The Anthropology of the Kiss
writer ALYSSA LARA photographer ERINA MCSWEENEY
I remember having a dream in which Jacob and I kissed and he kissed me badly. I remember telling people how that was my worst fear—to be kissed badly, that is.
A Texas A&M University professor discovered the first recorded kiss in India.1 Vedic Sanskrit scriptures in 1500 B.C.E. mention a sort of “sniffing,” a pressing of one’s nose: the kiss’s primary sense did not begin with taste or touch, but rather smell. Before that, there was no mention of the kiss in writing or in art.2 The Kama Sutra described different ways people could kiss. Through his conquest of the subcontinent in 326 B.C.E., Alexander the Great learned of the invention and spread it westward by introducing the new practice he had learned about to the Greeks. It was through the Greeks that the Romans popularized it through Europe.
After that, the Christians discovered the invention of the kiss and started to dismiss handshakes. They incorporated “the holy kiss” into their rituals, which supposedly granted its recipient peace and love. At the Council of Vienna from 1311-1312, Pope Clement V banned the holy kiss, as the Catholic Church thought it would lead to sin.3 Judas famously used the kiss to betray Jesus. At the last supper, Jesus learned that one of his disciples would betray him, and he already knew who it would be.4 When Judas kissed him in the Garden of Gethsemane,5 he was arrested by the Sanhedrin,6 tried under Pontius Pilate, and crucified nine hours later. Judas ended up killing himself in remorse.7 To this day, scholars debate his motive for doing so but it doesn’t matter so much. In truth, Jesus knew it was fate, knew that the price of a kiss would be his own demise, and let it happen regardless.
Mary Magdalene also kissed Jesus Christ. The people talked and speculated that she was a whore, maybe his wife. Either way, she saw love as a religion and put blind faith in a man with a radical cause. When Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to her first. What is it like to love a prophet?
I did kiss Jacob later on. We were sitting on his living room couch. It was summer, but I was cold so he lent me his college sweatshirt. I still wear it sometimes. The dream came true. He was a bad kisser after all.
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