Gender variance in spirituality: Difference between revisions

    imported>Sekhet
    (→‎Abrahamic religions: Added more content and sources for Judaism and Christianity in particular. Added a section on gender variance in the Christian Bible. Preparing to reorganize the rest of the article's headings, and to create a spin-off article going into more depth about gender variance in Christianity.)
    imported>Sekhet
    (Reorganized article. Abrahamic section moved out from under "Asia" heading; its global spread makes it less helpful to categorize by region first. New sub-headings reflect that each entry should also discuss views *about* gender-variance, in addition to gender-variant figures. Removed the lists "Gender-variant deities ... organized by what they are patrons of" & "...organized by their sex and/or gender," which will be moved to a spin-off article.)
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    {{DISPLAYTITLE:Gender Divergence in Religion}}
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    {{content warning|cases of religious teachings being used as justification to oppress, abuse, or kill gender variant people and other minorities. It also tells religious stories that contain sex, rape, self-harm, suicide, and violence. Nudity in art.}}
    {{content warning|cases of religious teachings being used as justification to oppress, abuse, or kill gender variant people and other minorities. It also tells religious stories that contain sex, rape, self-harm, suicide, and violence. Nudity in art.}}
    Throughout history, various religions have portrayed '''gender divergence in religion''' differently. As diversity in gender existed as long as gender has, so too has the portrayal of [[transgender]], [[nonbinary]], and [[Gender nonconformity|gender non-conforming]] people in religion. In some religions we have portrayal of gender diversity confirmed through living members. In others, we must deduce from primary sources deities that are diverse in gender. In some cases where a religion is resurrected, common in paganism, there is both an ancient idea of a deity's gender, and a more modern one. Both are portrayed in this article.


    A lot of primary sources for ancient religions were translated by people who were antagonistic toward transgender and gender non-conforming people. On top of this, ideas of gender vary around the world, and ways of understanding gender diversity are numerous. In cases of dead or revived religions, this makes it hard to interpret whether a deity is binary transgender, nonbinary, or intersex.
    [[Gender variance in spirituality]] is about the views that spiritual traditions have toward people who are gender variant in spiritual traditions. This subject also deals with gender variant figures within those spiritual traditions. Gender variance [[History of nonbinary gender|has always existed]]. Spirituality has often been part of how individuals and [[ethnicity and culture|cultures]] have expressed or regulated that variance.  


    '''A note on language:''' In religious and folklore studies, the word "mythology" means a religious story, such as one about deities and miracles. In this field of study, "mythology" doesn't mean that the story is untrue or less valid than others.
    First, some definitions: "[[Gender variant]]" is shorthand for gender that doesn't conform to one's assigned gender in one's culture, and differs from that of the [[gender binary]]. Gender variance includes those who are [[transgender]], [[gender nonconformity|gender non-conforming]], and [[nonbinary]], reflecting that historical figures used different words for these. "Spirituality" is a category that includes organized religions, as well as paths that are not centrally organized or defined as religions, but are nonetheless spiritual. In religious and folklore studies, the word "mythology" means a religious story, such as one about deities and miracles. In this field of study, "mythology" doesn't mean that the story is untrue or less valid than others.  


    ==Organized by region and culture==
    Scholars differ in how to categorize world spiritualities into a taxonomy or other system of organization. In this article, the following categories of spiritualities are organized first alphabetically, by continent or region, and then by religion or culture. This is with two exceptions, which are ordered differently in this list: [[#Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic religions]], which originated in the [[#Levant spiritualities|Levant region of Asia]], but are best understood as having developed worldwide, and are at the beginning of the list only for alphabetical reasons; and [[#Fictional spiritualities|fictional spiritualities]], which did not historically develop anywhere on a real-world map, and so are explored after the rest of the article.


    ===Africa===
    ==Abrahamic religions==
     
    ====Ancient Egyptian (Kemetic) religion====
    [[File:C+B-Nile-Hapi.PNG|thumb|100px|Hapi, an ancient Egyptian god.]]
    Gender-variant deities and figures in ancient Egyptian religion:
    * '''Hapi''', god of the Nile River, often depicted as a man with breasts and a fake beard. His transness is often seen as related to his fertility aspects. <ref> [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hapi] </ref>
    * '''Shai(male)/Shait(female)''', who was sometimes portrayed both as male and female. Being the personification of fate, gender was not a concern, and is variable depending on the place and time.
    * '''Tatenen''', [[androgynous]] mother or father of the earth. He is a creator deity, being seen as creating the land itself. Because of his status as a creator, he is seen as androgynous. <ref> [https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143914/www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/religion/tatenen.htm] </ref>
    * '''Wadj-wer''', sometimes depicted as a pregnant man. He relates to water, the Mediterranian, and fertility, the later aspect likely the reason for the pregnancy. <ref> [https://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/wadjwer.htm] </ref>
     
