Believe it or not, there's a 400-year-old sex book with a lot of curious and interesting advice on sexual matters that shows the absurd myths people of that time used to believe. In this article, we take a quick look at this odd and controversial piece of work.
Not many years ago, an ancient sex manual was auctioned in the United Kingdom. Few people knew about its existence since the book was forbidden in the 17th century. Why? The same reason as always: sex was, and still is, a taboo topic. The censors of the time believed they were doing a favor to society by preventing any information on the matter to become popular.
This sex manual was freely distributed in 1960. It’s peculiar for two reasons. The first reason is that its original name was Aristotle’s Sex Manual. The second reason is that it contains curious erotic advice.
In reality, there’s no certainty that Aristotle wrote it. Someone probably used the Greek philosopher’s name to make the book more prestigious or to allow its distribution. It reflects the mentality of the time it was written in, which is almost absurd in comparison to what humans know today about sex.
“Real orgies are never so exciting as pornographic books.”
-Aldous Huxley-
It isn’t yet clear why this sex manual was prohibited since most of its texts follow Christian principles. Perhaps someone thought that just talking about the topic could trigger obscene or degenerate thoughts.
This sex manual describes copulation as carnal knowledge, which is completely natural among men and women and has the purpose of procreating a child. It also gives advice on how to determine a baby’s sex and prevent any birth deformities.
The book, for instance, encourages women to lie on their right side after having intercourse if they want to have a boy. In order to have a girl, a woman must lie on her left side. It also indicates the most favorable time of the year to procreate children of a specific gender.
Although it mostly focuses on reproduction, it also includes some suggestions to have a satisfactory sex life. For example, it says that sex helps clear the mind and leave melancholy aside, but only when it’s legitimate and done in moderation.
The text also clarifies that if you don’t have sex regularly, vision problems may manifest, as well as dizziness and other severe conditions, especially in men. In contrast, the book says that if people have too much sex, their body tends to “dry down” and this reduces life span. As an example of this, the manual cites house sparrows, who are sexually active and live only three years.
Furthermore, it claims that the child’s physical appearance will depend on the mother’s thoughts. For example, if she thinks about terrifying beings after sex, the baby might be born with lip deformities or hair in their tongue. Therefore, it recommends that the woman stare at her husband and think about him so that the child looks like him.
The ancient sex manual states that women should avoid eating too much greasy or spicy food, since they “heat up the body too much” and arouse them more. However, it encourages women to please their husbands, which would prevent men from falling into the obscene arms of a “lying prostitute”.
The sex manual goes on to advice husbands to leave worries aside when they’re about to have sex, to encourage their “animal” side and use fantasy to make it more pleasurable. However, it recommends not having sexual intercourse with their wives too often, since women, in general, are happier with fewer but good sex encounters, than too many bad ones.
It also mentions that once “the man has done what nature motivated him to do”, he must be careful not to leave bed too soon. According to the author, by doing this, there’s a risk of making the female belly too cold, which can lead to “dangerous consequences”. Furthermore, it notes that infidelity is corrupt and only produces illness.
Although this ancient sex manual isn’t exactly Kamasutra, it helps us understand some of the ideas that our ever-evolving culture has accepted, spread, or censored. If we try to understand the past, we’ll be better able to understand today’s world and to prepare for our future as a society.
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