Pointers for Sexual-Spiritual Practice by Barnaby Barratt Ph.D.

“Lovemaking – whether alone, with a stranger, with a partner we believe we know well, with a group, or with the trees, the skies, the mountains and the oceans – is always consensual, mutual, wholly present, ethical, and expressive of our one heart.”

I was flying high in the sky on my way to my favourite aunt’s funeral. I am willing to pay a premium to be assured a window seat, so that I can revel in the majesty of blue skies and clouds which are the eternal landscape of these lofty realms. It is a source of great delight and inspiration that whatever weather presents on the earthly plane, the pursuit of higher realms will always deliver blue skies.

It occurred to me that my all-consuming passion to drink in this vista had an erotic component to it. How could I negotiate consent, before falling into the wonder and delight of my beloved skies. And what would it feel like to be open to a certain “mutuality” in this experience – that the clouds and skies were also present to the surrender and heartfelt caress that was palpable in my experience. Could my advances influence the nature of this realm. Holding this sense of possibility already raised the energetic sense of my experience.

Falling into you.

Soft, round,

Formed and yet not

Taking up nebulous space

What is the majesty that compels my sight

To view with awe and wonder

The pure azure blue of sky

The plump whiteness of cloud

The myriad array of shapes 

Bellowing their sense of becoming

A drift of movement

A dance of existence

Every changing

Yet perceived stillness

Interweaving shapes and textures 

Dancing across the sky 

In their time-honoured ritual

Of moisture, wind and heat.

Of all the shapes and currents 

I am called to the dense robust clouds 

Which entice me

With their plump voluptuous fullness

Promising intimacy, contact

And most of all

A soft and consuming

Place of refuge

A comfort and a delight

A warm softness

Marshmallow mush