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    ====Other African and African diaspora religions====
     
    Gender variant deities in other African and African diaspora religions:
    * '''Baron Samedi''', a dandy who sometimes wears a combination of masculine and feminine clothing at the same time
    * '''Ghede Nibo''', feminine gay man or dandy
    * '''Obatala''' (in Brazil: '''Oxala''', in Haiti: '''Blanc-Dani'''), both male and female. Creator of humankind. Depending on the story, gave birth to humans by self-fertilizing, or by dividing into a man and woman.
    * '''Olokun.''' In the religion of Santeria, Olokun a deity of the ocean posessing both sets of genitals, "who wears very long hair and who lives in the depths of the ocean floor with a great retinue of mermaids and tritons."<ref>Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, Santeria: African magic in Latin America, p. 26.</ref>
    * '''Legba (Ellegua)''', usually male, but changes sex in some stories, and is sometimes portrayed by a girl wearing a phallus.
    * '''Mawu-Lisa''', combination of male Mawa and female Lisa
    * '''Mwari''', both male and female
    * '''Nana-Buluku''', in Fon tradition, is creator of the world, a god both male and female. This Creator gave birth to the sun (male Liza) and moon (female Mawu).
    * '''Pomba Gira''', patron of drag queens, might be the female version of Legba.
    * '''Vondu''', a god both male and female
     
    ===Americas===
    [[File:Huehuecoyotl.jpg|thumb|200px|The Aztec god Huehuecoyotl, in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis (16th century).]]
    Gender variant figures in Zuni traditions:
    * '''He'e''', a male kachina who wore feminine clothing. He defended his pueblo while wearing a mixture of men’s and women’s [[clothing]], with one side of his hair dressed in the women’s style.
    * '''Ko'lhamana''', a Zuni [[Two-Spirit]] kachina who peacefully mediates between different groups of people.
     
    Figures in Diné (Navajo) traditions:
    Note that Navajo traditions include a [[third gender]] role, called ''nadle'' (''Nádleeh''), which includes people who are intersex, as well as people in the transgender spectrum.
    * '''Changing Woman''' (Ahsonnutli, Estsanatlehi, Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé) a Diné Two-Spirit deity. She changes to a different age with each season. In the creation epic, she gives birth to heroic twins, fathered by the Sun, who she marries.
    * '''Turquoise Boy''' (Ashton nutli, Ashton nadle) a two-spirit person, specifically a feminine man (or in some versions intersex), in the creation story (Diné Bahaneʼ). He helped the people escape the great flood. Later, Turquoise Boy became the sun (Jóhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Day), and then he fathers children with Changing Woman, and marries her. In a different story, Turquoise Boy is instead the child of Changing Woman and the Sun; Changing Woman created him as the first two-spirit person because she couldn't decide whether she wanted a son or a daughter, and decided to make a child who was both.
    * '''White Shell Girl''', a two-spirit person, in this case a masculine woman, in the creation story who helped Turquoise Boy save the people from the flood. She later became the moon (Tłʼéhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Night).
     
    Figures in Aztec traditions:
    * '''Huehuecoyotl''', an Aztec trickster god who was usually male but sometimes female
     
    Figures in traditions of other Native peoples of North America:
    * '''Coyote''', usually male, but changes sex in some stories.
    * '''Double Woman''', in Lakota tradition, appears in a young man's dreams holding out women's tools, and if the dreamer takes these, the dreamer accepts the trans feminine gender role of winkte, meaning "would become woman."<ref>Walter Williams, ''spirit and the flesh'', p.28</ref>
    * '''Frog Earrings''' (Toad Earrings), a female spirit in Mandan tradition who appears in people's dreams to tell them to adopt a different gender role.
    * '''Red Woman''' (Hicicawia) a spirit in Crow tradition who created two-spirit people.
    * '''Holy Women''', in Hidatsa tradition, appear in people's dreams to tell them to adopt a different gender role.
    * '''Moon deity''', in Omaha tradition, is said to appear in a young person's vision quest or dreams, holding out men's tools in one hand, and women's tools in the other. Which one the dreamer grasps for will determine the dreamer's gender role. For this reason, the Omaha word for a two-spirit person is mexoga, meaning "instructed by the moon." "This type of vision, conferring high status because of instruction from the Moon spirit, was also reported ... among the Winnebagos, Lakotas, Assiniboine, Pawnees, Mandans, and Hidatsas"<ref>walter williams, spirit and the flesh, p. 29.</ref>
    * '''Nih'a'ca''', in Arapaho mythology, was the first person who was two-spirit (haxu'xan). Nih'a'ca is a trans feminine trickster who married the mountain lion.<ref>Bruce Bagemihi, Biological Exuberance, unpaged </ref>
     
