Wahya Circle
Thursday Thoughts

Ethics in Magick 101
Gender in Magick

Gender has played a larger role than we credit it – for everyone – for all of time.

Since the beginning of the “human” species, we have walked the Path of Magick to reach a level of acceptance amongst our peers and fellow Practitioners. Magick knows no solely binary aspect, although, the magick, the energy, has the ability to flow how it is Intented.

Those of all persuasions have utilized the power of magick, the Universal energy of Unconditional Love, that exists for us all. Those of the CIS Gendered Male have used magick to divine insight into unsolved cases for their peers on the police force for millennia. Those of the CiS Gendered Female have tapped into energies of the Higher Self to aid in the survival of her family escaping persecution or to have Divine “sight” for rulers of the time. Even those of non-binary or transgendered life have pursued magick, and in fact have been revered, in many indigenous traditions as “enlightened” or “holy”.

Those that do not identify with the binary aspect of life are more numerous than we give credence to as well. There are many of us who identify as “they”, and understand the plurality of us all being a part of the Divine, a “Collective of One”. There are Practitioners who drop the “Principle of Gender” from their Craft altogether as it is deemed unnecessary to have such an alignment when working with Universal Energy. 

Trans and Intersex Practitioners are Banishing the Principle of Gender on a regular basis and have throughout history. Dogma is what has denied the existence of plurality of all things, in all kingdoms of animal. Magick and witchery, in Truth, have been easy to claim, and magick has become associated with a resistance to Big Book Religion hegemony the world over. In fact, it is practices other than the Big Book Religions that have shown many Practitioners that they are sacred beings and “conforming” is not needed to have Universal Love.

Ethics in Magick 101
Gender in Deity

This is a bottomless concept but one that is studied at great depth with focused studies on any Path, any Craft, any Magick. Even in your own research, if you continue to walk Solitary and learn, gain knowledge and grow, remaining “clean, clear, and curious” you will begin to see it. As we have learned with our focus on Shadow Work, you will begin to hear/read this Monadical discussion. After reading this introduction to it, read it again. You may not grasp it at first, but let it boil in the Cauldron of Thought for a bit. Ask the Higher Self to show you more. (The Monadic system of Consciousness will be discussed further in Knowledge Seeking Magick.)

Let us begin.

We will make a statement.

You will not like the statement.

You will “poo poo” the statement, or shun it, as is your Free Will to do. You may even dabble in hear-say and gossip to another that APMS is teaching lies.

Go ahead. Those who know this, know it to be true and will not agree in your emotional reaction. We have been conditioned as a people. Remember that.

“There is no “assigned gender” in magick. No deity. Not ever. Humans have done that. Stars know no gender. We are all stars.”

~ Unknown 

Pythagoreans identify the energy named “Monad” with the Male Principle and the energy named “Dyad” with the Female Principle, at all levels of Being. The Monad is relatively easy to understand: He is the principle of Unity and Constancy, the “physical world”. The Dyad, however, is more complex and is of the “spiritual world”.

First, She is the Other; if there were only the Monad, there would be no Other; thus She governs Separation. Therefore, Syrianus (fl. 431 CE, died c.437), Proclus' teacher, identified the Monad and the Dyad with Love (Philia) and Strife (Neikos), the two principal forces in the universe according to Empedocles (for more on them, see "Fire" in Opsopaus, AGEDE).

The Dyad is called the Goal, because She is that to which the Monad proceeds. Read that again, the Monad PROCEEDS. To “proceed” something is to act as in a “natural next step”. That means it does NOT come first. The Monad follows the Dyad, naturally. She, the Dyad, is also called Daring and Change, for She corresponds to Procession in the triad Abiding - Proceeding - Reverting. However, because She also carries the Beginning to the End, She is the Mediator as well as the Separator.

The Dyad is the number Two, but the Female Principle is a transcendent form of Two called the Indefinite Dyad, where "Indefinite" must be understood to mean indeterminate, unlimited, boundless, and infinite, all of which are relevant to the Indefinite Dyad.

Focus on Her property of being Unlimited or Indeterminate, which makes Her the opposite of the Monad, who is the principle of Limit, Determination, and Definition. Thus the Monad and Indefinite Dyad are the Principles of Limit (Peras) and the Unlimited (Apeiria), who operate at all levels of Being, but in a different way at each level.

