African Wisdom Teacher Malidoma Some of the Dagara Tribe brought his tribal understanding of gender and sexuality to the West in the 1990s. He, and his wife Sobonfu Some, both taught that it was accepted in their culture that a person’s inner gender may be different to their physical sex, and that the sexuality ofContinue reading “GAY LOVE COULD SAVE HUMANITY”
Category Archives: Queer Spirit
Gay African History: Zanzibar
During the 19th century European ‘scramble’ for Africa, the Zanzibar archipelago, off the African east coast, was a British Protectorate from 1890 until it became part of Tanzania through it’s union with Tanganyika. In the 16-17th centuries the region had been under Portuguese control, before coming under the influence of Arabic cultures under the SultanContinue reading “Gay African History: Zanzibar”
Uganda’s Gay Issue
April 26th, 2023: President Museveni of Uganda sends the Anti-Gay Bill back to the Parliament, requesting various amendments: “According to the legislative processes, legislators could pass or reject the President’s proposals. Technicality if President Museveni fails to assent to the Bill on second enactment, it will regardless gain the force of law. In the eventContinue reading “Uganda’s Gay Issue”
Homophobia: History Repeating
In 18th century England a growing “hatred of sodomites, generated by disgust and fear, was justified, even encouraged, as a defence of society, love and of women. This virulent hatred, and the spontaneous acts of violence it inspired, were enough to stop those people who objected, such as philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1738-1832), from making theirContinue reading “Homophobia: History Repeating”
John of the Cross: On the Creation
He created the world A place for the bride Fashioned with great wisdom And divided into two rooms. One above and one below. And the lower part of the place Was made of infinite differences, But the one above was adorned With glorious jewels So the bride might know her Bridegroom. Full poem below… ThisContinue reading “John of the Cross: On the Creation”
Interview on Queer Spirituality
QUEER SPIRIT FESTIVAL, 17-21 August 2023 at Bridwell Park in Devon, UK, is a celebration of the creativity, love and spirituality of LGBTQ+ people. Our theme this year is RECLAIMING QUEER NATURE in all its magical, world-changing, enlightening and liberating potential. I gave this interview to Brian Madigan of GayGuru.com about the origins and aimsContinue reading “Interview on Queer Spirituality”
Gay Priests of the Goddess
“Our beautiful lovely sexuality is the gateway to spirit. Under all organised religions of the past, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, there has been a separation of carnality, or shall we say of flesh or earth or sex, and spirituality. As far as I am concerned they are all the same thing, and what we need toContinue reading “Gay Priests of the Goddess”
Harry Hay’s Queer Spiritual Vision
Harry Hay (1912-2002) was founder of the first national organisation campaigning for gay rights in the 1950s, the Mattachine Society, and one of the founding father-mothers of the, now global, tribe of Radical Faeries. His life-long passion to liberate gay people from religious, legal and conformist pressures was motivated, he said, by a “vision I’veContinue reading “Harry Hay’s Queer Spiritual Vision”
ENLIGHTENMENT THROUGH TRUE VADA
Back in the late 1960s the BBC radio comedy show Round the Horne brought camp characters and polari, the secret language used by many gay men of the time, to the British nation. The gay innuendos and sexual references went over the head of most listeners, but shone a light on a queer underworld forContinue reading “ENLIGHTENMENT THROUGH TRUE VADA”
Gay Mythology Reveals More Than Biology
The Campfire Theatre’s production of Merboy, penned by Liam Sesay and directed by Scott LeCrass, took our imaginations beyond the labels put on queer people by biology and psychology to access a deeper knowing within, a knowing that humans have long been reaching mythologically. The queer lad hero of mixed heritage, played with hypnotic passionContinue reading “Gay Mythology Reveals More Than Biology”
