The Gnostics were a branch of the early Christian church. They were found mostly in the Eastern Mediterranean area. Their beliefs were Christian but also influenced by Greek Mystery Cults as well as other older religions in the area. Their beliefs were varied but a common theme was the monotheistic belief in the supreme female deity, Sophia (Wisdom). Some believed she was the real creator, and as incarnated in Mary, the real mother of Jesus.
There is an ancient document that claims the Gnostics held menstrual blood and semen to be their sacraments. These body fluids were held to be sacred because, it was believed at the time, the fusion of blood and semen creates life. In their worship they held a ritual in which a woman in her time of blood would have intimate relations with a man in front of the congregation. The man would be chosen randomly and she would have sex with him no matter whether he was her father or her brother or her son or anyone else (this is all actually true).
Some people say that this is Orthodox propaganda made up to discredit the Gnostics. I don't think anyone knows for sure though. It may be significant that in the same region, before Christianity, there was the practice of ritual prostitution at temples of Astarte and Baal. It is possible that this practice was transformed into the Gnostic ritual as it was told. I like to think this is true anyway.
When I first read about this ancient sacramental sex, I couldn't help but imagine what this ritual must have been like these early Christians. It fascinates me that something like this might actually have happened at some point in history. I want to know what it was like to actually be a part of it. Here is how I imagine it:
In an old Roman basilica transformed into a Gnostic church, you would see golden mosaics of Sophia and Jesus. Here, a small congregation gathers on Sunday morning. A woman, wearing only a robe walks solemnly to the front altar. Although she is the mother of a now grown man, she is still youthful and vital herself, beautiful and in the full of her life.
One of the church elders casts lots to choose her partner from among the adult men in the congregation. It is believed that the Goddess herself causes the lot to select the man of her choice. On this occasion, the Goddess has chosen the woman's own son.
The young adult man is led shyly to meet his mother who now sits on the Christian Gnostic altar at the front of the congregation. This is his first time being chosen for the sacrament. The woman smiles at her son, proud to see him step forward to serve the Goddess before the congregation. She is pleased, as his loving mother, to be the one to share in his first sacrament. Being a good Christian man and unmarried, he has never before experienced the pleasures of the flesh with a woman.
The mother lifts her robe before her nervous son and the watching congregation, baring her nakedness before men and Goddess alike. She takes her shy son's hands in hers and guides them to her now naked breasts, leading him to caress her lovely softness. She pulls her son forward although he is shaking with nervousness. He buries his face in his mother's naked bosom and suckles her nipples. There he takes refuge from the silent gaze of the congregation behind him.
The mother lovingly guides her son's head down her naked body to her waiting pube. As he as seen other men in church do, the son kisses his mother's vertical lips between her opened legs. The soft skin of her inner thighs lightly cradles his cheeks. He lovingly kisses the lips that gave birth to him and finally inserts his tongue, licking the blood and juices that flow for him there.
