Individual Sexuality is strange and complex. There are various facets: Importance, Identity, Orentation. Each of which can be their own spectrum.
Earlier we described how soul energy is poured into an individual.
How an individual could get a mostly intact soul
Or a soul with extra pieces attached.
Gender identy and sexual orientation and even the importance of sex itself
are all pieces that could arrive in various strenghts and flavors.
SoulWork Theology recognizes that there are these various possibilites.
There is no One-True-Way for people to be.
The Most Important Thing is for the individual to understand themselves. Who they are. Where they are at. What they like, what they don't like. What fills them.
To that end, the following are offered as a way for an individual to understand the landscape. and how they might fit in it.
In an individual, sex can run the gamut from Not-Interested-at-all or Asexual to Hypersexual. Most people will fall somewhere in the middle. For some people, sex is something they need to do sometimes, but not all the time. Some people are looking for a sexual experience of sufficent intensity, and once they have had that, they are pretty much set. "I've had sex now, I can die happy" Some people need a steady stream. Its not something that goes away. For some people sex is an important connecting tissue of their marriage. A steady sex live means their marriage is stable and healthy. It doesn't have much meaning for them outside of a relationship For others sex is separate from relationships. Sex can be just as fulfilling inside or outside their primary relationship.
The importance of sex, the need for sex, the purpose of sex, all of these can change over the course of a lifetime. One might start off with great importance and strong need. They might interpet this as they are always going to need sex. But it is possible that this can drop dramatically with the right sexual encounter of sufficent intensity. You can't tell how it will all play out from the initial feelings. People could start off thinking sex isn't a big deal, but along the way something can change and it can gain importance and meaning.
It is important to understand your opening position. But also understand time changes things.
Soul Work Theology believes that there is such a thing as masculine soul energy and feminine soul energy, expressed in people along a continuum. When soul energy is poured into a new being, they usually get a majority of the gender's energy that matches their body. and some amount of the other gender's energy. Having some cross-gender interests does not mean you need to switch genders. It does not mean that your not a 'man' or a 'woman'. In fact it is probably pretty normal to have some part of a soul from the other gender.
Our primary purpose is to work on, maintain, improve our own soul before returning to the pool. And this applies to the mix of gendered energy one has. It is up to each person to sort out what would be best for their soul.
The individual gets to decide if they want to double-down on their body gender. Are they close enough to the masculine or feminine poll that they want to further refine that energy? Do they feel a need within themselves to take their gender energy in a specific direction? NOTE: this is a need within themselves, Not an externally applied cultural mandate. If the culture requires strict gender lines, and applies greivous consequences, then the person needs to know that what is inside them is true, even if the culture does not accept it.
Or is their soul best served by some majority-minority split, where most of the time they are in agreement with their bodies. And can they live that way in the culture they find themselves?
Occassionally, rarely, there is an individual who's soul energy is completely wrong for their body. That is a hard path. Only the individual can find their own way.
If a person truely needs it, and it is medically possible then SoulWork Theology supports the person changing their body to best fit, and best fulfill, their soul.
In Soul Work Theology, individuals should not be stigmatized or punished for exploring a range of sexual experiences (within some limits). This is to apply to all people, male, female and inbetween. Sex should not be reserved for marriage (unless that rule is agressively enforced by the culture) Pre-marital is an appropriate step in learning about one's self, sex and soul.
Extra-marital sexual contact is a tricky subject. An affair should not Automatically distroy a marriage, Emphasis on Automtaticlly. But marriage also needs its own garden so-to-speak. That ones spouse is one's sexual home. If a couple looses that special pair-bonding, then the couplehood may be called into question.
Thus Soul Work Theology strongly supports special pair-bonding. Just not to the point where the bond is so tight that no other sexual experience is allowed for the rest of their lives.
Soul Work Theology strongly believes in well rounded sexual education for people as they develop, including: How human reproduction works. What consent is and what it means (including in the middle of activities) The range of sexual activities That good sex is not just self-satisfaction, but joint satisfaction of you and your partner. The range of emotions one may go through: From fears, to hormones, to arousal to post climax let downs. Young people should not be surprised by the range of emotions that could go flooding through their bodies before, during and afterwards. There should be some idea that their sexuality will usually last their whole life. And how that might change over their life.
A good well rounded sexual education can go a long way to fulfilling the sexual part of life. Leaving people to figure it out on their own is just not good enough. People can end up over their heads, not know what their options are, and in general be in the dark about what they are feeling and what they should be feeling. This can lead to bad experiences, lost years, and regret later in life that they just didn't know what they should have when they were younger.
