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In Tantric Saivism (the esoteric form of Hinduism known for there writings called tantras) part of the process of initiation (diksa) requires the guru to plant within the initiates body a “seed” of the godhead. This can take a number of forms (depending on the individual branch of Tantric Saivism) but is commonly the ingestion of blood and semen. These two represent the male-female duality of the godhead. In Tantric traditions semen represents the moon , and blood (more specifically menstrual blood) represents the sun. This is based on the color associations since sunsets/rises=red=blood and moon=white=semen, it is a reversal of our western associations of moon-female and sun-masculine.
If you are interested in the history of this I recommend “Tantra in Practice” edited by David Gordon White. This book is a compilation of articles written by several academics and is extremely informative. Tantric Saivism is one of the most interesting mystery religions (i.e. initiation based), sadly the west only associates it with the Tantric sex practices that were introduced much later into the tradition (not that Tantric sex is bad).
edit: There are also a series of articles by A. Sanderson (I think that is his name) who go through rituals step by step including how to visualize an ascent to the godhead via the 32 tattvas. Let me know if you are interested and I'll dig up the exact info.
This post has been edited by Faustopheles: Dec 8 2006, 03:42 AM
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A Seemingly Odd Question, Ritual Tools Including Semen
Mr_Merlin A Seemingly Odd Question Dec 8 2006, 03:11 AM
Dec 8 2006, 03:11 AM
