Quodoushka Spiritual Sexuality Workshop San Diego

QUODOUSHKA
A Shamanic Approach to
Spiritual Sexuality

A transformative workshop of shamanic teachings, guided exercises and ceremonial experiences for singles and couples.

Imagine that sex is natural, sacred and beautiful.

July 8 - 11 for singles & couples
Thursday evening – Sunday evening

Early Registration extended to June 11
Experience how the gift of your sexuality is your most powerful resource for full self expression,
health, hope, happiness, harmony and humor.

The first level of Quodoushka is all about you!  Your own sexuality and how this incredible “catalyst” energy is
actually life itself.  Through the shamanic wisdom of an ancient Matriarchal Medicine Society you will learn about energy
laws that govern everything we do, starting with the beauty and power of your own sexual energy.

Through your understanding that male and female sexual energy is the source of all creation and inspiration, you will learn
how to apply the power of this in your everyday life for gains in your happiness, humor, hope, health and harmony. As you
learn how to raise your sexual energy you’ll discover the gateway to connection and spirit – and even come to understand
that your sexuality can become your natural blissful path towards enlightenment. Illuminated teachings take you on a
journey of discovery of all the levels and elemental types of orgasm. Discover how your inner elemental balance
determines how you experience them. You’ll discover what is your own “genital sense of self” and learn how that
influences your personal experience of pleasure and patterns of living.

Please register me for: Quodoushka 1, July 8 - 11, Q1

o Individual $695         o Paid in full by June 4 $595

o Couple $1300          o Paid in full by June 4 $1150

o  Q1 GRADUATES SPECIAL & SMSD Apprentices: $495 paid in full by June 4  $395.

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Send payment in full or a deposit of $100 (US) per person to:
Spirit Fire Productions, PO Box 22133, Phoenix, AZ 85028

Make checks payable to Spirit Fire Productions.
Registration is limited and subject to confirmation.
Specific location and all the information you will need to attend will be given upon registration.

CANCELLATION POLICY:
You must notify us 10 days before the event. There is a $100 fee for office expenses.
Within 10 days, it is $250 non-refundable.
$100 nonrefundable when you notify us more than 10 days before the event. Within 10 days it is $250.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
AMARA  602.765.9551 • amaracharles123@gmail.com

YOUR FACILIATORS:

AMARA CHARLES Keeps the Fire has been an apprentice of the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path of
Turtle Island since 1987. She has traveled teaching Quodoushka Sexuality workshops internationally for
over twenty years. Amara is the author of Sexual Agreements, Aching to Open and Erotic Touch for
Two. From 1993-2000 she helped establish the Red Lodge Yearlong shamanic ceremonial program for
the Deer Tribe Métis Medicine Society and has led teen Rites of Passage, Wondercamp and Vision
Quest programs for many years. She is the founder of Nourishing Arts, providing courses in Shamanic
sexuality and Taoist Sexual Arts. www.nourishingarts.com

MUKEE OKAN Breezes Love: aka Your Orgasm’s Best Friend. Originally from Australia, Mukee is a
Quodoushka spiritual sexuality teacher and guide in the Twisted Hairs tradition. Her foundation is in the
essence of Tantra, since initiation in 1984. Mukee is also a surrogate partner therapist in the western
medical model since 1995. She facilitates sexuality programs internationally. She loves to share how
your life-force energy fuels your full self expression of your energy, creativity and abundance. Her
presence inspires you to open to your natural erotic intelligence and surrender to your infinite orgasmic
nature and capacity for pleasure. She is also the founder of Wisdom Women and a tantra artist.
www.spiritfireproductions.com

MICHAEL STEIN Star Mountain, NLP, C. Ht. has been a member of the Quodoushka teaching team for
13 years. He is a Sweet Medicine SunDance Path apprentice. Michael has served as a trainer for the
Men’s Health Teaching Group of the UNC Chapel Hill Medical School and has been a guest presenter
for the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists. Michael is a Certified
Trainer of NLP, an Ericksonian style hypnotist and a master storyteller. For the past 25 years he has
been facilitating team-building programs for corporations and organizations. He is based in Chapel Hill,
NC.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: AMARA  602 820 4661  • amaracharles123@gmail.com
MUKEE 602.482.9691 • mukee@spiritfireproductions.com
PLAN  TO ATTEND NOW AND SAVE • nonresidential in a private home
Individual $695: paid in full by June 4. $595 • Couple $1300: June 4 .$1150 • Q1 GRADUATES SPECIAL and
SMSD Apprentices: $495 pd in full byJune 4 $395. (Visa/MC/checks to Spirit Fire)

