The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love [Hardcover]

Thomas Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 1998

In our age of science and psychology it's tempting to think of human sexuality in terms of biology and interpersonal relationships. But this new book by Thomas Moore regards sex as an experience of the soul and emphasizes the themes of fantasy, desire, meaning, and morality. In The Soul of Sex, Moore turns especially to religion, mythology, literature, rites, stories, and visual imagery that see in sex some of the most profound mysteries of life. He finds spirituality inherent in sex and at the same time explores the many ways in which spiritual values can sometimes wound our sexuality. He recommends chastity and celibacy for everyone--as aspects of sexuality and not only as literal lifestyles--and presents them as a means of developing a sensuous spirituality.

The Soul of Sex also establishes the principle that one can't have a fully satisfying sex life in a world that is asexual and antierotic. Thomas Moore recommends many ways in which society could tone down its moralism and create a public life that is erotic, one that affirms desire and pleasure. He sees widespread attention to sex in the media as a symptom of our failure to find a positive place for sex in the culture, and he spells out an Epicurean way of life in which the simple, deep pleasures of good food, friends, family, home, and intimacy with nature provide an appropriate erotic base for a fulfilling sex life.

This is a book for any individual of any gender or lifestyle who is trying to integrate sex into the rest of life. It is also a tool for couples, helping them to explore their sexuality with honesty, appropriate emotional complexity, civility, and comfort. Moore argues that sex should be at the center of life and at the top of our priorities and if we don't give sex its due, it will haunt and consume us. But when sex has a soul, deep pleasure and meaning find a common home, and in that sense this book is a sex manual for the soul.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

As in his previous bestsellers Care of the Soul and Soul Mates, Thomas Moore wants us to think more deeply about the spiritual implications of everyday life. Which is to say that this is serious stuff--anyone looking for sexy beach reading won't find it here. What does interest the popular theologian, therapist, and former Catholic monk are the historical, philosophical, religious, and psychological aspects of sexuality that people tend not to consider. "We have a habit of talking about sex as merely physical, and yet nothing has more soul," Moore begins. If only we realized that fact, he then argues, it might relieve us of the guilt we so often feel over our own sex lives. "The problem may be that we are accustomed to imagining morality from a purely spiritual point of view as a way of limiting rather than enhancing sexuality," he continues. Yet if we paid more attention to beauty, sensuality, and pleasure, writes Moore, we might actually enhance our spirituality.

There's much more to this wide-ranging meditation, which moves from the history of the word "orgasm" to the mythic presence of Marilyn Monroe. Those willing to follow Moore's mind as it courses through these subjects will find it a fascinating journey, one that ends by stimulating their own thinking about the relationship between sex and the spirit.

From Booklist

Moore has been offering advice about how to live a loving, fulfilling, and imaginative life in a series of books that includes the best-sellers Care of the Soul (1992) and Soul Mates (1993), as well as The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life (1996), all of which paved the way for this creative and positive discussion of eros and human sexuality. A psychotherapist and self-described "specialist in religious studies," Moore states at the outset that he believes that sex has incalculable spiritual and moral dimensions. He develops this theme in bold interpretations of the sexuality implicit in the myths and representations of such archetypes as Greek gods and goddesses, particularly Aphrodite, and their modern incarnations, most notably Marilyn Monroe. At the core of his far-ranging and soothing discourse is his emphasis of the fact that there is no such thing as separation of body from mind and emotion. Sex can never be "merely physical"; it always involves the soul. Moore explains how in agile considerations of works of art, religious practice, and the experiences of his patients, reminding us at every turn that "sex can put us in touch with the sublime" and make us feel that life has meaning. Moore's energizing, innovative, and accessible inquiry into the true nature of human sexuality, and our society's reductive and unhealthy attitudes toward it, helps us envision a world in which eros is celebrated rather than condemned. Donna Seaman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (June 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060186976
• ISBN-13: 978-0060186975
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #475,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Moore is the author of the bestselling book Care of the Soul and fifteen other books on deepening spirituality and cultivating soul in every aspect of life. He has been a monk, a musician, a university professor, and a psychotherapist, and today he lectures widely on holistic medicine, spirituality, psychotherapy, and ecology. He lectures frequently in Ireland and has a special love of Irish culture. He has Ph. D. in religion from Syracuse University and has won several awards for his work, including an honorary doctorate from Lesley University and the Humanitarian Award from Einstein Medical School of Yeshiva University. He also writes fiction and music and often works with his wife, artist and yoga instructor, Hari Kirin. He writes regular columns for Resurgence and Spirituality & Health and has recently published A Life at Work and Writing in the Sand. He is a patron of Re-Vision, a London center of spirituality and counseling, and on the board of Turning Point, a bereavement counselors training program in Dublin, Ireland.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Challenging, enlightening and liberating, February 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love (Hardcover)

