Hi all,
Well, it’s officially 2016. Hope your new year has got off to a good start. I’m thrilled to have the fab Brantwijn Serrah stopping by to talk about the rather interesting subject of religious content in erotic stories. Since I have my own angel-themed story out (though I must admit it’s not as *ahem* steamy as Brantwijn’s 😉 ) it’s something that has occured to me. Although I’m not religious myself, I would never want to offend someone with those beliefs through my stories, so it’s nice to see this kind of take on the subject. Take it away Brantwijn!
Faith and Sex are Not Mutually Exclusive
As the title might suggest, Angel’s Keeping is a story involving angels. Fallen angels, at least, and a glimpse into their highly erotic, sex-centered existence. I found myself writing a short novella charged with erotic Sapphic love scenes alongside themes of faith, love, and redemption. I wanted readers to be able to connect with the spiritual themes of the piece…but I also wanted to arouse and inspire them to more fleshly pursuits. Angel’s is meant to be a one-handed read, quite frankly. I hope every person who reads it gets a salacious little thrill.
It might seem hard to reconcile meaningful religious inspiration and graphic lesbian eroticism. I didn’t find it to be so. I’m a highly spiritual person myself, with a Christ-based faith which is very important to me. I’m also bisexual, though, and eroticism, identity, and physical love are also deeply personal to me. They’re as much a part of my values as faith, fellowship, and prayer.
I’m out in various degrees to various people and needless to say, the religious community of my upbringing doesn’t always provide the most nurturing soil. But I’m alright with it. As I said, my faith is Christ-based—not church-based.
When it comes to sexuality and eroticism, I fail to see the correlation between the embrace of a sexual self and a fall from religious grace. I perceive a difference between healthy behavior and not-so-healthy behavior, but not an ostracism from God based on acts of the flesh. In fact I find some of the most basic beauty in sexuality has its own sort of holiness: that we may learn to love and honor our bodies and hearts, valuing the comfort and joy we take in them; that we embrace love and intimacy,
sometimes for others and sometimes for ourselves. To me, one of the most important aspects of both faith and sexuality is to experience love.
The Bible of course has its share of filthy stories and salacious entanglements. Song of Songs, its famous love poem, is full of highly erotic verse: “Your breasts are like two fawns, twin fawns of a gazelle that browse among the lilies” (4:5), “Take me away with you, let us hurry! Let the king bring me to his chambers” (1:4), and my personal favorite, “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my beloved among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste” (2:3). One of the loveliest testaments to emotional and physical love, sensuous and erotic, directly out of the Good Book.
Does sex always have to be about love? No, of course not, or at least, not romantic love between parties. There’s a sanctity in sexuality stemming from a love of oneself, too. It includes discovering and loving who we are, celebrating our choices, differences, passions, and hopes.
There’s an intrinsic vulnerability and trust in sexual awakening and erotic discovery. I find my own sexuality to be one of my most spiritual qualities. It fits in just fine with my views of religious faith, as my strongest religious belief is in the commandment to love one another. I don’t mean to equate sex as a path to salvation (though for some, maybe it is). What I do mean is, Christian faith in my eyes all comes down to love, compassion, and fellowship. Each is also an intrinsic component in healthy sexuality. I see more commonality than conflict.
Angel’s Keeping is definitely an erotic story. Yet it takes place on Christmas. A fallen angel finds herself in church at holy Mass. A plan to corrupt another with sexual sin becomes a journey to recognizing love, forgiveness, and salvation.
No, I don’t think faith and eroticism are mutually exclusive. I think they make a pretty powerful pair.
And if you’d like to know more about Angel’s Keeping…
Blurb
Even fallen angels can wish for a miracle.
As a succubus, preying on humans is Raschael’s business, and mortal feelings are nothing but a waste of time. So maybe her king meant to punish her when he sent her out to hunt on one of the most holy mortal holidays. Or maybe he just wanted her far, far away, so he could banish Raschael’s one and only friend.
Now Raschael must track down a missing fallen angel, and she doesn’t have a clue where to start. Bigger predators are closing in, and Rasche’s only lead is a Christmas stripper named Noelle.
And you can get your hands on a copy here:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Brantwijn-Serrah/e/B00H34YFJ8
Have a great Sunday x
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