Note: In observance of Pride Month, I am, sharing this article I wrote 20 years ago when I was actively involved in the Pagan Prison Ministry with WARD (Witches Against Religious Discrimination). I specifically wrote this for publication in the official South Carolina Department of Corrections Wiccan Study Handbook. The Handbook has since been updated and my name removed, but I have my original copy with my name on the front!
Wicca: A Gay Perspective
The role of homosexuals not only in Wicca but also in other religions has been a tumultuous one. History has seen the homosexual go from the position of an accepted and revered shaman, to an abomination and outcast, and presently to the position of one who must reclaim their spiritual role in society.
The religion of our ancient ancestors was based on observations of nature. It was believed that everything was inhabited or controlled by a spirit (this belief is called animism), that is, a spiritb controlled fire, wind, rain, spirits inhabiting mountains, streams, trees, etc… As time passed, these spirits became the first Gods known to mankind, and these Gods were believed to be hermaphrodites, essentially having both male and female characteristics (physical and non-physical), since they possessed the power to create all things.
In ancient Greece, early depictions of Zeus indicated that he was hermaphroditic. In modern times, these qualities carried over in the story of the birth of Dionysus as well as Athena. It is said that Hera, angry over Zeus’ infidelity, killed the mortal woman who was carrying his child, Dionysus. Zeus was unable to save the woman, but was successful in planting Dionysus in his own thigh, from which he was born months later. In another instance, Athena (the Goddess of Wisdom) was born when she sprang forth from Zeus’ head.
Since Nature and the Gods were so intertwined, those who explained Nature also explained the Gods. These people were the shamans, who acted as healer, priest, magician, and counselor to their community. One of the most powerful, yet obscure, classes of shamans were the Berdache, a term invented by anthropologist from several root meanings meaning “catamite”. Native Tribes find the word offensive and wishing to distance themselves from European concepts of sexuality have replaced the word Berdache with the term Two-Spirit. Two-Spirit implies a masculine spirit and a feminine spirit coexisting in a singular human body. The Two-Spirit was a class of Amerindian Shamans who dressed as the opposite sex and often lived in homosexual relationships. However, it should be noted that a Two-Spirit’s manner of dress cannot generally be an indicator of his gender identity, his social role in the tribe, or his choice of sexual partners.
Some Two-Spirits were effeminate men thought to possess special insight and powers while other Two-Spirits felt called. The call to become a Two-Spirit usually came in early adolescence prior to the male initiation rites, near the age of puberty. The Goddess visited the boy in a dream and offered him his choice of two items, one traditionally associated with males and the other with females. If he chose the female item, he would live, dress as, and be accepted as a woman thereafter. However, some men became Two-Spirit of their own choosing without divine prompting. She would then undergo her spiritual training either by studying with the tribes Shaman, or through self study. The Two-Spirit had a reputation for being powerful shamans because, like the Gods, they were thought to be both male and female and therefore more God-like themselves. In some tribes, the Two-Spirit was considered an ideal mate, due to their magickal prowess and their ability to please their sexual partner. However, not all tribes elevated the Two-Spirit to such an honored position or even recognized them at all; those tribes who did not were those that traditionally valued women in general as lesser than men.
Throughout history, not all cross-dressing was of a homosexual nature, nor did all homosexuality require participants to dress as the opposite sex. The penis has been worshipped as an organ of great beauty and power since ancient times. In ancient Greek Culture, men venerated the penis and make love to one another, usually older men with younger ones. Sexual pleasure was often taken outside the marital bed because women were expected to maintain their virginity until marriage, therefore young men were favored. Some myths tell of Gods engaging in homosexual relationships, Zeus and Ganymede for example. It was believed that only a woman could make a boy, but only a man could make a man. A youth so involved will learn much from his older lover about moral values and being a good citizen. Often from such a relationship, he will mature to be a model husband and father. For thousands of years, humankind’s concept of Spirit remained unchanged. Religion was based on the idea that Spirit took male and female form (sometimes both) each having many images, personalities, and even sexual preferences. The shamans and witches were their representatives on earth.
When Christianity was introduced to Europe it caught on quickly in the cities, mostly among the rich and those no longer closely connected to the land. Entire countries were classified as Christian, when in reality only the rulers of these countries practiced the new religion. With this new religion came new concepts, such as sin, guilt, and shame. Early Christians fought a variety of different religions, many of which celebrated homosexuality as one path to move closer to the Godhead, including paganism. Arguments against homosexuality are often based on passages from the Christian Bible, which make up a minute part of the entire text. Among these passages, one can find arguments both condoning and condemning homosexuality. To understand these passages, one must wade through numerous mis-translations and place them in historical context. One of the most often cited verses against homosexuality can be found in the book of Leviticus Chapter 18 Verse 22, it states:
“Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind, it is abomination.”
