[Introduction] Part I: On Being Androgyne

Part II

Androgyne: The Union of Opposites Within

An Internet Study

The purpose of this study is to provide the general public with educational resources relative to androgynes, i.e. for those who are androgyne, and those who are not, and who, consequently, wish to better understand those who are. These resources are primarily scholarly in content, and do not collectively represent any particular political, or religious convention. (Lastly, but totally not least[!], the final entry in this compilation is, effectively, an remarkable expansion, and extension of this list; this resource is even therein included.) It is the author's hope that this resource will result in the global liberation of androgynes from societal ignorance about, and discrimination toward them, as well as from the bondage of their own confusion about, and/or lack of acceptance of who they truly are.

The Androgyne (.pdf) "The Androgyne is the visual representation of Primordial perfection; wholeness; the unconditioned state; autonomy; paradise regained; the reunion of the primordial male-female forces; the union of heaven and earth, king and queen, the two becoming ONE, the all-mother and the all- father."

Androgyne
" An androgyne may or may not look androgynous. Someone who looks androgynous may or may not be an androgyne. A 'psychological androgyne' is one term for a person who has an androgynous gender identity, but doesn't necessarily look androgynous...^"

The Double Meaning of the Androgyne " ...the Androgyne represents, at the same time, both united aspects of the being. Either the opposites are merged within the potential state of the not yet manifested being or the manifested being has realized their re-integration and..."

Were We Once Whole?
"... Each soul and spirit prior to its entering into this world, consists of a male and female united into one being. When it descends on this earth the two parts separate and animate two different bodies..."

The Androgyne: "The Glorious Androgynal State" "...Androgyny, as a sign of realization of totality, thus appears both in the end and in the beginning of the world. According to the eschatological view of redemption, through the plenary attainment of the state of Androgyne, the human being truly recovers a heavenly, divine plenitude..."

Ruminations on Zen's Cows: Part V, Androgyny in Spiritual Alchemy "Let us, for the moment, suppose that the Oxherding pictures and the contest between human and wild bull in southwestern Europe have to do with a mysterious spiritual state called androgyny, or the union of opposites, or divine marriage. Before we can go further with this supposition, let’s consider this 'mysterious' spiritual state."

What Was the Androgyne? The Androgyne in the Biblical Story of Creation "Rabbinic discussions about the two versions of Creation and the androgyne can be found in Genesis Rabbah and Leviticus Rabbah, which are collections of midrashim about the books of Genesis and Leviticus. In Genesis Rabbah the rabbis wonder..."
The Image of the Androgyne: Some Uses of a Symbol in Earliest Christianity
Androgyne Adam
" Among those supporters of Androgyne Adam are the oldest Hebrew scholars, the writers of the Talmud. When I first searched for Adam in the Talmud I was shocked not only that the writers believe Adam was an androgyne, but I was also shocked at how normal it was. The Talmud is famous for debating minor details and giving multiple, conflicting views on the same topic on purpose. But the Earthling’s gender was not debated. They believed the Earthling an androgyne and no reason to make a fuss over it or defend the idea."

Tantra "In this way, re-born as a genuine Androgyne of the Secret Tradition -- magical child of SHIVA and SHAKTI -- the Individual Spirit will have access to the highest levels of Consciousness."

Integral ImmortalityThe Kundalini/Golden EmbryoTheory of Everything "Tantric Buddhahood or immortality can also be defined as the rediscovery of the Hermetic Androgyne or Rebis. These are other terms for the kundalini/golden embryo: the Philosopher's Stone, the union of the three bodies (corpus, anima, spiritus), (Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya), physical, subtle and super subtle..."



The Androgyne in Native America
Shamanic Androgyny "The Berdache are the highest shamans, healers, teachers, diviners, dreamers, prophets, and guardians of the Gateway. To them, sexuality is nothing more than an extension of their spiritual being. If their energy was not used for this purpose, there would develop a blockage or build-up that would seek expression. Quite often, that expression would end up being sexual, since touching another human always causes this energy to flow."

The Way Of The Two Spirited People: Native American concepts of gender and sexual orientation "Many tribes had rituals for children to go through if they were recognized as acting different from their birth gender. These rituals ensured the child was truly two-spirit. If parents noticed that a son was disinterested in boyish play or manly work, they would set up a ceremony to determine which way the boy would be brought up."

