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Harley Reagan

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Chuluaqui Quodoushka (CHOO-la-kway Kwuh-DOE-shka) is a collection of sexual techniques and theories developed and promoted by the Deer Tribe Medicine Society, a New Age new religious movement and business co-founded by Harley Reagan and Diane Reagan in 1986. Reagan cites a variety of ancient cultures as the source of these practices including the Olmec, the Mayan and the Toltec, though previously he referenced them as being of Cherokee origin.

Overview

The Quodoushka teachings (also known as the "Q" to its adherents), according to Reagan and Quodouska teachers, can be used to awaken a practitioner's "natural self", for healing of fear and shame, to eliminate repression and to transform one into ones "magickal self". Proponents claim that it will enhance one's capacity to live in a "balanced" and "sensuous" way, allow one to give emotionally and to catalyze the "sexual soul." Chuluaqui Quodoushka teachings and guided exercises, rituals and ceremonies are credited by believers with allowing a person to improve relationships, both with themselves and with others, and with allowing one to reach higher levels of orgasm and sexual ecstasy, as well as to balance one's "feminine and masculine sides" and gain knowledge of genital anatomy.

Criticism

The sexual rites of passage which Reagan references as being drawn from spiritual practices of the Olmec, Mayan and Toltec cultures, and some secret societies within the Cherokee Nation, are disputed by the traditional teachers of these cultures and can be considered a form of Mayanism. As a child moves into adulthood, rites of passage have been part of most indigenous peoples' traditions. However, opponents claim that Reagan's particular take on what these ceremonies were, and should be, stands in stark contrast to the actual teachings and beliefs of the cultures he claims to represent.The Cherokee Nation, disavows it entirely noting that Reagan is not a registered member of the Cherokee Nation. After being denounced by the Cherokee Nation,[1][2][2][3] Reagan changed his backstory and now claims the teachings come from a variety of cultures.

Critics make the following claims.

  • That the ceremonies and techniques are simply fraudulent and do not represent any past or currently existing Native rituals.
  • Most of the websites that feature postings praising the "Q" are making money from it or from similar sex workshops.
  • People taking the course have to agree to a non-disclosure clause.
  • Quodoushka regards children and infants as sexual beings. (The author of part of the Quodoushka manual, Dr. Kenneth R. Stubbs, Ph.D, has said that "In the Quodoushka tradition (Cherokee Native American), children and even infants are seen as sexual beings all their growing years. It is natural to experience themselves in this way, and to integrate their sexual, sensual, spiritual nature into a wholeness of being.")

Some sexuality exercises refer to the Chakras, which is an East Indian term in common use today in many traditions. Demonstrations include male and female self-pleasuring techniques and close up examinations to show differences in the shapes of genitalia. Many of the self-pleasuring techniques can be found in the book Erotic Massage by Kenneth Ray Stubbs. The same techniques can be found on a multitude of web sites devoted to self-pleasure.

Language

In the workshops a woman's genitalia are called "Tupuli", which Reagan claims is a Cherokee term for "sacred black hole of creation," and a man's genitalia are referred to as "Tipilli" also claimed by Reagan to be a Cherokee term meaning "like a tipi pole". However, according to Durbin Feeling, who is a linguistic specialist for the Cherokee Nation, there are no such words in the Cherokee language, and Cherokee do not and never have lived in tipis. In fact, the word "tipili" applied to genitals is likely taken from Gary Jennings' novel Aztec. Feeling said the word Chu-Lua-Qui is a word that refers to Cherokee people; he said the closest translation he could find for Quodoushka is "(a)qwv-tol u- ska" a graphic term for a male sexual organ that has nothing to do with Cherokee spirituality. "It's pretty ugly. I don't know if he (Harley Reagan) realizes what it means." Feeling added as an afterthought, "He probably does know what it means."

Credentials

Despite the claims that the Chuluaqui Quodoushka is based on ancient traditions there is no corroborating evidence for this.

Much of the ancient Maya religious tradition is still not understood by scholars and there is no surviving information about Mayan sex rituals.

The Olmecs were a people in Mexico who predated the Aztecs. Their culture disappeared and the only clues left about them are some stone statues and hieroglyphic carvings. Olmec mythology has left no documents and therefore cannot have anything to do with modern-day sex rituals.

There are also claims that the teachings are also Toltec in origin, also unsubstantiated.

The Cherokee Nation firmly denies any involvement in the Chuluaqui-Quodoushka. Harley Reagan appeared on the Home Box Office program Real Sex in America in 1992, promoting his sex therapy "Quodoushka" as a Cherokee ritual. The chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma at the time, Wilma Mankiller, threatened to sue HBO for misrepresentation, and a resolution was passed by the Cherokee condemning Reagan and other "plastic shamans". It is believed by some that in order to avoid a lawsuit, Reagan changed his story to the claim that Quodoushka is a blend of many ancient sexual traditions.

Dr. Richard Allen, a research and policy analyst of the Cherokee Nation, says of the Chuluaqui Quodoushka, "Reagan's made it up. We learn about sex like everyone else does, behind the barn."[1]

Proponents

Many of the students of Quodoushka sex workshops have high praise for them. On the Internet it is very easy to find a lot of people who claim to have benefited from them. With four levels of "Q" Training available and workshops going on not only in the U.S.A., but in Canada, Australia and seven countries in Europe, the workshops continue to attract an increasing number of followers. One of the biggest fans of the "Q" is porn star Porsche Lynn who studies with Harley Reagan and has a lot of praise for the "Q" workshops.

In film

A movie called "Quodoushka, Native American Love Techniques" (or "Quodoushka") came out in 1991, distributed by Vivid Video and starring such hard-core porn actresses as Ashley Nicole, Heather Hart, Hyapatia Lee and Madison. Porn star Hyapatia Lee was a student of Harley Swiftdeer Reagan, and is of Cherokee descent. The film itself is a pornographic film made to look as though it is a documentary. The film depicts various women of supposed Cherokee ancestry copulating in various ways with mostly white men.

At the request of Mr. Reagan, the film was renamed to "Snakedance". The teachings are not about porn, and he didn't want a porn film associated with them.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Buchanan, Susy (2002-06-13). "Sacred Orgasm". Phoenix New Times. New Times Media. Retrieved 2006-06-12.
  2. ^ a b Hagan, Helene E. (September 1992). "The Plastic Medicine People Circle". Sonoma County Free Press.
  3. ^ Avis Little Eagle (1992-03-11). ""Real Sex" Offends Cherokees, Tribes Demands Apology from HBO". Lakota Times.

Sources