At the most fundamental level, the Monad is the Primordial One and the Indefinite Dyad is Primordial Matter, because Prima Materia is the indeterminate, formless, quality-less foundation of all being; She is Sub-stance -- She who stands underneath.

Like the One, Primordial Matter is ineffable, obscure, dark; therefore They are both called Abyss. Thus, the Goddess of Matter is also called Silence (Sigê), because Silence must precede the Word, the in-forming Logos, embodying the Ideas of the Craftsman (see here, on the World Soul).

Her role as Mediator between the Father of the Gods and the Demiurge is confirmed by the Chaldean Oracles (fr. 50):

“between the Fathers is Hekate's Center borne.”

(Here, the Female Principle is called "Hekate," which is pronounced "heh-KAH-tee" in ancient Greek, AND we also recognize the Egyptian connection of the word “Heka”, often translated as “magick”.)

Primordial Matter is much deeper, more profound, than the matter studied by contemporary physics. This is where Dogma stopped. It saw the Monad and stopped. Deeper with the Dyad, Hers is Potential Corporeality, not a "stuff," but the unlimited Power to Be, Spirit.

The world of human-kind says, “ here, look at this, doesn’t  that look nice? Here, taste this, isn’t that nice?” We have been tricked and we must AWAKEN.

One of the most common names of the Female Principle is Dynamis, which means Power and Potential. This is the aspect of the Indefinite Dyad in which She is Unlimited, Unbounded, and Infinite, for Hers is the Infinite Potential to Be. She is Potentiality at all levels of Being, for She dares the Monad to Proceed and Become. “Dare to cross the hall and climb the adjacent stairs of Life.” She is more powerful than the One, which is something, for She is the limitless power to be anything;

She is all possibilities.

Therefore She is also the prolific, generative source of all creation. She is Multiplying, for without Her the Monad would be just One; She leads the Monad to proceed into fruitful plurality and substantial manifestation. Remember the Indigenous of Australia Creation Story? Watch it again. He helps Her. Did you see how?

Thus, on the lower levels of Being She is called Life-Giving (Zôogonos), which brings us here and we must acknowledge, you have begun to Know.

Now, AWAKEN.

Do not become hung up on the pronouns of our language.

With that, most of us have accepted “as above, so below” as we see the mirrors of our realities throughout science in every form. We, as humans, use these gender specified words because we understand that “life” is born of a gender of female, regardless of how they identify.

We know no other successful way naturally.

“She”, the Dyad, Spirit is equipped with what it takes for most of the procreation on this planet, Plant and Animal alike, found in the realm of Matter, this Universe, this Dimension.

Correspondences 101
Deities for All

In a world that commonly tells LGBTQ+ that they do not belong, whoever “they” are should look through the Ancient Mythos.

For many, our ancient history is a place of respite. Too often we see statements suggesting queer identities are a new phenomena, or a growing trend. They are not. Where one aligns has been a value as long as animals have had breath. We are born knowing who we are.

We have been falsely told that our acceptance as a queer Practitioner is a contemporary gift and our histories are erased. The Truth shall be known.

Let us begin with the Greeks, although this goes back since our inception. We know realistically that this goes to the beginning of life, but let us address recorded history.


GREECE/GREEKS
The Greeks are known for their openness to sexuality and were quite possibly more accepting of same-sex attraction than many modern-day religions.

PAN
Pan, in Greek mythology, a fertility deity, more or less bestial in form. He was associated by the Romans with Faunus. Originally an Arcadian deity, his name is a Doric contraction of paon (“pasturer”) but was commonly supposed in antiquity to be connected with pan (“all”). Pan has been depicted throughout time with man, woman, and beast.

CALLISTO
Callisto is often interpreted as one of the oldest lesbian tales. In one interpretation, Callisto was thought to be the lover of the goddess Artemis. The two had sworn to remain unwed. The story then takes an unexpected twist as Callisto is turned into a she-bear. Her lover Artemis is tricked into believing she is a real bear by Zeus who was in love with Callisto. Artemis and almost slays her, but not before Zeus swoops to the “rescue”. Just before Artemis can kill Callisto, Zeus saves her by turning her into the constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear).

TIRESIAS
Tiresias is often described as a transgender tale. It reveals how the Greeks may have seen gender as changeable and fluid. Tiresias changes gender, from man to woman, after coming across two copulating snakes and hitting them with a stick. One version of this tale continues with Tiresias being asked by Zeus and his wife, Hera, which gender has more enjoyable orgasms, as the two cannot decide.

