This section accompanied by music composed by the Hafler Trio. (listen to RealAudio 28k)

That brings my story up to tonight. I feel I really have the power to create who it is I want to be next. And I can do most anything I want to do. I've been talking a lot about sex. Now what I'd really like to do is have some. I'd like to have the kind of sex that Anya likes. As Anya I've been inspired by the legends of the ancient sacred prostitutes. These were incredibly powerful women from thousands of years ago in exquisite temples in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Sumeria, Greece. In those days it was a great honor to be a prostitute. Of course sex was very different. The main elements of sex back then were prayer, ritual, healing, magic and meditation. When there was a war, or a plague, if people were sick and dying, or if the crops weren't growing right, or if they needed a miracle, all the people would come to the temple of the sacred prostitute. And an elaborate ritual would be performed where the sacred prostitute would go into a state of sexual ecstasy. It was believed that when you were in a state of sexual ecstasy it was the very best time to connect with the divine, to get visions and to create miracles.

I'm going to attempt to re-create such a ritual. I call it a neo-sacred prostitute ritual. I did quite a bit of research on this; I found out what kind of clothes they wore and had this dress made based on that.

(Annie changes her dress.)

They spent their whole lives training, learning everything about sex, sensuality and ecstasy from the older women.

They would prepare for weeks. There was always incredible sensual delight at the temple, things to smell, things to taste, beautiful music and colors.

I'd like to ask you all not to take any more flash pictures from this point to the time you leave, because they are really distracting. Thank you.

They would light candles to dedicate their ecstasy to different things.

(Annie lights four candles.)

Candle #1. (Personal) I want to light this first candle for myself. For continued great health and new inspiration. I also want to dedicate this ritual to finding a beautiful four-bedroom house with fireplace by the sea to move into this summer.

Candle #2. (Global) I light this candle to make a prayer for a cure for AIDS, and pray for a safe and satisfying sexual future for future generations. That they might benefit from the gifts of their sexualities the way many of us have.

Candle #3. (Audience) If any of you would like to make a wish, this candle can symbolize your wish, and we'll fuel it with a little energy to come true. It couldn't hurt.

Candle #4. (Call spirits) With this candle, I call upon the spirit and the memory of the great sex experts from the past...the Tantric masters, the Taoist masters, the great sexual healers from this area in Australia, the spirit of the sacred prostitutes, for their wisdom and guidance and protection.

FLAME: I light this flame to honor my beautiful, sexy, sensuous lovers, who bring me so much pleasure -- my lovers the earth, and sky. I invite them to circulate their powerful energy with me tonight. Make love with me tonight.

Back then, it was believed that women were the most powerful when they were bleeding, that this was the best time for them to connect with the divine. So bleeding women and menstrual blood played a very important role in their rituals.

(Annie anoints her third eye with blood.)

They would spend their days massaging each other with delicious oils, stimulating their skin, flagellating each other with oak leaves. They saw their whole body as a sex organ, not just their genitals. They were constantly trying to create pathways for the sexual energy of the universe to move through them.

They would breathe because they knew that the more you breathe the more you feel. Breathing was the key to all of it. They would use their minds and their intentions to imagine what it was they wanted to create. They would visualize a sacred space around the temple and around themselves, a place where time ceased to exist, where there was no ego, where emptiness was everything.

The ancient sacred prostitutes didn't have battery-operated vibrators, but we do. So I'm going to use this one to help me get going.

I always learn something when I do this. I always get some insight into some area of life. I find I learn a lot about life through sex. I am going to attempt to go into ecstasy. I never know what to expect, as it is always different. Sometimes I have an orgasm, sometimes I don't -- it's not about that. Some days I feel really strong, some days, really vulnerable. I've learned to let go of any expectations. I try not to fake anything; I just try to feel everything. I hope you get something out of this as well. I invite you to breathe, meditate, get up and move around...join me in some way to get something for yourselves, an idea, a realization...Whatever happens for you -- or doesn't -- is perfect.

I also invite you to take a rattle. (The ushers hand everyone in the audience a rattle made of plastic cups and grains.) When they did these rituals in the temple, they would give people rattles, because the sexy spirits love the sound. Also, it would build up a lot of energy. You could really support the sacred prostitute in going into ecstasy by shaking the rattles so she could take the wishes and dreams and prayers to the divine.

(The sound builds to a peak as Annie reaches ecstasy.)