Send payment in full or a deposit of $100 (US) per person to: Spirit Fire, PO Box 22133,  Phoenix, AZ 85028

Can You Be Incredibly Happy & Single?

by Amara

What’s the first image you see when you think of Elena Kagan, the youngest woman ever nominated to the supreme court of the United States? Is it of a sexy, available, incredibly successful woman about to land one of the highest positions in the world?

I doubt it. Whether fair or not, Elena’s body, haircut and demeanor declare another message. She’s, dare I say it? Unmarried.

It’s fascinating. Her colleagues agree she is arguably the most intelligent woman they have ever met; yet it’s the whispers that tell us what really intrigues us about Elena. Is she secretly gay or just unable to snag a guy? You could say she’s slightly plump and relatively bland looking. At 50, has she crossed over that invisible female line of being single (desirable and still in the hunt) to being unwanted, or worse, unable to marry?

 Her image, especially the part about being too smart to get married is enough to churn the stomach of any unwed, remarkably intelligent woman. While the single and smart cloud that wafts around her probably wont prevent her from landing the job, it’s amazing to see how it is her relationship towards men that defines her beyond every other brilliant thing she’s ever done.

It’s like the dowdy versus the girly daughter. Sara Palin versus Elena Kagan. Which does Daddy like best? One he adores, the other he respects. The bubbly girl is seen as happy (at least while she is young), while the other as perpetually wanting.

What woman has not had to defer to the buoyancy of other women while doubting her own intelligence? How often do women settle for ‘respect’ whenever we do not feel attractive enough?

Is this just another shade of the old feminist gripe against those enamored by sex appeal over brain appeal?

I think it’s deeper than that. Perhaps with Elena we are witnessing the emergence of another type of femininity to the forefront of our newspapers and minds. Personally, I resonate with Miss Kagan because she stretches and even flaunts the established notions of feminine beauty.  She’s different than the more untouchable figures of Janet Reno or Janet Napolitano, whose build (and hair styles) could be compared. There’s something spicy and unpredictable about Elena. There’s also something mysterious and cautious about her. To me she seems like the cat, who at first glance looks like the runt of the litter. But as soon as you hold her, you know there’s only one kitty in the world for you.

God knows what Elena really feels about all this. If she gets accepted into the club of nine her dating prospects don’t exactly get better. My hope for her is that as she enters those chambers of justice, she finds a way to anoint her bedchamber too.

Perhaps she will chip away for us the stigma of singledom and become a noble icon for the unwed. Instead of being, as one of my favorite authors, Maureen Dowd, put’s it, “that dreaded over-the-hill, out-of-luck, you-are-finished, no-chance” old maid with the “aroma of mothballs and perpetual aunt,” she will surprise us with another face of feminine brilliance.

I hope she puts a flashlight on our greatest fear to show us that loneliness is merely a state of mind. Can anyone be single and downright happy?

If you do not ‘have a partner” at the moment, bang the gavel and say ‘Yes.’

Although finding someone to live happily-ever-after with is undeniably lovely, it’s always temporary. In any case, whether she sits on the supreme bench or not and whatever on earth her opinions are, I nominate Elena Kagan a Queen.

©Amara Charles 2010

**********************************************************************************

Join us in San Diego for the new Spiritual Sexuality Workshop

for Singles & Couples.

Quodoushka 1 July 8-11 San Diego.

Email for details: amaracharles123@gmail.com

Free Quodoushka Spiritual Sexuality in San Diego & LA

San Diego & LA FREE INTROS

You and your friends are invited to a

Complimentary introduction to Quodoushka, SPIRITUAL SEXUALITY

with Amara Charles

June 1 San Diego, June 3 Los Angeles

Discover your vibrant erotic nature with an evening’s
introduction to Quodoushka Spiritual Sexuality. These
ancient shamanic teachings will open your mind and awaken
your body & spirit to the natural beauty of sexual intimacy.

