CarnalNation

Sociologists tell us that young people today feel alienated from the society around them. They feel disconnected, like they don't belong. Occasionally these scholars conclude that our culture has lost the traditions that give meaning to our lives and mark important passages. This is the story of one man who has spent much of his adult life “serving the gods” by helping to bring back ancient ways of connecting our bodies, our sexuality, and our spirituality.

As a boy, this man was fascinated by the National Geographic stories of “savage” traditions and tribal customs. He was inspired by vivid descriptions of African manhood rituals, in which older brothers would chase down their pre-adolescent brothers, and present them to the tribal elders, who cut their foreskins with sharpened obsidian, ushering them into manhood, and making them full members of society.

This boy wanted a manhood ritual of his own, to come into his power, to belong. His foreskin had already been cut, and he had no memory of the experience. He felt driven to create a new experience, of his own making. So he took a needle from his mother's sewing kit and tried to pierce his remaining foreskin. Unsure how to go about it, he poked around unsuccessfully, then put away the needle and forgot about the experience.

Years later, he heard a Jungian psychologist talk about our internal archetypes and how they are revealed in the form of ancient myths and legends. He was particularly taken by the story of Ganymede, a mortal Zeus chose to be the Cupbearer of the Gods and to whom he granted immortality. To live forever serving the gods! This story resonated so deeply for him that he immediately adopted the name Ganymede. He went to the DMV, and soon carried official documentation of his new identity.

Then he met Purusha, a man who spoke publicly about the spirituality of piercing and androgyny. Under the bubbles of a hot tub, Purusha took Ganymede’s hand and placed it on his dick. The shock of feeling Purusha’s Prince Albert piercing reverberated through him like an ancient temple gong. He knew instantly, before even seeing the piercing – before seeing any genital piercings – that  he was going to do this himself.

Over the next two weeks, as he learned about body piercing techniques, the lost memory of his youthful attempt to achieve manhood through self-piercing gradually returned, ghost-like, and he knew that he would have his manhood ritual at last.

Preparations made, they journeyed to Purusha’s secluded desert cabin. At dawn, Ganymede called forth the gods to witness his rite. He dedicated his life force and sexual power “to heal the harm that has been done” by penises over the centuries. With Purusha assisting and taking photographs, he pierced his own penis, successfully this time, and inserted a gold barbell. He permanently marked his body as demonstration of his commitment to the ecstatic path of service to the gods.

Some years later, as body piercing gained popularity, Ganymede helped transform a monthly clinic, where individuals were pierced privately by appointment, into a group setting. He created rituals to re-connect people with each other and with deep parts of themselves.

Drumming, chanting, holding and touching each piercee; building power and releasing it; focusing attention in sacred, shared intimacy, they gave each other permission “to experience things” – spiritual things, sexual things, unexpected things. The piercings affected people strongly; for many, it was liberating. Some underwent deep transformations from the physical experience.

These monthly rites became wildly popular – they provided the spiritual connection so lacking for so many. These were Modern Primitive “coming of age” rites.