{"id":188315,"date":"2025-02-15T20:02:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T20:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/?p=188315"},"modified":"2025-02-20T20:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T20:42:00","slug":"shetoo-the-experience-of-misa-women-4-sacred-eroticism-in-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogaesoteric.net\/en\/shetoo-the-experience-of-misa-women-4-sacred-eroticism-in-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"#SheToo: The Experience of MISA Women. 4. Sacred Eroticism in Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

MISA students talk about eroticism, Tantra, and their relationships with their men.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Article 4 of 6. Read article 1<\/a>, article 2<\/a>, and article 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Women of MISA. From womenofspirituality.com.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the MISA women I interviewed, N., expressed eloquently a \u201csex complementarity\u201d view:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, as a woman I can feel like I am equal with a man as a soul or a human being. I don\u2019t put the man somewhere higher than myself, or me in a submissive position. But I just recognize his masculine role, and I respect and accept our differences, and the different roles that we have<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Courses are offered by both MISA and ATMAN to assist women in developing hyper-feminine qualities. Parallel courses are available for the men. The aim is to enhance the \u201cpolarity\u201d between couples.<\/p>\n

MISA offers the \u201cVenus: Association for Elevating Women\u201d program in Romania. A parallel program for ATMAN is called \u201cTantra for Women Course.\u201d Its courses are offered in twenty-five cities in Europe, led by over forty female coordinators, with group sizes ranging from four to sixty participants. Its mission is presented on the ATMAN website: \u201cWe are a group of yoginis and Tantric women united on a voyage of self-discovery. We have been studying\u2026 the sacred wisdom of esoteric ancient teachings adapted to modern times\u2026 now we joined our hearts to share our discoveries with you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

This course provides (free) a \u201cgolden circle\u201d; a space for women to meet, to share their concerns and experiences and support each other. The website lists a range of \u201cMini-Courses\u201d: Feminine Archetypes; Esoteric Astrology\u2014For awakening your Shakti; 64 Arts for revealing the Femininity; Secrets in Femininity\u2014The Art of Surrendering.<\/p>\n

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Blossoming, by yoga student and painter Ines Honfi.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

D. described the activities in \u201cVenus\u201d:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe meet in small \u2018Shakti\u2019 groups, based on the Hindu goddess, Shakti, who represents femininity and energy. We do different activities, we talk about very real-life aspects, like menstruation, or our relationships with lovers. Sometimes we do massage, other times dancing. It\u2019s like a girls meeting<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

G. claims her \u201cVenus\u201d group helped her sort out her sexual inhibitions:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned together in the women group not to be so rational and manly styled, let\u2019s say. And to become more feminine, sweet, and loving. My target with this group was to discover my own soul. I learned how to raise the energy and discover myself as a woman. Because the [sexual] experiences I had in my relationship at the beginning of yoga practice were very poor, I dare to say. Because I couldn\u2019t feel the pleasure so much. I even didn\u2019t know if I had orgasms or not<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

An administrator of \u201cVenus,\u201d A. C., explained how the courses were geared to facilitate harmony between the sexes:<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of differences\u2026 women, in general, are very emotional\u2026 men and women are not equal, but they are complementary. A woman has this menstrual cycle\u2026 when she is not very balanced emotionally. Women are much more connected to the soul than men, and there is a very big difference in the brain activity. <\/em><\/p>\n

[In Venus] we have some tools to balance all this emotionality, vulnerability, and fluctuation. A lot of women come to our classes who have blockages due to bad experiences with men. They are very closed, they don\u2019t feel pleasure, they reject men in general. Gradually, we have developed this methodology to help them to open up again, to be confident. And practicing the amorous erotic continence helps them to discover their own sexuality in another way that is closer to their soul<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Adina Stoian lecturing.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adina Stoian (who was later arrested in Georgia<\/a> together with her husband Mihai in connection with the French case against Bivolaru) has been part of the Tantra for Women Course since 2002 in Denmark\u2019s Natha Yoga School. More recently, she participated in the Tantra for Women Teacher\u2019s Training course or \u201cPath of the Goddesses.\u201d One purpose of these courses, she explained, was \u201cfor women to open up to ask intimate questions, they need a kind of gender support<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her husband, Mihai Stoian, taught a parallel men\u2019s course on Tantra called \u201cVira.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t like to call it \u2018Tantra for Men\u2019<\/em>,\u201d Adina explained, \u201cbecause then we get inquiries whether it is a homosexual approach\u2014which it is not. It\u2019s a polar approach. So, we call it \u2018Vira groups.\u2019 It\u2019s from the Sanskrit V-I-R-A, which means \u2018spiritual hero.\u2019 Also, the Tantra for Women course will not be for lesbian women, although we don\u2019t stop them to come if they want. But it\u2019s oriented to support the knowledge of Tantra to be applied in the life of heterosexual couples<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bivolaru was giving a series of sex-segregated lectures on Tantra in Romania until the 2004 raid, which transformed his life into that of a fugitive or prisoner. In the secret footage of a lecture shown to me at the Bucharest Yoga Studio, Grieg is advising a women-only group, \u201cIf the man spends 15 minutes or less in foreplay, you should consider that as a rape!<\/em>\u201d The women clap and cheer. Clearly, they feel that their spiritual guide Grieg is on their side.<\/p>\n

