Tantric Art

The Tantric tradition of India and Tibet is much broader in its scope than the subset of Tantric Sexuality taught in the West. While Western Tantra focuses on practical techniques, the Eastern form also uses sexual symbolism for purely meditational purposes. As such, Tantric art often contains imagery that can seem bizarre to Western eyes. This Tibetan-style devotional painting, for example, depicts an animal-headed female deity trampling on two small figures while she menstruates into a bowl they are holding. At the same time, she is balancing the Hindu elephant God Ganesha on her hands and performing fellatio on him – in other words, sucking his penis!

Ancient Egyptian Autofellatio

The image above comes from an Egyptian papyrus called “The Book of the Dead of Henuttawy”, which dates from the Third Intermediate Period circa 1000 BC. The large upper figure is the God Osiris, who is depicted in ithyphallic form – in other words, with an erect penis. As well as being erect, the God’s penis is shown as being abnormally long.

The smaller figure below Osiris is Geb, the Egyptian God of the Earth. Geb is also shown with an erect and abnormally long penis. Moreover, he is indulging in an act of autofellatio – sucking his own penis.

For clarity, the penises of the two Gods have been highlighted in red in this image. For the original version, and more information about the papyrus, see the British Museum website.

The Mystic Syllable Om

The Sanskrit syllableॐ – transcribed in English as Om – represents a sound that has mystical significance in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. It features in numerous Sanskrit mantras, and is the opening word of many sacred texts. Om symbolizes the beginning, duration, and dissolution of the Universe and its associated Gods.

In the Tantric tradition, the syllable Om is chanted rhythmically by both partners during sexual intercourse. In some cases an extended form of mantra such as Om Mani Padme Hum is used instead. The visual depiction of Om – the Sanskrit character ॐ – us also important in Tantric sex. The female sex practitioner or Dakini in the photograph has the symbol tattooed on her shoulder. She is shown performing the devotional Tantric ritual of Auparishtaka, better known in the west as a blowjob.