.
I soon discovered that Schulte's goal
in Tantric Sex is far more radical than just getting her readers
off for hours. As a feminist psychoanalyst, she knows the effects of patriarchal
oppression on women's psyches. And, as a tantrika [practitioner of Tantra],
she sees Tantra as a means to empower and embolden her sisters. Schulte
argues Tantric practices can give women back the strength and joy in themselves.
Schulte begins by reclaiming Tantra
from its misogynist history. According to her, Tantra is the channeling
of sexual energy through the seven energy nodes or chakras of the body.
Controlling sexuality this way supposedly leads to euphoria. This transcendent
use of sexuality originated, she says, in the ancient subcontinental Indian
Zami cult, a secret group of women. The Zamis' terms, such as "breasts
of the sister" to refer to the heart chakra, focused on women, their
pleasure and their creativity.
Tantra suffered, though, when co-opted
by Buddhism and Hinduism. These religions emphasized male gods, as well
as a duality or split between men and women. Tantra turned from a women-centered
mystery into a path to the male divine. Tantra's resulting anti-female
bias, says Schulte, continues to the present day, since modern mainstream
Tantra advocates sexual and spiritual balance for women only if they fuse
with men or masculine energy.
Schulte wishes to return to
Tantra some of its glorious validation of female sexuality, so she creates
her own version. Schulte's curious combination includes Cherokee lore
about types of women's orgasms, a little bit from the Buddhist mythology
of enlightenment goddess Tara, and a little bit from her psychoanalytical
perspective on women. It seems like a strange group of sources to me,
but I'm completely down with Schulte's goal: the "creation of maximal
pleasure and the expansion of this pleasure in all directions."
In order to fill yourself and
other women with love, Schulte says that you must challenge your notions
of female sexuality. It's not just what you yourself imagine and live
out, she says. Rather, "female sexuality is the totality of that
which women imagine to be sexuality, even if they only experience a fragment
thereof." Women's sexuality is transpersonal, transcultural. Thus
love and sexuality are a way of linking up with women across time and
space. Female sexuality is divine. Let's jack into the Goddess!
Taking the view that women's sexuality
is an exciting world of which we each know very little, Schulte seizes
your hands and says, "Let's explore and have fun!" Her copious
exercises are balanced and rigorously structured, but flexible enough
for any learning style. For example, after basic biology and chakra lessons,
you accustom yourself to your own sensuality by visualizing yourself as
a flaming dragon or by dancing. You can learn to meditate through controlled
breath and move on to exercises for two, like the sensual delight of the
pleasure-receiving tutorial called "How to be comfortably flattened."
Once you're well-practiced,
Schulte gives you rituals where you can shower your love with sweet scents
and orgasmic bliss. All of this takes dedicated effort, but don't fear
the hard work; Schulte will always reassure you with her ebullient tone
and ever-present "creative ways to deal with stumbling blocks."
How can you resist?
Well, I for one certainly can't. Basically
I find Schulte’s Tantric framework too New Agey and historically
suspect, but her enthusiasm rubs off on me. Plus Schulte provides many
exercises and experiments that you can benefit from, for information,
self-interrogation, relaxation or just plain fun, whether you like Tantra
or not. Basically Tantric Sex for Women is a detailed guide for
those who wish to love their bodies and their lovers. I will keep this
one in my library, not because I'm Tantric but because I like sex, and
I like good sex, and I can always use cool new ideas in the bedroom. Plus
I want to see about that perpetual orgasm...
Elizabeth Allen practices her newfound knowledge in Boston.