Sex magic (sometimes spelled sex magick) is any type of
sexual activity
Human sexual activity, human sexual practice or human sexual behaviour is the manner in which humans experience and express their sexuality. People engage in a variety of sexual acts, ranging from activities done alone (e.g., masturbation) t ...
used in
magical,
ritualistic or otherwise
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
and
spiritual pursuits. One practice of sex magic is using
sexual arousal
Sexual arousal (also known as sexual excitement) describes the Physiology, physiological and psychological responses in preparation for sexual intercourse or when exposed to Sexual stimulation, sexual stimuli. A number of physiological response ...
or
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...
with visualization of a desired result. A premise posited by sex magicians is the concept that sexual energy is a potent force that can be harnessed to
transcend one's normally perceived reality.
Paschal Beverly Randolph

The earliest known practical teachings of sex magic in the Western world come from 19th-century American
occultist
The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...
Paschal Beverly Randolph (1825–1875). Son of a wealthy Virginian father and a slave mother, he was a well-known spiritualist who was greatly influenced by the work of English
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism () is a spirituality, spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new Western esotericism, esoteric order. Rosicruc ...
and scholar of
phallicism,
Hargrave Jennings.
Randolph developed one of the most influential systems of sex magic. As per him, the moment when one reaches
orgasm
Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...
is the most intense and the most powerful experience a human can have in life, for in that moment the soul suddenly opens to the divine realm and the breath of God is infused. He said, "True sex-power is God-power". As such, the power of orgasm can be used by a man and woman for various gains, both worldly and spiritual. He wrote thus in ''The Mysteries of Eulis'':
Success in any case requires the adjuvancy of a superior woman. THIS IS THE LAW! A harlot or low woman is useless for all such lofty and holy purposes ... The woman shall not be one who accepts rewards for compliance; nor a virgin; or under eighteen years of age; or another's wife; yet must be one who hath known man and who has been and still is capable of intense mental, volitional and affectionate energy, combined with perfect sexive and orgasmal ability; for it requires a double crisis to succeed... The entire mystery can be given in very few words, and they are: An upper room; absolute personal, mental, and moral cleanliness both of the man and wife. An observance of the law just cited during the entire term of the experiment – 49 days. Formulate the desire and keep it in mind during the whole period and especially when making the nuptive prayer, during which no word may be spoken, but the thing desired be strongly thought...
Randolph insisted that for the magic to be effective and prayers be fulfilled, both the partners involved in should achieve orgasm at the same moment. His teachings were later passed on to numerous secret societies in Europe, the most notable being
Ordo Templi Orientis or O.T.O. founded by
Carl Kellner
and
Theodor Reuss
Albert Karl Theodor Reuss (; June 28, 1855 – October 28, 1923), also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus, was a German tantra, tantric occultist, freemason, journalist, singer and head of Ordo Templ ...
.
Carl Kellner
Carl Kellner (1851–1905), the founder of
Ordo Templi Orientis, (O.T.O.), said he had learned the techniques of sex magic from three adepts in this art. Beginning in 1904, references to these secrets, Kellner, and the O.T.O. began appearing in "an obscure German
masonic
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
periodical called
Oriflamme
The Oriflamme (from Latin ''aurea flamma'', "golden flame"), a pointed, blood-red banner flown from a gilded lance, was the sacred battle standard of the King of France and a symbol of divine intervention on the battlefield from God and Saint ...
." In 1912, the editors of ''Oriflamme'' announced:
Ida Craddock
In the latter part of the 19th century, sexual reformer
Ida Craddock
Ida C. Craddock (August 1, 1857 – October 16, 1902) was a 19th-century American advocate of free speech and women's rights. She wrote extensively on sexuality, which led to her conviction and imprisonment for obscenity. Facing further legal pro ...
(1857–1902) published several works dealing with sacred sexuality, most notably ''Heavenly Bridegrooms'' and ''Psychic Wedlock''.
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
reviewed ''Heavenly Bridegrooms'' in the pages of his journal ''The Equinox'', stating that it was:
...one of the most remarkable human documents ever produced, and it should certainly find a regular publisher in book form. The authoress of the MS. claims that she was the wife of an angel. She expounds at the greatest length the philosophy connected with this thesis. Her learning is enormous.
...This book is of incalculable value to every student of occult matters. No Magick library is complete without it.
