Aboriginal Sexuality

Aboriginal Sexuality

Aboriginal Sexuality vs. Modern Sexuality Aborigines believe that the natural environment results from the sexual potencies of metaphysical beings and that these potencies continue to vivify the creatures and processes of nature. They also believe that the quality, variety, and intensity of human eroticism can deeply affect the surrounding life processes. The notion that the sexual energies of human beings and nature affect each other remains in our thinking today. We acknowledge that moonlight, the thundering of waves, the color and scent of certain flowers, the shape and feel of stones posses sexually stimulating qualities. The source of this stimulation and sexual arousal differ from culture to culture. An example in our culture is that as we are accustomed to wearing clothes, our arousal is triggered by its removal. Since cultures like the Aborigines wear no clothing, their cause of sexual arousal is different. For the Aborigines, the subtle qualities of the atmosphere and natural elements triggertheir sexual arousal. The view that both humans and nature rely on metaphysical erotic sources persisted in all early societies before the crackdown on fertility rights by state religions. In the history of Europe, between the eleventh and sixteenth centuries, inquisitions and witch hunts destroyed the rites of exchanging sexual and erotic vitality between humans and nature. Both the emphasis and the restrictions Aborigines place on their sexuality are directed toward the reciprocal exchange between human sexuality and the erotic forces of nature. One of the many differences between Aboriginal sexuality and modern views include marriage. Aboriginal marriages are arranged, but not unhappily. Marriages are arranged by a formal bestowal, which is the prerogative of the men. Women influence this process both covertly and throughrituals. The bestowals are often conditional and over a long period of time. These marriage bestowals are unwritten, yet usually binding....

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