THE SCARLET WOMAN
Mary Santangelo © 2004THE FALL
Let’s face it; we do live in a patriarchal society despite what women do and have done to be “equal” to their counter-parts. This essay is not written to demean men, but
1.) To investigate why women have been given different standards than men over the millennia.
2.) Why throughout history women have always been considered of less importance in society both mundanely and esoterically.
3.) And why woman who are free spirited sexually are labeled “Scarlet Woman” or called just plain “whores”.
Ever since the “Fall” of man, women have been bestowed the position of subservience by a patriarchal society. The blame – not withstanding that the serpent coerces her, falls totally on Eve who obviously disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of good and evil. Of course, that’s not the only thing going against Eve – she in turn temps her husband to eat of the same fruit as well (bad girl). By committing this dreadful act, they both get booted out of paradise making their heirs and all that follow forever thereafter to struggle in life. However, that’s not all, it now seems that after they have partaken of the forbidden fruit, they are “like the gods” who forbid them to eat of the tree in the first place. Has this act “awakened” the couple to who they truly are as conscious humans? Have they become, through Eve’s deed, truly like gods?
The Genesis story is reminiscent of the Book of Enoch, in which the Watchers come down from their high place and co-inhabit with the daughters of man and in turn give them the secrets of all the arts and sciences including magic. This is forbidden, as man was never to learn of this knowledge. This “incident” turns a primitive people into the beginnings of a cultural society. The tribes are no longer subservient to the “higher God”, but are now able to do for themselves. In comparison, the Watchers being the serpent in Genesis and Eve being the women they co-inhabit with - Adam being the men that they share these teachings and knowledge with.
Our story can be found in many cultures – that of the Sumerians known as the Enuma Elish or the Greek Prometheus who defies Zeus by giving humanity “fire”.
No matter where the story is told, the fate remains that women throughout history have always taken a back seat to men. Women in the arts and sciences of ancient times are literally unknown unless one specifically researches them, but they are not household names as Pythagoras or DaVinci. In modern times, it took a handful of women to pave the way for other women to vote and have an equal voice in our American society. However, in many parts of the world today such as certain countries in the Middle East, women are still second-class citizens with hardly any rights at all.
Although women and men are two different genders, not withstanding their anatomical differences, both are members of the human race. Our society places women in the home, taking care of the household including husband and children. The man being the head of the household depicting the movie Pleasantville where all is as it should be. Before the forties, a woman having a career, family and all the comforts a man had was almost taboo.
Even sexually, women should not have the “prowess” of a man. If she is sexually free, she is labeled a “slut” or “whore” not only amongst men, but even within her own gender. She is looked down upon as a woman of ill repute. In other words, she is not a person of good character or in good standing. Keep in mind that we are not even talking about women who prostitute as a living. These are just everyday women from all walks of life who want to keep the same standards as their opposites – men.
“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a book about a woman, Hester Prynne having an affair with a man, the reverend Dimmesdale after presuming her own husband is dead after being lost at sea, and who eventually reappears later in the story to witness her humiliation. Hester has an illegitimate child and instead of the community putting her to death, her punishment, mild for Puritan standards, is wearing the letter “A” (for adultery) in red on her chest for all to see for the rest of her life.
The Heroine, Hester, protects her lover even at the cost of loosing her own daughter. Was Hester’s youthful zest for life that put her apart from Puritan ideals at the time and leads her to “sin”? Although Hawthorne wrote this novel, he did set it in the 1600’s during the Puritan settlement in Boston, and is built around historical fact. Why in all these centuries have we put women in a different category of social standards than men? Why have the female gender been labeled “Scarlet Women”? Let’s find out.
THE SACRED MARRIAGE
The enigma of the Scarlet Woman can be traced as far back to the time of Sumeria where once a year, and thousands of years thereafter, the ruling King would enact a “sacred sexual rite” or “sacred marriage” with the Goddess Inanna/Ishtar. We can speculate her history being older, but proof of this may be lost in the annuls of time.
History tells of wars and armies conquering other lands. Sumer being one of these conquered lands laid way for most of its people to migrate to other areas of the middle East or even perhaps to any of the Indo European continents. As people migrated to these different lands, they brought with them their customs, spiritual beliefs and gods. Inanna’s name no doubt changed from culture to culture, as did the sacred marriage rite. In Greece it was called Hieros Gamos. In India it is called Tantra - all leading to spiritual ascendancy through sexual union.
Within the sacred temple, Ishtar had her own sacred priestesses, named entu, which were also called the Whores of Babylon. They adorned themselves with special clothing and their status was equal to that of the Priests. Within this priestess hood was a hierarchy. The naditu were considered the businesswomen of the household or Temple. The qadishtu and the ishtaritu were considered “sacred women” and were adapt in the art of singing, music and dancing.
