Compiled by Terry Slade
Sex is of course a vast subject. Rather than a comprehensive listing of books on all aspects of human sexuality, this is mainly a list of the best books I have found on the subjects of tantric sex, Taoist sexual yoga, prolonged sex, sacred sex, yogic sex, sex magic, etc. (Because sex might be a LOT more powerful, magical, healing, beneficial, useful, mystical, sacred, holy, and fun than we have been led to believe).
Tantra - Discovering the Power of Pre-Orgasmic Sex - Yogani
2006 AYP Publishing 103 pages (paperback $11.95) ISBN10:0976465582
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0976465582
Author's website: www.aypsite.org
Totally the best book for a concise, simple, complete, no-nonsense explanation
of tantric sex from a yogic point of view. Top recommendation. I think you
can pretty much read all this info at the author's website, here:
www.aypsite.org/TantraDirectory.html
Sexual Secrets - The Alchemy of Ecstasy - Nik Douglas, Peggy Slinger
1st edition - 1979 Destiny Books 383 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:0892812664
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892812664
2nd edition - 1999 Destiny Books 352 pages (paperback $30.00) ISBN10:0892818050 ISBN13:9780892818051
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892818050
The 2nd edition is also known as the "20th Anniversary Edition"
Publisher's website: www.innertraditions.com
Nik Douglas' website:www.tantraworks.com
Penny Slinger's websites: www.pennyslinger.com
www.goddessinternational.com
Classic book on sacred sex from an Eastern point of view (India, Nepal,
Tibet, China, Japan). Over a million copies sold, and translated into 20
languages. A huge book, encyclopedic, packed with info. Fun, interesting,
useful, amazing, totally awesome - get this book!
Worth having just for the over 600 original illustrations by Penny Slinger.
About 200 of the illustrations are in color in the 2nd edition (all are black
and white in the original edition). The new edition includes a section in
the front with color photos of archaeological artifacts discovered in the
20 years since the book was first published. Includes a large bibliography -
looks to be about 400 books. The bibliography was not updated for the newer
edition, so these are all books published before 1979, all the more useful
for serious researchers, since the market has been flooded with such books
since then.
Making Love: Sexual Love the Divine Way - Barry Long
1998 Barry Long Books 109 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:1899324143
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1899324143
Barry Long Foundation: www.barrylong.org
Interview in What Is Enlightenment? (Issue 13 Spring/Summer 1998): www.wie.org/j13/barrylong.asp
Letters in Response www.wie.org/j14/letters.asp
Barry Long is controversial for some of his views (see links above). In my
opinion, this small book contains some very deep wisdom.
Eros Ascending - John Maxwell Taylor
Subtitled: The Life-Transforming Power of Sacred Sexuality
2009 Frog Books 420 pages (paperback $16.95) ISBN10:1583942602 ISBN13:9781583942604
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1583942602
Official Website: erosascending.com
Author's Website:www.johnmaxwelltaylor.com
A major contribution. No index, but the table of contents is fairly extensive.
Taoist Secrets of Love - Cultivating Male Sexual Energy - Mantak Chia, Michael Winn
1984 Aurora Press 285 pages (paperback $17.95) ISBN10:0943358191
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0943358191
Healing Love Through the Tao - Cultivating Female Sexual Energy - Mantak Chia
1991 Healing Tao Books 328 pages (paperback $16.95) ISBN10:0935621059
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0935621059
2005 Destiny Books (new edition) 288 pages (paperback $16.95) ISBN10:1594770685
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1594770685
The Multi-Orgasmic Man - Mantak Chia, Douglas Abrams
1996 Harper Collins 236 pages (paperback $14.00) ISBN10:0062513362
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0062513362
The Multi-Orgasmic Woman - Mantak Chia, Rachel Carlton Abrams
2005 Rodale 288 pages (hardback $24.95) ISBN10:1594860270
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1594860270
The Multi-Orgasmic Couple - Mantak Chia, Maneewan Chia, Douglas Abrams, Rachel Carlton Abrams
2002 Harper 224 pages (paperback $16.95) ISBN10:0062516140
www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1594860270
Sexual Reflexology - Mantak Chia, William U. Wei
2003 Destiny Books 197 pages (paperback $18.00) ISBN10:0892810882 ISBN13:9780892810888
www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892810882
These books by Mantak Chia present the subject of sexual energy in great
detail from a Taoist yoga perspective. The first two above are classics.
