At all times, the attitude towards women who sell their bodies for money has been ambiguous. Many men at the same time loved and hated these young ladies, who, for just a few crisp bills, were able to fulfill erotic fantasies or simply relieve sexual tension.
Throughout history, in many countries, their own varieties of these virgins have appeared, but in modern times, many believe that such a concept as a priestess of love sounds very poetic. Is there a difference between sales girls in different countries, and was their range of services only sexual? How were such workers treated and can their life be called really happy and carefree? All this in the article below.
Greek goddesses — Hetaerae
Greece is exactly the place where you could first meet these notorious priestesses. They really served at the temple of Aphrodite and had to be given to men for money in order to earn the blessing of the goddess. This tradition also applied to those who were not going to become priestesses. Before going down the aisle, any girl must come to the temple of Aphrodite and sleep with the first person she meets, thus presenting her innocence as a gift to the goddess.
Remarkable is the fact that becoming a priestess directly required many years of training. It was not just having sex, but a real art that required the girl to be flexible and resilient in some matters.
She had to know many positions, master the skills of oral sex, please men, regardless of the situation. Besides, she was not supposed to have children, because a skilled priestess should not acquire a burden. Such a “loser” was expelled from the temple in disgrace, because it was believed that after giving birth such girls lose their magical power.
Most often, free girls who gave love for money were called getters. They were not only liberated in terms of sex, but also incredibly smart. And this despite the fact that most of them were slaves in the past. This happened because often beautiful and educated girls could be captured by neighboring states that were at war with each other. There were often cases when the owners of the newly-made slave turned out to be less literate than she herself. In this case, wise people simply sent their “booty” to the geter school, and then released them into the wild.
Getters are special women, for the time with which many fans were willing to pay a lot of money. Often they had patrons who protected and fully provided for the girls. But if there was no patron, then he had to be content with ordinary clients. In Athens, in the gardens of Ceramics, a slab was preserved, on which admirers talked about their desires and offered the amount, and the getters had to either agree and indicate the place, or ignore it.
It is worth noting the fact that getters paid a lot of attention not only to their bed skills, but also to education, as well as appearance. Famous representatives of this profession were real favorites of the public and became a source of inspiration for the rulers themselves. They dressed in luxurious and expensive fabrics, wore jewelry and moved along the street in chariots. No one condemned such women, and even showed them respect, because they brought joy and satisfaction not only on a physical level, but also on a moral one.
The most important difference between hetaeras and other servants of free love is the personal choice of a partner. Hetera slept only with the men she liked, so getting her location was not so easy. Especially if a woman is famous for her skills, and also has incredible beauty. This was the difference between heteras and auletrids.
Auletrids are girls who played musical instruments and entertained guests, and also easily agreed to intimacy for a certain amount of money.
The Silent Mystery of the East — Geishas
The most famous attractive corrupt girls are definitely geishas. The whole point is not even that they are so incomprehensible and charming that it is impossible to look away. The unique culture and traditions of the East make many people watch the movie Memoirs of a Geisha every time or re-read the book The Peach Blossom Pavilion.
In these works, the priestess of love appears in a completely different light: sensual, vulnerable, tender, and at the same time incredibly strong. Next to such women there were always the powers that be, so at some points they were able to make history with their decisions.
Initially, geishas were not women at all, but men. They dressed in bright clothes, put on bright makeup and entertained the guests, who came along with ordinary prostitutes. The very word geisha is translated as “man of art”, which is why at the beginning of their appearance they were in no way associated with corrupt love. Even more than that, men dressed as geishas were appreciated by the public, because they could make the evening more interesting and fun.
The woman who decided to break with her past and leave prostitutes for geishas was Kasen. She is the first who made me look at this profession from a different angle. It is worth saying that geisha were not supposed to sleep with clients, such a law even appeared a little later. This did not prevent some unprincipled girls from spoiling the reputation of all geishas and giving themselves to clients for money. However, real geisha could never afford such a shame.
However, the fact that geisha don't sleep for money doesn't change the fact that they did have sex. Often, famous geishas had a danna – a patron. He could be her lover or even become a spouse, have children with her and a full-fledged family. However, there were often cases of ordinary patronage, where there was no place for love and feelings, only a mutually beneficial contract. This meant that a geisha entertained by singing and dancing, serving guests in a tea house, and nothing more.