In "The Soul of Sex," Thomas Moore presents a view of human sexuality which transcends our narrow-minded Western tendencies to view it (and almost everything else) as either good or evil, black or white, right or wrong, sacred or profane. The Western world is slowly waking up to the realization that we cannot separate the body from the mind and the spirit. Our sexuality is tightly woven with all three, and cannot be dismissed and stuffed away under the guise of "morality" (as so many of our so-called "leaders" would have us do.) Sex is central to our being. Moore's belief that accepting, embracing and celebrating our sexuality can be accomplished without decending into the tawdry images of pornography was a revelation for me. However the book is difficult, sometimes rambling and a bit New Age-esque at times. It's best to read it one chapter at a time and allow the ideas and images to take root before reading further. "The Soul of Sex" has been very useful to me in my journey to overcome emotional and sexual problems resulting from a repressive, guilt- and shame-ridden Southern Baptist upbringing. I strongly recommend it to others who are likewise suffering, and anyone who simply wants to deepen their understanding of sex and soul.

58 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sexuality is a banquet from God, June 1, 2000

By 

Mark Braden - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love (Paperback)

In the introduction to his book, The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love, Thomas Moore writes about Sigmund Freud's principal that: "we display outrageously and obsessively that which we do not fully possess or have deeply at our disposal. If we are displaying sex with unseemly exaggeration and preoccupation, then we have not found the heart of sex and made it a fully integrated part of individual and social life." Freud's statement appealed to Moore because he can see both the irony and reality of this state of nature. That given, Moore himself can not resist the pun "...we need more sex, not less, but we need sex with soul. If we are to believe and follow in Moore's teachings we must look to Eros and find the sexuality in all things. Moore gives us great license in life through, his philosophy to live life in pursuit of the fulfillment of pleasuring our soul. The Soul of Sex will be an extremely useful tool for anyone to use in ministry. What kind of a book do you give Christians to read that is not offensive and yet will stimulate their imaginations to think creatively about such an intimate topic? Moore's book may not be for all as the subject of sex is not always for all. However, I would suggest using this book as leverage into the mindset of the audience. It has so many great archetypal patterns and examples that can be translated into lively discussion and self-examination. Can we be sexually creative and free and be moral? Can people be sexually active and good Christians? Moore believes we can and that is point. How did we as a culture become so hung up sexually? Where in the bible does it say that we must live with the burden of "puritan morality?" The book will be a resource to reassure those that are questioning their sexuality. People have many different normal feelings about sex that are completely natural. These feelings need to be listen to, fed and identified. Sometimes we need to follow our hearts and listen to our gut. Moore states that our sexuality extends outward into the world. We in America need to review our art, literature, architecture, and our fundamental beliefs and see that our spirituality and our sexuality can coexist. The road less traveled comes to mind here. That road suggests Moore should be sucked up and smelled and touched and experience to it's fullest. We are more alive and more in harmony with our creator when we not only smell the roses but enjoy the arousal within us that the fragrance sets stirring.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rich Exploration of the Senses, October 11, 2000

By 

Allie Kat "sarahphin" (Nunavut) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soul of Sex: Cultivating Life as an Act of Love (Hardcover)

Spiritual writers have always assumed we're trying to get to some loftier plane than this one, where there's lots of love but no sensuality. A sort of endless group hug, perhaps. Without entwining sex with its sentimental partner, love, this book examines the deeper meaning and life-affirming need behind our fascination with sex. Thomas Moore isn't the easiest writer to understand, I find I have to switch to some more lyrical level of my brain to follow him, but his elliptical style fits this subject well. And it's a hidden subject, one that vanishes if you look at it too directly. For all the joy and depth that sex brings to our lives, we treat it rather shoddily, plastering it with coyness, burying it in morality, or handing it off to biologists for dissection. The danger lies not in the concealment, for the elusiveness adds to the intrigue and mystery, but in thinking that we can separate sexuality and sensuality from the fabric of our lives.