What, specifically, was a Temple Harlot?

[bobthedrummer]

Anyone have an expansion of my primative thoughts about journalists, sex industry workers and organized religion?

Ritual sex?

The psychoanalytical theoretical orientation?

Temple Harlot, :9

[zbdent]

1. Britney Spears if she performs at the RNC?

Would that qualify as a Temple Harlot?

[bobthedrummer]

4. Certainly, Madonna too even though she was for Clark

that's in the spirit of a Temple Harlot in my imagination!

Then there's Ann Coulter:puke: she is the lowest kind of Temple Harlot in my mind's eye...

Temple Harlots can be male too-like Brit Hume:puke:and traitors like William Kristol:grr:

[IdaBriggs]

2. Best Book:

"Women's Encyclopedia of Mythology & Secrets" by (I think) Barbara Walker. Clear explanation of the history of, etc. Also try Merlin Stone's "When God was a Woman" for an excellent explanation of the changes in relion when it comes to power, politics, and sex! Enjoy!

[Ninchik]

3. You've already bought the spin, I see.

"Temple harlots" were a feature of certain temples. Some cultures asked all their young women to take a turn in the temple. See, before it was filthy and immoral, sexual union was considered the act that brought a simple human being closest to the gods. And it was considered necessary in some cases to ensure fertility in the fields and forests and for the general well-being of the planet.

The theory was called sympathetic magic. If you want abundant crops, have an orgy in the fields after sowing the seeds. Plow those furrows, boys! {Note the abundant wealth of the United States when Bill was fertilizing the Oval Office. It should be a requirement.)

Some religions preferred to spill a different bodily fluid of life in the fields: blood. The sacrificial victim was dragged bleeding thru the fields so that his blood was nicely distributed.

Now what any of this has to do with the news business, I couldn't tell you.

[bobthedrummer]

5. Welcome to DU, Ninchik! Thanx for establishing a Temple!

:hi:

[bobthedrummer]

6. Charlie Daniels, Ted Nugent, Toby Keith are musical Temple Harlots imo.

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

[bobthedrummer]

7. Let's not forget that music is a media.

:think:

[LibertyLover]

8. Temple Harlots

This goes back to the classic "ritual prostitution" or "temple prostitution" in archaeology. Herodotus (sometimes called the Father of Lies and other times called the First Historian) reported that in Babylon every woman had to go to the temple of Ishtar/Astarte once in her life and sleep with a stranger, accepting whatever payment he offered and which she would donate to the temple. A twist on this was that young women with no sexual experience would do the same thing just prior to their weddings, thereby making sure that their spouses did not incur any negative magical penalties for sleeping with virgins. If I'm remembering my Herodotus correctly he also indicated that some temples had a regular staff of priestesses who would have sex with worshipers in order to bring them closer to the gods. The temple of Aphrodite at Corinth was also supposed to have ritual prostitutes (as well as the first coin operated vending machine - you put in a coin (obol I think) and received perfumed water).

My specialty is Egyptian history, not Middle Eastern, but certain temples do seem to have had priestesses (called "qadishtu" or 'holy one") whose specific jobs were to embody the Goddess, make love to Her (male) worshipers. It was, as they say, a religious experience. In Mesopotamian and Canaanite law codes, the qadistu had specific rights, some with respect to dowries and marriage.

In Hebrew the word qadishtu became something along the lines (paleo Hebrew is not anything I ever studied)of kaddeshtu and was translated in the Bible as temple prostitute or sacred prostitute. The OT of course railed against it.

There is some evidence for male prostitutes as well, although whether for same sex worshipers or female worshipers is not immediately clear.

[bobthedrummer]

9. It's all about context.

Some media Temple Harlots (Jayne Mansfield, Drew Barrymore) really turn me on:P

I'm a Temple Harlot too, then-I guess we all are, just like "terrorists" or "potential terrorists"!!!

No stone unturned...

[bobthedrummer]

10. IdaBriggs, LibertyLover and Ninchik I do thank you all for establishing

some historical background about real Temple Harlots.
:hi:

There is nothing new under the sun.