THE SEDUCTRESS WITHIN

Since the dawn of time, women have been seducing men.  The prevalent spin on seductresses through history is that they seem to be... bad.  Oh, so bad!  The seductress is also usually a woman of power -- a power that relies heaveily on or is intensified by womanlly ways and wiles -- who knows her own mind and understands the naure of the male.  Because of this understanding, she often demonstrates the ability to control men subtly, and not so subtly, through her sexuality.

The the seductress has often been viewed through the ages as a fallen woman, it's time to reframe that view and recognize the naturalness and appropriateness of such a role falling to women.

There are thousands of cases in point -- in the Bible, history books, literature, the movies, and real life -- that confirm the following:  Most men want to be seduced, and women are the best seducers on the planet.

Throughout history men have been led to temptation, spun  into ecstasy by the notion of pleasing a woman and being rewarded with her love and affection.  For some men, temptation has led to a gloriously open heart and titillation of the loins, but for others it has led to self-destruction.  At the very least, a bold and skillful seductress has more than once been powerful enough to weave some very sticky political webs, initiate a war, or bring down a leader.  Samson and Delilah, Cleopatra and Caesar, and even Pocahontas and John Smith are love matches that involved a woman who in some way unraveled a man or controlled his destiny through seduction.  But seductresses, more often than not, take no prisoners; they merely know how to extend an invitation to a man in such a way that he surrenders to passion.

Many of the seductresses throughout history were quite creative and bold, and many of their ideas have modern applications.  For example:

• Cleopatra, Egyptian Queen of the Nile, used bold thatrics to get Julius Caesar's attention by having herself rolled naked in a rug and delivered to his chamber.  To get mark Antony, she sailed into Rome on a glitzy party ship with sails saturated by the sensual scent of Jasmine.  It was so rich and entertaining that he could not resist going after his best friend's former lover.  When it came to keeping a man under her spell, she was known for the use of aromatics and potions.  Cleopatra's fruity love elixir was said to stir the loins of the lowliest servants, who, after sipping the concoction, would pledge loyalty.
• Josephine kept her beloved conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, hooked during the French Empire by giving him something most modern women would fear is socially incorrect, not to mention unhygienic: her unbathed body, with all its natural scents.  Legend has it she would not bathe for a week before his return from battle because he adored her natural aromas.  She'd anoint herself with violets, mixing that aphrodisiacal scent with her natural pheromones.  When sending him off to war again, she'd make sure the scent of violets went with him so that he would go crazy for her while away from home.
• Mata Hari knew in war-torn France what women have known for centuries: dance is a way to express the erotic, and dancers have the ability to titillate the imagination and to tantalize men.  She captured the attentions of many, not just with beauty but also with charm and her ability to lure men by using her gift for entertaining the.  In her heyday, her stardom was an aphrodisiac few men could ignore.  The fact that she could be like an ice queen, removed and distant (just like the actress Greta Garbo, who portrayed her in the classic 1932 film Mata Hari) added to her allure.  Of course, Mata Hari was alleged to be a spy, and an appearance before a filing squad sealed her fate.  Yet she was a seductress extraordinaire who turned espionage into an art form, and knew how to enlist powerful men to help her cause.

The most important thing to remember in the game of seduction is that it's what between your ears, that's right, your ears, that's most important.  Your mind conjures the moods, sets the stage, learns the motions.  Your personality -- realy -- is what attracts men in and out of the bedroom.