To serve one’s Gods and Goddesses with honour, loyalty and fealty means different things to different people. I have recently been reading much about my patron dark Goddess and others with whom I feel a kinship or affiliation. While studying, the subject of sacred prostitution has come up repeatedly. For those unfamiliar, here is a brief synopsis. While one may or may not agree with the overall philosophy, I did find the whole idea fascinating and worth mentioning within a historical context (I am a bit of a history buff)

Herodotus, the Greek historian, was one of the first to report that in ancient Mesopotamia, temple prostitution was a common occurrence. At the temple of Aphrodite, Babylonian females would prostitute themselves at least once during their pre-marriage life and donate the offered monies by their male patrons to the Temple and to Aphrodite’s good works (taking care of the poor and orphaned, feeding and clothing the homeless and sick, Temple upkeep, etc.). The same practice was noted in Sumeria, Canaan (the Hebrew bible warns of the Canaanite temple whores), Sicily, Corinth, Indonesia, Nepal and India as well as the Mayan, Toltec and Aztec cultures of Central and South America.

Some of the women would remain Temple Whores their entire lives, dedicating their bodies and souls to their Goddess until death, while others would offer their bodies only as virgins, and, if ever married, would leave the Temple and become wives and mothers, having felt their duty and devotion to their Goddess fulfilled.

Some revisionist scholars have tried to cast doubts or dispersions on the practice of Temple prostitution, however, so many records exist that do mention and substantiate it, that it is difficult to disavow or dismiss it entirely. At the heart of every myth and legend, lies a kernel of truth.