New Hampshire-based Christopher Penczak is the author of Gay Witchcraft and several other books. Some time ago, he spoke with Beliefnet producer Lisa Schneider for an interview. Penczak's synthesis of classical pagan traditions with philosophical, theological, and mythological perspectives is extraordinary. While I don't always find his recommended rituals and practices to my taste, Penczak is definitely a thought leader in nature-based spiritualities.
Beliefnet: You say that some gays are turned off by the heterosexual imagery of god and goddess that dominates neo-paganism -- the emphasis on the union between opposite sexes and fertility rites and so forth. How do you, as a gay witch, envision the divine?
The divine is spirit, and as such, is beyond male and female, yet incorporates both. Witches believe the divine in immanent in all things, all nature, the stars and all people.
Penczak: Neo-paganism initially focused on heterosexual union because the roots of our reconstruction are based in fertility cults - fertility of the tribe and fertility of the crops. No gay witch is going to dispute the role of fertility. We all got here through reproduction. But a gay witch will recognize that everyone has male and female, god and goddess energy in themselves. All men have feminine energy. All women have masculine energy. GLBT folk have a different blend of these energies when compared to the traditional heterosexual roles. It makes them perfect for magical world, because they can access whatever current of energy that is needed.
My response, of course, is a yes/and. When Penczak announces that "All men have feminine energy. All women have masculine energy. GLBT folk have a different blend of these energies when compared to the traditional heterosexual roles..." he is espousing the conventional wisdom of the gay spirituality movement. However, the wisdom is flawed. It recognizes at the core essence of human nature and sexuality precisely two core sexual energies: masculine and feminine. I'm with them, but they've only gone part way. These sexual energies originated in pre-evolutionary worldviews. In an evolutionary model, we need to ask not only how those energies mix, translate, and resonate with each other. We need to ask how they transform through evolutionary processes. Those processes are, I have argued in Soulfully Gay, homophilia (Agape) and heterophilia (Eros). There aren't two prime patterns at the root. There are four deep structures. Masculine and feminine have a directionality: same-immanence or self-awareness on the one hand, and self-transcendence or other-orientation on the other.
With a model for understanding gayness in the universe that's based strictly on masculine and feminine energy, you tend to get euphemisms like "GLBT folk have a different blend of these energies." In less positive terms, gay men are less manly, and gay women are less feminine. We're gender hybrids. I don't think this solution works for my own experience and know of many gay men who feel likewise. By recognizing that the two fundamental types have both forms (yang and yin) and directions (yang-yang, yin-yin, yang-yin, yin-yang), a proper typology is in place for describing all the diverse varieties of human love and sexual expressions.
Read the whole interview with Penczak.
Cross-posted at this blog's future home: gayspirituality.zaadz.com/blog. Please add your comments at the new location.
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