Dying to Rule: Sex and Power in Moche Society – 2007
Journey to the world of the dead
After death, the Ruler began a journey that took him from the World of the Living to the World of the Dead and thence to the World of the Ancestors. From there, he returned to life with his capacities restored, to continue determining the fate of the members of Moche society. Between each World there was a passageway, a transition or threshold that the Ruler had to successfully cross by means of complex ceremonies that included certain sexual rites. The journey from the Living to the Dead was facilitated by non-reproductive sex acts such as anal copulation, oral sex and masturbation. In these, the man –a warrior or mutilated prisoner–took the active role, emphasizing the male supremacy that characterized Moche society.