    ===Asia===
     
    ===Abrahamic religions===
    Originating from southwest Asia and spreading worldwide, the Abrahamic religions include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, Rastafarianism, and others. They have certain teachings in common, particularly the belief in one God, specifically Jehovah, the God of Abraham.  
    Originating from southwest Asia and spreading worldwide, the Abrahamic religions include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, the Bahá'í Faith, Rastafarianism, and others. They have certain teachings in common, particularly the belief in one God, specifically Jehovah, the God of Abraham.  


    ==== Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion ====
    === Judaism ===


    Several figures that are held in common as important in many or all Abrahamic religions have been thought of as gender-variant.
    ==== Views about gender variance in Judaism ====
     
    * The exact nature of the '''God of Abraham''' is much disputed, even within one particular religious sect. God is often thought of as a male patriarch, but there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both.
    * Jewish and Christian teachings often interpret the first human, '''Adam''', as having been created as both male and female, before God extracted Eve from him.<ref>Norman Solomon, ''The Talmud: A selection,'' p. 271.</ref><ref>Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary of Sacred and Symbolic Objects,'' p. 196. </ref> This is an example of the Primal Androgyne motif.
     
    ==== Judaism ====
     
    ===== Views about gender variance in Judaism =====


    Some relevant Wikipedia articles:  
    Some relevant Wikipedia articles:  
    * [[Wikipedia:LGBT-affirming denominations in Judaism]]
    * [[Wikipedia:LGBT-affirming denominations in Judaism|Wikipedia article on LGBT-affirming denominations in Judaism]]
    * [[Wikipedia:Transgender people and religion#Judaism]]
    * [[Wikipedia:Transgender people and religion#Judaism|Wikipedia article transgender people in Judaism]]


    ====== The six genders in classical Judaism ======
    ===== The six genders in classical Judaism =====


    Classical Judaism recognizes six categories of sex/gender, instead of a [[gender binary|male/female gender binary]]. According to Rabbi Elliot Kukla, these six are:<ref>http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders</ref>
    Classical Judaism recognizes six categories of sex/gender, instead of a [[gender binary|male/female gender binary]]. According to Rabbi Elliot Kukla, these six are:<ref>http://www.sojourngsd.org/blog/sixgenders</ref>
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    ===== Gender variant figures in Judaism =====
    ==== Gender variant figures in Judaism ====


    See the above list of [[#Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion|figures in Abrahamic religion]].  
    See the above list of [[#Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion|figures in Abrahamic religion]].  


    ====== God in Judaism ======
    ===== God as a gender variant figure in Judaism =====


    The exact nature of the '''God of Abraham''' is much disputed, even within one particular religious sect. God is often thought of as a male patriarch, but there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> Jehovah's wife and/or female aspect is Shekinah (שכינה‎). This is a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature.<ref>McNamara, Martin (2010). McNamara, Martin (ed.). Targum and Testament Revisited: Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament (2nd ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-80286275-4. "Whereas the verb shakan and terms from the root škn occur in the Hebrew Scriptures, and while the term shekhinah/shekinta is extremely common in rabbinic literature and the targums, no occurrence of it is attested in pre-rabbinic literature."</ref> Jewish mystics saw God as having been originally an androgyne, noting that the name "Eve" is derived from "Jehovah".<ref>Barbara Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary'', p. 195-196. </ref>
    The exact nature of the '''God of Abraham''' is much disputed, even within one particular religious sect. God is often thought of as a male patriarch, but there is also a long history of seeing God as partly or entirely other than female or male, or as both.<ref name="KasselAndrogynous" /> Jehovah's wife and/or female aspect is Shekinah (שכינה‎). This is a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God. This term does not occur in the Bible, and is from rabbinic literature.<ref>McNamara, Martin (2010). McNamara, Martin (ed.). Targum and Testament Revisited: Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament (2nd ed.). Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-80286275-4. "Whereas the verb shakan and terms from the root škn occur in the Hebrew Scriptures, and while the term shekhinah/shekinta is extremely common in rabbinic literature and the targums, no occurrence of it is attested in pre-rabbinic literature."</ref> Jewish mystics saw God as having been originally an androgyne, noting that the name "Eve" is derived from "Jehovah".<ref>Barbara Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary'', p. 195-196. </ref>