Tiresias famously states sex to be “nine times better for women”, an apparently controversial statement (Because it was a snide remark regarding pregnancy) which infuriated Hera so much she blinds Tiresias.

The story is then told that Zeus, feeling bad about the blinding, gives Tiresias the gift of Divine prophecy. Seven years later, Tiresias returns to the site of the original snake incident, where the same snakes are once again copulating. This full-circle moment turns Tiresias back into a seeing-eye man. Although different to our modern-day concept of gender fluidity, this story still implies changes to gender were not inconceivable to the Greeks.

EGYPTIANS
ATUM
Creator of the Universe, Atum was thought to have been the first god to those that worship Him. Having created themselves, and existing as both part male and female. Through masturbation they created two offspring, also each partly male and female. It was not until a few generations had passed that the separate ‘male’ and ‘female’ binary form began to exist.

HATSHEPSUT
Was not just a myth, but also a real pharaoh and perhaps the first record of a transgender person. She identified as a woman and used female pronouns, but unlike other female leaders of the time, in ancient art she is always depicted in men’s clothing and referred to as King. Her descendant, Thutmose III then tried to eradicate almost all historical reference to her, perhaps the first case of trans-erasure.

INDIA
HINDUISM
Historically, Ancient Hinduism has perhaps one of the most open views of gender, with fluidity between femininity and masculinity not just accepted but embraced and admired. For many of their deities, gender was not a closed or fixed construct, but in fact something that could shift and fluctuate throughout time. Their view of the world involves two realms, the material world and the spiritual world. Unlike the material world, the spiritual realm is boundless without limit or borders. Seek out the story of Mohini and read it. (Sound familiar? Wicca, not the Hermetic brand, has tried to embrace this as well.)

PHILIPPINES
LAKAPATI
Before Spanish colonization, the Philippines followed a religion known as Anitism. Throughout this time, gender was not split into the binary ‘male’ and ‘female’ aspects, but instead mankind was viewed as a single species with multiple roles to play, irrespective of biological sex. This is evident in the role of the shaman within their communities. They typically play a feminine role regardless of their “assigned” sex.

The Tagalog people of the Philippine’s have a particularly special story of creation, which involves the world being forged by a transgender couple. In one version, Lakapati, the Transgender Goddess of Fertility and Agriculture, is a deity who played a crucial role in the creation of Earth. She is known for her kindness and married to Bathala, The Supreme God, who was also transgender. The story says that Lakapati sensed Bathala had a feeling of emptiness, so made him a ball of clay. Bathala was so happy with the ball of clay that he worked to mould rivers and mountains onto the ball. Lakapati thought the ball so beautiful that she placed it in the sky and called it Earth. Today Lakapati still plays an important role as a modern-day deity, protecting the souls of LGBTQ+ people who have faced violence and death.

VARIOUS
HEKATE
Hekate has the Divine ability to be of “no gender”, to truly be “they” or “non-binary” as a pronoun. She is the Spirit in and that moves through all things. She has the honor of dozens of titles throughout time. In much recorded history, before Zeus, there was Hekate. To Zeus, the Sky; Poseidon, the Sea; and Hades the Darkness. To Hekate, or Spirit, went all else, She bestows. That includes the ability to be everything and nothing all at once, not limited to the binary concept that humans have tried to follow. See “Hymn to Hecate” for further reading.

LOKI
Although Thor has obvious instances of ‘impersonation” too, Loki seems to truly be unbound by those confines of binary assignment. Some of the Norse gods are capable of changing their assigned sex at will, especially when shapeshifting. The trickster god, Loki, frequently disguised himself as a woman. In one myth, he turned himself into a mare and, after having sex with the stallion Svaðilfari, he gave birth to Sleipnir, an eight-legged foal. This speaks to little value truly being placed on assigned sex and happiness, with love or pleasure being more important.

We could continue looking around the world at the construct of sexuality. As you can see, it is not the Deity that made this demarcations between life, humans driven by Ego did.
Look into the Divine on your chosen Path. See the compassion. Look into the Unconditional Love that is expressed.

˜AllAreWelcome ˜SpiritResidesInUsAll

Gender in Magick

How did you feel reading these passages? Did these awaken any Shadow for you? Did it cause you to feel an irate feelings or to think about them? Do you see any gatekeeping that may be happening in other Practices? Explore this Lesson with us!

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