El Duende and Raw Power Sex Appeal

I first came across the term "El Duende" while reading Fredrico Lorca's "In Search of El Duende". In this dense yet tiny book he explains the dark raw creative life force that is much different from, mere passion, the muse or from divine inspiration. It's the stuff of the reptilian brain that we gain power over as we mature, the scary libidinous forces; it's the energy that links sex, death and birth. It drove Van Gogh crazy, it was channeled by Maria Callas, it possessed Bob Fosse, it guided Jimi Hendrix's guitar playing, it possessed a young Mike Tyson, it's Dostoevsky's "The Brother's Karamazov", it's the drumming and dance of tranced congregates at a voodoo ceremony and so on.

Lorca writes: "The duende, then, is a power, not a work. It is a struggle, not a thought. I have heard an old maestro of the guitar say, 'The duende is not in the throat; the duende climbs up inside you, from the soles of the feet.' Meaning this: it is not a question of ability, but of true, living style, of blood, of the most ancient culture, of spontaneous creation.” He suggests, "everything that has black sounds in it, has duende. [i.e. emotional 'darkness'] [...] This 'mysterious power which everyone senses and no philosopher explains' is, in sum, the spirit of the earth, the same duende that scorched the heart of Nietzsche, who searched in vain for its external forms on the Rialto Bridge and in the music of Bizet, without knowing that the duende he was pursuing had leaped straight from the Greek mysteries to the dancers of Cadiz or the beheaded, Dionysian scream of Silverio's siguiriya." [...] "The duende's arrival always means a radical change in forms. It brings to old planes unknown feelings of freshness, with the quality of something newly created, like a miracle, and it produces an almost religious enthusiasm." [...] "All arts are capable of duende, but where it finds greatest range, naturally, is in music, dance, and spoken poetry, for these arts require a living body to interpret them, being forms that are born, die, and open their contours against an exact present."

It's a consuming energy and if allowed to take over often leads to addiction of all kinds, obsession, eating disorders, and incredible punishment the body for the sake of dance or sport. El Duende uses the original "wound" in the person to express it's intensity. Depending on the degree to which the individual is conscious of this "wound" and has integrated this spirit will create a porn star, rock star, drug addict, morbidly obese, killer, psychologist, philosopher, hermit, dancer, Olympian, literary genius, poet, martial arts experts, true opera diva, alcoholic, nun, monk, saint, expert bodyworkers, a yogi, reiki master, preacher and well you get the idea.

Other than art, music, dance, spirituality and creative thought life, the intensity level of this energy can also be experienced as raw sexual attraction. Have you ever looked at a person you didn't particularly find attractive in the least but still thought "hmmmm, I wonder what they're like in bed". They probably shared your level of sex drive whatever that may be. Why do good women stay with vampire abusive men? Why do good men allow themselves to be tormented or used by a beast of a woman? They are sexually/emotionally/chemically (hormone highs and lows) dependent on the cycle or pattern they have developed with this person. Perhaps this person opens them up to exercise "El Duende" through sex which once experienced can be very addictive. Perhaps this person's "Duende" was drawn to the other's "Duende". Such as in the song "I know" by Jay-Z

Maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about. Maybe this particular life force isn't very strong in you. Maybe you've been with your nice safe sweet heart forever. Maybe you are practical in your dealings with lovers and always choose stability over excitement. Maybe you like playing the unattainable hottie and only give yourself to those you know are weaker. Maybe you are of a very strict moral code and fear the exploration of releasing these energies via the sex act. Perhaps your suppression and denial of this energy has manifested as a life of bouncing from one extreme to the other; you go from buck wild and then suddenly overly punitive with yourself. There are three modes that people are in during sexual intercourse, mental, emotional, and corporeal (body). If your main mode is in the body I'm sure you know what I'm talking about in this post but if your main mode is one of the others than perhaps you have not been spurned to deal with "El Duende" via your personal sexual experience.

Some that exercise (grapple) "El Duende" via a sex partner simply go through a "phase". They learn to harnest (sublimate) it and move on but many get stuck (or addicted). One thing is for sure, you will never be the same again and no matter how stable you are or how wonderful the person you date is, if they don't have just enough of that "je ne sais quoi" you need in the bedroom it will never work in the long term. Like Lorca says in his quote above "The duende's arrival always means a radical change in forms. It brings to old planes unknown feelings of freshness, with the quality of something newly created, like a miracle, and it produces an almost religious enthusiasm." Who could ever be the same after that?

That's why a person that has sexually matured in this manner will prefer an "equal" when it comes to bedroom experience. By exercising "El Duende" this way the transformation process of this particular type of sexual maturity (granted you don't get yourself stuck) you gain the ability to separate desires from emotions. When you are able to separate these things you can more clearly see someone and appreciate them "warts and all" instead of, idolizing them, torturing them or being their victim. In contrast if you get stuck, you may deaden your senses and lose some of the warm tender emotional bonding that is so wonderful during sex. This deadening may leave you just looking for another fruitless fix in someone instead of feeling the ultimate in communion with another person like you should. Once you have faced your original "wound" and wrestled with "El Duende" in the sexual arena in a healthy way it's so much easier to not get carried away in all aspects of your life. Moderation can then finally be practiced in the mundane world and staying consciously engaged in life isn't such a chore. You start doing things in a more natural way. In your creative life, thought life and spiritual life you can summons this energy then release it at will instead of being totally overtaken by it. It might shock you how many people of both sexes despite marriage (or a previous marriage) and kids never really sexually matured.

My favorite example of being in the grip of "El Duende" sexually speaking is the "RAW POWER" album by The Stooges. The energy, the music, the performance of the vocals, the lyrics, the over all vibe is a direct tap into the unbridled state of the raw power that is the connection between pain and pleasure- sex, death and birth. When listened to in a particular order it unfolds a story of one who is possessed and what sexually exploring with such a person would be like. The album is an addictive danceable sexy roller coaster of intense highs and lows, just as is grappling with your inner "Duende" by way of a sex partner.  Below is as link to a playlist in the above mentioned order. Enjoy the ride!

P.S.- The movie Black Swan is also a perfect example of what I'm talking about in this post! Loved that movie!

Raw Power by The Stooges