Gay Spirit Power Mitch Walker -there is a nonrational, nonlinear SPIRIT-ESSENCE at source of gayness (abstract) -each society shapes myths to create 'falseself systems' (persona) ie, to give ontological security to members -person can create IDENTITY FROM WITHIN (concrete) to find ontological security through his own myths, creating or finding 'trueself' identity -the goal is a person open to all human potentials and relying on his SPIRIT-FORCE, Androgyne (Earth Mother and Sky Father) -each person has m/f halves: anim (source of f for man), double (source of m for man) -double + double = gay and magickal twinning (rep by Hermes, catalyst, equality or competitor (neg twinning)) -anim + anim = hetero -'homos' denies radical nature of gay person, reduces to mechanical acts with same sex partner -accommodation to falseself (gay lib as part of societal falseself system) short circuits quest for trueself -subject-subject relations -path of accommodation to falseself vs psychic death of falseself -breakdown of false mythic divisions of m/f, good/bad are frightening, difficult -spirit warrior (Don Juan Yaqui sorcerer) -> new sources of wisdom and energy stages: coming out (Zeldin stage3) -> warrior -> shaman -attempt to control and repress sexuality in 19c -capitalism obscures its historical origins and justifies its arbitrary social arrangements by defining (appealing to) 'nature' to structure social relations to meet its needs (prod/ cons, profit = growth) Gay Soul: Interviews Finding the Heart of Gay Spirit and Nature Mark Thompson Paul Monette: ideal is where love of comrades is law of the land. Urge of selfessness from mystery of learning to understand yourself by understanding others, getting out of ourselves to know ourselves more (paradox) Richard Isay: (Freudian) In projecting same-sex eros on father u adopts mother's traits to attract father's attention -> intense mother-son bonding out of desire for same man -> rejection by father Andrew Harvey: gay open to mystical because chose 'holiness of the Heart's affections' (Keats), a leap of courage which is first step toward divine love (choice of human love over society's approval). Mystics face same derision because they incarnate the banished f and i Andrew Ramer: certain people biologically separate from child-rearing pool, nature invented gay men to exist separate from that process to do soul work, to be outside voice for tribe. Special capacities: 1/ consciousness scouts that look ahead, 2/cultural life, 3/ taking care of people, 4/ hunter energy (roots of homophobia from repression of temples where sex performed as holy rite -rejection as kind of initiation Harry Hay: people of the paradox - know how to live in doubt Will Roscoe: Berdache mediates divisions and contradictions within the community, as opposed to shaman, who works with the outside -myths are thought rituals -> transformation and growth (visualize as you go to sleep to inspire u) -types of gay relations: 1/ gender-based (3rd gender, 2-spirit native tradition, shaman, androgyne, hermaphrodite); 2/ age-based (initiation); egalitarian (twinning, subject-subject) -two patterns of childhood development: identify with mother (father absent, rejecting, or try to attract him), or identify with father -gay psychic exp like shaman - submit (not conquer), drop ego boundaries (survival skill) ("take it like a man") -obsessive loving - want to become the other because he has what we don't have - doomed to fail because based on image of other which is really within ourselves -gay as 'child of moon' - combined earth/sun Clyde Hall: (native) Laugh about something and it doesn't have any power over you. Gay is outsider looking in. James Saslow: Ganymede is symbol of someone loved by universe or who is overwhelmed emotionally by powerful other figure and thus brought closer to some awareness of cosmic divine principles. -in Western society, sex problem because it's identified with the body, which is bad (dualism). Dionysian force boxed into Apollonian categories: sex (Eros) = reproduction/ marriage (vs ecstasy which helps you see beyond society's limitations) -rape (by Zeus as eagle) from rapture -Narcissus - self-examination (not just egotism) (no one tells you you're gay, they try to hide the evidence in society ie, don't name it => doesn't exist) -cross-dressing gets in touch with inner f (mind/ spirit over matter/ body) -gay people represent play principle Ram Dass: archetypes - Trickster, Wounded Healer, Double -gays better lovers because took their first love and wouldn't let go, love of mother (Freudian) -wound: who is used by it, who uses it? -if awake to human predicament of separatenss, yearn for truth of nonseparateness -suffering = grace (suffering from clinging, from expecting society to act in a certain way towards you (society acts the way it does.) -draw awareness back so not identified with thought, possessed by it. This will end suffering maturing: 1/ immersed in physical 2/ realise you've been trapped 3/ renunciation to try to achieve oneness with universe (horny celibates) 4/ realise aversion is keeping you from being free, so come back to who you are - passionate but nonattached -perfectionism from sense of unworthiness and inadequacy, so you can be loved enough (by others, especially mother, and thus yourself) Joseph Kramer: My desire was my parents' enemy and thus became my enemy. Body is gateway - Christ said 'This is my body, my blood, eat and drink.' Lakota say 'I am all my relations.' -My core tribe are all those who honor eroticism as the life force. -Life means just to breathe, to be in harmony with oneself and one's surroundings. Guy Baldwin: (s/m) Children spontaneously destructive. Deep in primal c, impulse to destroy. Ed Steinbrecher: Straight male automatically projects f aspects outside self and assimilates m aspects. The metasexual tends not to project, and thus retains both m/f within, giving access to universal power. Stay 'virgin' means never grounding m energy. Gays must make resistant f part c and bring into equality with their slightly more c m principle. If not, the u f takes over and compels individual to seek u m in other males again and again. Must unite m/f aspects to have satisfying outer relationship. -4 bodies we have: earth (physical body), air (intellect), water (emotion), fire (love, create, be alive) -meditation: in cave, go out, find true Guide, who brings Sun figure (your spirit, yang, giving of love), ask what Sun needs/ gives, and Moon (energy of soul, yin, receiving of love), ask what Moon needs/ gives, what Sun and Moon need from each other to work in harmony as energies within you, go to meeting place with Guide -archetypes: Fool (freedom), Hanged Man (victim role of gays) Robert Hopcke: To assign the rich masculinity (male-male Eros) to realm of f is logically fallacious and pathologizing. Male homos is shadow of (heteros) m in heteros patriarchal society, which attempts to contain this fearsome male Eros by projecting it onto a subspecies - gay men - rather than owning it as its own. -spirit is transcending material world -soul is gaining enlightenment without transcending, from living the experience, as opposed to going beyond -perception of gay has extra level - always aware that there is a subtext since their experience at odds with heteros worldview -if mother sufficiently mirrored by husband and is confident enough about herself and own sexuality not to expect mirroring from her children, then neurotic mother/son bond absent -heteros men suffer from homophobia more than gays now, since they have nowhere to go to work it out (except men's mov't, gays) -gays have both m/f anims (a la Steinbrecher) -union with same precedes ability to unite with opposite (internally or as heteros) -uniting with same teaches us self-love while uniting with opposite teaches love for others Malcolm Boyd: Do we stay wounded and unforgiving, playing same roles over and over again vs FREEDOM? -gays as perpetual Peace Corps Mitch Walker: Soul as doorway to spiritual world. Gay means you sense your world is as much spiritual and material. -Double is figure on which the u psyche is projecting the soul. When turn on to someone, feeling of fusion and union with one like yourself - falling in love. Initiation into soul. (for heteros, not so powerful)