ISHVARA: Out Of

INDIA
From the ancient mystical
traditions of the Land Of Countless
Gods, India, comes the teaching
that the Universal Spirit (Brahman,
the Creator) first manifested as a
Unified Being composed of all of
the traits of BOTH HUMAN
SEXES. Usually depicted as
Female and Black on the left side
of the body and Male and white on
the right side, this First Being is
named ISHVARA.. and it is 'he' or
'she' or 'we' whom Hindus consider
to have said "Let us make mankind
in our own Image."

According to Hinduism, as any

person 'returns to God' through
spiritual self-development, the very
LAST thing they experience as 'self
identity' is ISHVARA; for we
retrace the Journey of Life from
where we Are to where we Began,
and we began as Ishvara.
Thus, anyone who has unified both
of the Sexes into their daily self
identity is either Ishvara Creating
Itself OR Ishvara 'Returning Home'
to Brahman. While most western
societies frown upon the
Androgynous or Gender-Unified
individual (a common attitude even
in the gay community) and
consider them somehow 'distorted'
or "un-natural" for not being either
a Macho Man or a proper Barby

Doll Clone, India recognizes the

Ishvaran Androgyne as THE
CREATOR, EMBODIED. As we
progress through the many cultures
of the world, you will see this
theme repeated many times, and we
hope you will learn from it that
Gender-Unified Self Identity is not
only DIVINE but capable of
original Creations on a scale
unattainable by either Gender
Extreme.
Naturally, Hinduism recognizes
that Ishvara went on to 'split in two'
by creating the Gender Extremes in
the form of a Male "Father God"
and a female "Mother Goddess"
who did the actual Birthing of the
Universe. Thus, Ishvara and the
Androgynous individual are shown

as SUPPORTING or giving power

to both of the Gender Extremes..
for Ishvara is capable of loving
them BOTH quite equally (for who
does NOT love themself?!)

HELLAS:
Coming-Out In
GREECE
The western version of this GenderUnified First Being is recorded in
the writings of the most famous
Greek Philosopher, Plato. Plato
wrote that the first human beings
had four arms and four legs, and
were composed of a male and a
female half united into a single
Self. These beings had to 'roll'

rather than walk, due to their

anatomy, and this made them
unwieldy. Therefore they were
divided by the gods into Male and
Female halves as we find them
today; but the memory of our onceunited Wholeness stays with us
always, and we feel the pull of this
memory every time we are drawn
to another person sexually.
While this story is considered
purely a Parable of Plato's own
invention (for it has no mythic
roots in the Olympic legends of the
Hellenes,) it does demonstrate that
the Ishvara or unified gender of our
original nature was clearly known
to the classical Greeks.
Homosexuality.. especially between
men.. is of course traditionally

associated by western cultures as

"Greek Love." While the ancient
Hellenes certainly did have a strong
and deeply respected Family
Tradition (every successful Greek
man was 'socially EXPECTED' to
breed, and preserve the bloodline
that brought him to prominence) it
is also undeniable that Hellenic
Culture rested firmly on a
Homosexual foundation. Every
city-state in Greece had it's own
preferred 'version' (later Europeans
would say "PER-version!",) of Gay
Love.. though they all recognized
that genuine Social Order and
creative genius requires
(especially) MEN to love one
another early in life, to prevent the
development of 'estrangements'

such as ego-competition, mistrust,

violence and warfare.
In the city-state of Athens, the gay
pattern of sexuality involved intergenerational 'sponsoring' or
Mentoring; a mature or wellestablished man would take the
sons of his neighbors and friends
"under his wing" to teach them not
only about the birds and the bees,
but also about living as a free man
outside the family unit. Sex
between these Mentors and their
Charges was expected to be largely
'touching;' massage, wrestling,
bathing together and laying naked
together while enjoying each
other's bodies until they each
ejaculated. Anal sex was
considered 'socially incorrect' in

