Enlightenment through Ecstasy: A Pluralist, Womanist, and Queer Theological Inquiry
Prerequisites: Graduate standing in Theology/Religious Studies or instructor permission
Course Description
This graduate seminar interrogates the intersection of sexuality, magical praxis, and spiritual transformation through a critical engagement with Bonnie Johnston and Peter Schuerman’s Sex, Magick, and Spirit: Enlightenment through Ecstasy (1998). Rather than treating sex magic as merely an esoteric curiosity, we will examine it as a serious site of theological reflection—one that raises fundamental questions about embodiment, divine encounter, gender, power, and the nature of sacred ecstasy.
The course employs three interlocking analytical frameworks:
1. Pluralist Theology: Engaging sex magic across religious boundaries, treating Wiccan, Tantric, Christian mystical, and other traditions as legitimate dialogue partners in the search for transcendent meaning.
2. Womanist Theology: Centering the embodied experiences of Black women and other women of color, interrogating how sex magic traditions have historically marginalized or exploited female bodies, and recovering liberative readings of sacred sexuality.
3. Queer Theology: Deconstructing heteronormative assumptions within magical and mystical traditions, exploring how non-normative sexualities and gender expressions open new avenues for divine encounter.
Students will develop competency in analyzing primary texts from Western esoteric traditions while applying contemporary critical theory to assess their theological, ethical, and political implications.
Learning Objectives
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Articulate the historical development of sex magic within Western esotericism and its theological claims about the relationship between sexuality and spiritual transformation.
2. Apply womanist theological methods to critique and reconstruct sex magical practices, centering the experiences of Black women and other marginalized women.
3. Employ queer theological frameworks to interrogate heteronormativity, cisnormativity, and binary gender assumptions within magical and mystical texts.
4. Engage in constructive theological reflection that integrates pluralist, womanist, and queer perspectives on sacred sexuality.
5. Produce graduate-level research demonstrating facility with primary sources, critical theory, and theological method.
Required Texts
• Primary Text: Johnston, Bonnie L., and Peter L. Schuerman. Sex, Magick, and Spirit: Enlightenment through Ecstasy. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 1998. ISBN: 1567183786
• Additional required readings: Available via open-access links provided in the syllabus.
Course Structure: 15 Weeks
Assignments and Assessment
Assignment Percentage Due Date
Class Participation & Discussion Leading 15% Ongoing
Critical Reflection Paper #1 (1-3 pages) 15% Week 3
Midterm Research Proposal (3-5 pages) 20% Week 8
Critical Reflection Paper #2 (5-7 pages) 15% Week 14
Final Research Paper (5-10 pages) 35% End of course