Bloch on Sex and Religion
Ivan Bloch (1872-1922) worked with Magnus Hirschfeld in Germany’s Scientific Humanitarian Committee, the first institution advocating for homosexual and transgender rights. In his book The sexual life of our time : a complete encyclopaedia of the sexual sciences in their relation to modern civilisation, published in 1907 Bloch declared: “Homosexuality – love between man andContinue reading “Bloch on Sex and Religion”
Galli: ‘sacred as they are’
In the 2nd century CE Lucian of Samosata wrote a description of a Goddess temple in Syria and the activities of the sacred, gender-bending priests that worked there. ‘De Dea Syria’ (of the Syrian Goddess) describes the temple as dedicated to Atargatis, a local name for Ishar/Astarte, whom Lucien synchronises with the Greek goddess Hera:Continue reading “Galli: ‘sacred as they are’”
Third Sex in Hinduism
“What does Hinduism teach about homosexuality? Ancient Hindu teachings describe homosexuality as a “third sex” (tritiya-prakriti), an inborn nature combining both male and female properties. Homosexuals and transgenders were recognized for their unique nature and incorporated into Vedic society accordingly. They were not punished or persecuted under ancient Hindu law and elaborate descriptions of homosexualityContinue reading “Third Sex in Hinduism”
Queer History of Africa
the rich queer history of Africa emerges…. “African history is replete with examples of both erotic and nonerotic same-sex relationships. For example, the ancient cave paintings of the San people near Guruve in Zimbabwe depict two men engaged in some form of ritual sex. During precolonial times, the “mudoko dako,” or effeminate males among theContinue reading “Queer History of Africa”
Same Sex Marriage
The Church of England has been divided on the issue of SAME SEX MARRIAGE for a long time, with the issue threatening to split the global Anglican community. This week the Church’s General Synod has voted to allow blessings of same sex relationships but retains its ban on marriage services. There is a glaring, unacknowledgedContinue reading “Same Sex Marriage”
BOTTOMS, JEWELS & TWO SPIRITS
At the third annual intertribal Native American/First Nations gay and lesbian conference in Winnipeg in 1990 the identity ‘Two-spirit’ became popular as a term chosen to replace the imposed, non-native words ‘berdache’ and ‘gay’, as a way to express the Native/First Nations’ distinct approach to gender identity, sexual identity and and gender-variance. “Two-spirited” or “two-spirit”Continue reading “BOTTOMS, JEWELS & TWO SPIRITS”
The Anal Chakra
Anal sex became the great taboo, the worst sin, the unmentionable sin in the Western world under the influence of Christianity, but in the more mystical lands of the East, where the spiritual potential of bodily pleasure retained the high, sacred status it had once held in pagan times in the Middle East and Europe,Continue reading “The Anal Chakra”
Gloria Anzaldua: Half and Half
GLORIA ANZALDUA: From Borderlands (1987) Half and Half There was a muchacha who lived near my house, La gente del pueblo talked about her being una de las otras, “of the Others”. They said that for six months she was a woman who had a vagina that bled once a month, and that for theContinue reading “Gloria Anzaldua: Half and Half”
NEW BLOG ON MEDIUM!
Dear Friends and Followers of the Rainbow Messenger blog! Thank you for your interest and support! May I ask you to also check out my new blog page on Medium.com – I noticed that there was a gap in the conversation there when it came to queer spiritual matters, so I hope to in someContinue reading “NEW BLOG ON MEDIUM!”
The Second SEXUAL REVOLUTION.
I’ve been on the London sex scene for 36 years: long before the Age of the App I used to seek other queers in Cruising Grounds from Hampstead to Clapham Cottages from Wood Green to Balham; Saunas when they were raided to when they were abundant, to when they shrank away again; Porn cinemas whereContinue reading “The Second SEXUAL REVOLUTION.”
