Spirituality

Our last FORGE social support meeting was on July 5, 2003, focusing on Spirituality. This email follow-up will hopefully help keep other FORGE attendees who weren't able to attend this meeting (and others around the country who are interested in this/these topic/s) informed and connected to the resources they might be interested in.

We had lively discussion about many aspects of spirituality and religion. People talked about concepts such as:

• faith being something that cannot be proven with logic;
• can trans+ people be "ordained" as ministers and/or become rabbis (or other spiritual leaders);
• are we created in "god's image", and if so, doesn't that "prove" that there can be no gender and/or that trans+ people are equally loved and accepted by god;
• concepts of god being in everything or everything being god;
• can we all believe in different perceptions of who/what god is
• is there only one Truth;
• is there a god to whom we need to be accountable to;
• concepts of "good and evil";
• what is "God's will";
• what happens when people believe that G/god tells them to take certain actions (and what that means if the actions result in harm to others);
• does faith dictate gender choices, or do gender realities change faith/religious beliefs;
• how does god speak to us.

• Insurance Companies (working with the system, doctors supporting insurance coverage, etc.)
• Sexuality
• Family relationships and partners

Hermaphrodeities: The Transgender Spirituality Workbook
by Raven Brangwyn Kaldera
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation; (January 2002)
ISBN: 1401027199

The Urban Primitive: Paganism in the Concrete Jungle
by Raven Kaldera, Tannin Schwarzstein, Tannin Schwartzstein
Paperback: 268 pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; (October 2002)
ISBN: 0738702595

Crossing Over: Liberating the Transgendered Christian
by Vanessa Sheridan, James B. Nelson
Paperback: 157 pages
Publisher: Pilgrim Pr; (October 2001)
ISBN: 0829814469

Omnigender: A Trans-Religious Approach
by Virginia Ramey Mollenkott
Hardcover: 198 pages
Publisher: Pilgrim Pr; (May 2001)
ISBN: 0829814221

TranSpirits
The Transpirits mailing list is for people dealing with gender identity issues, & who have found these issues moving them into a spiritual journey that rejects gender roles. We intentionally use the term gender identity issues rather than transgender (TG), to include those who are not TG but who find that their struggles have led them on such a journey.
TranSpirits-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Quakers
A list for queer (lesbian, gay male, bisexual, transgendered, transsexual or questioning) Quakers and interested guests to discuss issues relating to being queer, being a Friend (Quaker), and the intersection thereof. Discussion will be respectful and non homo-/bi-/transphobic. Q-Light is for all Friends and thus we endeavour to respect all those who call themselves Friends, without regard to their beliefs or branch of the Society of Friends.
Q-Light-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

TransJews
TransJews is an e-mail list for transgendered, transsexual, genderqueer and gender-questioning Jews (secular and religious) of all backgrounds, and our allies. This is a discussion list where Jewish "gender outlaws" and our allies can talk about (among other things) the intersection of Jewish culture/faith/identity and trans identity in our political, professional and personal lives.
To subscribe, send mail to majordomo@queernet.org (In the body of the message, write: subscribe trans-jews Firstname Lastname <e-address>)
The information page for TransJews is located at: http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Chelsea/1500

Radical Faeries
An email list co-published by radical faeries who may resonate off-list with fey human cultures growing many places on this planet. Radical faeries may be spiritual, sensitive, queer, green, fabulous, and brutally direct when feeling for the heart. Or not.

People are hard to define. Faeries are people.

The faerie list, to date, has included paeans of passionate love, song lists, heated political discussions, recipes, scholarly analyses of queer spirituality, ritual descriptions, rants, bad jokes, requests for rides and crash-space, gathering announcements, witty repartee, personal introductions, post-gathering recaps, stories of faerie culture, gardening tips, and other odd bits tossed off-handed to the stew.

We write, and read, from the heart ... or, at least try.

To subscribe to the faerie list, send email to majordomo@groups.queernet.org. In the body (not subject line) of the message, write: subscribe faerie

LeatherJews
LeatherJews provides a forum to discuss the interaction and the influences between Judaism and "Leatherism" but you don't have to be Jewish or "Leather" to subscribe, just sincerely interested.
To subscribe, send mail to majordomo@queernet.org (In the body of the message, write: subscribe leatherjews Firstname Lastname <e-address>)

While this is a fairly long list of "words" associated with trans+ people and spirituality, FORGE believes that it's important for people to recognize how diverse we are and how many words encompass our (and others') realities.

