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Hierogamy: The Great Rite
Review "Hierogamy: The Great Rite".
Encyclopaedia Britannica offers this article, updated in 2013: Hieros gamos "Hieros gamos, (Greek: “sacred marriage”), sexual relations of fertility deities in myths and rituals, characteristic of societies based on cereal agriculture, especially in the Middle East. At least once a year, divine persons (e.g., humans representing the deities) engage in sexual intercourse, which guarantees the fertility of the land, the prosperity of the community, and the continuation of the cosmos." Read more.
"Sexuality is such an important force for renewal because Sex unites. Sacred Marriage is about union, about the coming together of the many elements that together make a fertile world. Through this act, renewal and regeneration occur when the male component of fertility (Dumuzi) combines with the female component (Inanna), thus unifying the various aspects of cosmos. Male and Female appear as the interlocking pieces which combine to open the riches of the universe. The union of the principals that Sacred Marriage signifies, expresses and effects the meeting of the male-female axis of the world"
~Tikva Frymer-Kinsky. In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth. Balantine Books. 1993
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