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Ashé Journal, Vol 5, Issue 4, 455-465, Winter 2007.  Reviews: Bending Spirit
Over the past couple of years, there has been an increase in publications speaking to the spiritual lives of lesbians and gay men. Even a non-exhaustive survey of these titles shows the diversity of the LGBT communities and the breadth of their spiritual exploration.
Also from Toby Johnson, this time joined by anthropologist Walter Williams, comes a new work of historical fiction: Two Spirits: A Story of Life With the Navajo (Lethe Press, 2006, 331pp, $18.00). Set in the Civil War era of the 1860’s, Two Spirits tells the story of a feckless Virginian who finds himself captivated by a Two-Spirit male. This is a fascinating book that combines tragedy and oppression with a tale of love, beauty and self-discovery.
New & Notable
Robert Anton WilsonIn Memoriam, 1932-2007
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Leading the
pack is a superb collection edited by G.Winston James and Lisa Moore: Spirited:
Affirming the Soul and Black Gay/Lesbian Identity (Red Bone Press,
2006, 391pp, $16.95). Given its power within African American culture, it is
not surprising that the Black church is a strong undercurrent running throughout
this collection. Against this backdrop—and often times reacting to or
against it—Moore and James have drawn together a rich and varied collection
of personal stories of coming to spirituality. In addition to Christianity,
authors write of Buddhism, Shamanism, Vodun, heathenism, Wicca and returning
to traditional African spirituality. This is an affirming and positive collection—an
ideal read for anyone moving toward self-acceptance or looking to deepen their
spiritual understanding.
For almost twenty-years now, White Crane Journal has been a forum
for the discussion gay men’s spirituality. Now White Crane Foundation
has teamed with Lethe press to bring forth a series of classic and new books
centering on gay spirituality and wisdom. The series debuted in 2005 with the
reprint of two classics: Two Flutes Playing: A Spiritual Journeybook
for Gay Men, Andrew Ramer (White Crane Spirituality Series/Lethe Press,
2005, 157pp, $12.95) and Gay Spirit: Myth and Meaning, Mark
Thompson, Editor (White Crane Spirituality Series/Lethe Press, 2005, 311pp,
$19.95). Ramer began Two Flutes Playing in 1980 and the work spans
the decade through to the early nineties. Part channeled work and part observational
musing, the work is an evocative invocation. Ramer weaves stories and heroes
into a new mythology for the gay tribes. Gay Spirit is a collection
that was groundbreaking in 1987 when it originally appeared. Mixing anthropology,
history and sexual/identity politics, the collection remains a powerful read.
A glance over the names listed in the table of contents might give one the
impression that this collection is a dated slice of a different time—William
Burroughs, Michel Foucault, Christopher Isherwood, Harry Hay. The very fact
that, twenty years on, we recognize so many of these names, as much today as
then, is a testament to the timelessness of Mark Thompson editorial selection.
White Crane
and Lethe have also teamed to launch a new Wisdom Series. The first release
is a new work edited by Toby Johnson (Gay Perspective) and Steve Berman
(Vintage): Charmed Lives: Gay Spirit in Storytelling (Lethe
Press, 2007, 306pp, $16.95). Charmed Lives brings together stories
of transformation—running the gamut from the whimsical, the romantic,
to the tragic. Contributors include Perry Brass, Don Clark, Andrew Ramer, Mark
Thompson, Malcolm Boyd, among others. The book combines personal essays with
creative fiction.
Michael Thompson
Ford offers a practical guide to pagan spirituality in The Path of
the Green Man: Gay Men, Wicca, and Living a Magical Life (Citadel
Press, 2005, 244pp, $14.95). Ford is the founder of the Green Men, a group
dedicated to establishing a new Pagan tradition for gay men. The author takes
readers along on his own quest to merge Pagan spirituality into his life. The
book is much more than a personal testimonial, however. It is a manual for
practicing the Pagan path of Wicca designed specifically for gay men. Ford
provides hands-on exercises and rituals for crafting a more meaningful life
through developing a deeper connection to the natural world.
And last,
but definitely not least, it was fifty years ago that Allen Ginsberg’s
prophetic epic poem “Howl” was first published by City Lights.
To mark the anniversary Haper Perennial has reissued the original manuscript: Howl:
50th Anniversary Edition (HarperCollins, 2006, 194pp, 18.95). This
annotated edition is the late poet’s own re-creation of the work’s
composition—providing a unique insight into the creative process. This
volume combines the original typed manuscript, including Ginsberg’s handwritten
editorial marks, with numerous anecdotes that shed light on both the writer’s
technique and the social, spiritual fabric of the time it was written.
The Padmakara
Translation Group has brought another of Tibet’s textual treasures into
Enligh: Nagarjuna’s Letter to a Friend (Snow Lion, 2005,
208pp, hardcover, $22.95). Appearing 600 years after the Buddha, Nagarjuna
is considered one of the greatest scholars of the Great Vehicle, or Mahayana
tradition. Here is one of the great works of Indian Buddhist literature.
