me on third-gender in Wicca
I commented in both of these threads on being third-gender in trad Wicca.
http://community.livejournal.com/glbt_pagan/487129.html
As an androgyne (aka intergender transperson) myself, I've been looking into this for several years. Personally, I've been working with the Orphic deity Phanes, who is "golden-winged and double sexed". Sie was born from the World Egg, according to Orphic creation myths. Hir name means "the shining one" or "the revealer" or just "light". In the Hellenistic traditions sie is also called Eros (= Love); Protogonos (= Firstborn); Metis (= Counsel); and Priapos (a god of fertility and growth). It's worth noting the Priapos is clearly masculine, and Metis is feminine.
I belong to a fairly traditional Wiccan coven. By traditional, I mean close to Gardnerian; BTW-ish. That means that women are reflections of the Lady in circle and men are reflections of the Lord. So, when I came along, we had to figure out what to do with me. I did some digging, found Phanes, and now we worship the Lady, the Lord, and the Revealer. We're still working out what that means. Give us another decade or two and we may have something substantial to say. ;)
http://community.livejournal.com/paganbooks/97286.html
Unfortunately, this is too soon for me. Give me about another decade, by then I should have something solid to say about exploring a third-gender role in the context of trad Wicca (BTW-ish). Somehow, I don't think there are very many people out there working on that topic.
About a decade ago, I met a couple who had been initiated by Franque the Wizard and Tziporah in Philly before they moved to New York and founded the Blue Star trad. So their lineage is American/New York Welsh Tradition, deriving from Eddie Buczynski and thus ultimately Gwyn Thompson and the NECTW.
As trad Wicca, women are reflections of the Lady in circle, and men are reflections of the Lord. In our practice, the Lady and Lord are invoked into the bodies of the priestess and priest at almost every ritual. The Lady and Lord are seen as equals, and alternate "ruling the circle", with the Lady "ruling" from Beltane to Samhain, and the Lord "ruling" from Samhain to Beltane.
Then I came along. As a third-gendered person, how did I fit in? My Lady basically said to go find a third-gender deity and show us what to do. I found Phanes=Eros=Protogonos=Metis=Priapos. For several years, we only invoked the Revealer at the equinoxes, with me always being the person invoked on. More recently, we've decided that we want to include the Revealer in most or all of our circles, and a couple of the other initiates in the circle have had the Revealer invoked on them. We are still feeling our way.
http://community.livejournal.com/glbt_pagan/487129.html
As an androgyne (aka intergender transperson) myself, I've been looking into this for several years. Personally, I've been working with the Orphic deity Phanes, who is "golden-winged and double sexed". Sie was born from the World Egg, according to Orphic creation myths. Hir name means "the shining one" or "the revealer" or just "light". In the Hellenistic traditions sie is also called Eros (= Love); Protogonos (= Firstborn); Metis (= Counsel); and Priapos (a god of fertility and growth). It's worth noting the Priapos is clearly masculine, and Metis is feminine.
I belong to a fairly traditional Wiccan coven. By traditional, I mean close to Gardnerian; BTW-ish. That means that women are reflections of the Lady in circle and men are reflections of the Lord. So, when I came along, we had to figure out what to do with me. I did some digging, found Phanes, and now we worship the Lady, the Lord, and the Revealer. We're still working out what that means. Give us another decade or two and we may have something substantial to say. ;)
http://community.livejournal.com/paganbooks/97286.html
Unfortunately, this is too soon for me. Give me about another decade, by then I should have something solid to say about exploring a third-gender role in the context of trad Wicca (BTW-ish). Somehow, I don't think there are very many people out there working on that topic.
About a decade ago, I met a couple who had been initiated by Franque the Wizard and Tziporah in Philly before they moved to New York and founded the Blue Star trad. So their lineage is American/New York Welsh Tradition, deriving from Eddie Buczynski and thus ultimately Gwyn Thompson and the NECTW.
As trad Wicca, women are reflections of the Lady in circle, and men are reflections of the Lord. In our practice, the Lady and Lord are invoked into the bodies of the priestess and priest at almost every ritual. The Lady and Lord are seen as equals, and alternate "ruling the circle", with the Lady "ruling" from Beltane to Samhain, and the Lord "ruling" from Samhain to Beltane.
Then I came along. As a third-gendered person, how did I fit in? My Lady basically said to go find a third-gender deity and show us what to do. I found Phanes=Eros=Protogonos=Metis=Priapos. For several years, we only invoked the Revealer at the equinoxes, with me always being the person invoked on. More recently, we've decided that we want to include the Revealer in most or all of our circles, and a couple of the other initiates in the circle have had the Revealer invoked on them. We are still feeling our way.