Athens; mutual masturbation was

the Athenian Way.
Not so, in Sparta! Sparta was a
strongly military city-state; every
citizen was expected to participate
in the defense of the realm. Boys
were actually raised in military
barracks, acting as orderlies,
housekeepers, waiters AND sexual
companions of adult officers and
soldiers who guarded the Spartan
society. Anal as well as oral sex
was common, though probably
most often by mutual consent. It is
an interesting tidbit of military
history (red-facedly admitted to by
even the stodgiest homophobic
military historians) that the Spartan
Army was universally considered
the best and most courageous in the

entire Hellenic world. Plato,

writing in his famous "Republic,"
used the Spartan Army as the
model for his Ideal Society.. in
which gay sexuality would be the
"glue" the holds-together the
military of his Utopia. In his
opinion, the LOVE between the
men-at-arms of Sparta gave them
extra reason to protect and defend
their own troops (for who would
NOT fight for the life of one's
Lovers?!)
Lesbians had their Isle of Lesbos..
where the poetess Sappho and her
followers created a miniature
version of Hellenic culture based
entirely on sex between women.
Bisexuals can likewise point to the
god Apollo, whose many loves of

both young men and young women

earned him a permanent place as
the sexiest 'swinger' on Mount
Olympus; and heterosexuals can of
course always find ample proofs
that Greece was ALSO open to
their own 'perversions.' All in all,
Hellenic Civilization remains the
most important monument in our
past history to the importance and
value of LOVE in all it's forms, and
SEX as a natural but sacred way of
SHOWING Love to others.

AMUN: Cuming
from EGYPT
Predating both Indian and Greek
society (and all other advanced
societies of antiquity except that of

China) by many centuries, EGYPT

has always been recognized as the
oldest true civilization of the mideast. Recent discoveries have
shown that even Mesopotamia in
the Fertile Crescent of Iran and Iraq
was predated by the early culture of
the Pharaohs. Early French and
English explorers did their very
best to cover-up the fact that Egypt
was ALSO just about the sexiest
spot in the old world. They defaced
sculptures, friezes and wallpaintings; censored papyri and hid
the juicy bits from European
audiences.. but they could not hide
ALL of the facts which have now
been "uncovered" for modern view.
The sexy side of Egyptian culture
began with AMUN.. also spelled

Amen, Amon and Ammon.. who

was the First Being in the Egyptian
Creation Tale. Amun was depicted
as a well-built human macho-male
wearing a crown depicting the head
of a male GOAT; Amun's other
symbol was a Ram or male goat,
symbolic of sexual drive. For those
who did not grow-up around a
barnyard, the male goat is famous
the world over for his insatiable
desire and ability to have sex; as
often as possible, with everybody
he can. THAT was the 'Original
God' beloved throughout Egyptian
history as the greatest God of the
Pharaohs.
According to the Egyptians, Amun
existed alone before the creation of
the universe. He created the

universe SEXUALLY; he was the

God of Creative Masturbation.
Jerking-off in his own hand, Amun
then drank his own semen; and
having thus impregnated himself,
he 'spat out' or gave birth to the
first entirely Male and Female
Gods.. Geb the Earth-God and Nut
the Sky-Goddess who then began
copulating heterosexually, giving
birth to the rest of the gods and
their mortal offspring.
Amun remained the most important
diety not only to Pharaohs but to
their people as well, because his
Temples were literally Temples of
Sexual Creation. In every Temple
of Amun stood his statue, depicting
a tall, muscular man wearing a
crown and holding a very long

hard-on with one hand, in the act of

Original Virtue (YES that is what
masturbation was considered!) The
Temples were attended by Orders
of men and women both, who
performed sexual surrogacy (some
have called it "Temple
Prostitution") for the general public
(by donation, no doubt!) As for the
Pharaohs, a special room behind
the Statue of Amun was dedicated
to a literal re-enactment of the First
Creation; standing inside the
hollow statue of Amun, the
Pharaohs would ejaculate through
the penis of the statue, then no
doubt drink his own semen to actout the other half of the legend..
before copulating with his Royal
Wife, to associate them both with
the Father God and Mother

Goddess Geb and Nut. The Pharaoh

himself.. as the only person in
Egypt allowed to perform the Rites
of Amun in the Temple.. was
considered permanently the
embodiment of Amun, the First
Creator.
All of this was unutterably 'filthy'
to the not entirely spotless minds of
the European explorers who first
rediscovered the Rites of Amun.
Priceless works of art were
deliberately destroyed, defaced and
covered-over to prevent you from
learning what you just learned.
THAT is how distorted western
'civilization' had become by the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Today we are slowly getting our
Nature back from the prudes and

censors of the past.. but it is a lot of

work to erase the judgements and
religious bigotries even from one's
own mind.
Fortunately, the gay community of
today CAN look back to the Oldest
God of the oldest civilization of the
western world, and say "AMEN!,"
and really mean it. Divinity, by the
way, in Egyptian was pronounced
"Neteru:" the very Gods of ancient
Egypt were called Natures.. and the
eldest of them all was Amen or
Amun, whose name means
"HIDDEN WITHIN EACH."
Certainly I have found him Hidden
Within! Can you not find him there
too?!