Originally written as a letter to an Indian king, the letter has become a classic
work of the shastra tradition. Though short, the letter covers the breadth
of the Mahayana path. Due to this the work has proved a great resource for
scholars and students of the tradition. The volume includes commentary by Longchen
Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche, the 20th century Tibetan scholar. His straightforward
interpretation of Nagarjuna’s text is very helpful in making Nagarjuna’s,
at time compacted, verse accessible.
The
Hermeneutics of the Subject (Palgrave, 2006, 566pp, hardcover, $35.00)
collects lectures Michel Foucault delivered at the Collège de France in
1981 and 1982. In this third volume in this series, the topics of the lectures
focus on questions of the “self” and the “care of the self” was
viewed and constructed in antiquity. Foucault’s talks center on the question
of the ethical formation of the self and the question of subjectivity. These
lectures help create a much deeper understanding of, and appreciation for, Foucault’s
later work. In this case, these talks have particular relevance to Foucault’s
final work in his History of Sexuality. Foucault was one of the great
(and unique) minds of the 20th century. His analytical insight, sharp as a surgeon’s
scalpal, shows itself throughout the course of these lectures.
The
enigmatic Voynich
Manuscript was first discovered in an Italian monestary in 1912
and is in the collection of Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book Library.
Since then, the strange volume, with its unknown language and strange illustrations,
has baffled scholars and fascinated cryptologists. In their work of the same
name, Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill (Inner Traditions, 2006, 292pp, $18.95)
explore the mystery surrounding the medieval manuscript, examining the various
theories surrounds boths its authorship and its contents. They trace the
speculative history of themanuscript and suggest those who might be connected
with it—a veritable who’s who of the western mysteries: Roger
Bacon, John Dee, Edward Kelley and, the current martyrs du jour, the Cathars.
The magical
journal is one of the most important, and oft’ overlooked, tools in the
magician’s arsenal. Aleister Crowley and the Practice of the
Magical Diary edited by James Wasserman (Weiser Books, 2006, 197pp,
$19.95) brings together Crowley’s important works on the subject of keeping
one’s magical record. First published in the Equinox in 1909, Crowley’s John
St. John chronicls in great detail his 13-day magical retirement and was
described by its author as “a perfect model of what a magical record
should be.” Wasserman couples this with Frater Achad’s A
Master of the Temple, first published in 1919. Achad’s example
details his experience as an adept. Wasserman provides an insightful introduction.
The inclusion of a “culinary glossary” for the various foods and
dink mentioned in John St. John is a delightful treat.
Rumi is recognized
as one of the world’s great spiritual poets. The thirteenth-century
mystic released himself from many of the precepts of formal religion, espousing,
instead, a complete personal dissolving into the rich energies of the godhead.
With the support of the Turkish government, Nevit Ergin embarked on translating
Rumi’s 23 volume Divan—numbering over 44,000 verses—into
English. When it came to publishing the openly heretical material contained
in the final volume, the Turkish government withdrew their support for the
project. Now in Forbidden Rumi (Inner Traditions, 2006, 167pp,
$14.95), Nevit Ergin and Will Johnson present for the first time in English
Rumi’s poems from this forbidden volume. Also included are introductions
and commentary that provide both 13th-century context and modern interpretation. The
collection is nicely grouped into three sections: songs to Sham and God, songs
of heresy and songs of advice.
James
Bruce first brought The Codex Brucianus to England in 1769. The volume
contained several sixth century Gnostic works written in Coptic. It is likely
that the works were based on earlier original Greek texts. Part of this collection, “The
Untitled Apocalypse,” is translated here in The Gnosis of the
Light translated by F. Lamplugh (Ibis Press, 2006, 77pp, $12.95). Dated
to the second century, the time of the great Gnostic Valentinus, the text lays
out the early Gnostic teachings in esoteric symbolism designed to work upon
the believer’s inner experience. The work’s imagery fosters contemplation
intended to prepare a candidate for the Baptism of the Light in which union
with the indwelling spark of the divine. To Lamplugh’s 1892 translation,
this volume adds a preface by R. A. Gilbert examining the historical context
and relevance of the work today.
In The
Sacred Embrace of Jesus and Mary (Inner Traditions, 2006, 150pp,
$14.95), orthodox theologian Jean-Yves LeLoup tackles one of the great mysteries
of Christianity: why did Saint Paul reject sexuality and the feminine. Drawing
on canonical and apocryphal gospels, the Hebrew esoteric tradition and Gnosticism,
LeLoup attempts to reveal the actual context of the words attributed to Jesus.
Through his analysis, LeLoup argues that Jesus came not to redeem humanity
from the flesh, but to honor it as a spiritual path.
The author points out that when Paul rejected women, he did not support his contention
by citing any words of Jesus. LeLoup suggests that this wholesale elimination
of the divine feminine and debasing of sacred sexuality does not reflect, in
fact, the true teachings of Jesus. LeLoup supports his own refutation of Paul
through an in-depth analysis and exploration of the relationship between Jesus
and Mary Magdalene. A slew of books on the Magdalene have followed on the international
success of The Davinci Code. Known for his earlier works of esoteric
Christianity, including The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Gospel
of Thomas, LeLoup is ideally suited to approach this subject. 