n the late 70’s I started to realize that one of the things that was undermining my work was the English language. There was no word, no name, for the force I was dealing with. This fits the designs of the established powers that are out to isolate and censor us. So my first task was to create a new word. It was EROPLAY.

        Our mind needs labels, words for something to be able to think about the thing clearly. There is such intense physical play, and such a force or energy, and I have labeled it EROPLAY. But before this, there has not been a word for it. Usually the word SEX has been the catch word for people to dump almost everything sensual, romantic, physical, or for showing more skin than usual. Cars are called sexy. Poses that do not show the sex act are called sexual. Wearing certain things, moving certain ways are all called sexual, even when it is not leading to the sexual act -- even when there is no intent to have sex.

        In magic words have power. To create a word for something is to create the possibility for it to exist in our reality -- for it to happen. Even for us who intellectually knew eroplay existed as a separate thing from sex, it was hard before the word EROPLAY to talk about it clearly, to think about it clearly, and to experiment and play with it without sexual undercurrents and fears creeping in. This was because we had to use words like LUSTY, SEXY, and EROTIC to attempt to talk about it. In
our language, all of these words have sexual connotations. In magic, words create. So if you use sexual words for nonsexual playing, the sexual words will set a false sexual confusion. This is why the word
EROPLAY itself is important.

        Eroplay is intense physical playing and touching of oneself and others. Eroplay is also the force or energy which is released as the result of such play. It is also the happy, playful attitude towards life that comes from such play. Eroplay is not foreplay, even though foreplay is eroplay.

        Kids play very physically both with their own bodies and others' bodies. They get turned-on by this play, turned-on both physically and mentally. This turn-on is not sexual in kids. Studies have shown that babies who are held, touched, and played with are more healthy and alert, weigh more, and have a lower rate of death than babies who are denied this eroplay. Studies also show that old people who live alone, who don't get physical and emotional contact, are less healthy and die sooner than people of the same age who live with others and get that physical contact.

        When we grow into adulthood, eroplay is linked to sex, maybe to assure procreation. But there may be different results when eroplay is connected to the sexual orgasm. This difference may be caused by the mixture of chemicals released in the body during eroplay with other chemicals released in the body during orgasm. Foreplay is eroplay, but eroplay is not foreplay. We may need a certain amount of straight eroplay (not connected to or leading to sex) to be as healthy as possible.

        Orgasm may start a patterning process in our brain, which is an intense bonding between people. Free love did not take into account this psycho/physical process.

        Foreplay leads to orgasm -- eroplay leads to being turned-on in many different ways and in all parts of the body -- including, but not limited to, physical arousal. It can be different every time. Skin
touching skin seems to be what releases the full impact of eroplay.

        Eroplay can be intense. It is like when you rub a puppy on its belly and the puppy goes into a state of rapture, both totally turned-on and relaxed. To use something that is not normally confused with sex, eroplay is the blissed-out, warm, relaxed, turned-on, totally satisfying feeling of a good head rub. The same feeling comes from playing with ears. Eroplay is that intense feeling throughout the entire body.

        Sex seems to be connected to mating; whereas the combination of both physical and psychic forces released during and after eroplay seems to be connected more to communication and attracting people to you.

        What stops most people from physically eroplaying without connecting it to sex, without sexual undercurrents or expectations, is the inability to see where eroplay ends and sex begins. Foreplay is eroplay, but eroplay is not foreplay. The difference between foreplay and eroplay is one of intent -- physically there is no difference. It is the same pleasurable, physical, turned-on feeling.

        But there is a difference physically between eroplay and sex. Eroplay is satisfying in itself, in relaxing intensity. There is no build up of pent-up energy in one climactic act. In sex, however, there is a point where foreplay (eroplay) ceases to satisfy and energy gets pent-up and built-up to be released in the sex act. This build up is a  clear and broad dividing line between the turn on of eroplay and sex.

        Eroplay starts when the possibility of physical eroplay arises -- the possibility of the breaking of the normal rules, social conventions, and morality.

