Spiritual beings have always interacted in a sexual way with human beings. There is mention of this type of relationship in the first book of the Bible, in a verse deliberately obscured and ignored by theologians, concerning union between the sons of God and the daughters of men (Genesis 6:4) - that is, between angels and mortal women. The Greek gods were renowned for their lust and love for humans. Indeed, every culture around the world has its legends of loving relationships between spirits and mortals.

For many centuries it has been the practice of the mainstream religions to either deny that such unions take place, or to condemn them as invariably evil. The possibility that a higher spiritual being might enter into a consensual, continuing sexual relationship with a mortal is not recognized. Spirits that desire human beings are characterized by the churches as demonic, and their sexual attentions are almost always presented as a kind of abuse.

This antagonism did not always exist. In pagan times, love between the gods and mortals was thought to produce as offspring the heroes of legend, the men and women of great beauty and strength who accomplished superhuman tasks. The love of a god or goddess was viewed as a blessing. Men and women of wisdom, the wizards and enchantresses such as Merlin and Medea, were often fabled to be the offspring of unions between higher spirits and humans, or the descendants of such offspring.

Part One of Sexual Alchemy is titled "Theory" and presents the history of sexual relations between spirits and humans, as it has come down to us in the form of religious texts, pagan myths, folklore and firsthand accounts from those who have experienced it. A consequence of sexual union with higher spirits is the transformation and exaltation of the mind and body, particularly of the sexual products of the body. Various ways in which the alchemical transubstantiation of sexual fluids have been pursued in different cultures are described. The sexual aspects of European alchemy are examined, as well as the erotic manifestations of Kundalini yoga, the benefits of Tantric union with the Goddess, and the use of sexual arousal, saliva and breath in Taoist alchemy to purify the body. Special emphasis is placed on the sexual alchemy of body fluids in modern Western magic.

Part Two is titled "Practice" and describes in unprecedented detail the physiological effects of sexual intercourse with spiritual beings. A ritual method for achieving loving union with either a spirit is presented in practical steps, along with the preparation and use of the transformed substances of the body for the achieving of occult abilities and transcendent awareness.

Most works that examine the use of sex in magic concentrate on autoeroticism or erotic union with human partners. Sexual Alchemy may be the first book to treat in complete detail all aspects of sex with spiritual beings, including the benefits, both practical and spiritual, that loving union with spirits confers on the humans involved.

ISBN:1-56718-741-2. Price: $19.95 US. Llewellyn, 2000.