There is no end to how sex and sexuality can be expressed. Why, then, do many of us confine our (s)exploits to the bedroom, and keep them shuddered away?

This is something that I have asked myself from a very young age. If everyone is doing it, why is no one talking about it? 

Somehow this deeply personal, erotic, intimate, and powerful force that is expressed through our bodies is seen as profane, taboo, and wrong. The societal conditioning of the past thousand years has repressed what the ancients have revered as the most god-like force that humans can connect to. Our sexuality fuels our creative power. But our collective sexual shadow has turned it into something to be ashamed of. 

If we were able to speak about sex, weave it into the narrative, and allow it to transform us, how different would our lives look? How different would society be if we could harness this sexual power and allow it to be seen? 

When it comes to sex and sexual expression, how can we begin to reclaim our stories and own our power, and shift the narrative to serve our highest potential? 

It makes me wonder about the sort of liberated worlds we can create through sovereignty and unashamed self-expression. In creating a sexually-empowered and inclusive space without  judgment or fear, we can conjure magic and shed light on the darkness that surrounds sex.

This process is precisely the magical realm I was initiated into recently at a special invite-only event called Cinema Scorpius. Produced and directed by Vancouver-born multimedia artist Nathaniel Jack, Cinema Scorpius was a private screening of two erotic films. I was surprised to survey a diverse crowd—including the director’s parents—all waiting in anticipation for onscreen sex magic. 

Both the films were deeply moving displays of each performer’s eroticism. These were not  pornos, and they showcased something far more powerful than just penetration: a chance to remember one’s own sacred nature.

Sarah Isis Sophia starred in the first short film Diamond Spell. The film explored the liberation of female sexual expression, and the diamond-like clarity of self worth that comes after the alchemical process. It spoke to women who have been oppressed by patriarchal conditioning, and the delicious pleasure that lies in embodying one’s true self through movement, dance, and self-awareness. 

Altar, the second film, starring Aubrey Aurora, was a reverent expression of how intentional interaction with the earth captures the interplay of masculine and feminine energy. Using a living altar with a phallus, the priestess conjured the potency of the earth itself and engaged with it through ceremonial expression. The fertility of the universe and the co-creation with it stood out as one of the most erotically captivating works of art I have seen.

Post-screening, the director and actors were invited onstage for a panel discussion hosted by Vancouver psychotherapist and tantric master Angela Leong. The discussion culminated with Aubrey Aurora saying that “to weave together the sacred and the profane honors one’s own sexual story”—in whatever way feels authentic and true for them.  

The club is currently invite-only, and the films are not yet publicly available; however, Jack says they will be released when the time is right.

Overall, the evening was a reminder of the power we have to manifest whatever lives we desire, to live lifestyles that embody our erotic natures, and to step into the truth of our individual sexual stories.