For Singles
Please come and join us for an empowering preview into the delicious world of spiritual sexuality.
Bring stimulating ideas to your sex life and experience a more intuitive approach to intimacy and
sex.

For Couples
Come with your partner for an evening that will awaken more passion, playfulness and pleasure in
your relationship. All sexual preferences welcome.

“Brilliant teachings! I wish I knew them 20 years ago. I recommend this workshop to anyone who
wishes to transform his or her sexuality. I’ve gone to a much deeper level of understanding sex
and myself.” Steve Wright, Australia

AMARA CHARLES has been an apprentice of the Sweet Medicine SunDance
Path of Turtle Island since 1987. She has traveled teaching Quodoushka Sexuality
workshops internationally for over twenty years. She helped establish the Red
Lodge Yearlong shamanic ceremonial and teen Rites of Passage programs for the
Deer Tribe Métis Medicine Society. Amara is the author of Sexual Agreements,
Touch for Two & Aching to Open. Her new book Liberating Sexual Pleasure will be
out next year.

Quodoushka Free Preview Evenings:
San Diego, CA.
Tuesday, June 1st Contact: Bonnie bonniez2010@gmail.com (858) 353-4175
Los Angeles, CA.
Thursday, June 3rd Contact: Russ Bryant editor@mainstreamerotica.com (310) 491-8997

Quodoushka 1 Spiritual Sexuality Workshop
July 8-11th San Diego, California amaracharles123@gmail.com

because beauty is a living state of love
www.nourishingarts.com (602) 820-4661

Upcoming

Qoudoushka Spiritual Sexuality Workshop

Register Now for San Diego Q1 July 8-11

San-Diego-Q1 Workshop July 8-11

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Too Big To Ignore

Watch out when women get their socks in a twist and decide enough is enough. You can’t help but raise an eyebrow when fifty-nine thousand  Catholic nuns make a Hail Mary pass and directly defy the old boy bishops to endorse the health care bill.

You’d think that as the pews and coffers shrink, and the worldwide cascade of accusations come pouring in, Catholic high ups would calculate the cost of losing the loyalty of their front row nun force who do their bidding and all the work to boot.
Instead, the pope finally lamely admonished flock deviants with predictable pleas to keep the faith calling endemic abuse and corruption ‘grave errors of judgment.’

In what universe is child abuse a grave error of judgment?

Only in the too big to fail church is outright criminal behavior kept in the closet cloaked by the Pope’s choir preaching mercy and forgiveness. I’m a big fan of mercy and forgiveness, but there comes a point when the hypocrisy of an ailing belief system shows its absurdity so clearly it’s too big to ignore.

What would cause a literal slew of priests—globally— to go directly against the decency of their own faith? Why did so many find it impossible to resist having sex with children?

I read the Pope’s letter of apology. His enlightened perspective on the root of this ugly problem? Bad choices of  priests in the first place. Poor training. Too much secularization, meaning not enough church going, and not enough belief in the church. Nary a mention of how church authorities played musical chairs with known criminals, nor the idiocy of transplanting them into virgin territory.

There is only one thing that holds this house-of-cards power structure in place: sexual repression. But to admit this means the fall of the whole thing. Gargantuan organizations cannot examine the very beliefs that keep them big. It’s easier to regroup in Africa, where the number of Catholics is growing exponentially.

Growing up in a Jewish family, the whole idea of sex=sin was just plain weird to me. Everybody eats, sleeps and has sex once in a while. I missed the whole sin part. While most Christians I’ve met swallowed relatively homeopathic doses of the sex=sin pill, the stains on the psyche of millions cannot be underestimated, especially when strains of this virus find their way into every law, school, job and marriage, determining all that is proper.

When will leaders have the courage to face the obvious? Enforced celibacy does not work. Repression creates a breeding ground for perversion and it makes liars out of otherwise good people. All the trials, repentance and forgiveness in the world will never snuff out sexual desire.

