Author Archives: shokti

Here! Queer! Cosmic!

August 2026 brings the tenth anniversary of Queer Spirit Festival, of which I am one of the founders: 10 years of LGBTQ+ people collectively connecting through the heart to community, nature and spirit; breaking the chains of religious bigotry and reclaiming queer nature as part of the cosmic order is a ground-breaking step in LGBTQ+Continue reading “Here! Queer! Cosmic!”

World AIDS Day: Chatting with the Spirits

I am a Long Term AIDS Survivor and these are my thoughts at World AIDS Day 2025, 30 years after my Accelerated Individual Discovery of Self: Sooner or later the people of the world will wake up to the fact that spirit is what we are, not matter. We are blind to this because inContinue reading “World AIDS Day: Chatting with the Spirits”

Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness

I attended the book launch of Adrian Harris’s Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness. It was inspirational, I was truly buzzing on the energy, even through an online event. I loved the combination of down to earth practical language along with an intense light of excitement in Adrian’s eyes. I thrilled at how we started from talkingContinue reading “Nature Connection: Remembering Wholeness”

The Three Sons of Aphrodite

Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love – Venus to the Romans – is one of the most ancient manifestations of the divine feminine. She was associated with the much older Mesopotamian Goddess Ishtar, Inanna to the Sumerians, and like her considered to appear in the sky as the planet Venus, and the Phoenician Goddess Astarte. SheContinue reading “The Three Sons of Aphrodite”

The Spiritual Story of Feminism

“The history of feminism tends to be written as a secular movement, one indifferent at best to the spiritual side of life, if not actively hostile. And while that might be true of some individual figures, most of feminist history has emerged from—and alongside—esoteric developments like Spiritualism, Theosophy, and Paganism.” Jessa Crispin, author of TheContinue reading “The Spiritual Story of Feminism”

be part of the dance

When I had full blown aids The veils became so thin, I could see the interconnectedness of all things. The mind, the body, the emotions, the spirit: The universe engaged an eternal, infinite dance: At that point I understood, We have to learn to dance with it. We are part of that dance reflected inContinue reading “be part of the dance”

Moving into Oneness

The mystery of life has been concealed in a materialistic dream: for long we’ve been told stories, told to simply believe and obey the rules handed down; told a story of sin and damnation and denied the truth of personal revelation. God was taken from the earth and put up in the sky: The bodyContinue reading “Moving into Oneness”

Samhain and the Spiral Dance

Samhain is the pivotal turning point of the year – once regarded as the new year point by the ancient Celtic people. It is the point of death and rebirth, of release and renewal, achieved through remembrance of union with the ancestors and all of the spirit world – with the acceptance that in orderContinue reading “Samhain and the Spiral Dance”

The First Flowering of Gay Culture in Britain

The First Flowering of Gay Culture in Britain was in the Elizabethan Age – just a few decades after the dissolution of the monasteries. In the 1530s, Henry VIII had found the cloisters full of buggers, catamites and concubines – ejected from the holy pathways, the buggers had to make their own communities – theyContinue reading “The First Flowering of Gay Culture in Britain”

Whitman’s Comrades

In 19th century America, Walt Whitman dreamed of unlocking the potential in every man’s heart to love other men. He did not envision male same-sex attraction as a minority phenomenon. “Whitman knew that capacity for same-sex love lies in every man’s heart. He had seen it and experienced it firsthand in the war hospitals. ItContinue reading “Whitman’s Comrades”

When America Was Queer

When Europeans arrived in the Americas they found communities that accepted and respected gender diversity and same sex relationships. As with every other continent that the Europeans invaded, they imported their Christian homophobia and eradicated the memory of what once was – especially of the sacred roles that genderfluid people had long played in tribalContinue reading “When America Was Queer”

Heterosexuality is a Myth.

“Contrary to today’s bio-belief, the heterosexual/homosexual binary is not in nature, but is socially constructed, therefore deconstructable.” Jonathan Ned Katz “The myths, fantasies, and narratives of heterosexual love are among the most powerful Western society has ever produced. Anyone who grew up watching Disney fairy tales or reading the novels of Jane Austen can beContinue reading “Heterosexuality is a Myth.”

Queerness is the Crossweave on the Loom of Life

One Love One World One Spirit One Mind LOVE opens the eyes to the Oneness if love is practised as a way of life, allowed to expand and thrive. The Heart is the doorway to Heaven, but we also need to understand that: Consciousness is collective as well as individuated, love can open our eyesContinue reading “Queerness is the Crossweave on the Loom of Life”

On Britain Today

In the 1960s when the Labour government was in power the country had an air of modernizing newness going on, there was hope and excitement for the future… It was the same in the late 90s/early 2000s after eighteen dark, depressing Tory years. But this time round, after 14 even darker Tory years, there hasContinue reading “On Britain Today”

there’s more to being queer than our gender or sexuality

Our ancestors have been trying to tell us… there’s more to being queer than our gender or sexuality the reason why the LGBTQ belong together is because of our spiritual nature which is what monotheism was really trying to suppress… “And if the vulgar and malignant crowdMisunderstand the love with which we’re blessed,Its worth isContinue reading “there’s more to being queer than our gender or sexuality”

The Rainbow Message

“The rainbow is a sign from Him who is in all things,” said the old, wise one. “It is a sign of the union of all peoples like one big family. Go to the mountaintop, child of my flesh, and learn to be a Warrior of the Rainbow, for it is only by spreading loveContinue reading “The Rainbow Message”

Gay Liberation is A Sacred Cause

Gay Liberation is a sacred cause all forms of love must be honoured for humanity to be whole – love of the body as well as the soul: It’s time for the Queer Ones to remember our sacred roles. Feminine men once served with the women in the temples of the Goddess; masculine men whoContinue reading “Gay Liberation is A Sacred Cause”

