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{{Short description|Divine marriage}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Hieros gamos Pompeii.png|thumb|Hieros gamos of [[Hera]] (shown with [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]]) and [[Zeus]], 1900 drawing of a fresco at [[Pompeii]].]]
'''''Hieros gamos''''', hieros (ἱερός) meaning "holy" or "sacred" and gamos (γάμος) meaning "marriage," or '''Hierogamy''' ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: {{lang|grc|ἱερὸς γάμος}}, {{lang|grc|ἱερογαμία}} "holy marriage"), is a
The notion of ''hieros gamos'' does not always presuppose literal sexual intercourse in ritual, but is also used in purely symbolic or [[mythology|mythological]] context, notably in [[alchemy]] and hence in [[Jungian psychology]]. ''Hieros gamos'' is described as the prototype of [[Fertility rite|fertility rituals]].<ref>{{cite journal| title= Hierogamy versus Wedlock: Types of Marriage Plots and Their Relationship to Genres of Prose Fiction. |journal = PMLA| first= Evelyn J.| last= Hinz| publisher= Modern Language Association | volume= 91| number=5| page= 909|jstor = 461564|year = 1976|doi = 10.2307/461564| s2cid=163770380 }}</ref>
==Ancient Near East==
{{further|Barton Cylinder|Sacred prostitution}}
Sacred sexual intercourse is thought to have been common in the [[Ancient Near East]]<ref>[[James Frazer]] (1922), ''[[The Golden Bough]]'', 3e, [[s:The Golden Bough/Adonis in Cyprus|Chapter 31: Adonis in Cyprus]]</ref> as a form of "Sacred Marriage" or hieros gamos between the kings of a [[Sumer]]ian city-
==Greek mythology==
In [[Greek mythology]], the classic instance is the wedding of [[Zeus]] and [[Hera]] celebrated at the [[Heraion of Samos]],<ref>[[Walter Burkert]] warns that "the Hera festival is much too complicated to be understood simply as Hera's wedding" (Burkert, ''Greek Religion'', J. Raffan, tr. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985) §II.7.7 "Sacred Marriage" 108.</ref>
The brief fertilizing mystical union engenders [[Dionysus]], and doubled unions, of a god and of a mortal man on one night, result, through [[Telegony (pregnancy)|telegony]], in the semi-divine nature of [[Greek hero]]es such as [[Theseus]] and [[Heracles]].{{Clarify|date=October 2020}}
==Tantric Buddhism==
In [[Tantric Buddhism]] of [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], [[India]] and [[Tibet]], [[yab-yum]] is a ritual of the male [[deity]] in union with a female [[deity]] as his consort. The symbolism is associated with [[Anuttarayoga tantra]] where the male figure is usually linked to compassion (''{{IAST|karuṇā}}'') and skillful means (''[[upaya|upāya-kauśalya]]''), and the female partner to 'insight' or 'wisdom' (''prajñā'').<ref>Keown, Damien. (2003). ''A Dictionary of Buddhism'', p. 338. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-860560-9}}.</ref><ref>"Yab Yum Iconography and the Role of Women in Tibetan Tantric Buddhism." ''The Tibet Journal''. Vol. XXII, No. 1. Spring 1997, pp. 12-34.</ref> Yab-yum is generally understood to represent the primordial (or mystical) union of wisdom and compassion.<ref>[http://www.seriousseekers.com/News%20and%20Articles/pallis_marriagewisdommethod.pdf The Marriage of Wisdom and Method] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617051023/http://www.seriousseekers.com/News%20and%20Articles/pallis_marriagewisdommethod.pdf |date=2011-06-17 }} By Marco Pallis</ref>
[[Image:Khajuraho10.jpg|thumb|[[Maithuna]] at Khajuraho]]
[[Maithuna]] is a [[Sanskrit]] term used in [[Tantra]] most often translated as [[tantric sexuality|sexual union]] in a ritual context. It is the most important of the five
The symbolism of union and polarity is a central teaching in [[Tantric Buddhism]], especially in Tibet. The union is realized by the practitioner as a mystical experience within one's own body.
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==Alchemy and Jungian psychology==
{{further|Lapis philosophorum|Holy Grail}}
[[File:Rosarium 11 fermentatio.jpg|thumb|Depiction of the ''fermentatio'' stage{{clarify|date=August 2022}} as hieros gamos, woodcut from the 16th century ''[[Rosary of the Philosophers]]''.]]
The hieros gamos is one of the themes that [[Carl Jung]] dealt with in his book ''[[Symbols of Transformation]]''.
==Wicca==
{{further|Sex magic}}
In [[Wicca]], the [[Great Rite]] is a ritual based on the Hieros Gamos. It is generally enacted symbolically by a dagger (known as an [[athame]]) being placed point first into a [[chalice (cup)|chalice]], the action symbolizing the union of the male and female divine. In
==See also==
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==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{commons category|Hieros gamos}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140201141558/http://paulijungunusmundus.eu/hknw/holy_wedding_alchemy_modern_man_contents.htm The Archetype of the Holy Wedding in Alchemy and in the Unconscious of Modern Man], Remo F. Roth, Ph.D.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hieros Gamos}}
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[[Category:Religious sex rituals]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek religion]]
[[Category:Marriage, unions and partnerships in Greece]]
[[Category:Inanna]]
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