The Serpent's Wisdom

An old essay of mine on the sacred-sexual aspects of transgenderism was re-published online in an_gadhar's journal, The Shadow Sacrament: a Journal of Sex and Spirituality. Not work-safe.

An essay in Karen L. King's (ed.) book, Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism has me thinking about this passage in I Corinthians:

( 1 Cor. 11:3-16 )

It's been argued that the proper way to read this, is that Paul was rebuking the Corinthian congregation for practices and theology which he felt was inappropriate. But what was it that the Corinthians were doing and teaching?

Well, it seems that some of the men were growing their hair long and/or covering their heads for worship, while some of the women were cutting their hair short and/or uncovering their heads for worship.

The argument of Dennis MacDonald is that the Corinthians had instituted a practice, in reflection of neo-platonic or Gnostic teaching, which involved denying or transcending one's gender and working to become an embodiment of the primal androgyne. The primal androgyne, in his understanding of neo-platonic myth, is fundamentally masculine, and so therefore women are still being denegrated in concept, even though the practice of removing their veils ostensibly makes them more free.

Such a practice might explain why women would remove the veil which marks their gender socially. However, he ignores and cannot explain why certain Corinthian Christian men would have veiled themselves, which they seem to have been doing. He also doesn't present any evidence that ritual androgynous dress was employed in ritual by any Gnostic or neo-platonic group at any time. He seems driven to devise an argument designed to make Paul look more like a feminist than the Corinthians or the Gnostics. (Edit: some of this is addressed in the rebuttal by Bernadette Brooten.)

The popular theory (such as that espoused by Elisabeth Shussler Fiorenza) is that the Corinthians were employing ritual transvestism as a way of incorporating Pagan ecstatic practices into their worship. If so, then Paul's main goal is to "de-ecstasize" Corinthian worship -- which idea is further supported by the fact that Paul follows this discussion with a chapter delimiting the idea of "gifts of the spirit."

It didn't take me long at all to figure out why so many people disliked Matrix III. We are a jaded, cynical moviegoing audience, and have every reason to expect that if any movie is going to celebrate and uphold that cynicism, it will be a movie with a driving soundtrack, hip movie stars in flashy black outfits, impeccable special effects, and lots of kung fu.

( spoilers behind cut )

( Ode 37 of Solomon )

This ode is deceptively simple, but it describes the essence of esoteric working. It also describes, on another level, the mystical quest. By showing the unity of the many different approaches to mystery, the ways in which they subtly interweave and overlap, it represents a sublime achivement.

Commentary on scripture this sublime risks limiting the reader's ability to see deeper -- it is with this caveat that I offer a few comments, which should not in any way be construed as representing "the" meaning of the ode.

( esoteric and mystic commentary )

crossposting to cp_circle

I expressed these thoughts in a discussion on Beliefnet regarding reincarnation in Christian thought. I am modifying it here somewhat.

I do not believe in the concept of the "immortal soul" as such, but I do believe there is a form of eternal existence that we can obtain.

( Read more... )