BERDACHE:
Homosexuality In
Native AMERICA
Having finally succeeded in driving
the remaining Greek-inspired Gays
of their own continent into welllocked closets, European society
discovered the New World.. and
promptly had to deal with it all
over again; for (with a few
exceptions among tribes which
were truly homophobic) Native
America had a very active Gay
Society from time immemorial.
Usually found within what has
been named 'the Berdache
tradition,' this uniquely Native
American homosexuality was

inextricably interwoven with

Native American SPIRITUALITY
as well.
The word 'Berdache' is originally
from the Mideast, and denotes both
a Homosexual and a 'Transvestite;'
and that is a perfect picture of the
Native American Homosexual.
Essentially a Hunter/Warrior
culture, males in Native America
were expected to enter into a
military career "if typically male."
However, it was also recognized
that the warrior as well as the
hunter needed the spiritual advice
and magical assistance of the
Shaman, Medicine Man and Spirit
Worker.. and THAT was almost
universally recognized throughout
the Americas as Gay Territory.

The connection between Gay

Identity and Spiritual Power was as
obvious to Native Americans as the
connection between women and
cooking was to the European
settlers; the two went hand in hand.
To be Gay MEANT that one was
'outside the world;' homosexuals
were considered Spirit-gifted,
automatically. "Homosexual"
ONLY meant the individual who
preferred the 'female role'
(especially anal sex).. for ANY
'straight' man could freely have sex
with a Homosexual without having
his manhood questioned (in fact,
having a Gay 'wife' or lover was
considered a very high honor which
raised one's status within the Tribe.)
As for the Berdache himself, the
Gay Mystic in most Tribes was

expected to wear 'the dress' just as

they were once expected to wear
'the robe' in old European societies
to denote exactly the same status:
He/She.. the Ishvara.
This Third Gender or Both-SexesIn-One was understood as being
innately more Intuitive, Nurturing,
Wise and Skilled.. all words of vast
importance to Native societies. Gay
children were considered so great
an asset to a family that many
Tribes had a tradition of trying to
'teach' Gay Spirit to their young
boys in the hope that they would
'become' Berdache. All of the
professions which we now call
Healthcare, Counseling, Education
and the Ministry were ALL
Berdache specialties, as were the

Arts, Music, Dance and above all

else, the entire spectrum of
Mystical or Psychic Sciences..
which were considered the almost
exclusive domain of the He/She.
Like Mystics of all other continents
and ages, the Native American Gay
was a Robe-clad figure of extreme
veneration and honor, without
whose services the society itself
could not have functioned
smoothly. While the Gay Male was
also the invariable butt of countless
giggled innuendos whenever he
was seen in the company of a new
'husband,' they were the giggles not
of derision but of playful banter;
and the unique status of the
Berdache was valued so highly that
any man lucky enough to win the

sexual favors of the tribal Ishvara

knew they had finally made it bigtime; "what a MAN he must be,"
all of the people would be saying as
he passed, and he knew that. "Why,
he even pleases the He/She, and
you KNOW how choosey HE is!"
Recent discoveries in the Incan
region of South America have
uncovered the remains of a vast
labyrinth-maze of ruined Temples
filled with artwork, pottery and
sculptured images which prove that
this Berdache Spirituality extended
the whole length and breadth of the
Americas. Early men of the Andes
could travel to the Mystical City
and walk through the maze of
hallways to choose which of the
many Berdache Medicine Men they

wanted to relate with as both Seer,

Healer, Counselor and sexual Lover
all in one.
Less is currently known of the
Lesbian traditions within Native
American cultures.. largely due to
the continued strength and secrecy
of the Women's Societies (female
"clans" devoted specifically to
women's issues and activities.)
Certainly women were free to
pursue any traditionally male
pursuit they chose.. including the
Warrior Path. Since women were
traditionally viewed as intuitive,
nurturing and 'wise,' they were
often associated with spirituality in
the popular mind, and many
women served as Medicine
Workers, Healers and Shamans.

