HOMOSEXUALITY – A SHAMAN’S THOUGHTS

Hello Blue Eagle,

In a society such as ours, there are aspects that are not readily accepted, for example homosexuality. Thus, I would like to know what you think of homosexuality.   Laurent

A.B. —This is a complex and delicate question but an important one. Thus we need to build an ideological, sociological framework that would allow tolerance and respect for all and a context where there is peace of mind and acceptance of oneself and others.

First Nations traditions have, I find, a very healthy attitude towards homosexuality. I’ve met men who were very comfortable with their sexual orientation, as they had been accepted from their youngest age for what they were. Indeed, the Indian grandmothers, who know how to recognize the specific characteristics in very young children (before the age of 3), knew how to honor two-spirits. They are called “two-spirits”, because they demonstrated both polarities, male and female. This confirms the studies that have found that homosexuality is in fact a predisposition encoded in the DNA of certain people.

I notice that there is something disturbing me since the beginning of this response to Laurence’s question. They are the terms “homosexuality » and “sexual orientation”. This has little to do with sexuality and everything to do with life. Our current civilization is obsessed with sexuality. The real essence of that joining in love that creates life has been replaced in popular culture by a short-lived and fleeting pleasure which often leaves people dissatisfied and empty. This fixation on the sexual act and the uncountable taboos and perversions which accompany people whose culture was influenced by Christian, Judaic and Muslim religions are symptoms of the confusion in which modern civilization is in its understanding of who we are as Human Beings. Thus I shall no longer use the term homosexual, but that of two-spirits, nor sexual orientation, but rather one’s internal polarization.

First Nation communities accepted two-spirits as special beings who had special gifts. Certain families and nations still have the same understanding today. Imagine men, who have the strength of men, but who dress as women and work with the women. What a pleasure for the women’s circle to have such a resource amongst them and insight into the experience a man has as you can imagine the curiosity and many jokes and laughter they would all share! And imagine a woman, with a female’s intuition and sharp third senses, who dresses as a man and who hunts and goes on warrior missions with the men! Very useful and very appreciated. And then there are the shamans … many two-spirits become powerful healers in traditional native communities as they have a very good understanding of both men and women as they have both polarities. As for marriage and the opportunity to give birth to children, the traditions which have all nations accepting polygamy for certain people, allowed that all could create a family life with loved ones. The man who preferred to live as a woman could be the second wife of a hunter and thus build a family with them. The woman warrior could be married with a woman, but also with a man. She would help love and nourish the children of her “wives”.

All were accepted and honored in First Nation’s community life. They only needed to find a way to be useful and fulfil one of the many roles that a community needs. As in any community, to deserve the respect of the other members of that community people had to prove that they were real autonomous and sovereign beings, capable of seeing to their needs and making a contribution to community life. It didn’t really matter that they were different, what mattered was their contribution to community life and their development as real human beings.

I’ve met gay Native Americans who were very comfortable with who they were and in fact had remarkable qualities because they were in peace with their internal polarization. I’ve also met Canadian men and women with huge problems among which some who died of AIDS and never found peace of mind. Some were friends with whom I shared moments of meditation and ceremony and some even worked with us. Yet they never succeeded in finding true balance and peace. If they had, that would have allowed them to offer a significant contribution to their communities. I remember one of them when offered to be healed of his AIDS virus, as some medicine people have succeeded in doing so, refusing the help. Their inner distress and feelings of rejection amplified by an unyielding and harsh modern society were so powerful emotions that they preferred death to the possibility of healing.

I think this is in fact a problem of understanding the true nature of what it means to be human. The current technocratic worldwide system which is generally considered positive progress, has created an educational system that gives no importance to the quest, search and discovery for the meaning of life. The importance of answering questions such as “Who am I?”, that every human being needs to answer, are not a part of what this system can accommodate. Impossible in fact within an artificial matrix which programs humanity in an ever more controlling and policed society. People need to adapt to the system at the risk of being rejected. Who they really are in not taken into account, it’s what they do that counts. Thus, people that are different don’t fit into the little boxes the system wants people to fit into. They thus often develop psychic and physical pathologies which make it difficult to find the peace of mind which could lead to the understanding of whom they are and their place and role within the community and world.

It is important to respect all the beings for who and what they are. It’s essential that every human being “find themselves” to be then able to offer a contribution to the world in which they live. These are simple, but important truths. To understand who we are in connection with the community is essential, as it’s in relationship with others than we can determine who we are.

What people are born into today are not communities, but societies. The word society indicates people associated in an economic alliance where human relationships are optional. We live in apartment buildings, houses or mansions surrounded by fences and away from those who are different from us. That is why in such a world the search, discovery and acceptance of who and what we are is more difficult.

Yet all True Human Beings are free. We are not prisoners of the technocratic system if we decide to be responsible and conscious Men and Women who live their truth in every way possible. Even if it is difficult today to recreate our communities, we can still recreate the kind of relationships that reflect our commitment to the truth. Thus, all can find ways to develop and find peace of mind, joy, love and the actualization of their dreams.

How we can encourage that inner search and discovery is an ongoing quest and will determine the future of humanity as human beings responsible of their role and place upon mother earth.

Peace and light

Blue Eagle