Lamentations 5 13

There are many books out there discussing the various references to homosexuality in the Bible – Sodom & Gomorrah gay rapists, prohibitions in Leviticus, queer temple priests in Kings, love between David & Jonathon and Ruth & Naomi, Jesus on eunuchs, Jesus and the Centurion’s Boy, the Beloved Disciple, Paul wailing about pagan sex rites –

but I have never seen Lamentations 5:13 included in those texts.

Lamentations is a collection of poetic writings mourning the destruction of Jerusalem in 586BCE; chapter 5 verse 13 is in a section describing the many sufferings of Jews who were forcibly relocated during the 70 years of the ‘Babylonian Captivity’ – I discovered that modern Bibles have downplayed what was orginally a reference to gay sex, turning it into a story about grinding grain!

“They abused the young men indecently: and the children fell under the wood” says the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Bible but no other English translation gives this – instead we get

“Young men are forced to do the work of slaves; boys must carry heavy loads of wood” (Contemporary English)

“They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood.” (King James)

—– o wait a minute, they took the young men to grind??? ——

is this where the gay cruising app gets its name from???

Modern Biblical commentators miss this particular queer-related verse, but in medieval times several scriptural commentaries were aware that Lamentations 5:13 referred to the sodomisation of the Jewish youth by their oppressors, and in the most influential of these, the Glossa Ordinaria by Anselm of Laon (died 1119) accused the Roman oppressors in Judea, 500 years later, of the same behaviour.

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We can learn more from this 12^th century Gloss –

Anselm’s comments on Leviticus 20:13 and 18:22, which demand the death penalty for acts of sodomy between men, are VERY SIGNIFICANT as they reveal his knowledge of the ancient and intimate association between same sex eroticism and the spiritual dimensions of life – a key aspect of queer nature that the modern, secular, LGBTQ+ movement has not yet grasped.

“Anselm associates the sins against nature with idolatry and interprets Leviticus 18:22 as a prohibition against idol-worship and the introduction of pagan philosophy into the church. This identification is extended in the gloss to Exodus 22:19, where sodomy is associated with the practice of the arts of magic, dabbling with the devil’s work, and heresy, all of which lead to excommunication and death,” says Michael Goodich in The unmentionable vice : Homosexuality in the Later Medieval Period

Modern queers have been led to believe that the Leviticus prohibitions against a man lying with another man is a simply statement of God’s law and are not aware that the word translated as ‘abomination’ actually referred to a forbidden ritual act that belonged to other cultures. Similarly there are references in the Book of Kings to ‘sodomites’ in the temple – as King James’ version translated Qedesha (modern translations tend to put ‘male shrine prostitutes’) – the word referred to men anointed in sacred service to the Goddess, holy men. The late medieval English translation by Lollard heretic John Wycliffe gave Qedesha as ‘womanish-men who committed all the abominations of the heathens.’

Gay intellectuals of the early 20^th century were aware of the ancient historical associations of sexuality and spirit, and had understanding the roots of the religious prejudice against gay and gender-fluid people, more so than most queer people today. English philosopher Edward Carpenter explained: “The Jewish peoples — perhaps by way of protest and reaction against the excesses of the surrounding Syrian tribes — insisted on a complete divorce between sex and religion; and that alienation of the two has lasted on down the Christian centuries. But in much of the old pagan world it was just the contrary. Sexual rituals were an intimate part of religion; and the wonder and glory of sex were a recognised manifestation of divinity.”

Iwan Bloch (1872-1922) stated that ethnological evidence “shows in what odour of sanctity homosexual individuals have often stood among Nature-folk – for which reason they frequently played an important part in religious rituals and festivals.”

In the 19^th century, explorer Richard Frances Burton explained the origin of the Old Testament prohibition against cross-dressing, a key root of the transphobia still in the world today. He wrote:

“The Hebrews entering Syria, found it religionised by Assyria and Babylonia, when the Accadian Ishtar had passed West, and had become Ashtoreth, Ashtaroth, or Ashirah, the Anaitis of Armenia, the Phœnician Astarte, and the Greek Aphrodite, the great Moon-goddess who is queen of Heaven and Love. . . . She was worshipped by men habited as women, and vice versâ; for which reason, in the Torah (Deut. xxii. 5), the sexes are forbidden to change dress.”

A more recent gay voice calling us to reclaim our lost queer sacred history was that of Arthur Evans, who wrote in Witchcraft and the Gay Counter-Culture (1978), –

“…the ritual worship of sex and nature was once the case throughout the world… In these societies, as in the case of the witches, women and Gay men generally enjoyed a high status, Gay people of both sexes were looked upon with religious awe, and sexual acts of every possible kind were associated with the most holy forms of religious expression. Admittedly, there were also great diversities and variations in the beliefs and practices of these societies, but there was one great common feature that set them off in sharp distinction to the Christian/industrial tradition: their love of sexuality…”

So when the Jewish people were abducted to Babylon it seems their young men got a taste of the ancient pagan love of sexuality.

Today I see the mass of LGBTQ people seem to have been abducted by the Babylonic, military-industrial, scientific-atheist mindset of the dominant hetero culture. Our long history as outcasts is little spoke about, our ancient history as sacred servants unknown. The result is a drug fuelled mental health crisis among gay men and division in our community as Trans people come under sustained attack from the conservative forces in society, who are using culture war against trans people, as they have long done against gays in the past, to distract society from their abusive actions.

Queer cultures have risen in history previously then disappeared under a crush of prejudice. It could happen again. To sustain the freedoms it has taken so long to acquire, what Gay, Lesbian, Trans people need to do in the world today, now that our ancient sexuality is once more free to manifest joyfully, is to reconnect our sexuality to spirituality and regain our connection to spirit. Discover this hidden part of our history and REGAIN OUR SACRED POWERS: Powers that can defend us against the attacks of the ignorant, fearful and hateful. Powers that reveal our gifts as healers, shamans, artists -bridges between the worlds of matter and spirit.

“We look forward to creating a genuine Gay culture, one that is free from exploitation by bars, baths, and gay business owners. We look forward to re-establishing women’s mysteries and men’s mysteries as the highest expression of collective Gay culture and sexuality. We look forward to regaining our ancient historical roles as medicine people, healers, prophets, shamans and sorcerers. We look forward to an endless and fathomless process of coming out – as gay people, as animals, as humans, as mysterious and powerful spirits that move through the life cycle of the cosmos….. Like butterflies we are emerging from the shells of our past restricted existence. We are re-discovering the ancient magic that was once the birth right of all human beings. We are re-learning how to talk to the worms and the stars. We are taking flight on the wings of self-determination. Come, blessed Lady of the Flowers, Queen of Heaven, creator and destroyer, Kali – we are dancing the dance of your coming.” Arthur Evans.