This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pearson, J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Inappropriate Sexuality? Sex Magic, S/M and Wicca (or ‘Whipping Harry Potter’s Arse!’)

Jo.Pearson{at}tiphareth.demon.co.uk

Despite its often fervent claims to radicalism, openness and maturity, Wicca articulates a rather complex attitude towards sexuality. S/M concepts which have influenced the development of Wiccan ritual practice (through such figures as Algernon Swinburne, Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders) have been largely abstracted into symbolic forms which strongly deny the ‘inappropriate’ sexuality embedded in Wiccan initiation rituals (specifically) and formative ideologies (generally). A brief comparison between Wiccan initiation and the S/M dungeon, for example, suggests a common conceptual ground. But, while a rhetoric of disruptive sexuality is retained in Wicca through the use of scourging, binding, ritual nudity, and the ‘Great Rite’, the emphasis lies in its symbolic value and ‘dangerous sex’ is largely forbidden. Nevertheless, ‘dangerous sex’ remains an issue within Wicca. The overlaps between Wiccan S/M symbolism and rhetoric and the physical spirituality of some S/M practitioners remains unexplored, and issues of power, abuse, and gender are only just beginning to be recognized.

Theology and Sexuality, Vol. 11, No. 2, 31-42 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1355835805051876


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Newmahr Becoming a Sadomasochist: Integrating Self and Other in Ethnographic Analysis Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, October 1, 2008; 37(5): 619 - 643. [Abstract] [PDF]