Hopefully, future disclosures will

fill-in the details currently missing
about the role of homosexuality in
Native Women's Societies.

IN SUMMARY...
We have a long way to go, still. We
have only begun to scratch the
surface of Gay Spirituality in the
true history of our world. But even
this small sample should prove to
you that your sexual identity is
FAR from 'base' or 'animalistic' no
matter what the hateful or fearful
have yelled at you. Like the
Navaho Indians of Arizona around
whom this writer was born and
raised (whose Supreme God is a

powerful Man dressed as a

Berdache,) all we today have to do
is MEET THE SPIRIT anywhere,
and we will find our own reflection
in the mirror of Ishvara.

THE MYSTICAL
STRUCTURE OF
SEXUAL
IDENTITY
Now that we have explored the
roots of Gay Spirit, let us examine
what is currently known about the
actual structure of the Self (or
Psyche.) The following diagram
and explanatory notes are taken

from the mystical traditions of

Yoga, Kaballah (the traditional
Hebrew 'yogic mysticism' as
distinguished from religion) as well
as the fundamental principles of
Jungian Psychoanalysis.

The "TREE OF
LIFE" Of
Kaballah

Left, Right and Center

As you can see from the diagram

above, the Hebraic Mystical
Science called Kaballah (also
spelled Cabala and Qaballah)
recognizes THREE PATHS of selfdevelopment.. identified as "the
Three Pillars" of The Tree Of Life.
The LEFT PILLAR is depicted as
Black (or "mysterious") and
identified with "Aima" the Great
Mother, and represents FEMALE
PSYCHOLOGY, or 'Feminism.'
The RIGHT PILLAR is shown as
White (or "starkly obvious") and
identified with "Abba" the Great
Father.. representing MALE
PSYCHOLOGY. And up the
CENTER PILLAR (which is in fact
the main 'trunk' of The Tree Of
Life) runs GENDER-UNIFIED
PSYCHOLOGY.. or Ishvara.

Traditional Kaballist writers have

compared these three with (LeftPillar) the HERMETIC PATH of
Mental-Intellectual Study; (Right
Pillar) the ORPHIC PATH of
Spiritual/Emotional Idealism and
discipline; and (Center Pillar) the
MYSTICAL PATH of Occultism,
Psychic Phenomena, Visionary
Experience and direct contact with
'the gods.'
Carl G. Jung, the famed Swiss
psychoanalytic theorist, named
these three potions of Self-potential
'the Anima' (Left-Pillar or Female
Psychology,) the 'Animus' (RightPillar or Male Psychology,) and 'the
God-Self' (Center-Pillar or GenderUnified Identity.) Jung described in
his work a 'Process Of

Individualization' by which every

Self begins their Journey by
meeting their SHADOW or SelfFear and Self-Denial Phase
(something familiar to most Gays
and Lesbians!;) and then
progressing into the ANIMAANIMUS or Opposite-Sex Phase,
during which one EITHER absorbs
the traits of the opposite sex into
one's own personality OR 'divorces'
oneself from that personally and
'transfers it' onto Lovers of the
opposite sex.
In Jungian theory, it is ONLY those
who are able to INTEGRATE the
opposite-sex psychology into their
own self-identity, who can then
proceed into the higher (Self and
God-Self) phases of self-

development; all the rest of the

'gender-polarized' populace are left
behind to marry, divorce and
remarry their own potential
indefinitely until they finally learn
that what they are looking for is
essentially WITHIN
THEMSELVES.
In the same way, Kaballah
describes the Central Pillar as the
only one of the Three Paths that
leads directly to the TOP of The
Tree Of Life; both the Female and
the Male Psychology patterns must
eventually MEET and BLEND
(producing a Mystical rather than a
Male or Female identity) before
one can reach the Pinnacle of selfattainment.

Both of these traditions (one

ancient and Mystical, the other
modern and 'scientific') agree that
the Gay and Lesbian individual has
attained SELF-UNITY on a level
that the gender-polarized cannot
even imagine.. and that it is this
Unity between the sexes WITHIN
ONESELF that gives us access to
the higher creativity, spirituality
and psychic skills called 'divinity'
and 'cosmic
consciousness.' ISHVARA alone
connects the Self with the
Creator in every tradition
throughout our planet's many
cultures and ages of history.