The Kama Sutra by Bobbi Dempsey
Best known to us for its variety of exotic sexual positions, the Kama Sutra has as much to offer modern couples as it did their counterparts in ancient India. Kama means pleasure or sensual desire. It is the name of the Indian god that represents sexual nature in man. Sutra is a short book.
Perhaps the most well known of all love manuals, the Kama Sutra was translated from Sanskrit in the mid-1800s by an Englishman named Sir Richard Burton. It shocked Victorian England, and upon Sir Richard's death, his wife burned many of the other books he had translated. Most of them have not been retranslated, and indeed many may be lost to humanity forever.
The Kama Sutra — and anything related to it — continues to be a hot seller. At this writing, a search on Amazon.com for “Kama Sutra” yielded around 7,000 results, ranging from “modern” versions of the Kama Sutra to illustrated guides, videos, and even scented oils.
It is believed that today's known version of the Kama Sutra originated from oral traditions passed down in verse form, and that these verses were written and compiled into one book by a man named Vatsyayana. The Kama Sutra's descriptions of the positions are short and to the point. It's almost as if they were meant to be reminders to the couple, rather than detailed instructions. That fact supports the idea that the sutras were born of an oral tradition and were probably originally taught that way to couples.
The Richness of Detail
The variety and depth of information in the book ranges from detailed kissing techniques to seduction and courting suggestions. It explores the idea of biting or scratching your lover to leave your mark on him. Scratching also heightens the sensual feel of the skin during lovemaking. Many different ways of thrusting are mentioned. The positions are named after animals, as this was a prime way of studying man's relationship to the natural world.
The Kama Sutra exquisitely describes the quivering of the vagina that usually precedes orgasm and the shuddering that heralds it. It says that no two women make love alike and that one must be very sensitive to rhythms, sentiments, and moods of the individual woman.
Chapter 9 includes some of the kissing and touching techniques from the Kama Sutra that have been incorporated into a more modern interpretation. The book describes many different techniques to stimulate the clitoris like the ten types of blows that can be used to tap the clitoris with the penis for stimulation. It details the way in which a man might grasp his penis and churn it from side to side in the vagina of his lover. It outlines what areas in the vagina to stimulate and has special names for the sides, top, deeper areas, and the entrance area.
The Kama Sutra also encourages lovers to learn as many of the sixty-four arts as they can, including music, singing, sciences, lovemaking, homemaking, poetry, dance, archery, conversation, sewing, art, games, magic, chemistry, perfumery, and rituals. Refinement and accomplishment were important and were not gender specific.
A Catalog of Aphrodisiacs
In ancient India, the use of aphrodisiacs and their preparation was common and well known to many. Items like datura, honey, ground black pepper, a corpse's winding-sheet, peacock bone, sulfur, pumpkin seed, bamboo shoots, cactus, monkey feces, and ram's testicle were used for enslaving, potency, and endurance.
Some of these ingredients, such as pumpkin seed and datura, are actually well known for their potency-enhancing qualities. However, it may be better for you to stick with some of the more easily procured supplements that are detailed in Chapter 13.