He also has many other books on various aspects of Taoism.
Author's website: www.universal-tao.com
Jungle King Secrets - Paul Adcock
Subtitled: A Libido-Liberating Lifestyle For Superior Sexual Satisfaction
2008 Loving Healing Press 251 pages (paperback $22.95) ISBN10:1932690492 ISBN13:9781932690491
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1932690492
Publisher's website: www.lovinghealing.com
Author's website:jungleking.biz
Collects lots of info from Taoist sources. Tons of up-to-date nutritional info.
Taoist Yoga and Sexual Energy - Eric Steven Yudelove
2004 Llewellyn 256 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:1567188346
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1567188346
Written by a student of Mantak Chia.
Art of the Bedchamber - Douglas Wile
Subtitled: The Chinese Sexual Yoga Classics Including Women's Solo Meditation Texts
1992 State Universityy of New York Press 293 pages (paperback $29.95) ISBN10:0791408868 ISBN13:9780791408865
Amazon: /www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0791408868
The Sexual Teachings of the Jade Dragon - Hsi Lai
Subtitled: Taoist Methods for Male Sexual Revitalization
2002 Destiny Books 256 pages (paperback $16.95) ISBN10:0892819634
www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892819634
The Sexual Teachings of the White Tigress - Hsi Lai
Subtitled: Secrets of the Female Taoist Masters
2001 Destiny Books 320 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:0892818689
www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892818689
The Tao of Love and Sex - Jolan Chang
1991 Penguin 144 pages (paperback $18.00) ISBN10:0140193383
www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0140193383
A Complete Guide to Chi-Gung - Daniel Reid
2000 Shambhala 326 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:1570625433
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1570625433
First published in 1998 under the title Harnessing the Power of the Universe
Author's website: www.danreid.org
The Tao of Health, Sex, & Longevity - Daniel P. Reid
1989 Fireside 406 pages (paperback $16.00) ISBN10:067164811X
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/067164811X
1989 Simon and Schuster 416 pages (paperback) ISBN10:0671655000
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0671655000
2001 Pocket Books 416 pages (paperback) ISBN10:0743409078
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0743409078
Tons of well-presented practical info. Several people told me about this book,
which led me to his other books.
Author's website: www.danreid.org
The Complete Book of Chinese Health and Healing: Guarding the Three Treasures - Daniel P. Reid
1994 Shambhala 496 pages (paperback $22.95) ISBN10:1570620717
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1570620717
Author's website: www.danreid.org
The Encyclopedia of Sacred Sexuality - Rufus C. Camphausen
1999 Inner Traditions 301 pages (paperback $29.95) ISBN10:0892817194
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892817194
Lots of info, presented in A-Z entries. Lots of interesting full-color
pictures.
The Art of Sexual Ecstasy- Margo Anand
Subtitled: The Path of Sacred Sexuality for Western Lovers
1989 JP Tarcher 450 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:0874775617
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0874775617
Author's website: www.margotanand.com
The Art of Sexual Magic- Margo Anand
Subtitled: Cultivating Sexual Energy to Transform Your Life
1995 JP Tarcher 383 pages (hardback) ISBN10:087477814X
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/087477814X
Author's website: www.margotanand.com
The Way of The Superior Man - David Deida
Subtitled: A Spiritual Guide to Mastering the Challenges of Work, Woman, and Sexual Desire
2002 Sounds True 202 pages (paperback $17.95) ISBN10:1591792576
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1591792576
He has many other books. His website:
www.deida.info
Urban Tantra - Barbara Carrellas
Subtitled: Sacred Sex for the Twenty-First Century
2007 Celestial Arts 287 pages (paperback $17.95) ISBN10:1587612909
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1587612909
Author's website: www.urbantantra.org
Soul Sex: Tantra for Two - Paula Copeland, Al Link
2003 New Page Books 285 pages (paperback $19.99) ISBN10:1564146642
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1564146642
Demons of the Flesh - Nikolas Schreck, Zeena Schreck
Subtitled: The Complete Guide to Left Hand Path Sex Magic
2002 Creation Books 398 pages (paperback) ISBN10:184068061X
www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/184068061X
Very interesting book! Looks like it may be out of print.
Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism - Hugh B. Urban
2006 University of California Press 349 pages (hardback $55.00) ISBN10:0520247760
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0520247760
The Perfect Matrimony - Samael Auon Weor
Subtitled: The Door to Enter into Initiation - Tantra and Sexual Alchemy Unveiled
2006 Thelema Press 335 pages (paperback $19.00) ISBN10:1934206032
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1934206032
Publisher's website: www.gnosticteachings.org
First published in 1950. The first of 60 books written by Weor. A classic work,
covering esoteric and occult sexuality in great detail.
Sacred Sexuality - Georg Feuerstein
Subtitled: The Erotic Tradition in the World's Great Religions
1992, 2003 Inner Traditions 239 pages (paperback $16.95) ISBN10:0892811269
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892811269
Kiss of the Yogini - David Gordon White
Subtitled: "Tantric Sex" in its South Asian Context
2003 University of Chicago Press 372 pages (hardback) (out of print) ISBN10:0226894835
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0226894835
Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening - Daniel Odier
1999, 2001 Inner Traditions 177 pages (paperback $14.95) ISBN10:0892818581
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892818581
Sacred Sexuality - Michael Mirdad
Subtitled: A Manual for Living Bliss
2004 Grail Press 328 pages (paperback $25.00) ISBN10:0974021601 ISBN13:9780974021607
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/
have not seen this one yet
The Lover Within - Julie Henderson
Subtitled: Opening to Energy in Sexual Practice
1999 Station Hill 142 pages (paperback $13.95) ISBN10:1581770170
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1581770170
Nina Hartley's Guide to Total Sex - Nina Hartely
2006 Avery 368 pages (paperback $25.95) ISBN10:1583332634
Amazon:/www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1583332634
Nina is one of the more intellectual porn stars.
The Great Sex Secret - Kim Marshall
2006 Sourcebooks 224 pages (paperback $12.95) ISBN10:1402208103
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1402208103
Eros, Consciousness, and Kundalini - Stuart Sovatsky, Ph.D.
Subtitled: Deepening Sensuality Through Tantric Celibacy and Spiritual Intimacy
1994, 1999 Inner Traditions 212 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:0892818301
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0892818301
Goddess: Divine Energy - Jackie Menzies
2006 Art Gallery NSW 280 pages (paperback $50.00) ISBN10:0734763964
This is a catalogue of an art show that took place at the Art Gallery of
New South Wales in Australia in 2006. There are 170 illustrations, mostly in
color, and about 24 articles/essays by various scholars. The subject is
goddesses in Hinduism, Buddhism and Tantra.
A website for the show: www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/sub/goddess/
The book is out of print. I would suggest checking
bookfinder.com if interested in obtaining.
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0734763964
Amazon.co.uk:www.amazon.co.uk/0734763964
Transcendent Sex - Jenny Wade, Ph.D.
2004 Pocket Books 322 pages (paperback $14.00) ISBN10:0743482174
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0743482174
William Blake's Sexual Path to Spiritual Vision - Marsha Keith Schuchard
Published in England with different title: Why Mrs. Blake Cried
2008 Inner Traditions 416 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:1594772118 ISBN13:9781594772115
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1594772118
Clitoral Truth - The Secret World at Your Fingertips - Rebecca Chalker
2000 Seven Stories Press 256 pages (paperback $12.95) ISBN10:1583220380
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1583220380
Sex for One - The Joy of SelfLoving - Betty Dodson
1996 Three Rivers Press 202 pages (paperback $14.00) ISBN10:0517886073 ISBN13:9780517886076
(Previous editions from 1992, 1987, 1983, 1974, various publishers)
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0517886073
Classic book on masturbation. Betty Dodson has been a famous sexologist since
the 1970's.