Making sexual repression the requisite of spiritual authority is about as intelligent as enforced fasting. Sooner or later you will have to eat, and if you cannot eat openly you will have to lie about eating. I can forgive the abusers because they were asked to do the impossible; turn off sexual love.

Love is existence. And sex is simply one of its expressions. Don’t let any prude tell you otherwise. Even celibacy, when chosen wisely is love. Catholic nuns may not see it this way, but secretly, I’ll bet some do.

Ode to the Elusive, So Called G-Spot

The G-spot ‘doesn’t appear to exist’, say researchers
The King’s College London team believe the G-spot may be a figment of women’s imagination, encouraged by magazines and sex therapists.BBC The Gspot :

Is The G-Spot a fragment of your Imagination?

A Little History of the Wonderful G Spot: (see my comments below)

In the 1950’s German born Jewish gynecologist and scientist named Ernst Gräfenberg became well known for his studies of the role of the woman’s urethra in orgasm.

During the First World War, he was a medical officer, and continued publishing papers, mostly on human female physiology. In 1929 he published his studies of the “Gräfenberg ring”, the first IUD for which there are usage records. When Nazism assumed power in Germany, Gräfenberg, was forced in 1933 to resign as head of the department of gynaecology and obstetrics in the Berlin-Britz municipal hospital. In 1934, Hans Lehfeldt attempted to persuade him to leave Nazi Germany; he refused, believing that since his practice included wives of high Nazi officials, he would be safe. He was wrong, and was arrested in 1937 for having smuggled out a valuable stamp from Germany. Margaret Sanger ransomed him from Nazi prison, and he was finally allowed to leave in 1940, whereupon he went to the U.S. and opened a practice in New York City.

He became famous for his studies of woman’s genitalia, and human female sexual physiology; published studies include the seminal The Role of Urethra in Female Orgasm in 1950, describing female ejaculation, and an erogenous zone where the urethra is closest to the vaginal wall. In 1981 sexologists John D. Perry and Beverly Whipple named that area the Gräfenberg spot, or G-spot in his honor.

While the medical community has not embraced the whole concept of the “G-Spot”, Dr. Sanger, Dr. Kinsey, and Drs. Masters and Johnson credit his extensive physiological work. (thanks to Wikipedia)

Amara’s Comments

The Secret Fire Trigger

While it’s true Ernst was a pioneer, and some might consider him a hero who brought the insides of women’s vagina into the light of day, the G—Spot is not a new invention. Ancient Chinese Taoists refer to this area as the ‘Lute Strings’ and the Shamanic teachings of Quodoushka calls this region on the upper wall of a woman’s inner cave the ‘Secret Fire Trigger.’

While I think Ernst must have been a great guy, and I love what he dedicated his life to, I personally prefer the more poetic names. If I have to name that confounding place scientists are still pondering (and I say-let them ponder away!), I like the sound of having ‘Lute Strings’ inside me. For one thing, rather than fumbling around looking for a spot, this lovely name might encourage my lover to play gently inside me hoping to make a little music. For another, the name ‘Secret Fire Trigger’ is a lot closer to the idea of what’s inside than a ‘G—Spot’. It’s a whole ganglion of interconnected nerves and vessels—think of the beautiful illuminated branches in Avatar spreading out into a vast network of intelligent feelers. Now that’s what it feels like inside.

While scientists are still trying to figure out what on earth exists in there, (oh, and their marvelous instruments must have such a hard time pinning down what women have been moaning about for centuries,) I say let the mystery continue!

Anyone brave enough to pull my ‘Secret Fire Trigger’ will not be wondering if they have found the Gspot once I have exploded and poured in ecstasy all over the place. We love thinking we have something wonderful, special and fantastic inside, and we do!

Whether it’s somehow connected to the urethra, or called the Female Prostrate Gland (can we have a better name, please) what matters is that we are still looking, still feeling around, and still having lovely orgasms. (and they’re all good).

But really, thank you Ernst. I hope that your clinical studies were not too clinical, and that while you were alive, you smiled at our folly to name the unameable, know the unknowable or ever even slightly corner the market on women’s pleasure.  On the other hand, even if people don’t know where the name G Spot came from, I think it’s a pretty good way to be remembered. There have probably been more than a few screams of orgiastic delight made by women who were glad somebody was looking for something. So viva the Gräfenberg spot!

