Words Have Power : The Sacredness of “Slut” and “Whore”
“Boo you whore!” From Mean Girls in the mid-2000s was my first introduction to the word whore. I was sheltered and didn’t have any prior exposure to the world although the surrounding context of a whore had permeated my mind from MTV and trashy “teen” magazines by the checkout stands at the grocery store. When those words came out of Regina George’s mouth, I knew I didn't want to be considered a whore. A whore was someone lying to get out of an obligation… right?
As the innocence of youth was shed away to hormones and high school I learned the true meaning of the word whore. But it was a passed along connotation that screwed me over. A whore was someone dirty, who slept around with a bunch of guys, had sex that may or may not give her any money. I would never be a whore.
“That girl is so slutty!”
Now what’s a slut?! Is a slut different from a whore? Is one better than the other? It was utterly confusing for me to discern the differences for a long time because of the complexity of the nuances. Whore is defined as “a prostitute” and slut is defined as “a woman who has many casual sexual partners”... so don’t they mean the same thing except one is receiving compensation where the other is not? Which is a worse insult? Why do I feel dark, dirty and unworthy by both of these words?
That’s where some of the blessing of time, healing and research has helped this wound seal over. Whore and slut are derogatory terms, there’s no way around it, but it is possible to reclaim these words that are mainly directed at women. I have done that through my path as a priestess of a sexual and sensual goddess - Aphrodite. In the FIRST book I read about her priestess path, in the first three chapters there was a dedicated section about the sacred whore and the importance of that in HER ritual work. In the realm of the sacred whore, slut or prostitute I am myself but also a vessel for the divine to work through me and bestow blessings to the worshiper. The blessing in this scenario is the highly potent exchange of orgasmic energy from a Goddess. In ancient times priestesses would regularly engage in these ritualized, sensual encounters with worshippers. It was an essential part of devotional work for both layman and priestess; but as the prevalence of the religion dimmed in popularity, the act was criminalized and made taboo.
This is where we are today, in a world where these terms are derogatory and those who hold these titles may or may not identify with them or the historic holiness. Depending on upbringing and community expectations, it could be a social-death sentence to have whore or slut attached to you. I am a part of a growing counter-wave to that thought process; my sexual and sensual actions do not have a value in society. The frequency, amount or existence of partners doesn’t have a tainting influence on who I am - who you are - as a person. There is a history where these terms had positive and negative meanings, and in this age I chose to align with the historic context of temple work. Whore and Slut are just as damning and saving as “good girl” in my mind. Words have energetic holds within our bodies and I am choosing to rewrite the darkness and dirt away from those two words from my being as I engage with them in the context of my priestesshood and spirituality.