A 1906 Book about Gay Sexuality
Edward Westermarck’s 1906 book The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas included a chapter presenting the world with an overview of the occurrence of homosexuality and gender fluidity around the world, showing their frequent association with the spiritual aspects of communal life, and their widespread acceptance in pre-Christian cultures as natural parts of God’s creation.Continue reading “A 1906 Book about Gay Sexuality”
The Third Gender
The division of gender and sexuality into neatly defined and labelled boxes by the new scientific kids on the block, psychology and sociology, from the late 19th century onwards has never sat well with some gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. There have always been queer voices in the west who objected to the limitationsContinue reading “The Third Gender”
Holy Groves and Cruising Grounds
“One of the sacred functions of the tribe of men who love men is that we are Guardians of the Trees. There is something in our nature that is like the nature of the trees themselves, for the pattern of our love creates a ladder of energy, vertical, heaven and earth connecting, just as theContinue reading “Holy Groves and Cruising Grounds”
“The Priests in some Societies, the Pariahs in Others”
The homosexual in America; a subjective approach by Donald Webster Cory (the pen name of Edward Sagarin) published 1957, recorded the development of queer culture during the early to mid twentieth century. To set the scene he offered this historical overview of homosexuality around the world, which shows that some gays in that time ofContinue reading ““The Priests in some Societies, the Pariahs in Others””
50 YEARS OF GAY PRIDE
The first London Gay Pride in 1972, organised by the Gay Liberation Front was a protest “against all forms of oppression and victimisation” (GLF Manifesto) of gay people. The GLF demanded: that all discrimination against gay people, male and female, by the law, by employers, and by society at large, should end. that all peopleContinue reading “50 YEARS OF GAY PRIDE”
Carpenter’s Wisdom: Gays and God
In his 1914 book, INTERMEDIATE TYPES among PRIMITIVE FOLK: A Study in Social Evolution, English gay philosopher-poet EDWARD CARPENTER studied the connection of homosexuality with divination and religion, commenting in that “it certainly is remarkable to find – even from this slight study – how widespread the connection has been among the primitive peoples andContinue reading “Carpenter’s Wisdom: Gays and God”
Gay Liberation is Human Liberation
“I celebrate myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.” Walt Whitman, Song of Myself 50 years on from the first Gay Pride March in London – that of the Gay Liberation Front on 1st July 1972, walking from Trafalgar Square toContinue reading “Gay Liberation is Human Liberation”
A 1976 Faery Ritual
From Fall 1977 edition of White Crane Journal. https://www.whitecraneinstitute.org/wcjarchives/wc01020.htm by Arthur Evans, author of Witchcraft and the Gay Counter-Culture: “The scene was San Francisco’s Sutro Park, near the beach at Land’s End. A new group I had helped create, the Faery Circle, had decided to conduct a night-time ritual here. It was held in honorContinue reading “A 1976 Faery Ritual”
the gay-wakening
Time to change the story from dark and gory to one of glory – gay love was never abominable, in fact it’s quite incredible – the ancients knew that there’s something we do which brings harmony, grace and connects people to place. Like the earth Herself, our bodies are divine, intimately, intricately designed to connectContinue reading “the gay-wakening”
The Queer Spiritual Inheritance
When I write and speak about the commonalities between the spiritual roles often taken by same-sex loving and gender-fluid people in traditional cultures around the world and also in pre-Christian Europe I tend to feel like I am delivering ‘news’, releasing a perspective little known in the world. However it is no new discovery IContinue reading “The Queer Spiritual Inheritance”
THE SPIRITUAL VIEW OF GENDER
“Whether woman or man, one’s real humanity comes to light only when the feminine and masculine qualities within one are balanced.” Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi, Mother of Immortal Bliss) A few decades ago the ‘Battle of the Sexes’ was a commonly heard phrase, one rarely used now – did men and women declare a truce? MaybeContinue reading “THE SPIRITUAL VIEW OF GENDER”
THE TRANS GOD
“…the mother of the gods … commanding him to restrain his infinity, converted him to herself.” Emperor Julian on Attis in the Discourse on the Mother of the Gods C4 The ancient Great ‘Mother of the Gods’, Cybele, was worshipped in Phrygia in the Anatolian region of modern Turkey since way back in pre-history –Continue reading “THE TRANS GOD”
GAYS ARE CHILDREN OF GAIA
GAYS ARE CHILDREN OF THE EARTH WE ONCE SERVED THE GREAT MOTHER AND KNEW OUR TRUE WORTH. ISHTAR, INANNA, ISIS, ARTEMIS, ASTARTE, CYBELE, DIANA, APHRODITE QUEER PRIESTS SERVED THE GODDESS, THE SUPREME DEITY. THE ANGRY MEN FOLLOWING THEIR SUFFERING GOD BROUGHT SWORDS TO OUR GROVES AND TEMPLES: THEY STRUCK DOWN OUR TREES AND BURIED OURContinue reading “GAYS ARE CHILDREN OF GAIA”
Carpenter’s Wisdom: Sex
In his 1902 book Love’s Coming of Age, Edward Carpenter described his vision of how a shift in attitudes towards sex, sexuality and love would push forward human evolution. Carpenter described his belief in a letter to Richard Bucke, author of 1905 book Cosmic Consciousness: “…that there is in man a divine consciousness as wellContinue reading “Carpenter’s Wisdom: Sex”
A Gay Bar in 1810
A description of the White Swan in Vere Street, London by Robert Holloway can be found in ‘The Phoenix of Sodom or the Vere Street Coterie’, published 1813, which relates the story of the conviction of James Cook for permitting his pub to become a queer rendezvous, of the Molly House kind documented since theContinue reading “A Gay Bar in 1810”
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