        Eroplay is not just physical activity. The possibility of physical eroplay is enough to start releasing whatever chemicals and other forces that physical eroplay will continue to release. Talking and thinking about eroplay will excite, will turn you on, even physically. This seems to be a natural part of eroplay, an innate part.

        Eroplay is fun!

        Eroplay is innocent and childlike.

        Eroplay's focus is on physical enjoyment and pleasure for its own sake. This is one reason why eroplay is taboo in our society where religion teaches physical pleasure for self is bad.

        Eroplay connects you more with your own body and with other people. It decreases isolation and alienation. It increases self-trust and trusting of others. It makes you harder to be controlled. This is another reason why eroplay is taboo.

        Because the after-glow of eroplay attracts people to you, you get more opportunities in all aspects of your life. And because eroplay relaxes you and gives you more energy, you are in a better position to use opportunities.

        Because eroplay is not focused on goals other than physical enjoyment in many ways, and because it does not lead to a mating life, eroplay would be much harder to use to sell products than sex. This is another reason why eroplay is taboo.

        Because of all of this, eroplay leads to a definite life-style with all these characteristics. The life-style looks strangely like the love generation, but without drugs or free sex.

        Eroplay is intense nonlinear physical touching, rubbing, licking, exploring for physical  pleasure for its own sake. Eroplay is foreplay which is released from the linear goals of reaching genital orgasm.

        When I first wrote about eroplay, I lumped both the physical and psychic play and the energy released by that play as eroplay.  But that has made it hard to talk about both the energy and the play as clearly as I have wanted to.  I have since started calling this attracting, pleasurable, healing energy of excited calmness "chero".

        In the western culture, chero is known as "sexual energy" or as the "sexual urge".  This is because in this culture, adults usually call chero forth by means of sex and use chero mainly for sex.  However, sex
is just one way to use chero.  Moreover, sex is just one of the ways to call forth chero.

        Chero is the life force.  It is what attracts.  Chero is what attracts other people to you.  It is what the shamans used to heal and melt other realities into the normal reality.  It is what Tantric Buddhists used to reach the higher spiritual spheres.  They used the sex act to arouse chero, which they then used in their spiritual quest.  Sex is a cherotic act.  But Chero is by no means simply a/the sexual energy.  There are many ways of calling forth chero, and many ways of letting chero direct or guide you.

        One of the oldest ways of calling chero up is what I call "vere".  Vere is what most writers would call the use of pain to attain spiritual ends.  But vere is no more pain than eroplay is sex.  Vere is physically
different than the normal pain, releasing different chemical and psychic reactions in the body.  Vere and eroplay are related.  Because of the crudeness of the language, it is very difficult to explore these realms.

        In magic, masks are important.  These masks could be created out of material, or paint, or tatoos, or facial expressions.  Magical masks are not meant to be a hiding, a covering up, or a protection.  Rather, they are meant to reveal, to liberate, to call forth the deep personality which is usually hidden in normal society.  They are vulnerable masks.

        In my work, nudity is such a vulnerable mask.  In itself, physical nudity does not always mean you are vulnerable.  But in the context of this work, it takes you out of the social, polite world.  It physically changes you slightly (I will get into these changes later).  It signifies the willingness to use every part of yourself in the work...holding nothing back or in reserve, holding no part too private
or sacred not to be used in the work.   This is on all levels of your being, from your body to your psyche.  Most of my students are now into healing and/or performing.  But the work is bigger than these channeling contexts.

        Nudity also gives us direct access to the energy channels of the body. In time we will have the access of nudity even with our clothes on.  But it will always be easier to arouse chero through eroplay with physical nudity.

        The physical health and lifestyle advantages of using eroplay to arouse chero in your body are caused by the physical and psychic changes in the body started by aroused chero.  Over the years of experimenting, we have often noticed that people's physical appearance changes, sometimes
radically, after they eroplay.  Their physical features soften, the way they hold their bodies relaxes, their bodies have a glow very similar to the glow that many pregnant women have.  All of these signs are visual, physical signals which attract open people to the chero-enriched person...and thus attract more opportunities to him.  It is also important to point out that these changes are temporary, lasting from a few hours to a few weeks depending on the physical and emotional environment.  Continued release of chero is needed to have these changes be longer and longer lasting.