Sexual techniques from Craddock's ''Psychic Wedlock'' were later reproduced in ''Sex Magick'' by O.T.O. initiate Louis T. Culling, a disciple of
C. F. Russell.
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
(1875–1947) became involved with
Theodor Reuss
Albert Karl Theodor Reuss (; June 28, 1855 – October 28, 1923), also known by his neo-Gnostic bishop title of Carolus Albertus Theodorus Peregrinus, was a German tantra, tantric occultist, freemason, journalist, singer and head of Ordo Templ ...
and Ordo Templi Orientis following the publication of ''
The Book of Lies'' between 1912 and 1913. According to Crowley's account, Reuss approached him and accused him of having revealed the innermost (sexual) secret of O.T.O. in one of the cryptic chapters of this book. When it became clear to Reuss that Crowley had done so unintentionally, he initiated Crowley into the IX° (ninth degree) of O.T.O. and appointed him "Sovereign Grand Master General of Ireland, Iona and all the Britains."
While the O.T.O. included, from its inception, the teaching of sex
magick in the highest degrees of the Order, when Crowley became head of the Order, he expanded on these teachings and associated them with different degrees as follows:
* VIII°:
masturbatory or autosexual magical techniques were taught, referred as the ''Lesser Work of Sol''
* IX°:
heterosexual
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions ...
magical techniques were taught
* XI°:
anal intercourse
Anal sex or anal intercourse principally means the insertion and thrusting of the erect penis into a person's anus, or anus and rectum, for sexual pleasure.Sepages 270–271for anal sex information, anpage 118for information about the clitoris ...
magical techniques were taught.
Hugh Urban, professor of Comparative Religion at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
, noted Crowley's emphasis on sex as "the supreme magical power." According to Crowley:
Crowley wrote extensively on the topic of sex magick. Some of these works were published and made available to the general public, others were secret and could only be obtained by initiates of ''Ordo Templi Orientis''.
* ''Liber IAO'' – IAO. Sexual Magick. Gives three methods of attainment through a willed series of thoughts. The active form of Liber CCCXLV.
* ''De Nuptis Secretis Deorum Cum Hominibus'' – Sexual magick
* ''
Liber Stellae Rubeae'' – According to Crowley, a secret ritual of Apep, the heart of IAO-OAI, delivered unto V.V.V.V.V. for his use in a certain matter of The Book of the Law (''Liber AL vel Legis''). Sexual Magick veiled in symbolism.
* ''Liber Agape vel C vel Azoth'' – ''The Book of the Unveiling of the
Sangraal'' wherein it is spoken of the Wine of the Sabbath of the Adepts. Secret instructions of the ninth degree of the O.T.O. (Sex Magick)
* ''
Liber Cheth vel Vallum Abiegni'' – A perfect account of the task of the Exempt Adept considered under the symbols of a particular plane, not the intellectual. Sexual magick veiled in symbolism.
* ''
Liber A'ash vel Capricorni Pneumatici'' – Analyzes the nature of the creative magical force in man, explains how to awaken it, how to use it and indicates the general as well as the particular objects to be gained thereby. Sexual magick heavily veiled in symbolism.
* ''
The Book of Lies'' – includes some techniques in symbolic language, including extended mutual
oral sex
Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth). Cunnilingus is oral sex performed on the vu ...
(Chapter 69) while intoxicated on
hashish
Hashish (; ), usually abbreviated as hash, is a Compression (physics), compressed form of resin (trichomes) derived from the cannabis flowers. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Lisbon, As a Psychoactive drug, psychoactive ...
.
* ''The Paris Working'' – A record of homosexual magick operations.
* ''Energized Enthusiasm'' – An essay developing the idea of creativity as a sexual phenomenon. Specially adapted to the task of attainment of control of the
Body of Light, development of intuition, and
Hatha yoga
Hatha yoga (; Sanskrit हठयोग, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''haṭhayoga'') is a branch of yoga that uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word ह� ...
.
Maria de Naglowska
Maria de Naglowska (1883–1936) was a Russian occultist, mystic, author and journalist who wrote and taught about ritualistic sex magic practices while also being linked with the Parisian surrealist movement. She established and led an occult society known as the Confrérie de la Flèche d'or (Brotherhood of the Golden Arrow) in Paris from 1932 to 1935. In 1931, she compiled, translated and published in French a collection of published and unpublished writings by American occultist Paschal Beverly Randolph on the subject of sexual magic and magic mirrors. Her translation and publication of Randolph's previously little-known ideas and teachings was the source of Randolph's subsequent influence in European magic. She augmented the text with some of his oral teachings. The following year, she published a semi-autobiographical novella, ''Le Rite sacré de l'amour magique'' (The Sacred Ritual of Magical Love.)
Later that year, she also published ''La Lumière du sexe'' (The Light of Sex), a mystic treatise and guide to sexual ritual that was required reading for those seeking to be initiated into the Brotherhood of the Golden Arrow. Her later book on advanced sexual magic practices, ''Le Mystère de la pendaison'' (The Hanging Mystery) details her advanced teachings on the Third Term of the Trinity and the spiritually transformation power of sex, and the practice of
erotic ritual hanging and other sensory deprivation practices. Beyond occult subjects, Naglowska also influenced the
surrealist art movement. The ''Lexique succinct de l'érotisme'' in the catalog of the 1959 International Surrealist Exhibition in Paris noted her important influence. Surrealist
Sarane Alexandrian
Sarane Alexandrian (15 June 1927, Baghdad – 11 September 2009, Ivry-sur-Seine) was a French philosopher, essayist, and art critic.