Trans Pride: 1000 years of British of Gender-Bending

On the occasion of the 7th London Trans Pride march I would like to present a guide to a millennium of gender-bending in the British Isles. Trans roots are deep! They go way back into ancient times – as demonstrated by the gender fluidity of certain deities and the existence of genderqueer priesthoods who hadContinue reading “Trans Pride: 1000 years of British of Gender-Bending”

The Uranian Shift

Uranus is sitting at the 29th degree of Taurus, taking a deep breath before he moves from the conservative, fixed earth sign into the buzzing, mutable air spirit of Gemini on July 7th 2025. The 29th degree of a sign is the ‘anaretic’ degree in astrology, derived from the Greek word for ‘destroyer’. It signifiesContinue reading “The Uranian Shift”

Budapest Pride: We March for Freedom

I visited Budapest in 1990 very soon after the fall of the Iron Curtain, when the first glimmers of open gay life were just starting to show – nervous glimmers indeed compared to the astounding turnout of an estimated 200,000 people at the LGBTQ+ Pride march in the Hungarian capital on the 28th June 2025,Continue reading “Budapest Pride: We March for Freedom”

Pride in A Time of Crisis

I have been going to Gay Pride events since the mid 1980s, seen Pride grow in size, seen the emphasis shift from protest to party to diverse and inclusive community parade; seen the spread of Pride events to cites and towns around the UK. I’ve often been on the London march and went for yearsContinue reading “Pride in A Time of Crisis”

Call to the Spiritually Minded

CALL TO THE SPIRITUALLY MINDED PEOPLE OF PLANET EARTH TO THOSE WHO HAVE AWOKEN TO THE FACT THAT RELIGION HAS BEEN USED TO DIVIDE US AND TO SEPARATE US FROM THE SPIRIT OF THE EARTH, FROM OUR INNATE SENSE OF ONENESS WITH ALL LIFE, FROM COMMUNICATION WITH THE ANCESTORS AND ELEMENTALS… But letting go ofContinue reading “Call to the Spiritually Minded”

Uranus is the Queerest Planet

Uranus is the queerest planet in the Solar System. I am not the first astrologically-inclined person to spot this, and I have written previously about both its unusual astronomical features and its transits through the signs, relating those to the liberation journey of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans movement. What is missing it seemsContinue reading “Uranus is the Queerest Planet”

On Homosexuality

In the 1970s Michel Foucault wrote these lines that have influenced the discussion of same-sex love and culture ever since, with many accepting today the notion that same-sex lovers and gender-variant people did not begin to self-identify as a sub-group of the wider culture until the late 19th century: “Homosexuality appeared as one of theContinue reading “On Homosexuality”

2025: The Shifting Age

Astrology gives us a map of the cosmic energies that flow through the subtle realms of human consciousness, on the principle of As Above, So Below – the planets and stars are an external reflection of the streams of consciousness flowing through our inner realms, the territory of mind, emotions, desires and drives: the sadlyContinue reading “2025: The Shifting Age”

The Amazons of West Africa

When Western explorers visited the West African kingdom of Dahomey in the 19th century they discovered that the King’s military was made up of female as well as male troops – in the 1860s British explorer Richard Burton wrote an entire chapter about the ‘so-called Amazon’ troops of King Gelele. Alfred Ellis, a British armyContinue reading “The Amazons of West Africa”

Men Love Mutual Masturbation

When I came to London aged 21 in 1986 I discovered that men cruised for sex in public toilets across the city. From Wood Green, Highbury, Finsbury Park to Clapham, Brixton and Balham, via Hyde Park Corner, Green Park, Oxford Circus and Soho I discovered men were lining up against the porcelain and masturbating together.Continue reading “Men Love Mutual Masturbation”

He-Males, She-Males, He-Shes and They/Thems

in the blur of nonbinary newness and gender ideological mudslinging, it seems we’ve forgotten there’s always been both he-males and she-males, both he-shes and they/thems, butches, bitches and femmes. biological definitions of gender are just part of our current cultural mythology that rates science over soul the exterior over the interior and hides the sacredContinue reading “He-Males, She-Males, He-Shes and They/Thems”

THE QUEER SHAMANIC CALLING part 1: Know Our History

Judith Grahn,Another Mother Tongue, 1982: The tribal attitude said, and continues to say, that Gay people are especially empowered because we are able to identify with both sexes and can see into more than one world at once, having the capacity to see from more than one point of view at a time. David Greenberg,Continue reading “THE QUEER SHAMANIC CALLING part 1: Know Our History”

IN-BETWEEN PEOPLE

“The words gay and lesbian do not exist in the village, but there is the word gatekeeper. Gatekeepers are people who live a life at the edge between the worlds – the world of the village and the world of spirit.” In-Between People are born to live at the threshold between the polarities of gender,Continue reading “IN-BETWEEN PEOPLE”

in queerness it began…

It all began in queerness and in queerness it will end: there was no strict differentiation between gender roles for tens of thousands of years of human existence and sex was simply the sharing of pleasure between anyone of any sex. strong masculine women were once dominant in the world: the legends of the amazonsContinue reading “in queerness it began…”

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 ritesContinue reading “Lamentations 5 13”

LGBTQ+ Activism

I attended Over the Rainbow, an LGBTQ+ History Month conversation between Simon Fanshawe and Mark Simpson hosted at Verdurin, a cultural project space in east London, by art curator and critic Pierre d’Alancaisez. Simon and Mark are veterans of the Gay Liberation movement – Mark was part of the grassroots Lesbians and Gays Support theContinue reading “LGBTQ+ Activism”