Chuluaqui Quodoushka (''CHOO-la-kway Kwuh-DOE-shka'') is a collection of sexual techniques and theories developed and promoted by the Deer Tribe Medicine Society, a

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...

and business co-founded by Harley Reagan and Diane Reagan in 1986. Harley Reagan cites a variety of ancient and contemporary cultures as the inspiration for these practices, including the

Olmec The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that ...

, the

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

and the

Toltec The Toltec culture () was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoamerican chronology, reaching prominence from 950 to 1150 CE. T ...

, though he formerly claimed that the practices were

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

. He has come under heavy criticism and his teachings have been denounced by the tribes whose ways he has claimed to teach.Giago, Tim,
Phony Indians
in ''The Baltimore Sun.'' Published 27 January 1993; accessed 7 September 2014.

Overview

According to Reagan and his followers, the "Quodoushka teachings" (also known as "the "Q" to adherents), guided exercises and rituals allow a person to improve relationships and reach "higher levels" of orgasm and sexual ecstasy.See the

Home Box Office Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television, premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office busi ...

episode of "Real Sex in America" (1992) featuring Reagan and a Chuluaqui Quodoushka retreat. Demonstrations at Chuluaqui Quodoushka retreats include male and female self-pleasuring techniques, close-up examinations to show variations in the shapes of genitalia, and participants having sexual intercourse while Reagan and other trainers watch and "coach" them.

Criticism

The sexual rites of passage that Reagan says are drawn from spiritual practices of the

and

cultures, and what he claims are secret societies within the

Nation, have been denounced as fraudulent by the traditional teachers of these cultures. Many cultures contain rites of passage—usually social and spiritual ceremonies held as a child enters adulthood. Reagan claims to take inspiration from these ceremonies. But his critics agree that his claims about these ceremonies starkly contrast with the teachings and beliefs of the cultures he claims to represent. The Cherokee Nation disavows Reagan's claims entirely, noting that Reagan is not an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation nor a member of any Cherokee community. After being denounced by the Cherokee Nation, Reagan abruptly changed his story and now claims the teachings are inspired by a variety of cultures.

Language

In the workshops a woman's genitalia are called "tupuli", which Reagan claims is a Cherokee term for "sacred black hole of creation," and a man's genitalia are called "tipilli", which Reagan says is a Cherokee term meaning "like a tipi pole." According to Durbin Feeling, a linguistic specialist for the Cherokee Nation,Murphy, Jami,
Cherokee Translators: Curiosity leads Feeling to Cherokee literacy
in the ''Cherokee Phoenix'', 14 February 2012; retrieved 7 September 2014. there are no such words in the Cherokee language, and Cherokee do not and never have lived in tipis. In fact, the word "tipili" applied to genitals is likely taken from Gary Jennings's novel ''Aztec''. Feeling said ''Chu-Lua-Qui'' refers to Cherokee people; he said the closest translation he could find for ''Quodoushka'' is "(a)qwv-tol u- ska", a graphic term for a male sexual organ that has nothing to do with Cherokee spirituality. "It's pretty ugly. I don't know if he arley Reaganrealizes what it means." Feeling added, "He probably does know what it means."

Credentials

Despite the claims that the Chuluaqui Quodoushka is based on ancient traditions, there is no evidence of this. Much of the ancient

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

religious tradition is still not understood by scholars and there is no surviving information about Mayan sex rituals. The

Olmecs The Olmecs () were the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization. Following a progressive development in Soconusco, they occupied the tropical lowlands of the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco. It has been speculated that ...

were a people in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

who predated the Aztecs. Their culture disappeared and the only clues left about them are some stone statues and hieroglyphic carvings. Olmec mythology has left no documents and therefore cannot have anything to do with modern-day sex rituals. Reagan also claims without evidence that the teachings are also

in origin. The Cherokee Nation firmly denies any involvement in the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka. Harley Reagan appeared on the HBO program "Real Sex in America" in 1992, promoting Quodoushka as a Cherokee ritual. The chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma at the time,

Wilma Mankiller Wilma Pearl Mankiller ( chr, ᎠᏥᎳᏍᎩ ᎠᏍᎦᏯᏗᎯ, Atsilasgi Asgayadihi; November 18, 1945April 6, 2010) was a Native American (Cherokee Nation) activist, social worker, community developer and the first woman elected to serve a ...

, threatened to sue HBO for misrepresentation, and the Cherokee passed a resolution condemning Reagan and other " plastic shamans". Some believe that in order to avoid a lawsuit, Reagan changed his story to the claim that Quodoushka is a blend of many ancient sexual traditions. Richard Allen, a research and policy analyst of the Cherokee Nation, says of the Chuluaqui Quodoushka, "Reagan's made it up. We learn about sex like everyone else does, behind the barn."

Proponents

One of the fans of the "Q" is porn star

Porsche Lynn Porsche Lynn (born February 14, 1962) is an American exotic dancer and pornographic actress. Career Lynn chose her stage name from the Porsche car company after seeing one of their cars during a drive to one of her earliest film shoots; she add ...

, who studied with Harley Reagan and has praised the "Q" workshops.

In film

The movie ''Quodoushka, Native American Love Techniques'' (or ''Quodoushka'') came out in 1991, distributed by Vivid Video and starring such hardcore porn actors as Ashley Nicole, Heather Hart,

Hyapatia Lee Vicki Lynch, known professionally as Hyapatia Lee, is an American former adult film actress. As part Cherokee, she was the only Native American in the adult business during her tenure; this contributed to her becoming one of the best-known actr ...

and Madison. Lee was a student of Harley Reagan and claims to be of Cherokee descent. The film is a pornographic film made to look like a documentary. It depicts various women of supposedly Cherokee ancestry copulating in various ways, mostly with white men.

Notes

References

* Chuluaqui-Quodoushka I, II, III Manual and outline.
New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans website
*

* http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-01-27/news/1993027046_1_cherokee-nation-indian-tribe * Encyclopedia of women and religion in North America, Volume 1 By Rosemary Skinner Keller, Rosemary Radford Ruether, Marie Cantlon

External links

Official Deer Tribe Medicine Society website
{{New Age Movement New Age practices Sexuality and religion