Magic 501: Sexuality and Culture

Sexuality is an expression of life energy—not the only expression, but an expression of it. It is not inherently tied to reproduction, and not limited to heterosexuality or any particular expression of gender and orientation. Sensuality is also an expression of life energy with even less of a relationship to gender and orientation.

Vodou does not consider sexuality or sensuality particularly taboo as topics, just topics with an appropriate context. Not everything is appropriate to every situation. This is manifestly different than a blanket condemnation of the body and sexuality as generally evil, weak, or misguided. Vodou considers your body part of your soul, and the sensations it generates to be an important part of learning the lessons in an incarnation. Not lesser, not evil, not prone to error, not a site of attack (any more than other parts of your soul), just not the most important factor in learning.

The body is, if you have the (relatively rare) capacity for free will, subject to will.

This approach also differs significantly from the idea that the church or legal system needs to sanction an expression of sensuality or sexuality. One of the common motifs in the religions of the book (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) is the idea that sexual or sensual energy is strong, dangerous, and must be resisted or regulated—particularly in women, who are thought to be less capable of will or the necessary self-control to regulate the expression of sensuality or sexuality. The weakness of people in general and women in specific is thought to demand the legal and religious control of marriage.

Vodou is not particularly interested in that sort of reasoning, among other reasons because the feminine is not a ‘lesser’ energy that cannot regulate sexual and sensual expression and we’re not that interested in hierarchy. The energy associated with sensuality and sexuality is strong, but much like the question of blame, not a thing we condemn. Very few people have much in the way of control, and inappropriate behavior is prone to correction whether that’s a proverbial parent with a shotgun or just people talking shit about you, which is not so much correction as a reminder that the society around us is heavily influenced by the religions of the book.

I am not particularly concerned with rumor mills and the like. I find the gossip says a lot more about the person passing it than it does the subject.

Where your behavior is inappropriate to the situation, something will get done about it and whether or not a priest or spiritual worker gets involved is up to the situation. Some of us specialize in dealing with inappropriate behavior, but because it is inappropriate not because of the gender or some set of beliefs about inherent weakness.

Our lwa reflect a lack of restrictive judgement: the majority are in marriages or relationships which would fall under the ‘poly’ heading. This is generally explained away as a symbolic relationship in an attempt to deflect the criticism of the religions of the book and in societies which are based on the rigid and hierarchical control of sexuality. The US is an example of this sort of society, but many political systems do the same.

This approach to lwa and relationships is only partially true, and it tries to duck sexuality and sensual energy as a part of spirituality. Yes, there is a deeply symbolic exchange of energies and a description of the way the domains of lwa interact with each other. Yes, many domains interact with each other in intimate and deeply entwined ways—they’d have to, given the nature of the divine. And yes, sex is an exchange of energies.

Sexuality and sensuality are as much a part of the energy of existence as anything else. They interact with a body, but they are not inherent to embodiment. Bodies are just a place they can be expressed. The lwa are, for the most part, not nonsexual or non-sensual. Viewing them without allowing for the existence of these energies is the same sort of mutilation the religions of the book tend to use on anything which does not require repression.

The lwa are wildly sensual, and sometimes wildly sexual. The idea of this makes people in repressive and controlling societies uncomfortable, but it is a fundamental truth. Vodou does not condemn, repress, or control sexuality as an inherent evil or site of weakness. We leave that to the religions of the book and the governments they’ve involved themselves with.

I’d personally like to leave it to the kind of person who peeks in windows and tattles on their neighbors because they hate themselves so much no one else is allowed to have fun.

We’re also not generally avoidant of the topic, though we often won’t bother to talk about it with people whose indoctrination in repressive societies makes them incapable of entertaining a lack of repression—that is, we don’t talk about it much publicly.

One of the reasons vodou is fetishized by the religions of the book is because vodou honors sexuality and sensuality as a part of life and existance, allowing it to be a ‘natural’ force with ebb and flow, and something present along with life energy which is not inherently dangerous or evil. Priests and spiritual workers are often also fetishized. We sometimes cultivate sexual and sensual energy, sometimes embody them, sometimes express them, sometimes put them aside: part of the control expected of priests and spiritual workers is the ability to manipulate energies.

The situation between vodou and other cultures does present some unique problems for priests and spiritual workers. The same heightened capacities or access to energy which makes us capable of magic and able to be a horse of the spirits also tends to make us a lot more sensual and sexual than most people. Life energies are not weak in us, and while the societies we’re in might not have a particularly clear way to articulate that difference in people, the people around us feel it.

It’s not uncommon for priests or spiritual workers to need to learn how to ‘hide’ that part of themselves before they are prepared to defend themselves. It’s also not uncommon for priests or spiritual workers to be very, very standoffish with people as a part of preventing themselves from being abused for that energy. Sadly, it’s not uncommon for priests or spiritual workers to end up trying to ignore or ‘turn off’ that part of themselves where they have been abused for that energy.

Vodou does not avoid that discussion, either. We have the advantage of knowing that abuse does not ‘ruin’ you—we don’t fetishize sexual purity (inexperience), unlike the religions of the book which view sexual abuse as permanent and ruinous because it introduces experience. Abuse presents challenges which we can learn to overcome or heal from.

If you’re familiar with the history of vodou, you know why abuse is viewed that way.

As a priest, I could avoid this discussion publicly but have chosen not to. My job involves holding this space for my children, too.