Reclaim your Sexual Organs: your Palaces of Essence!
I'd love to hear what you think of names...
Is a name important? And can changing it help you to relate to these organs in a different way?
How do you relate to your Sexual Organs? Do you they give you joy, pleasure, embarrassment or shame? What names do you give them?
I think names are important. If we call these precious organs our sexual or reproductive organs we express only one part of their function. These valuable organs are not only for sexual activity and having children, but they also regulate our hormones, which we know affect our mood profoundly on a daily basis in many ways. They are intimately connected to our brain and our heart, helping us express the essence of our being in many varied creative ways.
While your Palaces can give pleasure, they can also be a burden. Unwanted sexual approaches, even ‘if only’ looks can influence your view of yourself. If you are sexually abused, especially as a child, their wounds touch you deeply. The menstrual cycle is often experienced as a challenge, rather than as a gift, especially if your bleeding time is painful, or your emotions feel out of control at certain times. The ending of the menstrual cycle at the menopause can be disorientating as there are no longer monthly changes in your body to guide you. It can be a time of deep questioning about the nature of who you are. Men don’t have the same cyclical nature as women, but their energies also change as they age. How can we tap into our inner cycles and rhythms as we age?
I have drawn my inspiration for my names from the powerful knowledge of the ancient Chinese who called them the “Bao” or “Palace”.
For women, they called them the "Zǐ Bāo" (子胞) or "Bāo Gōng" (胞宫), “Palace of child”
For men they called them the "Jīng Shì" (精室) or "Room of Sperm,"
I suggest we call them both the “Palace of Essence”.
I love the name “Palace” because it suggests something sacred. Essence is that aspect of our life force which supports our growth, fertility, and ageing cycles. The changing nature of eggs and sperm through our life are expressions of Essence.
Palace also suggests that there are many different aspects to our organs: including the main chamber with doorways and passages or corridors leading to other rooms and chambers within it.
Male and female Palaces are similar in structure and nature. While developing in our mother’s womb around five to six weeks we both have a Müllerian and Wolffian duct and our future ovaries and testes are undifferentiated. By seven to nine weeks in women, the Wolffian duct degenerates and the Müllerian duct develops into the fallopian tubes, womb, cervix, and upper part of the vagina. In men, the Müllerian duct degenerates and the Wolffian duct becomes the epididymis, the vas deferens and the seminal vesicle.
The main chamber of the female Palace is the womb (belly: Latin), the red chamber of Blood, which has the potential to nourish a fertilised egg and other creative aspects of our being. The main chamber of the male Palace is the prostate (one who stands before: Greek), the white chamber where milky fluid is added to the semen and sperm. For the ancient Chinese semen is the equivalent of menstrual blood and both were considered sacred and used in rituals.
The female outer gateway into the womb is the cervix (neck: Latin) leading to the vagina (sheath: Latin) and clitoris (sheath: Greek). The male outer gateway from the prostate is the penis (tail: Latin). The Chinese called these organs the Jade Stem for men and the Jade Gateway for women, possibly indicating that they understood the similarity between them. They enable us to experience sexual pleasure, either on our own, or through opening up to another.
The female inner gateway from the womb is through the two watery tunnels of the fallopian tubes, named after the Italian male anatomist who ‘discovered’ them during the Renaissance. This tunnel leads to the ‘treasure chests’ of the ovaries (egg receptacle) which contained their greatest number of immature eggs while we were still in the womb of our mother. The treasure chests contain no more eggs after the menopause but continue to produce hormones and play a role in our sexual desire.
The male inner gateway from the prostate is through the two watery glands of the seminal vesicles into the two tunnels of the vas deferens meaning 'carrying away vessel'. These lead through the coiled epididymis to the ‘treasure chests’ of the testes (witness) which produce sperm from puberty to the end of a man’s life. The testes have often been called a quiescent organ before puberty, because they don’t produce sperm, but immature sperm cells increase in number and the testes grow in size.
Reflect on the nature of your Palace calling them this new name. How do you connect with them now?
Say this affirmation and see how you feel
I connect with my creative potential in its many expressions.
I find my unique expression of creativity.
I’d love to hear from you how you relate to your Palace and the different expressions of your creativity .
I have a video on YouTube where I talk about my names.
I want to follow this blog with reflections on the changing nature of our Palaces throughout our lives: from our time in the womb of our mother to the second half of our life when our fertility for women has ended and for men declined. I’d love to hear from you how your relationship has changed during your life. I’d also love to hear what you think of the names and if you have ideas on names we can call the specific chambers or passageways within our Palaces? What could we call our fallopian tubes? Or vas deferens?
You might be also be interested in these videos:
Connect with your core four organs:
Your golden seeds of creativity
This is so lovely Suzanne - I could talk all day about this. But, for now… my midlife crisis allowed me to get in touch with my body on another level - definitely i view it as sacred these days - I happily think of it as a temple… A particular peace of sacred/sexual work that I feel was important to me in perimenopause when all hell was breaking loose inside me (psychologically) was ‘Aphrodites Magic: celebrate and heal your sexuality’ by Jane Meredith - I still carry the belt I created magically to any ceremonies I attend. And I still have the journal of that work.