    ====== Adam in Judaism ======
    ===== Adam as a gender variant figure in Judaism =====


    [[File:Adam Kadmon - Androgyne.jpg|thumb|150px|The Tree of Life juxtaposed upon Adam Kadmon, in which Adam is shown as a Primal Androgyne.]]
    [[File:Adam Kadmon - Androgyne.jpg|thumb|150px|The Tree of Life juxtaposed upon Adam Kadmon, in which Adam is shown as a Primal Androgyne.]]
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    Jewish Gnostics said that dividing this complete human was what made humans mortal, and that if they could be a complete "hermaphrodite" [sic] again, they wouldn't die anymore.<ref>Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary of Sacred and Symbolic Objects,'' p. 196. </ref>  
    Jewish Gnostics said that dividing this complete human was what made humans mortal, and that if they could be a complete "hermaphrodite" [sic] again, they wouldn't die anymore.<ref>Walker, ''A Woman’s Dictionary of Sacred and Symbolic Objects,'' p. 196. </ref>  


    ====== Lilith ======
    ===== Lilith as a gender variant figure =====


    In Jewish mysticism, '''Lilith''' is a supernatural masculine female demon. She isn't included in Genesis, but folklore holds she came to be in Creation, though the story of her origin varies. In one of them, God meant her to be the first human woman, creating her before Eve, as a whole being like Adam, but she refused to be submissive to Adam. She left him, and wanders the world making trouble for humankind forever. Although Lilith is described in feminine language, and gives birth to hundreds of demons, she is considered as having masculine characteristics. Her masculine characteristics are said to be because she was created as a whole male-female being, like Adam. She is said to have thick body hair like a man.<ref>Michael Page and Robert Ingpen. "Lilith." ''Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were.'' Viking: New York, 1987. P. 225-226.</ref>  
    In Jewish mysticism, '''Lilith''' is a supernatural masculine female demon. She isn't included in Genesis, but folklore holds she came to be in Creation, though the story of her origin varies. In one of them, God meant her to be the first human woman, creating her before Eve, as a whole being like Adam, but she refused to be submissive to Adam. She left him, and wanders the world making trouble for humankind forever. Although Lilith is described in feminine language, and gives birth to hundreds of demons, she is considered as having masculine characteristics. Her masculine characteristics are said to be because she was created as a whole male-female being, like Adam. She is said to have thick body hair like a man.<ref>Michael Page and Robert Ingpen. "Lilith." ''Encyclopedia of Things that Never Were.'' Viking: New York, 1987. P. 225-226.</ref>  
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    Scholars think Lilith was a goddess or introduced from a neighboring Southwest Asian religion, or that she at least corresponds with some of them.  
    Scholars think Lilith was a goddess or introduced from a neighboring Southwest Asian religion, or that she at least corresponds with some of them.  


    ==== Christianity ====
    === Christianity ===


    ''The below is a more brief summary. For more detail on this subject, please see the main article: [[gender variance in Christianity]].''
    ''The below is a more brief summary. For more detail on this subject, please see the main article: [[gender variance in Christianity]].''


    ===== Views about gender variance in Christianity =====
    ==== Views about gender variance in Christianity ====


    Christians have tended to have difficult views of [[LGBT]] people. Christians have used certain religious views as motivation behind discrimination and hate crimes against LGBT people. Christian denominations and churches vary in their attitudes toward LGBT people. What views churches do express about LGBT people tend to focus mainly on sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, and bisexual people), and less on gender variance (gender nonconforming, transgender, and nonbinary people). Because this is the nonbinary wiki, this portion of the article will focus wherever possible on Christian views specifically addressing gender variance, rather than sexual orientation.
    Christians have tended to have difficult views of [[LGBT]] people. Christians have used certain religious views as motivation behind discrimination and hate crimes against LGBT people. Christian denominations and churches vary in their attitudes toward LGBT people. What views churches do express about LGBT people tend to focus mainly on sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, and bisexual people), and less on gender variance (gender nonconforming, transgender, and nonbinary people). Because this is the nonbinary wiki, this portion of the article will focus wherever possible on Christian views specifically addressing gender variance, rather than sexual orientation.
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    ====== Gender variance in the Christian Bible ======
    ===== Gender variance in the Christian Bible =====