Bivolaru recommends to couples that, immediately after completing their lovemaking, they should separate so that they might \u201csublimate<\/em>\u201d their \u201cenergy<\/em>.\u201d Several women spoke of how they and their lover would retire to separate rooms or houses, where each would perform asanas or meditate in solitude.<\/p>\n

L. explained how this practice worked in her marriage: \u201cWhen my lover and I went to see Grieg (before we were married) he gave us advice on how to sublimate our sexual energy, don\u2019t let it to be stagnant, yes, to make it rise. Because when sexual energy is down, you become jealous or fuzzy or have a lot of resentment. He gave us advice not to sleep together [in the same bed]. In the beginning we tried to shortcut this\u2026 we have lived together for many years\u2026 but after that, we understood his idea\u2014that it\u2019s not good for us to sleep together. Now, we have separate houses (we are not so far from each other) and we make love\u2014but then we sleep separately. Actually, my husband is very, very strict about this. Like most women, I say, \u2018Please stay! Just now, just for this night!\u2019 And my husband says, \u2018No!\u2019 Actually, my husband\u2026 is more introvert than me, and he needed this time only for him, and I think it was very good, this idea<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

A man in MISA whom I interviewed in 2023 as part of my project of studying the November 22 French raids, explained his perspective on separation:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe reached the conclusion that this kind of separation\u2014like not being together\u2014is healthier. The point is, the erotic interaction does not get so good if we stay always together\u2014that it\u2019s better like this, to not live full time in the same place but to meet. It brings every time the chance of joy for meeting again. We are having dinner or lunch together. We go together in the holidays. We do several activities together\u2026 she comes to my place, helping me cleaning, she is washing my clothes. I go to her house and take care of the maintenance. The distance between our houses is like 15-minute walking. I have a car, so I am driving her to work and back whenever possible. Especially me, as a man, I prefer time to be alone. I practice yoga meditation or spiritual retreats once a day, or two days, and after that I meet her, and it\u2019s a very big joy of meeting again<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From the category \u201cAbstract yoga\u201d by yoga student and painter Ines Honfi.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When asked what exactly \u201csublimation\u201d was, S. explained:<\/p>\n

\u201cSublimating means to raise the energy from the lower chakras to the upper chakras. If we keep the energy in the lower chakra, it is not harmonious. It\u2019s very important to move the energy\u2026 through breathing and asanas. Yoga postures activate the chakras. For example, Anahata chakra brings a lot of love. Dynamizing the Ajna chakra brings a lot of lucidity. When I don\u2019t do sublimation, I feel the energy is very heavy, I need to create an effervescence. Due to \u2018gravity,\u2019 our energy falls into the lower chakras. Most of the people have their energy in Muladhara chakra, Svadhisthana chakra. So that\u2019s why I am careful to sublimate energy through yoga postures. Meditations, breathing, techniques that I learn in yoga classes and Tantra classes. Through practicing all this, I experience very high and intense states. I can feel God very much through the lovemaking. Everything is sacred in that lovemaking. You cannot say it\u2019s sex. It\u2019s not about sex. It\u2019s something very pure. Like the way you imagine angels are making love<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read Article 5<\/a><\/p>\n

*****<\/p>\n

About the author<\/strong><\/p>\n

Susan J. Palmer is an Affiliate Professor in the Religions and Cultures Department at Concordia University in Montreal. She is also directing the Children on Sectarian Religions and State Control<\/em> project at McGill University, supported by the Social Sciences and the Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is the author of twelve books, notably The New Heretics of France<\/em> (Oxford University Press, 2012).<\/p>\n

Source: <\/em>bitterwinter.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

yogaesoteric
\nFebruary 15, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n

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