Braids and Gates

Recently I have been pressed to read Malidoma Somé on 3 different occasions, from 3 different people. So I know it is time to dig in.

Somé is from the Dagara tribe, in Burkina Faso. They conceptualize gender and sexuality very differently from the Christian/Western/Northern world. Gender is energetic, gay people are spiritual gatekeepers, and lesbians are witches. And since many of the gatekeepers, at least, are married with children we might call them bisexual. Actually, it would be more appropriate to say that gatekeepers and witches experience homoerotic attraction, because it is their gatekeeper status which is relavent to the community, less their sexuality. Their rituals and symposiums are what give society at large another year of life.

This reminded me of two other readings I had done recently: Judy Grahn's theory of braided evolution and Paula Gunn Allen's discussion of Native American lesbians.

First, Grahn:"... evolution is constantly braiding; beginning in the shape of horizontal strands consisting of the 'parallel' rituals of each gender, which are categorically different from the rituals of the other gender. ... As the strands of ritual elaborate into cultural forms, the sexes lose track of what each other is doing. One begins, historically, to become more elaborate than the other, with a consequent imbalance that affects everything. As part of this dialectical tension, 'crossover groups' of various kinds, and in particular transgendered peoples, help to effect the bringing together of the ritual strands, into what can be imaged as a 'braided' form, that allows a more balanced flow of evolution."

When it comes to gender and sexuality, Allen is not presenting her own theory as Grahn does, nor is she a cultural embassador in the same way Somé is. She is piecing together her cultural history from her lived experience as well as historical evidence of pre-contact times. But she does discuss at least two types of queer women in American Indigenous tribes: the lesbian who emotionally and sexually bonds with other women and the dyke who bonds with women for spiritual reasons. (The categories are not mutually exclusive.) Dykes are certainly powerful, but how powerful, and what kind of powers they have, is not clear. Allen is limited by the amount of information available to her about her people during pre-contact times, particularly about women. More information is available about their male counterparts.

For Allen, no social significance is discussed. Only the fact that dykes were not separate from culture and that they had distinct marriage rituals. Both Somé and Grahn offer specific cultural significance to GLBT people, but Somé offers it primarily (in this interview) to GLB people and Grahn to T people. I believe that Grahn includes butch women and effeminate men in her crossover groups, and may extend the crossover group to include all people, but I don't remember right now. Somé and Grahn believe queer people are important to the strength and health of culture, though Somé stresses spiritual significance and Grahn stresses cultural significance of ritual...though in truth both see culture and spirit as blended.

Another distinction might be that Allen stresses spiritual abilities, Grahn stresses purpose, and Somé streses both purpose and ability. Allen does hint at spiritual purpose without knowing for sure what it is/was. I don't know if Grahn thinks trans people have special abilities or if they are simply in a unique position, helping to bring women and men back together in a more balanced culture.

I find all of this fascinating but I'm weary of essentialising queer people as anything, including spiritual. I'm also weary of social construction, and spiritual arguments. Actually, I think I'm just weary. I find it problematic to say, "queer people, because they are born queer, have special abilities and qualities unrelated to their sexuality." Similarly I find it problematic to give all the credit for queer peoples' spiritual significance to culture. And I immediately dismiss any claim that God/dess made some group "more spiritual" or "more significant."

So I think I need to settle on some middle ground with all of this, for now. The ingredients of body-mind, culture, and spirit are all important. And I believe that we all have spiritual meaning and significance, regardless of our gender or sexuality. The way we express our meaning and significance, the historic and cultural realities that we need to address, and the channels that are open to us vary.

But it is still worth celebrating, ritualizaing, and honoring the knowledge that there are some places and mindsets that celebrate the spiritual cultural significance of queer people.

I'm also open to the idea that perhaps it is my own limited cultural mindset, spiritual process, or maybe even internal homophobia/gender issues that keep me from knowing how to keep the gate, cross the braid, or uncover information about my significance.

Currently Reading:
Allen, Paula Gunn. "Hwame, Koshkalaka, and the Rest: Lesbians in American Indian Cultures," in The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions : with a New Preface, 245-261. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992.

Grahn, Judy. What is Metaformia? Metaformia: A Journal of Menstruation and Culture. http://www.metaformia.org (accessed November 24, 2008).

Hoff, Bert H. 1993. Gays: Guardians of the Gates. Interview with Malidoma Somé. M.E.N. Magazine, September.