The 'two-spirit' people of indigenous North Americans "Rather than the physical body, Native Americans emphasised a person's "spirit", or character, as being most important. Instead of seeing two-spirit persons as transsexuals who try to make themselves into "the opposite sex", it is more accurate to understand them as individuals who take on a gender status that is different from both men and women. This alternative gender status offers a range of possibilities, from slightly effeminate males or masculine females, to androgynous or transgender persons, to those who completely cross-dress and act as the other gender. The emphasis of Native Americans is not to force every person into one box, but to allow for the reality of diversity in gender and sexual identities."

Two Spirits, One Heart, Five Genders "The Two Spirit people in pre-contact Native America were highly revered and families that included them were considered lucky. Indians believed that a person who was able to see the world through the eyes of both genders at the same time was a gift from The Creator. Traditionally, Two Spirit people held positions within their tribes that earned them great respect, such as Medicine Men/Women/shamans/visionaries/mystics/conjurers, keepers of the tribe’s oral traditions... Female-bodied Two Spirits were hunters, warriors..., and by all accounts, were always fearless. Traditional Native Americans closely associate Two Spirited people with having a high functioning intellect..., keen artistic skills and an exceptional capacity for compassion."

Two Spirit: The Story of a Movement Unfolds "At least 165 tribal gender traditions existed in North America historically, when many of our Native cultures accepted and respected individuals encompassing a balance of both feminine and masculine qualities..."

Two Spirit: The Trials and Tribulations of Gender Identity in the 21st Century
"Two Spirit traditions were threatened, though, when Europeans colonized the Americas. The notion of a third, fluid, male-and-female gender conflicted with the colonizers’ heterosexual views, and in 1879, the U.S. government removed thousands of Two Spirited people from their tribes. They were sent to live in..."

A Letter to White People Using the Term “Two Spirit” "...written by white allies... If you are not a member of a First Nations tribe, then it is not liberatory to use the term “Two Spirit.” If you did not descend from their ancestors and their struggles, and if you do not understand the history of their tribes or their words, then they are not yours to use and your use of the terms is theft, or what is called cultural appropriation. All to often, we appropriate words, customs and clothes from other cultures without the context to really know their implications."

Disciplining Androgyny: A Brief History of Binary Gender "Confronting ambiguity, hybridity, and androgyny with hospitality is not our strong suit; culturally, many in the Euro-American West are made incredibility uncomfortable when operating outside of binary and hierarchical frameworks. I can see that when people are confronted with androgyny or gender ambiguity, all the unconscious messages of gender flood into our conscious thought as we struggle to acknowledge just how immensely our perceptions of gender shape our thoughts and interactions with another person."

Intersex and Androgyny and Implications for Provision of Primary Health Care (.pdf) "It is clear from this research project that primary health care providers are faced with a complex range of factors when treating intersexed or androgynous individuals. Not the least of these is their own limited understanding of the extent of intersex and androgyn in the population, their knowledge of the medical and psycho-social needs of the intersexed, and whether the intersexed person has confidence to disclose their status."

Practical Androgyny "Devoted to the practicalities of ambiguous gender presentation within a binary gendered society."

Androgyny Online (Exceptional collection of related links!) "Key to understanding androgyneity is a schema wherein sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity are three separate and different things. Sex denotes one's gonadal makeup, where one can be male, female, or intersex (previously called hermaphrodite). Sexual orientation reflects the sort(s) of person to whom one is attracted for sexual purposes, where one can be attracted to males, to females, to intersex people, to any combination of the three, or be asexual. (The terms heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual are problematic for the intersexed because the intersexed are not always clearly male or female.) Gender identity refers to how one views oneself. A person can consider themselves to be a man (masculine), a woman (feminine), or androgyne (man/masculine and woman/feminine simultaneously, or neither)."



This page is dedicated to Knowledge, Understanding and Love, of the highest order. [Introduction] Part I: On Being Androgyne

Presented by The MÈRE Project Charitable Trust. Compiled by Rev. Michaele Alyras de Cygne