Alternative sexualities and Paganism
Hey all,
Thinking over my Pagan friends, I can't help but notice that a large portion of these are queer in some way - many are bisexual, several are kinky in a variety of ways, and several have been negotiating variations of open relationships. It also seems to me, when generally browsing the international Pagan community, that a disproportionately large number of Pagans elsewhere live their sexualities in ways alternative to the mainstream as well.
I was hoping that people here could tell me a bit more about this correlation. Do you see it also, or is this just me extrapolating from my own group of friends on to the wider community? If you do agree that there is a correlation, why do you think this is?
I can think of a few potential reasons: that the Pagan community is more welcoming of such interests and/or orientations than general society; that as part of examining one's life and one's self, Pagans are more inclined to examine their sexual/relationship life and be open to alternatives; that some common Pagan practices such as ritual nudity etc already move into the realm of what society may consider deviation from sexual norms, this making further explorations more acceptable to practitioners; correlations with other communities more keen to explore alternative sexualities, such as hippies and geeks (although this still doesn't adequately explain why);or that magic-workers are often interested in power and its relation to the self, and may choose the bedroom as a place to explicitly explore this.
But, those are just my thoughts - I would really like to hear from others, especially those who are involved with these alternative sexualities. I also know from other forums that a couple of the members of this LJ-community have a book coming out that addresses how some of these may be worked in a Pagan/magical context. I admit to partially having you in mind when writing this, and hope that you could say a little more about the topic and perhaps how it is addressed in your book?
Sincerely,
Natalie.
Thinking over my Pagan friends, I can't help but notice that a large portion of these are queer in some way - many are bisexual, several are kinky in a variety of ways, and several have been negotiating variations of open relationships. It also seems to me, when generally browsing the international Pagan community, that a disproportionately large number of Pagans elsewhere live their sexualities in ways alternative to the mainstream as well.
I was hoping that people here could tell me a bit more about this correlation. Do you see it also, or is this just me extrapolating from my own group of friends on to the wider community? If you do agree that there is a correlation, why do you think this is?
I can think of a few potential reasons: that the Pagan community is more welcoming of such interests and/or orientations than general society; that as part of examining one's life and one's self, Pagans are more inclined to examine their sexual/relationship life and be open to alternatives; that some common Pagan practices such as ritual nudity etc already move into the realm of what society may consider deviation from sexual norms, this making further explorations more acceptable to practitioners; correlations with other communities more keen to explore alternative sexualities, such as hippies and geeks (although this still doesn't adequately explain why);or that magic-workers are often interested in power and its relation to the self, and may choose the bedroom as a place to explicitly explore this.
But, those are just my thoughts - I would really like to hear from others, especially those who are involved with these alternative sexualities. I also know from other forums that a couple of the members of this LJ-community have a book coming out that addresses how some of these may be worked in a Pagan/magical context. I admit to partially having you in mind when writing this, and hope that you could say a little more about the topic and perhaps how it is addressed in your book?
Sincerely,
Natalie.