The Secret behind the Secret – the Alchemy of Ecstasy
When Penny Slinger lived in England in the 1970s, it occurred to her that no one had examined the interrelationship between sexuality and the sacred. Her own inner knowing had no reflection in the world around her and everybody lived in the preponderant shadow of Original Sin. This was a great shame. So, when Penny visited an exhibition entitled Tantra at the Hayward Gallery in London, she felt as if a light had turned on in the darkness. When she witnessed art that celebrated sexuality and our senses as part of a path to spiritual liberation, she realised that there were others who shared her vision. In the years that followed, she sought a teacher who could reveal the secrets of Tantra.
That person revealed themselves as Nik Douglas, who had steeped himself in the art and spiritual teachings of Tantra, had been living in India, visited Tibet, learned the languages and was mentored by a guru. He was just what Penny had been looking for. After she and Nik got together, many different projects were manifested through their co-creation. The first to be released was the Secret Dakini Oracle, where the Tantric teachings were transmitted through a set of collage cards (probably the first published cards to be made with collage). This was published by US Games and Systems. Discovering the path of Tantra deeply impacted all Penny’s art. Of particular import is the book that she and Nik wrote together: Sexual Secrets, The Alchemy of Ecstasy.
The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort had recently made a big impact and opened up the realm of intimacy in a way that had not happened previously. Sex was now a subject that could be discussed rather than relegated to the darker corridors of the world of pornography. But this opening was not accompanied by any real directives or philosophy, and this is where Penny felt Tantra came in. Discovering these teachings had been such a revelation for her, transforming her life and her being in such positive ways, that she longed to share them with a western culture bereft of such transmissions. As luck would have it, a chance encounter with Donald Weiser, of Weiser’s esoteric bookshop in New York, opened the door for the publication of a book on the subject.
Nik was reluctant to publish the book. He felt that the Secrets of Tantra were just that: Secrets, and should be kept veiled and hidden, only available to adepts and initiates. Penny disagreed. Her position being that the benefits of disseminating this information were so much greater than the downsides, that this was a gift that could lift the weight of oppression and shame and it needed to be given. Fortunately, she prevailed.
In her presentation at The Venetian Forum, Penny Slinger will tell the story of how the book of Secrets was offered to the world. A book not just about sexuality, but about how to weave the tapestry of one’s life from the intricate intertwining of the material and the spiritual.
Biography
Penny Slinger (b.1947, London, UK) is a Los Angeles-based artist who has been pioneering and exploring feminism, eroticism and mysticism in her art for over fifty years. Her early work was inspired by Surrealism. She decided to be her own muse. She studied and incorporated Tantra into her life and work. She continues to work in many mediums including collage, photography, drawing, sculpture/assemblage, performance arts and video, focusing on the liberation of the feminine. Her work is exhibited in galleries and museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate, Great Britain. She is represented by Richard Saltoun Gallery, UK.