    The Christian Bible doesn't specifically mention transgender people, as such.<ref>"Transgender." ''Hope Remains.'' http://hoperemainsonline.com/Transgender</ref> It also doesn't specifically mention nonbinary people, who are one kind of transgender people. Because of this, the Bible doesn't officially condemn transgender or nonbinary people. The absence of such people in the Bible doesn't mean that they were unknown during Biblical times. [[#the six genders in classical Judaism|Classical Judaism itself acknowledged six genders/sexes]] in texts other than the Bible, and [[History of nonbinary gender#Antiquity|several neighboring cultures also acknowledged genders outside the binary]]. Some of the following Bible passages can be seen as relevant to transgender and nonbinary people.  
    The Christian Bible doesn't specifically mention transgender people, as such.<ref>"Transgender." ''Hope Remains.'' http://hoperemainsonline.com/Transgender</ref> It also doesn't specifically mention nonbinary people, who are one kind of transgender people. Because of this, the Bible doesn't officially condemn transgender or nonbinary people. The absence of such people in the Bible doesn't mean that they were unknown during Biblical times. [[#the six genders in classical Judaism|Classical Judaism itself acknowledged six genders/sexes]] in texts other than the Bible, and [[History of nonbinary gender#Antiquity|several neighboring cultures also acknowledged genders outside the binary]]. Some of the following Bible passages can be seen as relevant to transgender and nonbinary people.  
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    ===== Gender variant figures in Christianity =====
    ==== Gender variant figures in Christianity ====


    In addition to the above list of [[#Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion|gender variant figures held in common between Christianity and Judaism]], some figures are distinct to Christianity, or are distinctly seen as gender variant in Christianity.  
    In addition to the above list of [[#Gender variant figures in Abrahamic religion|gender variant figures held in common between Christianity and Judaism]], some figures are distinct to Christianity, or are distinctly seen as gender variant in Christianity.  


    ====== God as a gender variant figure in Christianity ======
    ===== God as a gender variant figure in Christianity =====


    [[File:Sierck-les-Bains Église 8.JPG|thumb|A figurative trinity of God in stained glass  in a Catholic parish church in Sierck-les-Bains.]]
    [[File:Sierck-les-Bains Église 8.JPG|thumb|A figurative trinity of God in stained glass  in a Catholic parish church in Sierck-les-Bains.]]
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    ====== Gender variant angels in Christianity ======
    ===== Gender variant angels in Christianity =====


    [[File:7 Francesco Botticini Three Archangels with Tobias. (135x154cm) c.1471 Uffizi, Florence.jpg|thumb|''Three Archangels and Tobias'', painting from 1467 by Francesco Di Giovanni Botticini, of a scene from the deuterocanonical, apochryphal Book of Tobit. From left: Michael, Raphael, Tobias, and Gabriel.]]
    [[File:7 Francesco Botticini Three Archangels with Tobias. (135x154cm) c.1471 Uffizi, Florence.jpg|thumb|''Three Archangels and Tobias'', painting from 1467 by Francesco Di Giovanni Botticini, of a scene from the deuterocanonical, apochryphal Book of Tobit. From left: Michael, Raphael, Tobias, and Gabriel.]]
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    ====== Gender variant saints in Christianity ======
    ===== Gender variant saints in Christianity =====


    [[File:Joan of Arc, Place du Parvis, Reims(1).jpg|thumb|200px|Equestrian statue of Jeanne d'Arc by Paul Dubois (Reims). 1896.]]   
    [[File:Joan of Arc, Place du Parvis, Reims(1).jpg|thumb|200px|Equestrian statue of Jeanne d'Arc by Paul Dubois (Reims). 1896.]]   
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    ==== Islam ====
    === Islam ===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Islam ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in Islam ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    === Bahá'í Faith ===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Bahá'í Faith ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in Bahá'í Faith ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    === Rastafarianism ===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Rastafarianism ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in Rastafarianism ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==Africa==
     
    ===Ancient Egyptian (Kemetic) religion===
    [[File:C+B-Nile-Hapi.PNG|thumb|100px|Hapi, an ancient Egyptian god.]]
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Kemet ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in Kemet ====
     
