Are we afraid of being seen naked? It is a shame to react to shame! In Ancient Greece, nakedness was symbolic of heroes, with gods, statesmen, and Olympic athletes often depicted nude, to represent fertility, grace and strength. Greek art-including sculpture, vase paintings, and frescoes—is known for depicting nudity, especially male nudes.
One of the most outstanding statues in the world is the bronze of Poseidon in The National Archeological Museum in Athens. He is rippling with power and beauty. The mesmerizing thing to me is that it is very difficult to determine his age. Certainly he is not a youngster, say in his twenties or thirties. He could be forty, fifty, even sixty, in his magnificence.
Poseidon: He is clearly minus the javelin but is poised to hurl it
This nakedness was symbolic of an ideal of beauty that dominated western culture? early on. The later Renaissance too was comfortable depicting male and female nudity, glorious and relaxed, most notably in Michelangelo’s David (the word renaissance, or “rebirth”, refers to a return to ancient Greek and Roman art values).
Communication
Is nakedness the ultimate in communication honesty? It’s hard to fake it, or pretend, or put one over on somebody, when all your body language is exposed. Come to think of it, that’s probably why lovers strip naked. You can’t pretend. Even your physiological reactions are on full view (arousal, erection, etc.)
Nudity is a great leveler. King Charles III and I both look pretty much the same without clothes: just men in their 70s, wrinkly in parts! Only if he donned his boss gear would I have to acknowledge his high station!
It’s been wisely said that we need to remove our ego’s clothing to see ourselves and the world as we truly are. Stop fooling yourself (and others) is a wise call to honesty.
Wearing a mask is the complete opposite, of course. Traditionally mask wearing, like for the Venetian carnivale, is a way of being incognito, wearing a disguise, with the specific intention of misbehaving and not being found out!
The very scary Plague Doctor traditional mask
The tradition of the mask began in the 13th century, when Venetians held parties to indulge themselves before the onset of Lent (‘carne vale’ means ‘farewell to meat’). Masking was the only time that the lower and higher classes were mixed with each other. Behind a mask, even if you were not actually cheating on someone, you could pretend to be somebody you were not!
Today it is sheer pantomime and costume!
Naked Yoga and Meditation
Yoga practitioners and meditation experts tout nude yoga and meditation as a highly beneficial practice, with benefits ranging from self-acceptance to body positivity, reducing stress, and cultivating self-love.
The historical roots of nude meditation can be traced back to various ancient traditions where nudity was often revered as a form of purity and a means to foster a deeper connection with nature and the inner self.
Naked yoga is said to have existed since ancient times as a spiritual practice, and is mentioned in the Vedic scripture, the Bhagavata Purana. This form of yoga, free from physical restraints, aims to provide a more authentic and immersive experience??.
I have attended naked yoga sessions and I can say that concentrating hard on not farting rather detracts from the full measure of the experience! I suppose the ideal spiritual state is to transcend the embarrassment of blowing off but the concern is more to do with what others are experiencing than actual shame.
Sky-Clad
Some modern Wiccans, and more recently some Druids, conduct their ceremonies naked, or as they term it, ‘sky-clad’. By freeing themselves of clothes and even of robes they feel closer to the natural world, with their energy unimpeded by shoes or clothing.
Although today we associate sky-clad worship with Wicca and Druidism, in reality it is a concept that has inspired many spiritual seekers across the centuries and around the world. Druidry may well have originated amongst the Dravidians of India. The Jain religion has Dravidian roots, and it has naked devotees amongst its followers who call themselves ‘sky-clad’ which is not so harsh-sounding as nude or naked!
Alexander The Great encountered these devotees in 326 BC and called them gymnosophists (naked philosophers). They regarded clothing and even food as detrimental to the purity of their thought.
A word of caution: As Emma Restall Orr, in her book Living Druidry, says:
There is a cliché about Pagan religion defined as naked mud-splattered women in the midst of the forest, dancing uninhibited around a fire. Some of those who participate in Western Pagan practices shy away from the possibility, denying its existence as nothing more than media fantasy. Yet such wild expression is an important practice in Pagan Druidry, and for a number of reasons. In terms of deep reverence, being naked allows us to feel more acutely the relationship with the breeze, the wind, the skies, the light and dark, the ground beneath us, the warmth of the sun or flames, the touch of snowflakes or raindrops, the fullness of the natural world, and so encourages a richer, more genuinely felt interaction. Nakedness can also provoke or intensify the falling away of more than physical barriers, evoking an holistic vulnerability, a tangible soul honesty, not only in terms of how we relate to those around us – trees, rocks, moonlight, people, rain – but also with ourselves. Clothes allow us to hide truth, even from ourselves.
Many famous writers embraced the delights of a spell of nudity outdoors: Richard Jefferies, Francis Kilvert, George Bernard Shaw, Edward Carpenter, Thoreau and Walt Whitman all in their way discovered the ‘secret’ that you don’t need anything to be happy, not even clothes!
Legality
But is it even legal, Philip Carr-Gomm asks:
After a while I reached the outer ramparts of Mount Caburn [a 150-metre (492 ft) prominent landmark in East Sussex, England]. Entering the gateway of mound and ditch, I came to the centre of this high and powerful place. Despite it being in the middle of summer, there was no-one there: not a soul in this ancient and beautiful spot. And then I just followed my instincts and took off my clothes and spun and danced around in the sunshine, then lay on the grass feeling its softness on my back, and the sun and gentle breeze on the front of my body. I sat up and was filled with a simple, clear feeling of joy, as if, like Horace Walpole, I had cast off my cares as I had cast off my clothes. I wondered for a moment whether I was mad or indeed legal – could I be arrested for simply being myself here? Was I somehow only legally entitled to exist if covered? Why was it so pleasing and more than that, why did it feel so important to be naked at this moment?
From The Druid Way
Well, yes it is legal (most territories)!
Bare Breasts
Remember the women’s bare-breasted bravura in New York in the 1980s, resulting in GoTopless Day, celebrated annually on the Sunday closest to Women’s Equality Day, which marks the day American women earned the right to vote. GoTopless Day is an event that seeks to promote gender equality and a woman’s right to bare her breasts in public. Since 1992 it has been legal for women to go topless in New York, provided it is not for commercial purposes, or lewd. It is argued that to outlaw women from being topless and not men violates the equal protection clause of state and the federal constitution. But such freedom does not exist in all states.
My first wife, bless her, used to love walking topless in public; mostly outdoors. She had a fine body and could do so with pride. I walked happily beside her while we laughed and talked. It was amusing to watch onlookers with the typically British attitude: don’t look and then it isn’t happening!
Taking matters more seriously, I call your attention to the performances of living art by Swiss activist Milo Moiré. She strips naked in public to make a point; allows strangers (both men and women) to feel her bare breasts; and on certain occasions allows fingers to make contact with her genitals. Milo’s campaign is for a woman’s right to dispose of her body as she wishes, but only by invitation and not to be violated by force.
What are YOUR feelings about nakedness? I fear that Americans are almost terminally prudish. It has come down from the founding Puritans tradition, I suppose.
In Europe, where Viv and I spend our summers, there is a glorious lack of concern. I was in Germany many years ago (Baden-Baden) and went to a public spa where they threw you out for wearing clothes! (something to do with fibers getting in the pump, the assistant told me).
And NO, there isn’t going to be a naked picture of me to finish, so don’t hold your breath! Or should I say, “Thank your lucky stars”? Haha!
Prof. Keith Scott-Mumby
The Official Alternative Doctor