The Greek Herodotus tells us that every women in Babylon must at one time or another in her life serve as a temple harlot and make love to a complete stranger. By performing this act, she becomes sacred in the eyes of the Goddess. It is a one-time offering of herself and she cannot refuse.
What was this sacred marriage all about? And why was it so important to perform? In ancient times, this was the most sacred of rituals. Through this act of sexual intercourse between the King and the Harlot the couple drew down the life force of the goddess in all her many manifold attributes. The act was honored and the energy released was not only bestowed upon the land, but to the entire community that lived upon the land. The Priestess was the living representative of the goddess herself and without this sacred marriage, the King was considered not fit to rule. For it was through this act, that the goddess bestowed her blessing upon the land and its people.
In an esoteric way, the earth gives of herself always. It is a living entity that has endured since the beginning when living creatures made themselves known to her. We know her as Terra Firma. It is she who has offered herself as a home for all that have been born unto her and a resting place for all who die upon her.
We call her the Great Mother, this entity who is the vast oceans, the mighty mountains, and the world tree. If you listen closely, you can hear her whispers in the wind; from a cool breeze, feel her caresses upon your face and smell her pungent sensual odor after a hard rain emits the musty scent of grass from beneath your feet. To many earth religionists, the earth is a living entity.
In an exoteric way, within the Scarlet Woman, the earth is all these things and more. She is the living representative of Mother Nature in all her glory. It is because of this that these rites were so sacred and the union so important. Like the earth, the Scarlet Woman gives of herself. By communion with the Goddess, the man communes with the earth, thereby making the land fertile.
These rites were enacted yearly around the Spring Equinox, when the earth was born anew, again to bless its inhabitants with the fruits of the Mother. The word Easter is derived from the name Ishtar in honor of the Goddess and her sacred union. It is a time of fertility where the earth comes alive in preparation of seeds to be planted and harvested. In Mesopotamia, this was a time of heightened sexual pleasures. Men and women made themselves pleasing to each other by anointing themselves with scented oils and adorning their faces and bodies with makeup and jewelry. Sensual dances were performed and they celebrated the sacred marriage of the Goddess.
The sacred marriage took place in the temple and it is said that the union brought a transformational quality over the King himself that brought upon him pure enlightenment.
THE HARLOT IN ANCIENT TIMES
In Greece, the Scarlet Woman was known as hierodulai, which later became harlot via medieval French into English. In early Germanic, they were known as hores (later Anglicized to whores) a word, which meant quite simply “beloved ones”.
In some cultures, they were also considered virgins, as in the vestal virgins of Rome – not in the literal sense as virgo entacta, but virgin as to only offer themselves as temple prostitutes in the service of the Goddess.
So how can she be considered a harlot and a virgin at the same time? As a harlot or sacred priestess, she gives of herself and surrenders to all that is, was and will be. She gives her body as a holy vessel so a man may know of her mysteries (if he so chooses to be enlightened by them). She is the one who brings the masculine closer to the divine essence of what is called “Goddess”. Only through her can he accomplish this. She is a virgin, because throughout it all, she is untouched for she represents the earth itself. That divine enigma of what we call nature. She is Malkuth – The Mystery manifested.
She in a sense is the Bride of God and the vessel that holds the sacred waters. She is the Grail – the elixir of life. Through her, all mysteries are known. Without her, the alchemaic process cannot be consummated. She is Isis and through penetration, can one only pierce her veil.
The harlot as Goddess has the ability to call forth that which we need of on the emotional level. As the moon brings forth the ebb and flow of the tides, so the harlot instills the mystery of the universal law of rhythm. For all things swing like a pendulum in its movement of the universe - everything has motion.
The harlot is a divine essence of the Goddess herself, her body is sacred and as a woman, the changing phases in her life are, were, and always will be considered holy. As a sister of nature, she has the power to create, nurture and limit life if necessary. She is magick and she holds within her the cosmic forces that encompass our own internal thoughts and feelings, for she is Nuit, the vastness of all that is. She has the ability to call forth those things that are hidden from plain view. It is in praise of the harlot that we may learn of those hidden mysteries whereby enlightenment is given.
The man receiving her is representative of the serpent fire. It is the union of fire and water that culminates the mystery. On a Gnostic level, the Priest/King has no father because he is the father, just as the harlot has no mother for she is the mother – both born unto themselves as cosmic entities, separate, yet united on the physical. As Priest/King, he emanates the qualities of a god – the All Father Baphomet. He is the image of inner power and a potency that is more than sexual. Through the harlot, he is made wild without being cruel or violent and sexual without being coercive, he emulates the god within by bringing out his true spiritual nature to truly show his love for the Goddess. Both unite in a cosmic dance of creation.
