Arianrhod, from the Llewellyn Tarot deck.

In some times and places virgins had sex.

I first discovered this while reading the story of Arianrhod in Welsh mythology.

In this tale the Welsh King Math must keep his feet in the lap of a virgin whenever he is not in battle. But once when he lost his footholder a young maiden named Arianrhod tried out for the job.

She knew she would easily pass the virginity test which entailed stepping over Math’s magic rod. A stiff rod indicated a virgin, a limp rod indicted she was not. When Arianrhod jumped over the rod two children jumped from her womb. Still, Arianrhod declared herself a virgin because she was a woman who owned herself. Read the rest of this entry →