This story involves mythological beings, some of whom may have worshippers today who could consider the story blasphemous. Please be warned. This is only a fantasy.
A hat tip to the sainted Jimi Hendrix for the title—which presented itself only after the story was well under way, honestly!
Now that I have your attention-
A thousand pardons if my intrusion on your consciousness offends you. If it does, merely think the thought and I shall leave and trouble you no more.
No? You are curious? Good. Please, go on.
What am I? That is difficult to explain. I have no body, you see. There is nothing you can point to, look at, touch, smell, taste, probe with neutrons, X-rays, or gamma rays. At this moment I am only a thought in your mind, because I chose to come forward in this way. Before that I was present, but only in the far background where you could never detect me. I am that way with you, and with all men.
The ancients were aware of us. Oh, yes, we are plural. They could sense our presence, though we did not communicate with them directly like this. They called us gods. Allow me to correct that error. We are nothing like that. We created nothing, command no powers, and we do not live in bodies in some other plane where we cavort like independent human beings. In fact, we are part of you. Without you, without other men, I would not exist.
A parasite? Not at all. A parasite contributes nothing to its host, only stealing resources from it and leaving it weakened. We take from you, just a little, for we need little. But we give you back much more, by your reckoning. We are in a mutually beneficial relationship with you.
What do we give you? Consider how your distant ancestors came to wonder about the stars, about the seasons, the ocean, violent weather, and their own emotions. Not merely to react with blind fear, but to desire an understanding. They developed curiosity. Now, in the strict sense that did not come from us. You had the capacity from the start. But we facilitated it. You might think of us as being like a chemical catalyst, which is not the cause of a reaction, but through its presence allows the reaction to proceed at a much faster rate. With us, you proceeded down the road of curiosity, of desiring knowledge, much sooner than if we had been absent.
Desiring understanding as they did, and being aware of our unseen presence, they first attributed the phenomena of which they were curious to us. Explaining one mystery as the work of another may seem absurd to you now, but there was an elegance to it. For if everything was our doing, then if we, the biggest mystery, could be conquered, all the rest would follow.
Whatever this is,
(thought Nick)
and assuming I'm not cracking up, it's got a great spiel. I'll just see where this leads a bit longer. Why not, it's a rainy day and work is boring anyway.
The next step of your ancestors was to differentiate among us, to assign to various of our selves different personalities, each one reigning over a different area, or areas, of human experience. Thus you had gods of spring, the sun, the moon, of agriculture, of drunkenness, of war, and so on almost endlessly. You assigned us sexes as well, so that among us were gods and goddesses. As fanciful as this all was with respect to our true nature, it pleased us to play along with the game to some extent. So although we technically have no sex ourselves, most of us have taken up in sympathy with one or another of yours. And we do each have our favorite area of study in the vast arena of your experience.
Was this leading up to your explaining what you are then, you in particular?
Well, yes. It is central to the reason why I came out and spoke to you. I am male-sympathetic, to start with. I have been known to your various cultures by many names. Over the ages I have been called Kuni, Yue-Lao, Min, Eros, Priapus, Kurupi, Kama, Cupid, and Siebog, to name a few.
I recognize a few of those. So...you are the ancients' god of...love?
What you call erotic love in particular. Sexual desire, longing, lust, romance, in some cases marriage. I have studied it all, and have found myself the target of prayers, knowing and unknowing, of those of you in the grip of this love. It is my amusement from time to time to provoke this emotion in one of you, to stir the pot, as you might put it.
And is this why you are showing yourself to me now?
If that were my purpose, showing myself would give the game away. No, this is different. Very occasionally, maybe once in twenty or thirty years, we enjoy participating more fully in your erotic rituals. Consciously, to us and to you. Of course, it would be boorish of us to do this without asking permission.
So, you're saying you want to camp out in my mind while I-we, make love?
You may think of it that way. Yes, you and your wife, Ann.
Why us? Why did you choose us?
Nothing very profound. You are a young couple, healthy and very ardent. Many others would do, but it is vitally important that our...partners accept us. You have done very well so far.
What about Ann?
She is very promising as well. By the way, we are aware of your...spiritual practices, yours and Ann's. We understand that you do not actually believe in and worship beings such as ourselves, but only regard us as symbols whose contemplation can enhance your lives. That is fine. We never desired worship, and do not interfere with any activities that bring you inner peace.