Early life
Alexandrian was born to a French mother and Armenian father, Vartan Alexandrian, a stomatologist ...
wrote a detailed account of her life.
Samael Aun Weor
The crux of
Samael Aun Weor's (1917–1977) teachings is what he calls "white sexual magic", the paramount tenet of which is to conclude the act without orgasm or ejaculation from either the man or woman. Thus, instead of the sexual energy being released in a spasm, this energy undergoes
sexual transmutation via willpower and the sacrifice of desire. According to Aun Weor, the
magnetic induction produced by crossing the active (
phallus
A phallus (: phalli or phalluses) is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history, a figure with an erect penis is described as ''ithyphallic''.
Any object that symbo ...
) and passive (
uterus
The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', : uteri or uteruses) or womb () is the hollow organ, organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans, that accommodates the embryonic development, embryonic and prenatal development, f ...
) creative organs causes lunar, solar and
akashic currents to flow through the Brahmanic cord (the
ida, pingala and sushumna nadis respectively) of the couple. He says that this current then provides an active connection between the magnetic center at the root of the nose (the
pineal gland
The pineal gland (also known as the pineal body or epiphysis cerebri) is a small endocrine gland in the brain of most vertebrates. It produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone, which modulates sleep, sleep patterns following the diurnal c ...
,
Ajna chakra) and the solar and lunar principles located within the seminal system at the
muladhara chakra. The transmuted energy, through willpower, is populated by what Aun Weor says are "billions of christic atoms" that when rising meet the pure akasa of the triune Brahmanic cord, igniting it, and through many years of work this causes the ascent of the
kundalini through the thirty-three chambers or degrees of the spinal medulla.
Aun Weor says that along with the ascent of the kundalini, the crystallization of the "Solar Bodies" are formed due to the transmutation which occurs through white sexual magic. He says that the solar bodies are the four aspects of the sacred
merkabah
Merkabah () or Merkavah mysticism (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of History of Judaism, early Jewish mysticism (), centered on vision (spirituality), visions such as those found in Ezekiel 1 or in the hekhalot literature ("palaces" literat ...
of
Arcanum Seven. In sum, Aun Weor describes the solar bodies as the christic vehicles of emotion, mind and will.
Aun Weor says that because sexuality is both a creator and destroyer, à la
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
-
Shakti
Shakti (Devanagari: शक्ति, IAST: Śakti; 'energy, ability, strength, effort, power, might, capability') in Hinduism, is the "Universal Power" that underlies and sustains all existence. Conceived as feminine in essence, Shakti refer ...
, through sexual magic he indicates that one can eliminate any previously comprehended psychological defect. In other words, he says that through sexual magic the radical removal of the egocentric vehicles can be achieved – which he says are the animalistic or inferior vehicles of emotion, mind, and will related to one's evolutive animal
transmigrations prior to reaching the humanoid state. Thus, through the death of the ego and the birth of the solar bodies, Aun Weor states that one can be elevated to the angelic state and beyond.
Aun Weor also states that when the orgasm is reached the christic atoms are expelled and replaced, via genital orgasmic contraction, with what he believed were impure "atoms" of fornication. When, through willpower the akashic current meets the "atoms of fornication", he said, that instead of rising the energy is rejected by the divine triad (atman-buddhi-manas) and is forced downward into the atomic infernos of the human being, forming the "tail of
satan
Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
", (the
kundabuffer, or negatively polarized kundalini). He says that the repetition of orgasm over time divorces the divine triad from the inferior "quaternary" (physical, vital, astral and mental bodies) through the severing of the
antakarana. This brings about, according to Aun Weor, "the fallen
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is a person who has attained, or is striving towards, '' bodhi'' ('awakening', 'enlightenment') or Buddhahood. Often, the term specifically refers to a person who forgoes or delays personal nirvana or ''bodhi'' in ...
",
"the Fall of Lucifer" as described by the author
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...
, or what amounts to the same thing:
the Fall of Man. He refers to any type of sexual magic that uses the orgasm for spiritual or magical purposes as "black sexual magic", and he believed that those who perform it are black magicians who acquire negative powers.
See also
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Notes and references
Notes
Citations
Works cited
;Primary sources
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* Appendix B in .
;Secondary sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sex Magic
Magic (supernatural)
Religious sex rituals
Sexual acts
Tantric practices
es:Magia#Magia sexual