        There are other changes that occur during eroplay.  By touching, rubbing, rocking, moving, the energy centers of the body are randomly activated, releasing a flood of blood with chemicals that produce the sense of well-being in all parts of the body.  This is a warming well-being.  This is deepened by the special breathing that is gentle laughing.  This is why eroplay is playful and fun at its most healing level.  Laughter has its own special healing quality.

        Sometimes the release of chero is blocked by confusion and guilt when the person feels the pleasurable, turned-on feeling which he in the past associated with sex.  But now he feels it in a nonsexual, nonromantic situation.  If he can just let the pleasurable turn-on wash over him
without thoughts, it carries him to a new realm of relaxed enjoyment.

        Eroplay as a spiritual, healing technique balances chero through all the energy centers throughout the body.  This is different than other techniques such as Kundalini Yoga in which the energy which I am calling chero is raised through a very dangerous process from the base of the spine to out the top of the skull.  In eroplay, chero is called forth in all parts of the body, creating an energy center out of the whole body.

        There is a widely held misconception that the physical and the spiritual planes are in opposition to each other, that to reach the spiritual, you have to avoid the physical.  This is overlooking a great
number of disciplines that use the physical in various aspects to reach spiritual treasures.  The physical is one aspect of the spiritual, the aspect most accessible to us.

        As we eroplay, many changes take place.  The changes are both physical and psychic.  We have already talked about some of the physical changes.  One of the physical signs that can occur is the male erection when certain energy centers (and not necessarily the cock) are aroused in certain ways.  This male erection has become the most sexual symbol in our culture and perhaps the most taboo.  The female erection is not outwardly visible, and hence is usually ignored.  But in reality, the
"sexual" organs are no more or no less sexual than any of the other energy centers in the body.  In eroplay, erection should not be thought of as sexual or a turn toward sex.  This region of the body is just one of the main centers of energy.

        The other physical changes caused by the arousal of chero through eroplay are a slight enlarging of the pupils, a slight change in scent from the sweat glands and nipples, the chero blush, and a difference in body tone.  All of these are so slight that they usually are only picked up on the subliminal level.  The changes in one body can be transferred to the bodies of others through these subliminal sensory signals.  This is one reason why physical nudity is important in this work.  It gives these signals a more direct channel to affect others.

        But to understand better what is happening when chero is aroused by eroplay, it should be remembered that the physical is only one aspect of what we are.  Around our physical body there is a force field made up of thoughts, emotions, and other psychic material.  This field is usually a
fraction of an inch out from the body, but we have the ability to broadcast this psychic force outward.

        When we release chero through eroplay, we focus this force and with the willingness to be unlimited, we radiate this force outward, creating a rapport into which others can be drawn.  This rapport has physical, mental, and psychic qualities.

        In my performances, this rapport, in the form of an altered reality or a spell, is created by arousing chero between two people by rubbing bodies, by rocking together, moving together, making noises.  These two generating people are sometimes isolated in a tent or a box.  But the rapport generated physically and psychically by these two leaks out of the enclosed space, putting those on the outside into an altered state. The deeper the chero rapport is between the two, the more complete the
outer reality will be.

                   At first, the generating chero rapport may feel uncomfortable, forced, and/or strange to the apprentice.  This is because we are using things that in the western culture are usually contained only in sexual and/or romantic contexts.  The apprentice should not be thrown by this forced, ncomfortable feeling.  It is the breaking of old patterns.  it is one of the first stages of this work.

        Each energy center "breathes" several kinds of energies in and out, very much like the lungs-nose breathe air in and out.  Each center both takes energy in and projects energy out.  Some energy centers are commonly thought of as one-way channels.  The eyes obviously let in visually the outer world to our brain, our mind, our inner reality.  But the eyes also visually let out what is happening inside us, who we are, and our personal power into the world.  All of the centers work on this breathing principle.

