Disrobe without shame

[sophiaserpentia]

His disciples said, "When will you become revealed to us, and when shall we see you?"
Jesus said, "When you disrobe without being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the Son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid." Gospel of Thomas 37

Hmm, I've been to a festival or two like that. ::weg:: In fact I read this verse to a group of people at the last Wyldfyre gathering at the nude camp in Slidell.

In seriousness, this verse seems to be alluding to what was said in Genesis to be the first sign of shame in Adam and Eve -- the awareness that they were naked. I have always interpreted "garment" in Gnostic scripture to refer to the blanket of doctrine that we wrap around ourselves in order to feel safe and snug in a world otherwise filled with insecurity. When Jesus says here "like little children," he seems to be referring not just to the naivete that sees nakedness without shame, but also to the kind of naive wonder that we see in the world when we really open up our eyes and see.

Comments

[alobar.livejournal.com]

I lived within many interlocking communities which shunned clothing as much as possible for about 6 years or so, which built upon earlier experiences at living in a town where skinnie-dipping in the resevoir was standard practice. When I first began to shed my clothes in front of strangers, I realized that there was a lot of shame at my own body. I was fat. My muscles drooped. I had scars on my legs, etc. When I loosened up enough to observe others, I realized that some people who had amazingly good bobies (imo) seemed to be very self critical of themselves as well. After a while, I cam e to realize that I was never fooling anyone. I looked fat whether I was butt naked or if I wore baggy sweat pants. I began to realize how much comfortable I was when naked. My skin breathed easier. I felt less ensnared in social expectations an less stiffled by un-natural layers which prevented my body from doing its job of temperature regulation & breathing thru the pores. In Hippy parlance, I began to shed my hang-ups.

In later years, David, a guy I knew who had abslutely zero tact once commented to me that he always appreciated it when I was one of the frst to shed my clothes at a ritual fire because my body was in so much worse shape than his, my ability to get nekkid without hesitation gave him the incentive to do likewise. By that time in my life, I pretty much had worked thru a lot of body shame so I just shook my head & laughed at David.

Then I moved from Ithaca to Buffalo. I had been under the impression thatpeople who worked the pagan & magickal currents were all similar in that we all would share nakedness freely. But the city folk in Bufflao were somewhat scandalized that us Ithaca folk would strip down for Circle, socialize naked, and sometimes have sex on a couch in a room full of people. Nobody told us to stop. But some left the room. Others stared with mouths agape. And none of them took off their clothes.