    Gender-variant deities and figures in ancient Egyptian religion:
    * '''Hapi''', god of the Nile River, often depicted as a man with breasts and a fake beard. His transness is often seen as related to his fertility aspects. <ref> [https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hapi] </ref>
    * '''Shai(male)/Shait(female)''', who was sometimes portrayed both as male and female. Being the personification of fate, gender was not a concern, and is variable depending on the place and time.
    * '''Tatenen''', [[androgynous]] mother or father of the earth. He is a creator deity, being seen as creating the land itself. Because of his status as a creator, he is seen as androgynous. <ref> [https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143914/www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/religion/tatenen.htm] </ref>
    * '''Wadj-wer''', sometimes depicted as a pregnant man. He relates to water, the Mediterranian, and fertility, the later aspect likely the reason for the pregnancy. <ref> [https://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/wadjwer.htm] </ref>
     
    {{Clear}}
     
    ===Other African and African diaspora religions===


    ===== Views about gender variance in Islam =====
    ==== Views about gender variance in African and African diaspora religions ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ''Information needed.''


    ===== Gender variant figures in Islam =====
    ==== Gender variant figures in African and African diaspora religions ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ''Information needed.''


    ==== Bahá'í Faith ====
    Gender variant deities in other African and African diaspora religions:
    * '''Baron Samedi''', a dandy who sometimes wears a combination of masculine and feminine clothing at the same time
    * '''Ghede Nibo''', feminine gay man or dandy
    * '''Obatala''' (in Brazil: '''Oxala''', in Haiti: '''Blanc-Dani'''), both male and female. Creator of humankind. Depending on the story, gave birth to humans by self-fertilizing, or by dividing into a man and woman.
    * '''Olokun.''' In the religion of Santeria, Olokun a deity of the ocean posessing both sets of genitals, "who wears very long hair and who lives in the depths of the ocean floor with a great retinue of mermaids and tritons."<ref>Migene Gonzalez-Wippler, Santeria: African magic in Latin America, p. 26.</ref>
    * '''Legba (Ellegua)''', usually male, but changes sex in some stories, and is sometimes portrayed by a girl wearing a phallus.
    * '''Mawu-Lisa''', combination of male Mawa and female Lisa
    * '''Mwari''', both male and female
    * '''Nana-Buluku''', in Fon tradition, is creator of the world, a god both male and female. This Creator gave birth to the sun (male Liza) and moon (female Mawu).
    * '''Pomba Gira''', patron of drag queens, might be the female version of Legba.
    * '''Vondu''', a god both male and female


    ===== Views about gender variance in Bahá'í Faith =====
    ==Americas==
     
    === Zuni ===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Zuni spiritualities ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ''Information needed.''


    ===== Gender variant figures in Bahá'í Faith =====
    ==== Gender variant figures in Zuni spiritualities ====
     
    Gender variant figures in Zuni traditions:
    * '''He'e''', a male kachina who wore feminine clothing. He defended his pueblo while wearing a mixture of men’s and women’s [[clothing]], with one side of his hair dressed in the women’s style.
    * '''Ko'lhamana''', a Zuni [[Two-Spirit]] kachina who peacefully mediates between different groups of people.
     
    === Diné (Navajo) ===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Diné spiritualities ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ''Information needed.''


    ==== Rastafarianism ====
    ==== Gender variant figures in Diné spiritualities ====
     
    Figures in Diné (Navajo) traditions:
    Note that Navajo traditions include a [[third gender]] role, called ''nadle'' (''Nádleeh''), which includes people who are intersex, as well as people in the transgender spectrum.
    * '''Changing Woman''' (Ahsonnutli, Estsanatlehi, Asdzą́ą́ Nádleehé) a Diné Two-Spirit deity. She changes to a different age with each season. In the creation epic, she gives birth to heroic twins, fathered by the Sun, who she marries.
    * '''Turquoise Boy''' (Ashton nutli, Ashton nadle) a two-spirit person, specifically a feminine man (or in some versions intersex), in the creation story (Diné Bahaneʼ). He helped the people escape the great flood. Later, Turquoise Boy became the sun (Jóhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Day), and then he fathers children with Changing Woman, and marries her. In a different story, Turquoise Boy is instead the child of Changing Woman and the Sun; Changing Woman created him as the first two-spirit person because she couldn't decide whether she wanted a son or a daughter, and decided to make a child who was both.
    * '''White Shell Girl''', a two-spirit person, in this case a masculine woman, in the creation story who helped Turquoise Boy save the people from the flood. She later became the moon (Tłʼéhonaaʼéí, The One Who Rules the Night).
     