        In eroplay, the centers are randomly opened up so that this chero breath can be free and deep.  Eroplay creates a complete cycle of chero.  This cycle is created when you touch your own body.  But it
becomes more dynamic when this chero cycle is between two people.  This interplay opens and relaxes the centers of both people, letting them both cherotically breathe deeper and easier.  This deep, easy breathing is what is healing.  (We will get into the difference between healing and curing later.)  Both people get healed in this interplay and the energy released through the interplay helps to heal the outer world. This is important to understand because many people think healing is a one-way helping/giving channel.  Because of this, they are careful "not to give too much."  "I must protect myself and my personal power; maintain my own space, my control over the situation."  This attitude is
thought to be individualism.

        But in reality, it robs the individual of her power.  it isolates her, fragments her.  It makes her think she has something to protect, to hide, to defend.  It makes her think that she is some limited, weak,
fragile being that has to be guarded.  All of this is wrapped up in the glitter packaging of individualism and specialness.  This attitude makes the chero breath shallow and one-way.  It makes the person fragile. Vulnerability is not fragile.  Vulnerability is a rubber ball.  It gives very easily, but it bounces back to its original shape after it undergoes pressures of hard knocks, and it keeps rolling on the path.

        Chero healing as eroplay is a two-way channel whether in play, art, magic, or everyday living.  It must be this way to be effective.  To create this deep two-way chero breathing you must be willing to both deeply project and deeply take in chero with anyone who is willing to do the same.  This willingness will be a demanding screen which will protect you far more than any defensive wall built by fear and doubt.

        To understand what eroplay, chero, and bodyplay both are and do, it is necessary to have some idea what sex is and does.  The sexual urge is the urge to merge with, to combine with, to become one with another. Sex is a physical symbol of this becoming one.  This being one is a long-term process of bonding.  Sex is a combination of eroplay as foreplay, sexual intercourse, orgasm, ejaculation, and erection.  Each one of these may release different chemicals into the body with different results.  Sex is the sum of these parts.

        We have mentioned how sexual intercourse within the normal social context of the modern western context starts and promotes the bonding patterning in the brain which creates the merging oneness with one of its functions being child-rearing.  If the reality of the relationship does not match this being a living unit, then it will, sooner or later, cause very painful confusion which usually translates into jealousy and rejection.  In this materialistic culture, the being one with another
turns into owning one another.  "I am you" becomes "you are mine."

        Because eroplay does not have any kind of physical intercourse, it is not about becoming one with another.  It is to communicate, to share, to exchange on all levels by connecting the centers through physical contact.  Because eroplay is not connected with producing children, there is not ejaculation or sexual orgasm.  In sex, orgasm combined with intercourse and ejaculation, shoots energy as well as the sexual material outward into another's body.  To ensure sexual mating, the sexual orgasm is felt in the "sexual" organs as violent peaks of intense releasing pleasure in the middle of the well-being of eroplay pleasure. These two kinds of pleasures create a physical trance.  Although orgasm is felt in the "sexual" organs, the actual orgasm happens in the brain.

        In eroplay, there is no peak of released chero outward.  instead, the level of chero is raised within the body, creating a physical trance which I call "ontonse".  Ontonse can be as intense as an orgasm, but ontonse is not a peak of chero; instead, it is a high plateau.  When ontonse fades, the extra chero produced stays within the body, healing and calming.  This extra chero slowly radiates out later as an
attracting force.  We call this force "erour".  Erour usually is called sexual power.

        Within ontonse, creativity and magic can be done.  Ontonse can be felt in different parts of the body or in the entire body.  Since ontonse is not a peak of chero, it can be maintained and turned into a doorway to deeper dimensions.  Since chero has been hidden within sex, it has been difficult, because of social-moral taboos, to use ontonse directly as a healing magic.  This is what the student will learn to use.