THE MYSTERY OF FIRE AND WATERWhy are fire and water part of this alchemaic mystery. To begin with, water is considered the primal matter from which all life sprang. It birthed itself from the seed of fire. Water is the womb of life and fire is its animator (spirit). In other words life came into being through the action of fire on water. They both represent principles of creation – water feminine and fire masculine. Water is a precious commodity, it is just as important as the blood that flows through your veins. It gives life to all creatures on earth. Without water, we die, crops cease to grow and the earth becomes a baron wasteland. Water is the blood that flows through our Mother and should not be taken for granted. Where there is water, there is life.
Fire consumes, brings light, and transforms. It makes sacred; for without it, there can be no sacrifice. Fire, in the form of the sun gives life to the earth and all upon it. In its spiritual essence, it is the spark that dwells in all mankind. It must be nurtured or it will be extinguished. Like the myth of Prometheus who betrayed Zeus to bring humanity fire, he sacrificed his life to bring enlightenment to a subservient race. In this thought, we carry that light within us in every aspect that makes us human. It is this light within us that emerges in cases of tragedy in which we risk our life for another. 9/11 was a perfect example.
In this union of water and fire the spiral dance emerges - the dance of life, light, love and liberty.
STARFIRE
What is Star fire? In biblical text we find that its early leading characters lived to a ripe old age. What was this substance that gave them such longevity? Certain scholars feel that it was something ingested by the individual in which expanded their life expectancy. Was it something that pertained to a woman’s blood or an unknown extinct plant beneath the sea?
In the Christian Eucharist rite, the congregation symbolically eats the body and blood of Christ in the form of a wafer and wine. The same is enacted in the Thelemic Gnostic Mass and in modern covens in the rite called “cakes and wine” or in some traditional groups “Housel”. It was enacted in the religion of Mithraism in the form of the Sacred Meal whereas the disciples would eat a full meal after their ritual service. So what does the sacred meal or the Eucharist rite have to do with the Scarlet woman?
It has always been known since ancient times that a woman's menstrual flow was always considered very powerful. Some ancients called this blood “Star Fire”. The women who gave forth this sacred blood were henceforth called “The Scarlet Women”. They were the beloved ones, who through ritual (from the Sanskrit word ritu meaning red gold) gave their sacred elixir in the alchemaic process of the sacred meal.
It is speculated that the word “secret” may have been derived from the understanding of “glandular secretions”. The ejaculation from the female orgasm – the nectar called the gold of the gods. We are led to believe that all the ancient mysteries are of a metaphysical nature, what if they are not – what if these mysteries are physical ones.
THE SCARLET WOMAN TODAYIn Aleister Crowley’s work The Law is for All he makes his claim quite clear that “every woman is a star”, an individual who can exercise her free will as she pleases. I quote: “We do not fool and flatter women; we do not despise and abuse them. To us, a woman is herself, absolute, original, independent, free, self-justified, exactly as a man is”.
Now, not that I don’t mind flattery – compliments come pretty few and far between these days, but I feel a woman should be herself, down to earth and not have to pretend to be what she is not even though society has a tendency to label women into one fantasy model type.
Although decades have passed, it wasn’t too long ago that a woman couldn’t vote, or was trapped into having as many as 22 kids because birth control was unheard of. If her husband beat her, the mindset was “she deserved it” and had no say so in the matter. Although I’m sorry to say those incidents happen today with no recourse until it’s too late.
It has taken many years for society to even consider a woman as an independent entity, let alone “exactly as a man is”. Unfortunately, there are men out there who want their women exactly as they want her to be. Barefoot and pregnant was an old time cliché, but don’t let it kid you, there are still some men in today’s society who see a women in that manner.
Have women in their need for independence and freedom from oppression created a monster or have they truly gotten what they have so desperately fought for all these years? And in all these struggles, do they really want to be exactly “as a man” and in what way?
Our military now puts women on the front in harms way no matter if they have children or not. In reports from Iraq, we have discovered a woman can be as brutal as any man in war. We can see her as a CEO in business, climbing a pole connecting phone lines, and the more light-hearted profession of scarlet women on the Bunny Ranch in Nevada.
Has she truly gained her independence? It seems so, but at what price? It does seem that women have to work harder today at just being a woman.
Crowley goes on to say: “We do not want her as a slave; we want her free and royal, whether her love fight death in our arms by night, or her loyalty ride by day beside us in the charge of the battle of life. Let the woman be girt with a sword before me. In her is all power given”.
Those are some mighty words from a man of his time – written in 1920. It is no wonder he was not well received in certain circles.