We discussed one word at the meeting: Tumtums, a Jewish word for "bio" males who don't have facial hair and their voices don't change. Berlin, Meyer, and Shlomo Josef Zevin's 1974. Encyclopedia Talmudica, notes that the Jewish Talmud discusses hermaphrodites in many locations, and lays out regulations governing matrimony, priesthood, inheritance and other matters for intersexuals. The Talmudic sages held variously that the hermaphrodite was: of uncertain sex, but in some essential way actually either male or female; part male and part female; definitely male, but only in respect to certain laws. And, in an eerie echo of modern medical practice, one Talmudic writer even differentiates the hermaphrodite, whose sex can never be resolved, from the Tumtum, whose sex is ascertainable through surgery.

Some words, such as "Berdache" have been misunderstood or misrepresented. Gary Bowen wrote an interesting article on Native American culture and the misuse of words such as "berdache". You can find this article at:
http://www.amboyz.org/articles/native.html

Also in, Gary Bowen's "A Dictionary of Words for Masculine Women ", he includes MANY words that focus on the trans-spiritual connection. Here are a few of these words:

• AGULE: (Lugbara African) female to male transgendered priests (cf Nandi, Nuer, Lovedu, Babamba, Mindossi, Lovale, Mende, Ibo)
• ANGEKOK: (Greenlandic Eskimo) an Eskimo magician or medicine worker, esp a male or masculine one (cf kurami, White Whale Woman)
• ATARGATIS: ancient Middle Eastern deity whose rites included crossdressing; also known as Astarte, her name and attributes were perverted by Christians who made her into a male demon named Astaroth
• ATHENA: (ancient Greece) goddess of wisdom, sometimes represented as a man, or as wearing male clothing (cf Amazon, Eros, Aphrodite, Hermaphrodite, ithyphalloi)
• BADE: (Crow American 'not man, not woman') a transgendered person (cf kurami, sacred person, wintke, manly-hearted woman, bedache)
• BERDACHE, BARDACHE: (French-Arabic) slave boy, male prostitute, eunuch; (among Native Americans) a derogatory term for a person who lives wholly or partially as a member of the opposite sex, if bi-gendered may have apparel, name, and family for each gender identity; each tribe has its own terms and customs for such people, but white people usually lump them all together under the derogatory and erroneous term 'berdache'; further, white people improperly assume all 'berdaches' to be gay or lesbian (see wintke, kurami, nadle, ninauposkitzipspe, manly hearted woman, moroni noho, White Whale Woman, Woman Chief, cross dresser, transvestite, transsexual) "The berdache was often the tribe or band's medicine man, doctor, story teller, matchmaker, or leading scalp dancer."--Maurice Kenny (Mohawk American), 1988
• BERDACHE KACHINA: a ceremonial role among the Hopi passed down through a particular family or families, the kachina was represented with a yucca blossom and an eagle feather, and was embodied by transgendered persons (cf berdache, true spirit, kurami, winkte)
• BONAE: (Roman) 'the good people' male and female crossdressed pagan dancers who had the power to grant prosperity to any house that gave them gifts
• GHOTI/GHODI: (Old Norse) a transgendered priest or priestess, usually m2f (cf skrat, hermaphrodite, valkyrie)
• HEYOKA: (Sioux American) sacred person, often but not always transgendered; a sacred clown; a contrary (cf transgender, winkte, kurami, true spirit)
• HWAME: (also hwami) (Mohave American) a female to male transgendered person, believed to be lucky in gambling and capable of becoming powerful shamans, they could also acquire paternity of a child by seducing a pregnant woman (cf wintke, kurami, true spirit, manly-hearted woman, two-spirit) "If a pregnant woman dreamed of masculine implements, such as arrow-feathers, her female child could become a hwame."--Midnight Sun (Anishnawbe American), 1988
• KAINEUS: (ancient Greece) also spelled Caeneus, a female to male mythological figure viewed as a 'scorner and rival of the gods' (cf Athena, Amazon, Leucippus)
• NIIZH MANITOAG: (Algonquin American) 'Two Spirit', the Great Mystery in Its role as the hermaphrodite Creator of the world, and the origin of the term two-spirit (cf two spirit, true spirit, kurami, winkte)
• RADICAL FAERY, FAIRY: a predominantly gay male movement stressing ecology, pagan & New Age religion, androgyny, self-actualization, and positive attitudes toward sex and sexual variance, gender bending is a common but not universal practice, some women and/or f2ms practice this philosophical path
• SHANG: (Brazil) Yoruba deity of all genders, rites include crossdressing
• SHIH-NIANG: (China) shaman or holy person who wore a combination of male, female, and religious garb; in ancient China women who defied gender expectations were often said to have been a man in a previous incarnation, and so their masculine behavior was tolerated and even applauded (cf reincarnation)
• SHIVA: (India) Hindu god, often represented as male, but also represented as half male, half female
• SPIRITUAL GENDER CROSSING: among early Christians, the belief that a female saint who acquired or demonstrated masculine attributes was improving herself by taking on attributes of the more perfect sex (cf spiritual warrior, true spirit, Creator) "Thus women could elevate themselves by denouncing their flesh and devoting themselves entirely to their religion. It was believed that those women who did so with the greatest fervor could thereby transform themselves into men."--Holly Devor
• SPIRITUAL WARRIOR: (Native American) "By providing a living examples to others, by seeking wisdom and knowledge about the sacredness of life and of Indian ethics, and incorporating those teachings into everyday contemporary life, the GAI spiritual warrior challenges the existing devaluation of alternative sexuality and understandings of gender roles."--Duane Champagne (cf GAI, true spirit, two spirit, kurami)
• WARHARMI: a Tipai hermaphrodite who gave birth to two sons and established the Tipai culture; s/he came from the same sacred mountain (Wikami) as revered by the Mohave as the origin of their god that told the tale of how transgendered people came to be (cf hwame, berdache, manly-hearted woman, true spirit, hermaphrodite)
• WIKAMI: a sacred mountain in California, revered by the Mohave, Tipai, Ipai, and Yuma Indians, and is the source of the Creator Spirit who made transgendered people, or the hermphrodite spirit that gave culture to each of the tribes, each tribal legend is somewhat different, but has many similarities (cf Tipai, Warharmi, hwame, berdache, manly-hearted woman, true spirit