    === Aztec ===


    ===== Views about gender variance in Rastafarianism =====
    ==== Views about gender variance in Aztec spiritualities ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ''Information needed.''


    ===== Gender variant figures in Rastafarianism =====
    ==== Gender variant figures in Aztec spiritualities ====
     
    [[File:Huehuecoyotl.jpg|thumb|200px|The Aztec god Huehuecoyotl, in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis (16th century).]]
    Figures in Aztec traditions:
    * '''Huehuecoyotl''', an Aztec trickster god who was usually male but sometimes female
     
    === Other Native American spiritualities ===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in other Native American spiritualities ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ''Information needed.''


    ====Hindu and Buddhist religions====
    ==== Gender variant figures in other Native American spiritualities ====
     
    Figures in traditions of other Native peoples of North America:
    * '''Coyote''', usually male, but changes sex in some stories.
    * '''Double Woman''', in Lakota tradition, appears in a young man's dreams holding out women's tools, and if the dreamer takes these, the dreamer accepts the trans feminine gender role of winkte, meaning "would become woman."<ref>Walter Williams, ''spirit and the flesh'', p.28</ref>
    * '''Frog Earrings''' (Toad Earrings), a female spirit in Mandan tradition who appears in people's dreams to tell them to adopt a different gender role.
    * '''Red Woman''' (Hicicawia) a spirit in Crow tradition who created two-spirit people.
    * '''Holy Women''', in Hidatsa tradition, appear in people's dreams to tell them to adopt a different gender role.
    * '''Moon deity''', in Omaha tradition, is said to appear in a young person's vision quest or dreams, holding out men's tools in one hand, and women's tools in the other. Which one the dreamer grasps for will determine the dreamer's gender role. For this reason, the Omaha word for a two-spirit person is mexoga, meaning "instructed by the moon." "This type of vision, conferring high status because of instruction from the Moon spirit, was also reported ... among the Winnebagos, Lakotas, Assiniboine, Pawnees, Mandans, and Hidatsas"<ref>walter williams, spirit and the flesh, p. 29.</ref>
    * '''Nih'a'ca''', in Arapaho mythology, was the first person who was two-spirit (haxu'xan). Nih'a'ca is a trans feminine trickster who married the mountain lion.<ref>Bruce Bagemihi, Biological Exuberance, unpaged </ref>
     
    ==Asia==
     
    ===Hindu and Buddhist religions===
     
    [[File:Liao Dynasty Avalokitesvara Statue Clear.jpeg|thumb|200px|Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanshiyin) statue from China, 11th-12th century CE.]]
    [[File:Liao Dynasty Avalokitesvara Statue Clear.jpeg|thumb|200px|Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanshiyin) statue from China, 11th-12th century CE.]]
    ==== Views about gender variance in Hinduism and Buddhism ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ==== Gender variant figures in Hinduism and Buddhism ====
    Figures that are gender variant or patrons of gender variant people:
    Figures that are gender variant or patrons of gender variant people:
    * '''Avalokiteśvara''', a male bodhisattva, sometimes shown as an androgynous man, who can appear in a form of any gender
    * '''Avalokiteśvara''', a male bodhisattva, sometimes shown as an androgynous man, who can appear in a form of any gender
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    ====Taoism====
    ===Taoism===
    [[File:Dinastia ming, l'immortale lan caihe, 1510 ca..JPG|thumb|100px|Ming dynasty figurine of Lan Caihe. Circa 1510 CE.]]
    [[File:Dinastia ming, l'immortale lan caihe, 1510 ca..JPG|thumb|100px|Ming dynasty figurine of Lan Caihe. Circa 1510 CE.]]
    ==== Views about gender variance in Taoism ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ==== Gender variant figures in Taoism ====
    Gender-variant figures in Taoism:
    Gender-variant figures in Taoism:
    * '''Lan Caihe''' (Lan Ts'ai-ho), one of the eight Taoist immortals, whose gender has never been agreed upon. Lan Caihe could appear as—or be interpreted as—a boy, girl, old man, old woman, or anything.
    * '''Lan Caihe''' (Lan Ts'ai-ho), one of the eight Taoist immortals, whose gender has never been agreed upon. Lan Caihe could appear as-- or be interpreted as-- a boy, girl, old man, old woman, or anything.


