MyOutSpirit.com Gay Spirituality Blog

Happy Easter from lesbian author

Here’s a new Easter video of me speaking from a wilderness trail in the flowering hills of Los Angeles. 

I’m surrounded by wild mustard plants at the height of their blossoming.  I admire the tall plants with their beautiful yellow flowers, and I remember what Jesus said:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree.”  (Matthew 13:31-32)

More info
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Kittredge Cherry is a lesbian Christian author who blogs at the Jesus in Love Blog on queer spirituality and the arts.

See video for a happy new year in 2008

I made a video to wish everyone a wonderful new year in 2008. 

Be sure to watch this 30-second video to see the gorgeous poinsettias near our home -- and to find out why I believe 2008 will be a great year.
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Kittredge Cherry is a lesbian Christian art historian and author who offers gay-friendly spiritual resources at JesusInLove.org and blogs at Jesus In Love Blog.

Is the god and goddess imagery dominating paganism a turn-off?

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.

Gay Wisdom blog online

The folks behind White Crane Journal, the gay community's most venerable independently published spirituality magazine, have brought their writing to the blogosphere. Their new offshoot is the Gay Wisdom blog. So far the blog features posts by Dan Vera, Eric Fritter Riley, and others.

Gay Witchcraft

SOULFULLY GAY

By Joe Perez

Christopher Penczak's path led him from Christianity to agnosticism. But it was through witchcraft that he found a spiritual home. Christopher is a witch.

In Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe (Red Wheel/Weiser, 2003), Penczak tells why he practices Wicca, the modern religion of witchcraft. Wicca is the largest tradition among pagan religions. Paganism has roots that are thousands of years old, but today it is considered a new religious movement.

There are many pagan traditions including Wicca, shamanism, Asatru, druidism, and Santeria. In the early 1990s, religious academics estimated the number of pagans in the United States to be approximately 300,000. Some experts estimate there may be more than a million American pagans today.

An old friend of Christopher's family introduced him to Wiccan rituals, the cycles of nature, Goddess worship, and personal growth. As he learned more about the religion, he discovered that he already held many of its beliefs.

Hope for Community: A Report from Between the Worlds

It has been over a month since I’ve returned from Between the Worlds, an alternative spiritual gathering for gay, bi and questioning men held over the autumnal equinox at a private campground in southeastern Ohio. It has taken me that long to process my experience there.

Christopher Penczak, NeoPagan author of several books, including Gay Witchcraft, The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, and Magick of Reiki, summed up his experience at the event in an article on his website:

Between the Worlds itself was amazing. I know I get excited about a lot of things, but I've never attended an event quite as empowering or transformative as this one. Between the Worlds is a gathering of Queer Pagan Men for the purpose of coming together in community, education and celebration. People came from all over the country - from the Northwest and California, from Denver, Nevada, from the Midwest and the East coast. The paths represented were diverse, from traditional Craft and Minoan Brotherhood to eclectic witches like myself, as well as Thelemites, Norse pagans, shamans, techno shamans and quite a few that defy category or label.

Queerying Faith

Witchvox has posted an interesting article by Bird, a Wiccan, Chaos Magician, and devotee of Antinous. In it, he describes his journey from Christianity, to Paganism, and into a personal relationship with Deity in the form of the god Antinous.

Antinous is a God for gay men. He was the lover of Hadrian. His statues and his writings acclaim his beauty. In fact, little else is known about his personal life other than his beauty. This was the gift of the Goddess to me, her beloved son, Antinous. He came to me, spoke to me in dreams, and took me unto himself. Antinous is a God for homosexuals. He gives the cup of life by his own right. He calls us to homotheosis, to rise to our own Godhood. He journeys with us, showing that love between the same sex is holy and sacred. He knows our pains, worries, and joys. Antinous offers us the benediction of our sexuality.

The entire article can be found here.

Raleigh course offers introduction to Shamanism

Explorations in Parallel Dimensions: A course designed to re-acquaint you with your innate shamanic abilities.

This is a one-day introduction to journeys through the world of animals spirits, plant and tree spirits, insect spirits, dis-incarnate spirits, the realm of guides and teachers, the past and the future. We promise that your former two-dimensional world will never appear quite the same again. There will be approximately 8 -11 journeys throughout the day with instructive discussion on the use of drums and rattles, creating sacred space and the formation of a key relationship to your power animal. Attendees are required to arrive with several questions for which they and other attendees will journey for answers. This course has changed lives.

Earth: a dance ritual

Dance. Remember. Imagine. Create

Saturday afternoon, October 9, 2004
Club Unity II
1171 Ste-Catherine Street E.
Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Doors open at 2:00 p.m.
Must enter before 3:00 p.m.

Facilitator: Corey Caballero
DJ and Music Production: Bryan Hughes
www.ritualdance.org

Production: The BBCM Foundation / 2004 Black & Blue Festival
www.bbcm.org

Between the Worlds

In about one month I will be packing my camping gear and flying out of Portland to attend a gay men's alternative spirituality gathering in Ohio.

Between the Worlds is an alternative spiritual gathering held from September 15th-19th for gay, bi and questioning men. Held over the autumnal equinox at a private campground in southeastern Ohio, Between the Worlds features workshops, presentations, performances, drumming, dancing and rituals in a neo-pagan context. By limiting attendance to gay, bi and queer men, the facilitators seek to provide a safe atmosphere for gay and bi men to explore a diversity of spiritual paths and traditions in a gay neo-pagan context. It is the goal of the facilitators to provide a climate in which gay and bi men can reconnect homoeroticism and the sacred, where they can rediscover the mystical through ecstatic worship and where men can form friendships and relationships that will support and help them on their spiritual quest.

Interested men can register here.

Maybe I will see you there?