Yummy Yang: All about male sexual potency.

Yummy Yang was by far the best Goddess Way class yet. But of course, the topic was Yummy Yang! It was all about the benefits of semen, the secrets of increasing male potency, how to strengthen erections, ejaculations and help men feel amazing. I must say, this circle of women was the most fantastic and FUN group I have EVER shared these teachings with. The room was buzzing with sweetness, passion and reverence for men, male energy and the Jade Stem.

What’s a Jade Stem?
I brought in several Jade Penises, and then of course someone said ‘pass them around!‘ Well, that was it. The class went into hyperlove-drive. Who knew? Penis envy? No way. Penis Devotion just came shooting out…

Coming Soon to a Temple near you:
A New Certification Program at the Phoenix Goddess Temple

The Goddess Way Series was just the beginning of courtesan training to see if women were interested. Well, interested just doesn’t quite capture it. Ecstatic is more like it. The new Goddess One certification program will soon be offered at the Phoenix Goddess Temple. Stay tuned to hear about the amazing instructors who will be joining divine forces. Our goal is to become the leading international school of courtesan arts and Goddess spiritual sexuality. Plus, there will be awesome courses for men too. More soon…

The Vision of Sacred Temples
The idea of restoring feminine sexuality teachings has long been a great dream of mine. To be part of introducing these sacred sexuality teachings, and to have women delighted and hungry- all kinds of women- was completely inspiring. Thank you to all the women who attended the first Goddess Way classes. A special thanks to Madame Traci, whose vision, tenacity, grace, panache, and hard work I truly respect. Your support and enthusiasm will ensure more of these Shamanic Tigress teachings will soon be offered.

Coming Soon to a Temple near you:

A New Certification Program at the Phoenix Goddess Temple

Next blog: I will be sharing more about what the Phoenix Goddess Temple is.

Meantime Go here: http://www.phoenixgoddesstemple.org/

Come and find our how to restore Yummy Yin with Yummy Yang energy. Leave a comment if you would like to know when the next classes will be held.

Thank You Beautiful Goddesses!

.

Sexy Tigers at Any Age

Perhaps you’ve heard of Cougars, women who like younger men, but what about all us baby booming Tigers out there who plan on refining our sexual prowess for the rest of our lives?    I have been teaching sexuality seminars around the world for over twenty years. A while back, a man in his 70’s asked me if I would teach a workshop for seniors but at the time I was busy with other things. Now I am getting AARP mailings as well as more requests to teach about sexuality and aging.

To tell the truth, I didn’t feel qualified when I was in my 40’s, but now 10 years later, I know a lot more about how our sexual feelings change as we age. For one thing, I know that my desire for intimacy and sex is as strong as it was when I was younger. In fact, although I am far more mellow (and proud of it) making love now is more important than ever.

There’s tons of research proving that touch and sex keeps us younger, but a lot of us already know this in our bones: it’s obvious. The question is, what do we need to do differently? What needs to change in our sex life as we age?

What I realized is that the practices I have been teaching for twenty years are fabulous for sexy adults of any age and I’d like to present some practical, interesting and meaningful things you can do to age gracefully and enjoy sex at every age.

I am planning the next fifty years of my life to be as juicy as the last fifty and I hope you will join me with your thoughts, comments and questions.

I welcome your questions as we explore the issue of sex and aging in the coming weeks. The most interesting comment will get a free copy of our double CD Erotic Touch for Two. If you want to sponsor a workshop for sexy tigers of any age please let us know.

The Velvet Revolution: What Fascinates Me About Iran

What I find Fascinating In Iran

I’d like to pick up a rock and look at the worms crawling underneath the injustices going on in Iran. Through the glasses of my own cultural biases, and the impossibility of knowing what’s really happening, I find the whole situation fascinating.  It’s fascinating how one day we seem to be enemies only to feel immense compassion the next. It’s fascinating how a part of something can be entirely rotten while another part is exquisite. The sad part is that no matter how much we empathasize with the brave, the Mulhas hands are drenched in oil and could care less what anyone thinks.