        The hands are transmitters of chero.  This is because your hands are the only parts of your body that can touch almost all of your body. They are healing wands of chero.  Laying on of hands is powerful magic. But rubbing body centers together is much more powerful, therefore more taboo.  This magic requires two or more people being physically intimate together.

        Having an orgasm in each center of the body has a different effect, each opens a different door than having an orgasm in another part of the body. For example, it is fairly common for nursing mothers to have orgasms while they nurse. In this context, the orgasm should not be seen as sexual, but as an aspect of human nourishing love. By just revealing this hidden fact of the capability of moving the site of orgasm around the body, of using the different aspects of the orgasm other than the
usual sexual, it opens up a richer more complex, more empowering life. But this is only the beginning. This is true of all of the functions that are traditionally limited to one part of the body. You see with
your heart, belly, mind, cock/pussy, etc. You do not see just with your eyes. This is another way of saying that light, as an example of all sensual forces, has many more aspects than the ones we have been told about. Light, and every other sensual force, interacts with all of our body centers, exchanging cherotic packets of possibilities, creating a total interactive experience.

        In body play within cherotic magic, we used what is normally called sex as our access point into the deeper magical dimensions. We stated that the orgasmic intercourse act is confusing within all relationships except in a relationship of creating a committed life together.

        This confusion is caused by the biological patterns set off in the mind by the act of orgasmic intercourse. But most of the confusion, the jealousy, the possessiveness, and the other manifestations are caused by the casual use of sex.

        This casualness has been caused by the artificial funneling of this aspect of the cherotic energy exchange into the genitals, into intercourse. This funneling has been a major aspect of the life-denials.
What we were left with was an artificial choice between having sex, that vague concept, or being celibate. In reality, both of these "choices" focused the chero only through the genitals only through the medium of intercourse, or the refraining from orgasm and intercourse, on the "sexual" level. What this does is forces people to use only one channel, called "sex", to fulfill all of their needs, to express and
exchange/express all of their physical chero. Moreover, this one channel is tightly controlled by life-denying morals, glamour, and romantic expectations, creating an extremely complex game maze of illusion. This is like taping up all of the keys except one on a piano, like denying a painter all colors except yellow. What can be created, can be expressed, is extremely and artificially limited. This limiting is the root of casualness.

        Within the magical experimentation in which I have been involved for over 25 years, it became clear that each component of physical play had its own alchemical, biochemical, physical and psychic effects and properties. The orgasm that is felt in the genitals within intercourse begins a long-term bonding pattern within the brains of the playing lovers. When this is realized, it becomes obvious that using this type of orgasmic sex in any other relationships than in the context of a long-term relationship would be counterproductive. It would be like removing a screw with a hammer. This removes the distorting morality that has hidden most aspects of experience from us.

        In my magical experimentation, the first "new" form of play to be drawn from the veil of sex was "eroplay".  Eroplay extends well into the everyday communication exchange between you and the rest of the world. This is the real meaning when somebody says everything you do, every communication, is sexual. But this real meaning is hidden the second it is revealed, by using the word "sexual", herding us back into the accepted, life-denying, controlled channels of relating. Instead, we should say everything you do is cherotic. Eroplay is for communicating, for getting to know, to reveal, to exchange, to be vulnerable, to play, to enjoy, to explore. For this reason, eroplay, even at its most intense naked physical play can be done with anybody you like and enjoy...can be done in clarity in even social situations once it has been clearly and purposefully taken out of the usual sexual context. Romantic monogamy,
celibacy, and sexual sex all hide this primal channel of satisfying successfully these needs of play, exploring, and communicating...hide by misdirecting these needs into channels which are not capable of satisfying, or even holding, these types of living needs. The result of this is frustration, isolation, and draining the energy of creation away from the personal level along with personal responsibility. In short, the result is life-denial being created by the dimension of power.

