The little death

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The little death is a translation from the French "la petite mort" (Le Petit Mort/Le Petit Morte/La petite morte), a popular reference for a sexual orgasm. The term has generally been interpreted to describe the postorgasmic fainting spells^[1] some lovers suffer from. Also it can refer to spiritual release that come with orgasm, or a short period of transendence, an expenditure or spending of life force.

Speculations to its origin include current connotations of the phrase, including

Greco-Roman belief that the oversecretion of bodily fluids would "dry out" one of the believed four humours, leading to death
Islam's reference to sleep

[edit] Popular culture

+44 wrote a song called "Little Death." It appears on their debut album When Your Heart Stops Beating.
Erin McKeown sings a song called "La Petite Mort." It appears on her 2000 album Distillation.
Lemony Snicket lists "la petite mort" as an example of a french phrase in The Carnivorous Carnival, the ninth book in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
Korn wrote a song titled "Last Legal Drug (Le Petit Mort)" on their album See You On The Other Side

[edit] See also

A Little Death: A Modern Day Fairytale
1995 movie The Little Death
"Electroencephalographic laterality changes during human sexual orgasm", Archives of Sexual Behavior, Springer Netherlands, Vol. 5, #3, May 1976. Abstract: "Left and right parietal EEGs were recorded while seven subjects experienced sexual climax through self-stimulation. "[1]
Psychobiology of altered states of consciousness, Psychological Bulletin 2005, Vol. 131, No. 1, 98-127
Orgasmic aura originates from the right hemisphere, Neurology 2002;58:302-304
EEG during masturbation and ejaculation , Archives of Sexual Behavior, Springer Netherlands, Vol. 14,#6,December 1985. Abstract: "...Examination of the literature shows little agreement among reported results of studies of EEG changes during orgasm."