One individual at the meeting talked about what G/god was to hir. S/he noted that "God is the voice inside of me that tells me to take care of the world around me".

Somewhat outside of the spirituality topic (and in some ways, exactly on target), was a side discussion about bodywork as a healing and therapeutic modality.

We promised a link to an interview FORGE's Connectivity conducted with Milwaukee-based energy-worker, Kathy Morales.
http://www.forge-forward.org/newsletters/v07i02/morales.html

For those of you living in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, there are several EXCELLENT trans+/SOFFA-friendly bodyworkers/massage therapists:

Kathy Morales
Milwaukee, WI
Phone: 414-247-2004
[energy worker. Interactive-spiritual-talk-approach combined with hands-on healing/energywork. Works with clients fully clothed.]

Mark Robers
1018 E. Knapp Street
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-278-0440
[Integrative massage and bodyworker. Highly skilled in many massage and bodywork techniques. Works with clients clothed or unclothed - client's comfort dictates.]

Victoria Van Zile, CMT
The Beehive Salon/Spa
1547 N. Farwell Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: 414-227-7768
www.beehivespa.com
[Massage Therapist, Reiki Practitioner. Swedish massage, site-specific/deep tissue.]

The topic of sexual orientation and transness arose again at the July meeting. A challenging subject for some, and for others a raw level of acceptance of what is, is. Many folks struggle to determine their sexual orientation and how this changes or doesn't change in relation to their gender identity, hormonal or surgical status, etc.

Discussion focused a bit on how sexual orientation revolves around a binary gender system, since, for example, heterosexuality depends on there being a man and a woman for attraction and union to be classified as such. When individuals don't fit neatly into one of two societally defined boxes, it shifts the paradigm of sexual orientation, as well. How can there be heterosexuality if one of the partners is neither male nor female? What is "other" sex/gender vs. what is "same" sex/gender?

Holly Boswell - Kindred Spirits
http://www.transpirits.org/
Offering year-round retreats at various locations, circles at conferences and other gatherings, vision quests & wilderness camping at Dixon Mountain, NC. Kindred Spirits offers personal resources for spiritual awakening & growth.

"A Sunday's Sermon On Spirituality, the God-Thing, & Other Deep Stuff" by Riki Anne Wilchins
http://www.annelawrence.com/sermon.html
[A (MTF) transsexual-positive and -focused article on self-acceptance and a transsexual god. While this article lumps many non-trans people as "the oppressor" (the nonocracy - the world ruled by non-trans people), there are many empowering aspects to this writing, focusing on non-shame-based thinking and self-empowerment though and in being transsexual.]

The Episcopal Church Welcomes...Me
(Thomas Lewis)
http://www.amboyz.org/articles/episcopal.html
[A short essay by a transsexual man about maintaining his integrity as a transgender person and melding it with traditional religion.]

Terry Tafoya
www.tamanawit.com/
Terry Tafoya is a Taos Pueblo and Warm Springs Indian who has used American Indian ritual and ceremony in hir work as a Family Therapist while serving as Clinical Faculty and Senior Staff for the University of Washington's School of Medicine. Terry was trained as a traditional Native American Storyteller and incorporates spirituality within all of hir work.

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FORGE, PO Box 1272, Milwaukee, WI 53201.
Phone: 414-278-6031
Email: info@forge-forward.org