Erotic Art of Rome & India
Vitruvius, a Roman architect and
engineer of the First Century BCE, prepared this drawing for Emperor
Augustus Caesar, showing the ideal symmetry and proportionality
of the human male form. This diagram was later used and adapted
by other artists and scientists such as Leonardo DaVinci.
Imperial Seal of Claudius and Messalina,
shown above in a Mirror Image Imprint, as it would have appeared
on a document
Early Christian Phallic Cross
Roman Vomitorium Artwork, Found
in France
Marble Roman Bas-Relief
GREATER INDIA
During the century of Apollonius
of Tyana, "Greater India" consisted of modern-day India,
Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma
and parts of Tibet. Although the following examples of eroticism
are dated several centuries after the era of Apollonius, most
certainly they reflect the contemporaneous earlier traditions
of the First Century, when Apollonius and Damis toured "Greater
India" and met with King Phraotes and Sage Iarchas. Thus,
they are provided here for reference purposes.
*
Indian Temple Bas-Reliefs
Naypolo Phallic Temple at Bhatgaon,
Near Katmandou
Roofs of Nepalese Temples are supported
by oblique wooden beams, as is shown in this photograph. These
beams are usually decorated with erotic art. The following photograph
is a detail from one of these support beams.
Four Examples of Interior Temple
Erotica in Nepal
Nepalese Bronze Statuette
This writer, Robertino Solàrion,
has visited both India and Nepal. I personally photographed much
of this same Nepalese Temple Erotica that I have included here.
When I was in Katmandou, being quite astonished at such public
and "religious" displays of sexuality of all sorts and
persuasions, I undertook to conduct an "informal survey"
amongst the local people to determine exactly why such erotica
was used as ornamental art in the religious temples, because,
as we all know, this would never be permitted under any circumstances
to "decorate" the churches of, say, America. I determined
three quite unrelated reasons for this erotic artwork. (1) It
was placed on the temples in order to ward off the evil spirits.
Please note the similarity of this response to the explanation
given for the placement of phallic symbols on the exterior of
homes in Pompeii. (2) The public display of such erotica informed
the children about human sexuality in all its variety and spared
their parents the "embarrassment" of explaining "the
birds and the bees" to their children. (3) If indeed a man
or woman could enter such a temple and not become sexually aroused
in the presence of such erotica, then that man or woman was truly
"holy" and deserved a place in Nirvana with God. My
survey was highly unscientific, and I am still not certain of
the exact reason for the placement of this suggestive erotica
on the religious temples.
If I may venture a brief commentary,
it is often quite mystifying to me why there is such a "nervousness"
about sexuality amongst humanity, both in ancient and in modern
times. "Sex is life," wrote Dario Salas in The Stellar
Man. It is true. One cannot separate the sexuality of the
human from the rest of the human. But for some peculiar reason
unknown to me personally, there has always been an undercurrent
of puritanism in human culture. That is evident even today in
the current efforts by conservative American politicians to impeach
the President of the United States for what ultimately amounts
to "sexual peccadilloes." It has been suggested by certain
"channelers" like Barbara Marciniak (and, of course,
you may correct me if I am mistaken) that during the creation
process of the Cro-Magnon Sapiens, that is, us, our very spirituality
as sentient, rational incarnates depended upon an innate "knowledge"
of sexuality, that for us to be able to evolve as "spirits,"
we could not be deprived of this sexual instinct, as much as these
"Creator Gods" might have wished to undermine this "behavioral
pattern." Considering the puritanical prejudices which continue
to exist even in our own Space Age at the eve of the New Millennium,
there may be more truth to that hypothesis than we would otherwise
imagine. These "Creator Gods" were obliged to grant
us "sexual knowledge," but then they turned right around
and condemned it in our "religions" to make us feel
guilty about something that is otherwise most natural to us but
which they preferred that we not understand. This is a thought
that is worthy of our contemplation. It is time for a change.
Thank you for visiting these erotic
historical galleries; and most of all, thank you for your interest
in Apollonius of Tyana!
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