Outwardly, it is quite easy to distinguish a true geisha from a simple prostitute. In a real geisha, the kimono is tied with a complex knot at the back, which cannot be untied without help. And tie too. But prostitutes or yujo had a much simpler outfit. Their kimono was tied with a simple knot in the front so that it could be quickly removed in case of intimacy. Geisha hairstyles were adorned with a single comb and hairpin, while yujo could stab many combs and other decorations.
Sexual relations are a very real thing in the geisha profession. However, it is presented as a special ceremony that introduces an inexperienced student into the world of adult relationships and at the same time provides her with good start-up capital. If a geisha is able to sell her mizuage – virginity – for a good sum, then she could fully pay off her debt to the geisha house and become completely free. At the same time, a man who deprives a future geisha of innocence, after this procedure, may not have a relationship with her or, on the contrary, become her patron.
The attitude towards geishas was always respectful, because they were incredibly smart women who knew how to relax and entertain any man. To do this, they did not need sexual tricks, the main thing was the ability to be an attentive interlocutor and keep up the conversation on any topic. Geisha clients could be married men who wanted female attention and a kind of flirting that was inaccessible in family life. The priestess of love helped everyone forget about problems for a while and plunge into the world of art and easy conversation.
French frivolity — Courtesans
In 1804, a truly significant event took place for all the servants of the love front. Napoleon issued a decree that had to register all courtesans, and also obliged them to undergo a medical examination. After only 5 years in France, there were about 180 brothels where anyone could satisfy their whims at different prices.
Initially, the word courtesan has a completely neutral meaning – a courtier. And this is quite understandable, because this word was not called the ladies of “lightweight behavior” at all. These were women who had affairs with court people in order to strengthen their position in society, as well as gain some knowledge.
By the way, with the help of courtesans, many high-ranking officials waged a kind of “war”. They simply sent a courtesan to the “rear of the enemy” so that she would find out as much information as possible useful to a competitor. Under the influence of female charms, many really loosened their tongues, which drove themselves into a hopeless situation.
However, one should not think that all courtesans had an easy life. The term itself was offensive to all rich and powerful women. For example, Cardinal Richelieu repeatedly accused his female political opponents of being courtesans. And this technique worked flawlessly if the slandered woman could not find evidence to the contrary.
Of course, there was a separate group of courtesans who had certain privileges. They were the favorites of the kings themselves, so their word had weight in society. Of course, no one said that a woman achieved such a position solely with her mind, but only the most resourceful and prudent women got closer to power.
Although in their youth they could be companions of the rulers, rarely did any of them live in prosperity in their old age. For example, Blanche D'Antilla died alone, being completely poor. This proves the fact that the age of the courtesan is short.
A striking example of the fact that even in the darkness itself you can see a ray of light is the incomparable Ninon Lanclo, who became famous not only for her freedom in choosing partners, but also for her ageless beauty. The girl refused to give herself up for money, fundamentally choosing her companions based on momentary desires.
The notorious Cardinal Richelieu was also rejected, to whom she declared that she could give herself to anyone, but not be sold. All connections made her popular in certain circles, and her unfading beauty made her desirable for men even at the age of 80. By the way, Ninon gave birth to three children, the last of which was born when the courtesan was 55 years old. She died a 90-year-old wealthy lady, without experiencing any financial problems.
Priestess of love as an art form
In different countries and eras, there was a clear division between experienced priestesses and simple prostitutes. The first were interesting interlocutors, educated owners of an incredibly broad outlook.
All this made them really interesting personalities, each of which went down in history and became significant for a certain time. It should be noted that the priestesses of love had more in common with educated ladies of art than with corrupt girls.
Undoubtedly, sex was present in the life of each of them, but it did not become the bargaining chip for which they received power over men. This proves that such young ladies worked harder so that every man could get a cultural rest, spend time in a pleasant company without the obligatory component of intimacy.
Prostitutes are a more simplified version, which was based entirely on sex. They rarely entertained their companions with anything other than sex. And in this matter, few of them were as skilled as the priestesses of love.
Their main purpose is fast sex, which guarantees payment. In the modern world, any mention of priestesses of love comes down to sex, since the profession of real “women of art” has lost its significance.
The only ones who have retained their identity are the geisha. They still exist in their own closed little world, access to which is not available to every person. And this only speaks of the uniqueness of their profession, which has nothing to do with the usual affair for a small fee.
Secrets of ancient beauties. Japanese Geisha
