Beltane In A Week: The Great Rite

Parental Advisory: Due to the possible explicit nature of this post, it is not recommended for children under the age of 18. 

First off, how did I know the entry about S-E-X would be the highest-hit so far in this Beltane In A Week series. Y'all are a bunch of horn dogs! ... and I like it!

Not all sex is purely about the physical pleasure, though. Sometimes, sex can transcend the physical body and enter a spiritual plane, notably when used in ritual settings. In the words of writers Janet and Stewart Farrar, Beltane especially is a time of "[...] unashamed human sexuality and fertility." It is this notion that exemplifies the Great Rite, a sacred part of spiritual practice in some (but not all) Wiccan and Pagan traditions.

Similarly, not all ritual sex is the Great Rite. For example, there is the idea of sex symbolism; in its original form, Wicca is a fertility religion that uses many symbolic acts of sex -- and by symbolic, I mean things other than overt sexual acts, such as joining the athame with the chalice. Then there's ritual sex, which can be used to raise energy, create magickal power, or find a sense of spiritual communion with a partner. If "all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals," then sex in ritual can certainly be a sacramental act of love!

Then there's the Great Rite, a symbol of the connection of the god and goddess. In Wicca: the old Religion in the New Age, Vivianne Crowley says, "The outer rite involves a linking of the male and female[...] the sacred marriage is outwardly a marriage of two people, but inwardly it is a marriage of two within one person." That being said, the Rite is more about the enactment of the creation of the universe than a simple sexual union; the god and goddess, through the Priest and Priestess (or whoever may be performing the Rite), combine to create the very world in which we live.

But wait... ritual sex may be used in coven settings? In short, the answer is "perhaps". In most traditions that incorporate ritual sex, it is performed in private, and in all traditions, it is performed by adults. Some traditions of Wicca actually require intercourse as a part of Third Degree elevation, but that is made absolutely clear before a neophyte (someone who has dedicated himself to a path) proceeds any further, if not beforehand. In other traditions, it is performed by the High Priest and High Priestess, either symbolic or actualized.

Speaking of symbolic versus actualized, in many traditions, there are three "tiers" of the Great Rite. The first and simplest is the use of the athame, which is to represent the god, and the chalice, which is to represent the goddess. When the athame is lowered into the chalice, filled with ritual wine, many see it as a penetration of the vagina by the penis, creating a life-force energy that further blesses the wine and those who consume it.

The Great Rite can also be symbolic.

The second tier, depending on the tradition, may either be a pantomime of the sexual act that is the Great Rite or the performance of the actual Rite through intercourse only on the Greater Sabbats (Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnassadh, and Samhain). The third tier involves the physical act of intercourse, and is performed for all eight Sabbats.

Some covens may incorporate only one of the tiers, two of the three, or all three at certain points of the year. That distinction is often made by the High Priest and High Priestess of the coven, and is well known to each neophyte before embarking on any spiritual guidance courses with the coven.

Any form of ritual sex should be consensual. In fact, scratch that: It should go without saying that all sex should be consensual, and ritual sex is absolutely not an exception. No reputable coven will ever demand sexual initiation of its members. Ritual sex, be it the Great Rite or otherwise, is a specific and sacred act that is performed only by those who have studied and learned enough to feel comfortable performing it with a trusted partner.

Janet and Stewart Farrar perform the Great Rite.

If ritual sex is performed, it is typically between two individuals who are already part of an existing relationship and are of equal levels of power within the coven's dynamics -- power plays are not incorporated, especially between such levels as a Neophyte and a Third Degree.

What about the Great Rite and same-sex or other "non-traditional" couples? Or if ritual sex is required for initiation... but you are currently in a relationship with someone other than the coven leader, and you're monogamous? Those are other topics on their own... maybe for later today or tomorrow. :)