Myths of Magick

[Myst]

Interesting!! - http://www.angelfire.com/nt/dragon9/MYTHS.html

[loopy]

Very! Thanks Willow! :D

[Raindancer]

It was interesting, but regarding flying on broomsticks, I read somewhere ( wish I could remember where) that it was thought that witches flew on broomsticks because they were seen performing a ritual involving jumping in the air while holding a broom. So to the clueless people who were watching, it seemed as if they were going to take flight. BB Raindancer

[moonmagick4]

Thanks!!;)

[Danustouch]

Willow..i would have loved to have this in History forum :) Great Article!

[Mairwen]

I'm going to nitpick a moment. :D


(1) The stroke of midnight begins a new day.
This determination only came into vogue with the invention of the mechanical clock in the 13th Century. Before that, sunrise was always the start of a new day.

No. When the new day started depended upon your culture. The Celts, for example, started their new day at sunset.


The word ‘virgin’ originally referred to someone who was emotionally unattached to others and devoted their passion to a single purpose, usually of a religious nature. The Vestal Virgins of Rome were sacred prostitutes who had sex with anyone who made a donation to their temple, but who gave their hearts only to the goddess Vesta and their religious cult.

The Vestal Virgins were not prostitutes. Just because someone gives of herself freely, that doesn't make her a prostitute. By today's culture and definition and ideals, probably, but not then.

[Myst]

Originally posted by Mairwen
The Vestal Virgins were not prostitutes. Just because someone gives of herself freely, that doesn't make her a prostitute. By today's culture and definition and ideals, probably, but not then.

Ok the explanation he gave was that they gave sex for donations, so wouldn't that be considered prostitution?

Even then, it's impossible to know, of course none of us were there :)

I just thought it was interesting reading

[Mairwen]

Originally posted by Myst
Ok the explanation he gave was that they gave sex for donations, so wouldn't that be considered prostitution?

Maybe to us, but not to them.

[Raindancer]

Its important to remember that the ancient Romans didn't have the Judeo-Christian hangups and misogyny about prostitutes, courtesans that we have been digging out from under since. Aphrodite/Venus was a goddess of love. Sex was seen as a good thing, and sacred sex was one way of worshipping that part of the divine. The fact that there was a goddess assigned to it shows that.

So whether or not it was done for a fee or a donation, it would have been seen as no more "sinful"than putting money in the collection plate at church. The ancient Romans and Greeks didn't place stigma on a natural and pleasurable activity.

In ancient Greece, the courtesan was a person who was refined, educated, and intelligent. A good courtesan could have a great deal of influence and respect. She was known to have been able to discuss philosophy with the men as was the Courtesan who was Pericles' "Hetaira" She was much loved and his constant companion, as he ruled Athens.

It is useful to try to step outside of modern thinking and consider how the ancients might have regarded it. The children of the wealthy didn't learn about sex in the back seat of a chariot, their father took their sons to a skilled courtesan and there they were taught how to please a woman.

Vestal Virgins have to be seen in the light of their role in the worship of an important Goddess. What they were doing was an important aspect of that worship, and what they were doing was sacred. Its those who brought "morality" to the world who separated us from nature and our bodies, who made sex dirty.
Blessings and Light
Raindancer

[Myst]

I'm not saying its bad or ever was, the word's prostitution and that's what it means. It's not like I used one of the less savoury slang words here.

[Raindancer]

MM Myst...What I was refering to was the interchange with Mairwen, where there was some discussion whether Vestal Virgins were or weren't prostitutes because they had sex with people who gave donations to the temple.

The feeling I got rightly or wrongly was that Mairwen felt uncomfortable with calling them prostitutes and you felt that if they did it for donations that it made them so.

My feeling is that while on the surface it might seem so, but upon further thought, perhaps a case might be made that in fact, despite having sex with people who donated to the Temple, they weren't in the strict sense, prostitutes.

I think also, that the Romans also made a distinction between Vestal Virgins and prostitutes in general. What it all comes down to is for whom is the money intended? In the case of the Vestal Virgins, the money was for the Temple of Venus, it was an offering to the Goddess.

Venus was Goddess of erotic love, and having sex would have been an emulation of the Goddess Herself, and in fact, having sex with someone would have been a holy act. The Vestal Virgin would have been doing it as an offering to Venus as much as the money would have been an offering to Her, and in return he would have been receiving the blessing of the Goddess in the manner that Venus would give it.

So since what both Virgin and male devotee would have been doing was in fact an act of worship, pleasing, no doubt to Venus, and not for the financial gain of the Vestal Virgin, that it really wasn't prostitution at all.

There were women who did have sex for money, as has been the case throughout history, the purpose of which was direct personal gain. As the word prostitute had its origins in the Latin language, as well as virgin, clearly, the Romans made a distinction. One was a priestess bestowing the blessing of the Goddess, the other was a businesswoman.

While it would appear that what they did was the same, actually this wasn't the case, and the higher social status of the Vestal Virgins refected this. Neither would have had the stigma that prostitutes have today, but the Vestal Virgin would have been very special. I think that the word priestess would be closer to describing them than prostitute.

BB... Raindancer

[Myst]

Well I better understand your meaning now.

*shrugs* I guess it's up to the individual :)

Thanks for giving me some things to think about tho.