Mythology of same-sex love

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Religious narrative has included stories interpreted by many as accounts of same-sex love and sexuality. Other myths contain LGBT references. Among surviving examples are:

Contents

[edit] List of myths associated with same-sex love

Arranged by continent of origin of the religion. Entries of names specific partners are alphabetical.

[edit] Africa

[edit] Egypt

[edit] The Americas


[edit] Asia and the Middle East

[edit] Babylonia

[edit] Biblical

[edit] China

[edit] Japan

  • Ōkuninushi (大国主) and Sukunabikona or Sukunahikona (少名毘古那神 or 少彦名神)
  • Takemikazuchi ( タケミカヅチ; 建御雷之男神 建御雷神 ) and Takeminakata ( タケミナカタ, 建御名方神 たけみなかたのかみ)
  • Monju, Monju Bosatsu; Manjusri (Monju 文殊 or Monju-shiri 文殊師利菩薩)
  • Jizō, Jizō Bosatsu; Ksitigarbha (Jizō 地蔵, Jizo-o Bosatsu 地蔵菩薩)
  • Kannon, Syō Kannon Bosatsu (聖観音菩薩); Avalokiteśvara 
  • Aizen Myō-ō (愛染明王 or 愛染妙王)
  • Fudō Myō-ō (不動明王); Acala    
  • Shudō Daimyōjin (衆道大明神); Patron God of shudo (衆道)]][1]

[edit] Europe

[edit] Christian


[edit] Celtic

[edit] Greece

[edit] Norse

[edit] List of LGBT related deities and myths

Listed in alphabetical order, with culture of origin noted and statement of how it relates to LGBT.

  • Ahsonnutli, in Navaho tradition, a bisexual creator god
  • Anteros, Greek god of unrequited love, was also a term used for the love which arises in the beloved boy in a pederastic relationship.
  • Amazons, in Greek mythology, a nation of warrior women
  • Asiaq, in Inuit mythology, the deity of storms, generally portrayed as female, but sometimes as male
  • Atea and Fakahotu a Polynesian god and goddess who change sexes when their son dies of hunger
  • Chin (Mayan god), Mayan god of homosexuality
  • Eros, Greek god of sexual love of all types
  • Freyr, a Norse god of fertility, may have been worshipped by a group of homosexual or effeminate priests, as suggested by Saxo Grammaticus in his Gesta Danorum and later by Dumézil [3]
  • Grettir, an Icelandic hero, had a voracious sexual appetite and was said to have slept with men, women and animals alike.[citation needed]
  • Hu Tianbao, Chinese god of homosexuality
  • Loki, a Norse trickster god, who frequently disguises himself as a woman and has given birth, (whilst in the form of a white mare, he took a 'passive' role in a homosexual/bestial encounter with the stallion) Svadilfari, resulting in his giving birth to the foal Sleipnir.
  • Mandulis, a Nubian sky deity, pictured as male, with pendulous breasts
  • Mawu-Lisa, a depiction of the creator deity in Dahomey tradition presented as both male and female
  • Nana Buluku the androgynous supreme deity of the Dahomey
  • Odin is mentioned as a practitioner of seiðr, a form of magic considered shameful for men to perform, so was reserved for women. It is possible that the practice of seiðr involved passive sexual rites [4].
  • Ometeotl, the Aztec master of duality, considered both male and female
  • Tiresias, a male Greek prophet who was turned into a woman for 7 years

[edit] Spoken-word versions - audio files

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Pflugfelder, Gregory (2000). Cartographies of Desire: Male-Male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 
  2. ^ Jordan, Mark D. (2000). The silence of Sodom: homosexuality in modern Catholicism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-41041-2.  on the nature of "brotherly love", p.174
  3. ^ Dumézil, Georges. From Myth to Fiction: the Saga of Hadingus. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1970. (p115)
  4. ^ Viking Answer Lady Webpage - Homosexuality in Viking Scandinavia

[edit] Bibliography

Bernard Sergent

  • Homosexuality in Greek Myth
  • L'homosexualité initiatique dans l'Europe ancienne

Andrew Calimach

  • Lovers' Legends: The Gay Greek Myths
  • Lovers' Legends Unbound

Conner, Sparks & Sparks

  • Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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