Hi Coyote,

Ganymede is a great example but check your mythology. He was not a god himself but the most handsome mortal, son of a king, when he was abducted by Zeus and became Zeus's cup-bearer.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganymede

Hugs,

Rig Daddy (who's boy friend's fae name is Ganymede :)

Well, you could look at Loki of the Norse/Germanic cultures... he gives birth to Sleipnir, and is seen in drag when Thor's hammer was stolen... along with Thor. You can also talk about Freyr's priests being depicted as gay. There is also some reference to Odin doing unmanly things, such as Seidhr, but I can't remember where those references are at the moment.

You can also look at the Welsh. Gwyddion and his brother are changed into animals by Math for deflowering his foot stool (a virgin woman) and they brothers mate when in these animal forms, and their offspring are changed back into humans and become the 3 heros of the Welsh. Outside of that in the Celtic worlds, it's damn near impossible to find any other references.

Greetings,
I thought that Mother Amaterasu was lured out by the laughter that Mother Uzume's dance invoked and then seeing her own reflection was beguiled to stay outside of the cave?

Do you want dieties who have become patrons of the Two Spirited/Queer Spirited peoples or ones who themselves are queer?

There is Mother Inanna who Herself is sometimes called the bearded lady and although i don't recall any tales of her being invovled with a female diety in a sexual manner. It is said that She makes women into men and men into women (she has a praise songw hich states this). Also, I saw somewhere once There was a story where she sees a woman being abused in the streets. She gets rid of the woman's attackers and after taking the pendant that fastened the woman's dress together she gives the woman a sword. She then finds a man and gives him the pendant and afterwards i beleive the refrain is sung of how she truns men into women and women into men.

In Santeria, Mother Yemaya Herself is not queer, but She was once married to the Great Diviner of the Gods called Orunla. When Orunla was away Mother Yemaya learned how to read the shells. His clients began to come to Her and She soon had clients of Her own. When Orunla returned he noticed his cliental had changed (Many still deferred to Mother Yemaya.) When he found out that She was reading the shells, he prusued Her all over the world, until finally the Great Ocean Mother came to the sea. There in the waters were queer men enjoyng the sun and splashing about in the waves. When they saw Mother Yemaya on the shore exhuasted from the chase. They told Her they would protect Her. She stepped into Herself (the waters) and waded towards them. Orunla reached the shore with the ferocity of a ram and bellowing with fury wanted to pursue her still. The Queer men seeing Orunla so intent on catching their Mother stood true to their word and began tanting him with ideas of having him to themselves "Step in the water," They said with such joval inclinations and yet lustful tones that Orunla marked to leave Mother Yemaya alone (calming his anger) and that his priest shall never read from the shells again. The Queer men saved their Mother and Mother Yemaya is still said to be proud and fond of those of the Queer Spirit. (Orunla is said to still love Mother Yemaya very much and hold the highest reverence for Her and that he even defers to Her wisdom from time to time.)

In Santeria, there is also the handsome Inle. His lover being Adryonous is sometimes referred to as male and sometimes as female. Many people beleive Inle is bisexual.

Native American cultures (in my opinion) was very advanced in the understanding of Two Spirited people. We had a place in the cultures and was often times revered. There are many Native American Dieties who could be considered patrons of the Two Spirited. I know of one in paticular. I need to do some research and rediscover His name. I believe it was He and Mother Changing Woman (in the Navajo tradition) who are said to have created two Spirited people. I need to do more research on the subject matter however.

What of Apollo in the Greek Tradition. He and the East Wind (One of the wings) were once in love with Hyacinth. Choosing between the two, Hyacinth retruned the affections of Apollo. Tragicly while the two were playing at disk the East Wind blew the thing right into Hyacinth's head, killing him. Apollo made a flower sprout at the place where his blood fell.

There is also a stroy of Set, who once tried to seduce Horus into giving up his inheritence. In one papyrus i beleive Set says to Horus, "My, what a beautiful back side you have."

If i run across any more i will difinantely let you know. many blessings on the discussion. Peace and love.
Love is Eternity,
Dane

Hyacithe, lover of Apollo. Pan seems to be willing to participate in anything that is sex...

there are many...

I would like to thank everyone that contributed something useful on this thread. The workshop went wonderfully!

Blessed Be the Queer Ones!