The Hebrew word ‘toevah’ translated in this example, as ‘abomination’ doesn’t normally describe a great evil such as murder, but that which is ritually unclean, on the level with a menstruating woman. This concept should tell you a great deal about how ancient Hebrews felt regarding females, their bodies, and their sexuality.
The book of Genesis details the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which was authored by several writers one thousand to 1500 years after the actual event! In the story, God sees the sin of Gomorrah (no specific sin is mentioned) and decides to destroy the city. However, he later decides that if ten righteous people can be found within their walls, he would not destroy Gomorrah. God sends two angels on a mission to determine if there were ten righteous people in Gomorrah. Once inside the city, Lot recognizes the travelers as Angels and invites them to dinner. The men of Gomorrah surround Lot’s house and ask that the travelers be brought out that they might “know them”. Lot offers his daughters, but the men refuse, and insist that the travelers, who presumably had taken male form, be brought out. The angels blind the men and tell Lot of God’s plan to destroy the city the following morning. Lot and his family flee the city and the story ends with Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying God’s order not to look back after leaving the city and his daughters having sex with Lot while he slept in order to conceive children. Gomorra was the only world that Lot’s daughters had ever known. To them, the world had ended and they felt obliged to repopulate it again. Perhaps this is why incest doesn’t incur God’s wrath, yet many people cite this story as God’s punishment for homosexuality. Early church leaders, such as St. Ambrose, thought that this story concerned hospitality; some believed the cities were destroyed for sloth and gluttony. The only sexual sin in this story, other than that of incest, is the men’s intent to rape the angels.
Elsewhere in the Bible, David speaks of the love between Saul and Jonathan. When they are killed in battle, David comments that their love “was wonderful, surpassing the love of women” (II Samuel 1:26). In the Gospels, Jesus never specifically commented on same sex love. Instead he preached a philosophy of universal love and acceptance because even God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good…..” (Matthew 5:44-45). Jesus also preached that men should treat others as they themselves would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12) and to “judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matthew 7:1) Man was seen as God’s children, being “neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female.” (Galatians 3:38) However, opponents of homosexuality convenient ignore these passages, choosing rather to focus on the others in order to justify their own prejudices.
In effort to convert Pagans to Christianity, Pagan temples were re-dedicated to the Christian God. In some instances, Pagan temples were demolished to Christian churches were built on these sites. Around 1400 ACE the Church began to realize that their efforts to convert Pagans, whose ways were seen as anti-Christian, were not bearing fruit. The Church decided that anyone unwilling to convert should be tortured and, if necessary, killed. In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII endorsed the publishing of the Malleus Malificarum, or Witches Hammer, which served as a manual for witch-hunters detailing how to discover, interrogate, and torture witches. Witch-Hunters were paid large fees for each witch that they convicted, so they didn’t’ care if the accused were really witches. The Church seized the land and holdings of convicted witches, so it became profitable for them as well.
Accusation grew out of hand due to paranoia, greed, and fear. Knowing that discovery meant torture and death, the witches began practicing in small groups under the cover of night. Sometimes one couldn’t trust one’s own friends, and neighbors. Therefore, the witches went into hiding to protect themselves and the craft they practiced. Some witches chose to keep the religion of the Craft in the family, forming Family Traditions, while others opted for the solitary path.
Very little is known about witches from the 1500’s to the middle of the 20th century. In 1951, the last laws against witchcraft in England were repealed, save those dealing with fraud. A man named Gerald B. Gardner came forward and publicly declared that he was a witch. Gardner claimed to have been initiated into a coven of witches a few days prior to the onset of World War II. He felt that the Craft was dying, and that it needed an influx of young people in order to survive. In 1954, Gardner authored “Witchcraft Today,” one of the first books to fairly and accurately examine the subject of Witchcraft. Although the exact age of Gardnerian Wicca is debatable, and how much of it came from traditional sources is questionable, no one can deny that he was one of the first people to make the practice of Wicca widely available.
However, Gerald Gardner was a product of his generation. He espoused a prerequisite of heterosexual working couples in the ritual circle. Many Gardnerian Covens insist on equal numbers of men and woman alternating around the circle. Such a configuration doesn’t allow for homosexual working couples. There is also the insistence that initiation be performed by a Priest or Priestess of the opposite sex, to the exclusion of several alternative possibilities, with the exception of a mother initiating her daughter, or a father his son.
Gardnerian Wicca often surpasses passive heterosexism to the point of open prejudice. Publicly, Gardner did not speak about homosexuality, but his original Book of Shadows speaks volumes. For example, the following passage can be found among the Ordains:
“Man and man, or woman and woman should never attempt these practices together, and may all the curses of the Mighty Ones be on any who would make such an attempt.”
