Touch in our modern culture is a very touchy subject. There are right ways and there are wrong ways. There are good ways and there are bad ways. There are socially acceptable ways and there are socially condemned ways.
In our society, the socially acceptable way to touch and receive touch is through massage. However, generally when we think of massage, we think of someone who has had years of training to manipulate muscles and nerves. Most of us do not feel qualified to administer massage. Therapeutic massage, while it is relaxing and somewhat stress reducing, is only designated to address discomfort and discord in “acceptable” areas of the body. Areas considered a part of our sexual anatomy are considered off limits. By isolating these areas we heap even more shame and guilt upon our being. Therapeutic massage is subject to many rules and regulations that isolate the very parts of our body and soul that needs the most nurturing. And God forbid that we should become sexually aroused or cause sexual arousal during a therapeutic massage session
So then, how can those “unacceptable” areas of the body find the nurturing and acceptance they crave? Those areas are addressed by Sacred Touch practitioners who are willing to take the risk to address the entire body. They fall into an entire underground of sexual healers who provide sensual massage, erotic massage, sexual massage, and sacred touch. It is safe to say that with few exceptions, these sexual massage modalities are all, to some degree, identified with illegal activities that bring shame and persecution to those who administer them as well as those who receive from them.
And what a shame it is!! Sensual massage, erotic massage and sexual massage were all at one time considered by most cultures to be a basis of the healing process. Sensual, erotic and sexual massage were all considered sacred touch. Tantra, Taoism, the Mayan-Native American traditions, the Egyptian mysteries, the Celtic –Pagan traditions and any number of other indigenous cultures scattered around the world considered sexual energy and sexual pleasures as an avenue to commune with the divine and heal the body and soul.
Two of the many Sacred Touch modalities that deliver powerful healing to those receiving as well as those giving are Taoist Erotic Massage and Tantra Sensual Massage.
Taoist Erotic Massage
The Taoist tradition recognized sexual energy as a very powerful healing modality. By incorporating focused breath and relaxation, one could re-connect one’s physical being to one’s energetic self and re-balance and heal. Taoist Erotic Massage stems from that tradition. Taoist Erotic Massage is a form of sensual massage that has been developed and re-introduced in the western world by such healers and teachers as Joseph Kramer, PhD who founded the original Body Electric organization. He subsequently developed a curriculum for certifying Sexological Bodyworkers through the State of California . His work is on the forefront of legalizing the concept of Taoist Erotic Massage as a socially acceptable and very viable healing modality.
Taoist Erotic Massage, when practiced in its purest form, teaches one to use sexual energy to reach states of higher consciousness by diverting the ejaculation response, thereby reaching altered states of consciousness.
The methodologies of this form of sexual massage are often used to help recipients overcome sexual concerns such as premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction (ED), as well as pelvic floor pain and other challenges effecting our overall well being. It is also a sexual massage modality that honors prostate massage as an integral and important aspect of male sexual wellness, without regard to gender preference.
Tantra Sensual Massage
Tantra Sensual Massage, is a very spiritual and ceremonial form of sensual massage that takes both giver and receiver into another world. The sexual massage incorporates the entire body and coaxes the sexual energy into every pore and every cell. Tantra Sensual Massage is expansive and erotic. The erotic is transformed into divine bliss. Tantra Sensual Massage is about the dance of Sexual Self in relationship to another or others. The Tantrika celebrates the body including sexual self.
The Tantra Sensual Massage celebrates god and goddess energy in self and in the other. The goddess’s Yoni (beautiful flower), sometimes also called Shakti’s Garden is touched tenderly with fingers, mouth, nipples and the soft tip of lingham. The honoring of the god’s lingham or vajarah is done with reverence and love. In the Tantra form of erotic massage, the participants represent the embodiment of god and goddess energy – Shakti and Shiva. Sensual Massage to the Tantra practioner is a Dance of Unconditional Love which culminates in Sacred Union – the joining of divine feminine to divine masculine.
The good news about sensual massage is that one does not have to be “trained” to do it. For the most part, one must left go of all that one has learned about sex and all of it’s trappings. One must be able to just let go and allow who he or she is to come forth in a sacred way – touching to feel rather than touching to heal. That is Sacred Touch.