        But eroplay is only one of the states of physical trance long hidden within sex by the life-denial of power. Each state has its own aspects, nature and effects. Each state is complete within itself, although one state may contain the other states within its special context. For example, sex contains eroplay as foreplay within it. But there is not a linear ladder. That is, eroplay should not be seen as a step towards
sex, something less than sex. If you look at eroplay and sex in this way, the true qualities of both will be hidden from you.

        We have said orgasm as the physical sensation can be located in each of the body centers, including the skin. Each center has its own special effect. So where an orgasm occurs has its own magical effect and context. Moreover, when we realize it is possible to feel an orgasm in different centers, or even in all of the centers at the same time, we begin to see that even orgasmic sex is a much more rich and complex experience. This is not the place to go into these orgasmic sexual states in detail. But it should be again pointed out that genital orgasmic sex, especially when it includes intercourse, is suited only for long-term living relationships when done within the normal social
and cultural frame. This is because of the bonding pattern this sets off in the brain.

        Ontonse is the fairly regular level of implosion of cherotic energy into the body during physical trances such as eroplay. Cherotic energy is the nonlinear stream of the subatomic packets which our body breathes in and out through every center of the body. Ontonse can be physically as intense as an orgasm. But because it is a level implosion of chero, rather than a peak explosion as the orgasm is, it can last much longer than the orgasm. Its effects are different than orgasm. Ontonse can arc between two eroplaying bodies, creating a united body during the trance time without genital intercourse. When ontonse occurs on a regular basis, eroplay has been transformed into "tanplay". Since you can not
work linearly toward having an ontonse as you can to some degree work toward having an orgasm in sex, you can only enter the tanplay state by enjoying play for itself, enjoying being with the other person just for being with that person. Then the state of tanplay will settle in. Tanplay is a state of close friends...warm, slow and gentle...willing to go anywhere the tanplay takes you. Because the ontonse arcs into the body, it can effect people not physically within the tanplay. A lot of the formal cherotic magic takes place within this tanplay trance. Tanplay is serious folly.

        The student should enter the following two physical trances only at the direct bidding and direction of the shaman, the teacher. The shaman within these two trances may use the student's body as his own to accomplish things he can't in his own body. The student might be playing both for/as herself and for/as the shaman.

        In one of these states, "tansex", orgasm has not the linear goal peak quality it has in sex. In tansex, both orgasm and ontonse are just two of the many possible ports that the play may carry the ritual into. Tansex, although it can be intense, has a magical evenness to it. Everything has an equal value. If there appears a linear goal such as to have an orgasm, this transforms tansex into some other trance state with different effects. Tansex has a nonlinear relaxed floating quality of things just happening following the playing without forcing or trying. As in the other physical trance play forms (other than sex) that we have been talking about, there is no genital intercourse within tansex. The effect of tansex in the normal reality is to express and to explore the depth of a long existing friendship. Because of this, it only makes sense to be in tansex only within a friendship which has lasted for two years. This is within the normal western cultural reality. During the apprenticeship, however, the student should regard tansex as a ritual to be performed only upon the direct instruction of the shaman. In this magical ritual, the student is acting both as herself and as the shaman.

        But within the magical work of apprenticeship, as in all magical work, another reality is working under the surface. Within this Cave of Lila, the shaman works with these altered states of physical trance, without the limits of morals, for different magical nonlinear change, in a totally different nonindividualistic context than the normal cultural context. We will call this context "tanpan". Within tanpan, all of the aspects of this physical play/trance, including that of intercourse, are drained of both their normal and hidden meanings and qualities, so that they can be used by the magic through the shaman to effect both local and nonlocal changes. During the apprenticeship, both tansex and tanpan
must be kept within the disciplined ritualistic context of controlled folly within the Cave of Lila. By doing this, the tanpanic relationship between the student and the shaman will not conflict with, threaten or weaken the student's relationships in the normal cultural frame. This is because this tanpanic relationship exists and is contained within the different, special, magical reality. However, this does not deny the fact that entering any magical experience often will shake to and beyond
the breaking point any relationship that is not solidly based. But magical work can only strengthen a relationship that is solid.
 

-- In Freedom, Frank http://www.eroplay.com --