Goddess with male genital's?

And, BTW, the author's (Amara Das Wilhelm) book *Tritiya Prakriti* is very worth while. Its excellent. Not only does he go into great depth with regard to the third gender in Vedic culture, but provides comparison with virtually every other culture on the planet. Amazing amount of research went into it.

another pov...I've witnessed something similar when a Priest invokes the Goddess, becomes Her... a beautiful thing to behold...

* * *

When the Priest becomes a Lady
by KAVITHA KALYAN

"We walked into the temple, the thick stone walls beat out the heat. The cool dark interiors were most welcoming for any tired traveler seeking the blessings of the Lord. Its a small temple but here we witnessed tradition in full swing. It was the time for the Uchyakala puja, at the stroke of 12.00pm

It was not a Cinderella we saw, but quite something else. Having completed the worship and abhishekam of the Mother goddess at the Amman shrine, a priest came dressed in a maroon silk saree with rudraksha beads round his neck. Two beaded necklaces hung down from a well covered chest and a benign look on his face made him look very close to the Goddess Herself.

He walked in gracefully, his calm face adding to the charm. He wore a crown on his head, a brilliant maroon velveted crown with semi precious stones depicting Lord Shiva Jambukeshwara on it. He carried a pot with water almost making it appear like Parvati, the consort of the Lord who had descended to bathe Him with her very hands. He looked divine, straight out of the 11th century walking into the temple today.

The thick wooden doors creaked open, and he slipped through while the crowd savored the spectacle they had just witnessed. We waited for a few moments more, understanding why he was dressed that way when the doors were thrown open to all.

The very incarnate of the Goddess who had bathed the Lord now held the flame up to Him. The Arti started and each lamp with a million tiny flames was served up in circular motion to the Lord who stayed behind a grill window. The fire rose into the air, the smoke clouding the interiors, a figure raised his hands, adorned with a crown on his head that was taken straight out of Krishnadeva Raya's closet. I wondered what else there was hidden within these small towns that boast more of our living culture than the cities.

Minutes after the flames rose, and the bells rang, the crowd was allowed to visit the sacred shrine of the Lord representing water. We all moved in, taking our respective queues but no where could we set eyes on that Goddess again. She was just gone. "

Oh u know what book may be of help too, Changing Ones by Will Roscoe, it talks about the two spirited community past and prescence in native american culture.... When i began my search for answers to my own gender identity The Spirit MOthers and ancestors lead me there. It helped me alot and there are some references to certain deities in it as well. Peace and love.x oxoxoxooxox.
Love is ETernity,
Dane

Its a fairly good article. Judy Grahn's book is good, also some of Paula Gunn Allen's writings (who inspired the Native American portions of Grahn's book... she and Grahn were lovers around that time ;) ). Also very useful is Walter Williams' book "The Spirit And the Flesh." Roscoe's work is interesting too, though I prefer Williams' perspective.

This statement from the article refered to above

"...the social function of the Two-Spirit native people was thus to not only serve as a mediator between the sexes, but to walk in both worlds as a bridge between man and the powers that lay behind the veil of the otherwise ordinary life."

is pretty much key, in my view. Two-spirit, third-gender (i.e., tritiya prakriti), etc, is about the fluidity of categories that are often assumed to be rigidly fixed. Gender for most people is, after all, pretty much a given... they are a woman, or they are a man. Many aspects of their lives then derive from that distinction... manners, behavior, attire, social and cultural roles, religious roles. And most will not be 'caught dead' in the other role. Not true of two-spirits people! :) Well, maybe... as of course some really prefer the gender role other than the one they are 'supposed' to take. ;) I know that is how I feel much of the time. ;)

But it is to move between worlds. Between the social worlds of male and female (which in most traditional cultures are fairly distinct), on the one hand, but also, given that fluid nature, one is also perceived capable of moving readily between the human realms, natural realms and spiritual realms. Thus one becomes a mediator in many dimensions, and, for example, in the Lakota tradition a Winkte (the traditional term for a two spirit person) is considered a type of 'wichasha wakan,' a 'holy person.' What is sometimes commonly termed in English a "medicine person."

As, in contemporary terms, a 'transgendered' person myself, I have been identified by traditional native elders in fact as carrying that type of 'medicine.' Most recently that has been in the form of dancing two years in the Sundance, as a winkte. My place was unique. I was instructed to dance between the men and the women -- and yet, at other times, was to dance alone in the shadow of the Sundance tree, between this realm and Spirit. At times I was to be with the women, in the inipi (sweat lodge); at other times with the men. I prefer to be with my sisters; that always seems my spiritual home. But that mobility is a rare privilege to be able to experience the hearts of both. So my dance was to be sometimes with the men, sometimes with the women, and sometimes in the spiritual realm alone. It was needless to say a very interesting experience.