Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Sacred Sexuality : From Aphrodisiacs and Exstasy to Yoni Worship and Zap-Lam Yoga

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There is one really good reason to get this book: the pictures. Almost 50% of the pages have coloar photographs of primarily Eastern art. However, pictures aside, Camphausen states his goals early in the book then does not see them through as well as he could. While there are many rare facts covered there are also very commonly known terms, deities, and objects included. Most terms do not have references so we can't tell where the information was found. The bibliography is done well but without references how can one truly do extra research? The index is completely worthless because it just lists things under general categories but not the pages they appear on; yes, the terms are alphabetically done but really, is putting a page number too much to ask? So if you want some great pictures, this is a good way to get them. Luckily the price is good just for the pictures themselves.

The previous reviewers are far to hard on this book. There are a lot of interesting facts and images here that you won't find all in one place anywhere else. I could easily spend an hour or more jumping around to the different cross references that are provided with each entry. Within each entry he points the reader to other entries within the book by placing a asterisk beside the word. This denotes that you can find the entry listed separately in another location. All entries are alphabetical so finding things is no problem at all. Do you know what a Shiela-na-gig is? Or, how the Taoists viewed female sexual secretions? You'll learn this and more if you get this book. The bibliography is quite extensive and you'll get many ideas from there. Make sure to place a little mark beside them, because there are so many references, you won't remember which one you liked. If you get this used, you can't go wrong!

This is one of my favorite reference book on sexuality, hence its location on my desk in my study. Worth every second turning its pages!

It seems like it serves its purpose as a quick reference, but many of the entries are openly biased (i.e., male circumcision). I think anything by the title 'encyclopedia' should be able to deliver information without an agenda.

Don't bother with this waste of time and paper. Most of it seems to be made up crap. Any research into these items brings up pretty much nothing to do with sexuality. I think the author is one of those people that probably thinks tantra is about sex/sexuality when it has NOTHING to do with that.

Many things I researched further came up with nothing or the slightest possible mention of anything that could be perceived as being sexual was added to this book. It could have been a 2 page handout.

If there are 500 items in here...seriously...maybe 10 have some substance. The rest is made up crap.

My copy is going to get donated to the bargain bin!

Although this is an interesting book, it contains only heterosexual entries and articles. Therefore, I think it is better that the title of the book should be changed into "The Encyclopedia of Sacred Heterosexuality".