Author's website: www.bettydodson.com
Masturbaton, Tantra and Self-Love - Margo Woods
1981 Omphaloskepsis Press 111 pages (paperback $7.50) ISBN10:0917320158 ISBN13:9780917320156
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0917320158
This book is out of print and hard to find. The basic message of the book is
very simple, so I will spill it out right here. The technique that is
recommended is to have sexual stimulation (either alone or with a partner) to
the point just before orgasm and then stop. The sexual energy will then
naturally rise to the heart (aided by putting your attention on the heart
center). This can then be repeated indefinitely. And solo practice is
recommended as the way to master the technique.
She Comes First - The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman - Ian Kerner, Ph.D.
2004 HarperCollins 228 pages (hardback $22.95) ISBN10:0060538252
Amazon:
The Science of Orgasm - Barry R. Komisaruk, Carlos Beyer-Flores, Beverly Whipple
2006 Johns Hopkins University Press 376 pages (hardback $25.00) ISBN10:080188490X
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/080188490X
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex - Mary Roach
2008 W.W. Norton 288 pages (hardback $24.95) ISBN10:0393064646 ISBN13:9780393064643
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0393064646
Interesting and humorous look at sex research.
The Technology of Orgasm - Rachel Maines
Subtitled: "Hysteria", the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction
2001 Johns Hopkins University Press 208 pages (paperback $17.95) ISBN10:0801866464 ISBN13:9780801866463
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0801866464
Also be sure to check out the documentary film based on this book:
Passion and Power.
The Function of the Orgasm: Discovery of the Orgone - Wilhelm Reich
1986 Farrar, Straus and Giroux 400 pages (paperback $30.00) ISBN10:0374502048 ISBN13:9780374502041
(originally published in 1942)
Amazon:www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0374502048
Reich was originally a student of Freud. He was controversial and way ahead
of his time. This and many other of his books explain his ideas on neurosis and
human sexuality. He talks of "character armor", which is basically deep chronic
muscular tension, which is indicative of an inability to experince a full
orgasmic release.
Read more about him at Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Reich
Plants of Love - Christian Ratsch
Subititled: The History of Aphrodisiacs and A Guide to Their Identification and Use
1997 Ten Speed Press 206 pages (paperback $19.95) ISBN10:0898159288
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0898159288
Wow! Originally published in Germany in 1990, this is "The Book" on
aphrodisiacs from the plant kingdom. Very beautiful book, lots of art and color
photos. 113 plants are listed in the lexicon section. Separate chapters
describe major plants in more detail. This is a super-cool, very interesting
book, even though there may be more detailed and up to date info on specific
plants elsewhere (such as the books below). The back cover tells bookstores
to file it in the "Gift" section. Yes, this could be a special gift for
special people.
Hot Plants - Chris Kilham
Subtitled: Nature's Proven Sex Boosters for Men and Women
2004 St. Martins's Griffin 208 pages (paperback $12.95) ISBN10:0312315392
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0312315392
Mainly covers 10 herbs, each with its own chapter: Tongkat Ali (Longjack,
Eurycoma longifolia), Rhodiola (Rhodiola rosea), Yohime (Pausinystalia yohimbe),
Horny Goat Weed (Epimedium), Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Catuaba
(Erythroxylum catuaba), Zallouh (Ferulis harmonis), Maca (Lepidium meyenii),
Siberian Ginseng (Eleutherococcus senticosus) and Red Ginseng (Panax ginseng),
Chocolate (Theobroama cacao).
The Natural Testosterone Plan - Stephen Harrod Buhner
2007 Healing Arts Press 183 pages (paperback $14.95) ISBN10:1594771685 ISBN13:9781594771682
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/1594771685
Nature's Aphrodisiacs - Nancy L. Nickell
1999 Crossing Press 186 pages (paperback $14.95) ISBN10: 0895948907
Amazon: www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/0895948907
I have links to Amazon.com for several reasons. Their website is an excellent reference source for information on books, including reviews and related books. And Amazon is a good source for obtaining almost any book quickly and reliably, including lower-priced used copies. I do not participate in Amazon's referral program as I would not want that to affect my listing of books here or to give that impression. (I may change my mind someday). More info on Amazon links is here.
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Revised 05/20/09. First posted 06/26/07.