The following was originally printed in Mezlim magazine. The author, Tara Webster, was a dear friend of Kathy’s who is now among us only in spirit. Her inspiration for this ritual was also the inception of LumensGate. So it was an amazing birthing – of many powerful pathways. And an incredible thing about what follows is that this ritual was created, performed and documented in 1991 – more than 20 years ago. Yet it remains as powerful and relevant now as it was then.
The Kadesha Ritual
Reuniting The Virgin And The Whore
The Foundations
The following ritual… was born out of a need on my part to reclaim my personal power and put an end to the projections that were creating so much pain in my life. What I discovered was that I am not alone in my desire to reunify these energies. I am not alone in my quest to sanctify the expression of sexuality, in my search for whole love. What follows is first an explanation of my theory behind this ritual, and then a description of the ritual itself, as it occurred at LumensGate.
This Ritual Is Rooted In Our History
I called this the Kadesha [Qedesha] Ritual, as Kadesha is the name for the ancient Middle Eastern Temple Harlots who Priestessed for the Goddess [Divine Feminine] with sexual love, before the split between the sacred and the sexual was made by Western culture. It is a word that I would like to reclaim to refer to one who has integrated the energies of the Virgin and the Whore within themselves. I invite any who feel so inclined to take any or all of this ritual and recreate it. The more the magick is worked, the stronger the link will become.
Before going any further with this article, I want to acknowledge the help of Sam Webster, Kenn Deigh, Kether (Kathy Scheiern), and Elise (Del Vecchio) in creating and executing this ritual. Their creativity and passion are interwoven with my own throughout.
The Great Goddess Was Divided And Disempowered
There was a time, perhaps aeons ago, when the Great Goddess was Whole. She embodied the powers of creation. Her sexuality was an important part of Her mysteries. She was worshipped in the Temples of many cultures, where strangers would seek to know her through acts of sexual worship with Her Priestesses. These Priestesses were known as Kadistu, the Sacred Prostitutes, who were highly honored and respected women. Over time, the Temples were destroyed, and the Goddess was divided. Sexuality became seen as dirty and profane. The Virgin was upheld as the chaste and pure mother, the Whore as the damned harlot. I believe that today, a new age is upon us where the energies of the Virgin and the Whole, of sexuality and sacredness, must be reunited.
It Is Time To Heal This Split That Harms Us All
My current work with the Virgin and Whore archetypes comes from a calling to be her Priestess and to do the work that will help Her awaken once again. The energies involved in sexuality, healing, loving, and art have been split and distorted, suppressed and projected for a long, long time. This has contributed, if not solely caused, the current way we live with the energy of sex in this culture. For the most part we are taught to see sex as dirty, sinful, shameful – yet we are encouraged only to do it with someone that we love. This paradox is at the heart of the Virgin-Whore split. I see all the violence and abuse that is currently connected with sex as stemming from the split between the Virgin and the Whore.
The proliferance of people who live restricted puritanical lives and cannot access their creativity is also under the influence of this split. What we cast out and deny will come back and make us deal with it one way or another.
The Planet Needs The Power Of The Reunited Goddess
Most importantly, the planet as a whole is in need of the synthesized energy of love in order to move forward into the graceful place that it can be. By healing the wounded complex of the Virgin-Whore, by synthesizing the split within the consciousness of humans, I think that we can access more of the energy this world is in need of. I see it as part of my life task to do this work, and so I began the process by creating this group ritual.
She Is More Than Just Two Halves Of One Whole
To further explain the energies this ritual seeks to create, I would like to share an excerpt from my journal… It is a channeling from the part of my psyche that calls itself Hecate:
“Understand that the virgin whore is not simply a blend of the two poles. She is not simply a sweet, kind, and loving woman who can fuck with wild abandon. She is a strong and powerful woman who knows how to channel the energy of sexuality for healing and enhancement of her own and her partner’s well being. She does not attempt to control or manipulate her partners through the power of sexuality. She does not try to escape herself through the power of sexuality. The Virgin-Whore, the Sacred Prostitute, is Virgin because she remains whole and intact unto herself while She is able to abandon herself to the energy and create a new and more empowered universe with each act of love. She does not limit an act of love to physical fucking, but carries out her office with every action.
She Belongs To No One And Chooses Her Lovers To Please Only The Goddess
“Aware of her power to act out of whole love, the Virgin-Whore is in a constant state of fulfilling her duties as Priestess. The close study of the Virgin and of the Whore will soon reveal that they are one and the same. The Virgin is Whore. She belongs to no one and chooses her lovers to please only the Goddess. The Whore is Virgin. She belongs to no one and chooses her lovers to please only the Goddess.
Both Women And Men Are In Need Of This Healing
“To become the Virgin-Whore is essential to women and men who would live in these changing times. Know that much of the destruction that has fallen upon the face of the planet on which you live began when She was scorned. It was then that the most sacred power of creating was rejected in favor of the worship of Death. You who would worship Life, come and create Her again. Create her by healing the wounds to your own psyche, by finding the new laws of love from which to live, and barring with your sword the restricted, fearful, death-loving laws of old. Then will the flower of the Goddess bloom in full and the dew on its petals be nourishment for all.”
It is important to note that this split involves the psyches of both men and women. We have all been effected by it. We are working with the feminine archetype and this energy that both men and women embody. This is not a ritual just for women. It is for all those who want to work with the synthesizing of this energy.
[This post provides the foundations for the Kadesha Ritual. In the next post, the ritual itself is described and discussed. What do you think? Do you feel any resonance with your own life? Do you believe Tara’s thoughts and ideas are still relevant to today’s world? Please share.]