While yes, the twitter of technology is fascinating, what amazes me is how people were ignited from complacency to conspiracy in a matter of days. Who knew the simmering anger was about to blow in a thousand bits of courage? For a brief moment, it wasn’t money, it wasn’t advertising, it wasn’t some centralized group deciding to revolt. It was people talking. It was people’s silence. Whose idea was the silent march?  Maybe it was somebody on the street who passed it around until it spread like a wildfire of whispers.

What fascinates me are the spontaneous ideas that sprouted in a crowd of strangers. I have always disliked and disdained big crowds. As much as I might admire them from a distance, or agree with their cause, I don’t like being in them. Yet, what fascinates me are the thousands of average people who went out despite beatings, threats and bloodshed.

Unarmed and defenseless, those people knew numbers were their only weapons. The sway of mass mind knew the sheer volume of its consciousness was generating a flare of something extraordinary. Formerly stuffed down oppression still wails over rooftops, giving voice to injustice. For a brief moment, people defied the logic of safety, faced thugs, threw rocks and now smolder in wait for what comes next. Oppression makes people do extraordinary things.

If only for a brief moment in time, the passion of ordinary people making spontaneous decisions on a grand scale is fascinating. Even though people are now corralled into their houses by propaganda, hoses, guns, or the need to get back to normal, everybody knows nothing’s right. The curtain of OZ has been lifted exposing the wizardry of corruption. It will be fascinating to see how it will begin all over again.

And it will be interesting to see which blatant lies are remembered and how successfully they get oiled over into oblivion.  Will the miracle-after-the election Vote Counters decree of divine outcome be swallowed along with their three million irregularitues? Or was it eleven million? Will the imprisoned defiants rot in forgotten jails?

For now, the powerful ones have managed to slow the tide of twits to shift the world’s attention span and stopped the tide of information Chinese style. But Iranians have more tech these days, and I can only imagine the imploding fury squelched by terror. The veiled voices will mummer in an undertow of seething discontent.  It’s fascinating to watch the unpredictably powerful pull of people’s emotions force politicians to show their cards. There’s no doubt an embarrassing blow has disturbed the caped men in back rooms who are waiting for all the fuss to die down. A few bearded heads will roll or change positions. It will be fascinating to see them scramble backwards with everyone watching.

This is not the first time people in power stole an election or hid their lies inside beliefs and it wont be the last time it’s gotten away with. Usually however, it’s done more cleverly. What I find fascinating is not only is the magnitude of audacity, it’s the fact that those in power know the majority of people still need to believe in something and they will do whatever it takes to make sure it’s them. And as long as oil money keeps barreling in, there’s not much anyone can do about it.

Still, it is interesting to hear how hollow proclamations of authority sound when the plot is exposed for what it is. As holimen get away with hypnotism, we wonder how long before the robes collapse. Though it may be fascinating to watch a regime fall from grace, watching people suffer is not.

It is fascinating to bond with the human needs, desires and hearts we share. There are some things people won’t stand for no matter how huge our religious, cultural or gender differences are: we don’t like being insulted as fools, especially en masse.

When people in power come to think their power is bestowed from some place other than the people they serve, their power is eventually ripped away. Sooner or later, force, selfishness and greed bites anyone in the ass. Still, it is fascinating how such people amass great power and wealth. In the end of any good story we rally behind what we feel is true, especially if we think we’ve been duped for a long time.  In the long run, truth beats out lies, honesty heals, intelligence triumphs over stupidity and freedom is stronger than control.

What truly fascinates me is making the U turn; that is, taking what flaws we see in others, or in another country, to see the ways we fall prey to the same enemies inside our selves. That’s why I stand for the feared ‘Velvet Revolution.’ It’s the one with those soft velvet curtains, crimson sheets and a couple of candles…. I certainly hope plenty of women unpeel their veils, bring joy to their lovers and that we never forget the power of beauty.

Yet, even in this we must see the reverse. We may get a fairly long ride of pleasure, and we may seem relatively ‘free’ but inside where it matters, if we get greedy, or too full of ourselves, all our victories become hollow.  If we are out for glory, even sex is empty and pleasure has no meaning. The freedom to live on our own terms is not something anyone gives us, it’s something we must carefully claim, take responsibility for and aspire to remember daily.