Elsewhere it is permitted in certain instances for the High Priestess to assume the role of the High Priest in ritual, usually when a male High Priest is unavailable; however, the reverse is considered a serious taboo according to Gardner. Further along, the following passage can be found:
“He [the God] resigns all his power to Her [the Goddess}, but the High Priestess should ever mind that all power comes from Him.”
According to Wiccan theology, as espoused by Gardner, the God gives his power to the Goddess by HIS OWN CHOICE for her discretionary use. There is no reason why His representative, the High Priest, cannot draw on His power for the purpose of ritual and magick without the presence of a High Priestess.
Gardnerian Wicca is a source of much of modern Wiccan practice, and it was mostly the product of a man who brought into the religion his own heterosexual fears and prejudices. For almost twenty years, Gardnerian Wicca influenced the average Wicca’s attitude and position towards homosexuals within and without the Wiccan faith.
The sexual revolution of the late sixties was a precursor to the Gay Liberation Movement, which began in the early morning hours of June 28th, 1969, when over 2000 homosexuals rioted in Greenwich Village. The police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay dance bar, when to their surprise the homosexual fought back! After the Stonewall Riots, homosexuals organized, they marched in peace parades, held demonstrations, and challenged sodomy laws. They even exercised their political power, endorsing pro-gay politicians and were instrumental in the re-election of Mayor John Lindsay and in putting Bella Abzug in congress.
The 1970’s saw the formation of both all male and all female covens, some were homosexual and some were not. One of the homosexual groups was the Radical Faeries. The official beginning of the Radical Faerie Movement can be traced to a 1979 Spiritual Conference, “A Call to Gay Brothers,” held at a desert sanctuary in Arizona. This conference was prompted by Arthur Evans book “Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture” in which he argued that gay men needed to examine the connection between gay spirituality and old paganism. The gathering and subsequent growth of the Radical Faerie Movement came from a deep spiritual need. Gay men began looking at the role of the shaman and Berdache.
Radical Faeries embraced power in their sexuality, power that the Pagan movement at that time did not acknowledge. Faerie gatherings were places where experimentation took place. Rituals were spontaneous; experiencing energy was preferable to controlling power. According to the Radical Faeries, spiritually cannot be taught, it must be discovered by the individual. These gay men came together during a time of great change in the spirit of brotherhood to encourage, inspire, and support one another in discovering their spirituality.
Through the 1980’s and 1990’s the plight of the homosexual in the Wiccan Religion closely paralleled the plight of the homosexual in mainstream society. Gay rights issues such as gay adoptions, minority status, gay marriages, and inclusion of gays in hate crime laws were and remain topics of much debate. By the close of the millennium, homosexuals gained almost universal tolerance and acceptance within the craft community. Raven Grimassi, in his book “Italian Witchcraft” offers us a modern witch’s view of sexuality. In the Scrolls of Aradia ( a modern compilation of the written and oral teaching of Aradia, a female messiah figure for Italian witches), the Goddess urges her followers to “Share your sexuality with whomever you may, in whatever form your may. For all acts of pleasure are ritual to the Goddess and God. It has been written that you shall be free and so shall you be free in body, mind, and spirit. Remember that pleasure belongs to everyone and rightly so.”
Most intelligent people today will agree that one does not choose to be gay, however, one can choose how his sexuality will impact not only his life, but also the lives of those around him. While our sexuality has an impact on our relationship with the God and the Goddess, we are all individuals with our own ways of accessing the Divine. The challenge of the modern Gay Wiccan is to examine how his sexuality is going to assist him in his search for at-one-ment with Spirit.
The first step in doing this is to accept your homosexuality not as a punishment or burden, but as an opportunity to expand your awareness of masculine and feminine and draw closer to Spirit. As with heterosexual Wiccans, some gay Wiccans feel closer to the Goddess, while others feel closer to the God. Most gay Wiccans will contend that their patron Goddess and God are outward manifestation of their own inner masculine and feminine selves. In any case, the relationship between the witch and the Divine often has a profound healing affect on the witch and assists him in re-shaping his identity.
Another aspect of the homosexual’s purpose in the Wiccan faith is that of a role model. Our very existence is a constant reminder to our heterosexual brothers that their sexual identity does not begin or end with their penis. In working with gay males in ritual, the Goddess is awakened in the heterosexual males.
As we have seen, homosexuals have been a part of all religions since the time that the very concepts on which many religions are based were formed. Homosexual have a definite spiritual role in religion and depending on the culture and the time in history, they have been both accepted and persecuted. As we take these first crucial steps in the new millennium, it is hoped that the homosexual can reclaim his proper role, not only in the Wiccan religion, but also in all faiths. However, before we can truly stand side by side with our heterosexual brothers and sisters in the ritual circle in Perfect Love and Perfect Peace, the Great Work of self-acceptance and self-empowerment must begin with the individual.
Carolina Dean
October 2001
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