This goes hand in hand with Soul Work Theology's core principle that people should have all the information they need to understand themselves. Who they actually are, and not what others say they should be.
The end result should be people who have just enough knowledge to better understand themselves in this area, without taking all the mystery out of it.
That last statement is important. Sexual education should give enough information to expose the possibilities, to expose the possible emotional feelings and responses to cover the range of casual to deep meaning. But this framework should have enough empty spaces in it for youth to fill in with their own wonder and experiences.
Another fine line is the passing on of sexual values. Each new generation is a link in passing on sexual values such as deep meaning and commitment.
Soul Work Theology believes that sex, positive, consentual sex can create and/or feed soul energy. The act of an orgasm occuring creates and/or feeds soul energy. Not just the partisipants but it can spread and touch others as well. Regular satisfying encounters between the primary couple can add a nice energy to the household as a whole.
Satisfying sexual experiences no only feed the soul of the people present, But it also feeds Life as a whole. It helps sustain the pool of life that we are all drawn from.
Thus Soul Work Theology would like to encourage people to engage in a good sexual romp when ever the situation presents itself. Anytime a good sexual experience is denied, blocked, suppressed Life in the individual and collective sense is a bit poorer. There are times that should be the case for various reasons. But the baseline should be to approach such situations as a possible yes instead of seeking to control or shutdown any such activity.
I've long struggled with what to write here. I've been avised that it would be best to make this an optional feature that people can choose or not.
Well, all of Soul Work Theology is optional. It is all just ideas that may or may not help. But it does seem appropriate to repeat this optional-ness here.
The idea of masculine/feminine soul energy is compatable with concepts of Masculine and Feminine divinity. Thus it is possible to see sexual union as a sacred rite of Divine Union.
This does NOT mean that one side can pressure the other into sex by appealing to them to participate in this divine union. Yes there may be an importance in joining two into one. An importance greater than we understand. But to use this as a way to compel someone is Spiritual Abuse. It is not humane. It is against the core value of Soul Work Theology.
Each person is to understand this for themselves. Do they feel called or motivated or have great interest in pursuing this union? Great, But notice the word Pressured is not to appear in that list.
For those where the idea of sex as part of a larger purpose rings true, They are encouraged to seek out a partner (or partners) who shares or is compatable with their feelings. Or develope and believe it for themselves if/while they do not have such a partner.
Sacred Sexuality can see some amount, or all sexuality as sacred. Usually meaning all positive consensual sexuality is sacred. Negative or forced sexuality would be viewed as a profane-ment of that which should be sacred.
Sacred Sexuality can be ritualized. Where the participants would invoke some sense of a special time/space and call or invite the Masculine and Feminine faces of divinity into their work. Then while they are proceeding in their activities, they can feel themselves connected to, or vessels of the faces of divinity they have called. They can also see the other participants through the filter of their face of divinity.
As such the activity can have a larger meaning than just their own selves.
Each participant should also be mindful of being so filled with the face of divinity they are experiencing that they overrun the other people they are with. In order for such a time to be Holy and Sacred, it must be so for all participants. Getting carried away and pushing someone past their limits, into the territory of hurt and damage is NOT humane.
Thus Sacred Sexuality is a group balancing act. Where each participant is aware of the envelope or limits of themselves, others and the union together, and work to channel their face of divinity within that envelope.
As a Double Optional level, it is possible to spiritually join in such a way as to produce spiritual results. In one sense, I'm not thinking of a strange concept of birthing a separate spiritual being. In another it can be, if you think of birthing some deeper union or facet of your relationship. Like there is each of you, there is your relationship, then there is this special spiritual relationship life above and beyond your mundane union.
There is a basic principle here. If we are here to live as full of a life as possible, that usually means not getting killed or inprisoned. Or said another way, if it is possible to life a full life without getting into trouble, then do so. Soul Work Theology should not encourage people to stir up trouble just for some higher reward of remaining true to one's principles. Soul Work Theology believes in compromise, when possible.
Now it is OK to work for improvements, to strive to make life better. But this should be done within the system as much as possible. Soul Work Theology would like to take the view that situations that are so bad as to require standing regardless of the consequences is rare. There is no martyr's reward in the next life. There is a concept that occasionally, rarely, it may be necessary to make a stand to change the course of Life. But even then, there is some understanding that Life can take care of mega-trends itself.
Return back to Individual 25
Personhood
Continue on to Individual 27
Dispair of life
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These pages last updated on July 2021