Refining the Senses Through the Art of Tea

Why we fell in love with Chinese Tea

During a trip to Taiwan several years ago I was smitten not just by tea, but by the whole ceremony of it. Traveling with Master Waysun Liang, a renowned Tai Chi master, we were invited to several incredible teahouses. If I had gone myself I would have been left bedazzled by the aromas wafting from walls and walls of beautifully painted jars. Everyone sits to enjoy some tea in these places, but unless you know someone you pretty much get the polite tourist version: drink and go.

Since Master Liang was so treasured by his friends we were treated to hours of conversation and massage every time we sat for tea. You see you don’t really go to drink tea. You go to savor the day, sometimes get a massage and just talk. Back then, I didn’t understand a word, but I took off my shoes just the same whenever someone came in to massage our feet.

Up to then I had no idea the Liptonesque tea variations, now packaged in fancy green boxes has little to do with the ceremony of tea. Those crumpled shards stuffed in bags are actually leaf scraps left on the floor (say those who have experienced good tea)! On that trip in Taiwan a healer made us tea from the leaves he picked from bushes outside his door. Just as I discovered as a teen in farmer’s market that beets are not shinny slices soaking in red juice, for the first time I saw these incredibly tended, gorgeous, fresh, whole tealeaves. And yes, even I tasted the difference.

I bought some tea from one of those jars and let it sit for years on my shelf. To tell the truth I don’t remember anything special about that tea except the price. It took years, and a good friend, Kenny to introduce us to the art of making, choosing and enjoying really good Chinese tea.

Visiting great Tea Houses since then, has become one of our favorite past times. What makes a Tea House great? First and foremost: the joy of sharing, laughing and drinking incredibly good tea. Second and foremost are the people who find, brew and love drinking it. Tea comes with stories and there is something about hanging out with people who take immense pleasure drinking something so subtle it makes you laugh. I hope it takes the rest of my life to figure out what’s in great tea that makes you do that.

People I know think I relate everything to sex and they’re right. Tea is no exception!

It all about the intimate refinement of sensuous taste. To me the ceremony of tea, and the ceremony of sex are the same.

In my book, anyone who really enjoys great tea is probably an incredible lover . Here’s why I think so:

When you drink tea, first you take in the beauty of everything- the cups, the pot, the atmosphere, everything. Then you start to savor the fragrances. You marvel at wonderful sensations lingering in your body and mind. You notice unusual tastes lightly left on your tongue.

A great tea lures you first with it’s scent. It invites you to drink it, but not too fast… After you’ve let its distinctive fragrance (that recalls mountain breezes, sweet wet morning dew and star studded midnights) you must let these saturate your membranes and enter your mind until it whispers ‘would you like to go further?’ At that point if you gulp it down you don’t get much. Then, and only then, you finally take a sip and you whoosh in it’s juice, keeping it quivering and shaking wetly on your lips and tongue for a while. You want to feel it coat the inside of your whole mouth with its warmth before letting it slowly slide down your throat.

Now, a great tea waits. If you pay attention here, a great tea actually has several different tastes, some appearing while it’s in your mouth, and some after it’s swallowed.  A great tea leaves you marveling at its mystery. At first glance it looks deceptively like a simple cup of colored water, but then, if you give it time and let it show you where it comes from it will offer it’s gifts one by one. Plus, the real thing about a tea ceremony is its spontaneity. Never twice the same, it can be mixed with a bit of poetry, a bunch of beauty, and an abundance of praise.

And then there are those profound deep conversations that make you want to drink for hours and hours… Oh, and did I mention that tea has amazing healing properties?

Maybe you see the connection between sex and tea. Those who ‘get’ tea are likely incredibly good lovers. Hey, now there’s a bit of research I wouldn’t mind doing.

Check out our video:

p.s. Sheyna won the raffle held by the Cancer Research Center of Tuscon. The Grand Prize is a tea ceremony at Seven Cups with the tea master in this video, so stay tuned for more tea and sensuous lore.

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