The words “free and royal” come to mind. Being girt with a sword depicts sovereignty and royalty. Something all women should see in themselves. Like the royalty of the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, she set the rules for the sovereignty of the land.
He continues: “It is we of Thelema who truly love and respect woman, who hold her sinless and shameless even as we are….Do we call woman whore? Ay, verily and amen, she is that; the air shudders and burns as we shout it exulting and eager”. O ye! Was not this your sneer, your vile whisper that scorned her and shamed her? Was not “whore” the truth of her, the title of terror that you gave in your fear of her, coward comforting coward with furtive glances and gestures?
Lets be honest here, any women who dresses in a come hither outfit in today’s patriarchal society would be labeled as “asking for it”. If she is sexual free, she’s called a whore and not in a beloved sense of the word. If she gives up her career for family forfeiting marriage, she’s later called an old maid, and if she tries to juggle both she’s being unreasonable.
In certain parts of the Middle East most women must cover their entire body in order to go in public, as other men must not see her. She has no rights in that man’s religious society, which hasn’t changed in two thousand years. As Crowley said; was it out of “fear” that men gave the title of whore to women? Is she still scorned because of Eve’s one deed? It seems almost unbelievable that one woman set the path for all the rest? Was Eve’s deed THAT bad? Or did she truly open the door to spiritual awakening for all humanity and her daughters have paid for that mistake ever since.
Have you ever heard of Hypatia a woman philosopher of ancient times? She also was an astronomer and mathematician. She was brutally murdered by Christian monks (that’s not surprising), probably by the order of a bishop. Have you heard of Hipparchia, a philosopher who defied the social norms of her time; or Telesilla of Argos renown for her bravery and poetry. No doubt you have, if you studied Greek history. However, Socrates, Aristotle, and Pythagoras are namedroppers.
It was even difficult for a savior to liberate women. It wasn’t only 12 men that followed Jesus in his ministry. He had seven other women who studied with him, but their names are never mentioned anywhere, except for one – Mary Magdalene. It was this woman who was not only his companion, but also his right hand and perhaps even his wife. For two thousand years this woman was labeled with the worst reputation in history until scholars resurrected her for the powerful woman she was.
Has man in the passed scorned women and shamed her for who she is or what she has accomplished – you bet ya they have. Are they still scorning her and shaming her? What do you think? Have we truly come a long way baby?
In most cases, yes, under all obstacles, we have, still do and probably always will struggle to be noticed for our accomplishments in society. Why have men feared women all these millennia where every accomplishment that was made by a women was suppressed. That answer may be an enigma all in itself.
CONCLUSION
We can come to the conclusion that the Scarlet Woman of ancient times was by no means a mere prostitute. Not only was she the living representative of the Goddess herself, but the essence of a precious commodity, Star Fire. For only through her could this elixir be sought and by uniting with the Priest/King in sexual intercourse could the land be blessed.
She is the Goddess who takes her cyclical journey to the underworld in search of her lover/husband sacrificing personal treasures and eventually her life for another. Her names vary throughout history and recently she has been known as Mary Magdalene, the alleged lover/wife of Christ who was no simple prostitute, but perhaps the grail itself per Dan Browns DaVinci Code.
What do we consider The Scarlet Women in today’s society? To me, she is the epitome of sensuality – a woman who knows and likes herself. She does not care what others think about her because she’s her own woman. She’s bold, carefree, dignified, well read, and a woman who knows what she wants in her life. She may be out spoken at times, but she remains tactful in expressing her opinions to others.
Can we depict the Scarlet Women on the motion picture screen? Why not? I see her as carefree as Sofia Loren in her Italian film Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. She is as sensual and coy as Marilyn Monroe. She’s bold and adventurous as Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider.
Has the sacredness of the Scarlet Woman been lost in time? Have we soiled her memory by comparing her to the prostitutes of today? Have we forgot about the sacredness of sex and the “knowing” that through this holy union we can touch the essence of the unknowable God? Only time will tell.
Nevertheless, she will always be girt with a sword, for to carry this treasure by her side means she carries sovereignty within herself. In other words, she carries “power” within her soul - a power that cannot be extinguished, for esoterically, she carries the power of both fire and water within her.
The Scarlet Woman is an enigma all in herself. She lives today in all women exhibiting pride in herself regardless of shape, color or ethnic origins. She IS woman and the essence of all the beauty we find in nature. We will always find the sensual harlot in the young virgin, the motherly nurturer, and the elderly woman knowledgeable in her years - for she IS Goddess.
Bibliography
http://www.ishtartemple.org/sacredIshtar.htm
Genesis of the Grail Kings by Laurence Gardner
A letter to a Brazilian Mason by Marcelo Ramos Motto
The Mysteries of Fire and Water by Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov
The Law is for All by Aleister Crowley