"Both men and women can train this creative energy into power. The word is the sword of the spirit. It is a well proven law that the reiteration of a thought brings about a condition which makes manifest what the thought expresses. Therefore, let one repeat again and again, 'I am a creator, not merely of human children, but creator of thoughts, of ideas and of resources. I devote my great heart-love to the interests of the world. There is no task too onerous for my devotion, no service too difficult for my undertaking. All children are mine, all interests are mine, gladly and cheerfully I answer the call to serve those who need me. I am both father and mother. In joy and gladness do I consecrate myself to the world.'" Alice B. Stockholm
I come back to Alice B. Stockholm's writings perpetually because they bring me back to a feeling of healthy alignment with my sexuality, as well as spurring a radical revision of values in the face of the stagnant sexual norms of our culture.
Alice was a remarkable woman and one of the first real feminists of the modern era. Born in 1833, Alice was the fifth woman to be made a doctor in the United States. She was also an obstetrician and gynecologist but it was her philosophical views on sexuality, gender equality, birth control and marriage that really set her apart as a vanguard.
Alice brought novel ideas back to the West from her time living in matriarchal societies in India as well as social innovations she learned during her travels in Sweden. She was most deeply affected by the plight of women who were giving birth to so many children, losing any liberty in the constant busyness of child-rearing. She also championed how healthy masturbation was for men and women and was all around a force of opening for the whole conversation of sexuality.
I came across her work thanks to another contemporary luminary in the field of sexuality, Marnia Robinson who is continuing Alice's work on the Karezza method which entails revising the goal of sex from orgasm to a deeper kind of pleasure based on gentle caress, meditative awareness and cultivating sexual energy rather than constantly releasing it. Alice's book is also a treasure trove of beautiful spiritual ideas and is quite poetic in its assertions that cultivating sexual energy is one of the keys of empowering one's general creativity in life as the sacral energy also encompasses our creative gifts!
It is a revolutionary paradigm in the face of our current age which leaves us listless in our sexual behaviours, rarely trained to understand the deeper and healing dimensions of this wonderful, natural inclination. Moreover, many of us use orgasm as a means to relieve stress and sexual energy has become mired in addictions and unhealthy uses of this force in the face of a culture that is desperately off its natural course. Alice's writings give us a way to return back to the natural beauty in our essence and teaches us tools to evolve and expand our pleasure into sacred realms. The best part is we need each other to practice! Love is the language :)
READ Karezza--Ethics of Marriage.