"Temple of Set Reading List:
Category 13 - Sex in Religion and Magic" (2/5/90CE)
Reprinted from: _The Crystal Tablet of Set_
(c) Temple of Set 1989 CE
Weirdbase file version by TS permission

by Michael A. Aquino, Ipsissimus VI* Temple of Set
Electronic mail: MCI-Mail 278-4041

Sex and magic have never been very far apart. This is both because sorcerers 
and sorceresses tend to be rather hedonistic individuals, and because the 
sexual drives can be used for purposes of ritual magic. Historically Black 
Magical societies have been accused of being obsessed with sex; a Black 
Magician (like Wicked Wanda, shown above) might well retort that his/hers is 
the rational approach and that the critic is suffering from a bad case of 
Judaic/Christian repressed/sex neurosis. A problem with sex-magic has been 
that many practitioners, suffering from the aforementioned neurosis, have 
plunged into sex in the most animalistic way possible - as an indulgence for 
its own sake. This, for example, was the presumption of the Church of Satan. 
Aleister Crowley, however, mixed his sex-magical practices with aesthetic 
mysticism - a fact almost totally lost on his latter-day disciples, who more 
often than not either ignore the sexual component in his Workings or become 
obsessed with it. The Temple of Set proposes an integral, non-compulsive, 
comfortable, and relaxed inter- relationship between sex, aesthetics, and 
love - the neglect of any one of which will inhibit the efficacy of whatever 
magical Working is involved.

13A. _Eros and Evil_ by R.E.L. Masters. NY: Julian Press, 1962 [later 
paperback edition published]. (TS-3) MA: "The definitive reference work on 
the subject. Basically oriented towards a classical Christian concept of 
Daemonology, but encyclopaedic in its coverage nevertheless."

13B. _The Sacred Fire_ by B.Z. Goldberg. NY: University Books, 1958. (TS-3) 
MA: "A history of sex in religion, valuable primarily as an in-depth 
supplement to #13A - the main differences being that Goldberg seems a little 
less obsessed with the subject, and that there is an interesting section 
dealing with the concept of revolt (sexual and otherwise) against repressive 
religious environments."

13C. _Sexuality, Magic, and Perversion_ by Francis King. Secaucus, New 
Jersey: Citadel Press, 1971. (TS-3) MA: "You have to hand it to King for 
picking a catchy title! Yet this is a rather thorough survey of the 
influence of sex in a number of contemporary cults, religions, and magical 
societies around the world - the Wiccan 'great rite', the 
auto/hetero/homosexual magic of the O.T.O. VIII*/IX*/XI*, etc. A good update 
to #13A and #13B. The data dealing with the Church of Satan are so 
fragmentary and misleading, however, that the author's care in researching 
other environments must be doubted as well. Use more as a starting point for 
further research than as a definitive source."

13D. _The Compleat Witch_ by Anton Szandor LaVey. NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 
1970. (CS-1) (TS-3) [Note: This book has been republished in paperback under 
the name _The Satanic Witch_ in 1989 CE.] MA: "Although the more earthy 
passages in this book put off many readers who were expecting 'more of the 
_Satanic Bible_', LaVey often maintained that it was the best of his three 
books because it contained the most Lesser Magic. [It could just as well be 
included in category 23.] Tucked away amidst the pages are some very 
incisive comments concerning human traits and motivations and how both may 
be recognized and manipulated in day-to-day contexts. By no means 'just a 
sex book', though a background in Church of Satan history is necessary to 
understand the author's point of perspective. Chapter 8 of #6N reviews #13D 
in detail."

13E. _Odoratus Sexualis_ by Iwan Block. North Hollywood: Brandon House, 
1967. (CS-3) AL: "The use of odors in magic."

13F. _Magica Sexualis_ by Emile Laurent and Paul Nagour. North Hollywood: 
Brandon House, 1966. (CS-3) AL: "Contains some little-known lore."