I bring this up only because our present names may be familiar to you. I am now in contact with my female-sympathetic ally Rati, who is at this moment making our proposal to Ann. Rati is the name she prefers in this epoch. And likewise, it would please me for you to think of me as Kama.
You're right, those are familiar. I think we have icons of you at home. Strictly as symbolism, as you say. In the mythology, you are husband and wife, I remember. That's a nice touch.
It is the work of the humans who made the myths, and we are honored to be thought of thus. While we are waiting, I shall offer you some encouraging thoughts. I described you as a very ardent couple. This is correct?
We love each other, sure. It's still very exciting for us to be together. We've only been married a year. But you know all this.
It was a rhetorical question. But perhaps you are not aware of how deeply Ann's feelings for you run. I sense this from Rati, who is now intimate with her mind. She burns for you, Nick. She adores you, craves your touch, your scent, your taste. You envelope her entire world. Having this knowledge excites you. I am sensing it now.
Oh my, yes. I often get that feeling from her when we-but you know that too. Yes, I am getting quite aroused now.
You feel the same way about her.
Deep inside, yes I do. You know our culture doesn't encourage men to express it openly, but yes. She is everything to me and I want and need her so much.
That is what I exist for, Nick. To know that. I have one more thing for you to consider. The two of you want to have a child. You have talked about it since before your wedding, and have decided that now is the time. You have studied together the most effective times of her cycle. You both want very much right now for you, Nick, to make her pregnant. Rati has conveyed to me that Ann is going to ovulate within just a few hours. If you go to her now, make love with her, and put your seed deep inside her, she is very likely to conceive.
Ohh...yeah. I don't think I could get much harder right now. I'm so into this.
Good. Make sure that when you are ready to come, you thrust as deeply into her as you can, right to the doorstep of her womb, and shoot every drop of your semen into her. Give her the baby she wants.
Damn, Kama, you sure are good at this hot talk.
I get it all from you, Nick. Rati tells me now that Ann accepts. She is eager for you! Only one thing we ask, Nick: please do not let slip that you know we are with you. Don't discuss us with her. Rati has asked the same of Ann.
All right.
Go to her now!
Rati
Ann is a delicious creature. Not only does she tolerate my presence, she delighted in revealing to me the depth of her passion. Her desire for Nick is pure and strong. It is something I savor.
Home early from work, she now sits in meditation in the couple's bedroom, concentrating on nothing except her breath flowing in and out. I would not make my presence felt during this time; that would be inconsiderate in the extreme. Therefore I am staying a respectful distance away, only the merest touch, below the threshold of consciousness. From my earlier interaction with her, she might consider me as one of the entities that the mind generates to distract from the higher realities. If so, knowing that she can banish me in this way will be reassuring.
In the meantime, I recollect her perceptions of the space she and Nick have made in their bedroom. Their bed is low above the floor, simply but elegantly made up with fine sheets and comfortable blankets. There are candles in each corner of the room. The walls, painted a cool, restful shade of light blue, are hung with photographic scenes of nature and subtly erotic art. On one side near the window, where Ann now sits, are cushions on the floor before a simple display of icons: a squat Buddha obtained during their visit to Japan, a small Shri Chakra painted in almost luminous colors, stood on a small table. It is an intensely private space, an inner sanctum.
Now Ann has risen and moved to the living room to wait for Nick to arrive home from work. In anticipation of a love session with her man, she can not resist fondling her own tender breasts through her thin blouse and sheer bra. She loves wearing sensual clothing such as this every day; it is like food for the soul of sex. She pinches a firm nipple between thumb and finger. It becomes even harder as she shudders with the insistent sensation. Sitting on the sofa, she slides a hand over the inside of her bare, smooth thigh, up under the hem of her short skirt, every inch bringing a stronger aching need in her center. She reaches the very top of her thigh and slips a finger under the thin, moistening silk of her panties. She runs the finger over the quivering lips, the pleasure causing her to draw in her breath sharply.
At that moment Nick's car pulls up in the driveway. Ann removes her hand, but does not bother to rearrange herself further.
When he opens the door, she rises and hurries to greet him. Throwing her arms around him, she kisses him passionately. He responds in kind after a moment of seeming surprise.
"Hi honey," she says. "I was just thinking about you."
"I was just thinking about you too," he replies. "Do you think the time is right?"