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    ====Levant spiritualities====
    ===Levant spiritualities===
     
    The Levant is an area of western Asia, which is popularly called the middle East, including the Fertile Crescent, where the earliest civilizations developed. Culturally, the Levant can also spread into north-eastern Africa, and even southern parts of Europe, due to easy trade and travel across the Mediterranean Sea. The [[#Abrahamic religions|Abrahamic family of religions]] also originated in the Levant.
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Levant spiritualities ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in Levant spiritualities ====
     
    Gender-variant deities and patrons of gender variance in Levant spiritualities:
    Gender-variant deities and patrons of gender variance in Levant spiritualities:
    * '''Enki''', a Sumerian male god and creator. He has been referenced to have both male and female aspects, but these seem to largely relate to fertility, or his place in a per-patriarchal society.
    * '''Enki''', a Sumerian male god and creator. He has been referenced to have both male and female aspects, but these seem to largely relate to fertility, or his place in a per-patriarchal society.
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    ===Australia and Oceania===
    ==Australia and Oceania==
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in Australian and Oceanian spiritualities ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in Australian and Oceanian spiritualities ====


    Gender-variant deities and patrons of gender variance:
    Gender-variant deities and patrons of gender variance:
    * '''Ungud''', Australian aboriginal rainbow serpent god, androgynous
    * '''Ungud''', Australian aboriginal rainbow serpent god, androgynous


    ===Europe===
    ==Europe==


    ====Greco-Roman religions====
    ===Greco-Roman religions===
    [[File:Eros - Apulian red-figured kantharos, Puglia.jpg|thumb|200px|Eros as a winged androgyne. Red-figured kantharos, Italy, 320 to 310 BCE.]]
    [[File:Eros - Apulian red-figured kantharos, Puglia.jpg|thumb|200px|Eros as a winged androgyne. Red-figured kantharos, Italy, 320 to 310 BCE.]]
    Also called Classical religion, the ancient Greek (Hellenistic) and Roman religions featured mythology about the many gods, goddesses, and supernatural heroes. Although these are often seen as dead religions, the Classical deities are still worshiped today by Hellenistic Pagans.
    Also called Classical religion, the ancient Greek (Hellenistic) and Roman religions featured mythology about the many gods, goddesses, and supernatural heroes. Although these are often seen as dead religions, the Classical deities are still worshiped today by Hellenistic Pagans.
    ==== Views about gender variance in Greco-Roman religions ====
    ==== Gender variant figures in Greco-Roman religions ====


    Gender variant deities and patrons of gender variance in Greco-Roman religions:
    Gender variant deities and patrons of gender variance in Greco-Roman religions:
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    ====Norse religion====
    ===Norse religion===
    [[File:Ed0019.jpg|thumb|200px|Loki dressing Thor, the thunder god, in feminine clothing. Illustration by Carl Larsson and Gunnar Forssell in the ''Poetic Edda'', 1893.]]
    [[File:Ed0019.jpg|thumb|200px|Loki dressing Thor, the thunder god, in feminine clothing. Illustration by Carl Larsson and Gunnar Forssell in the ''Poetic Edda'', 1893.]]
    ==== Views about gender variance in Norse religion ====
    ''Information needed.''
    ==== Gender variant figures in Norse ====
    Gender-variant deities in Norse religion:
    Gender-variant deities in Norse religion:
    * '''Friga''', usually female, but sometimes both male and female
    * '''Friga''', usually female, but sometimes both male and female
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    ====Other European spiritual traditions====
    ===Other European spiritual traditions===
     
    ==== Views about gender variance in other European spiritual traditions ====
    ''Information needed.''
     
    ==== Gender variant figures in other European spiritual traditions ====


    Figures from other European spiritual traditions include:  
    Figures from other European spiritual traditions include:  
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    ===Fictional spiritualities===
    ==Fictional spiritualities==


    Some spiritual traditions that were made up for use in a fictional story refer to gender-variance, transgender people, and nonbinary people. In real life, some Pagans and magicians choose to include deities and practices of fictional origin in their spiritual practices. Spiritual gender-variant figures from fiction include:
    Some spiritual traditions that were made up for use in a fictional story refer to gender-variance, transgender people, and nonbinary people. Fiction can be helpful for speculating about different ways that people could think about gender variance than has happened in real-world history. In real life, some Pagans and magicians choose to include deities and practices of fictional origin in their spiritual practices.  
    * '''Kyprioth,''' a trickster god in the fictional Tortallan culture, in the fantasy novels by Tamora Pierce (Bloodhound and Trickster’s Choice.) Kyprioth is a transgender man, and makes people be born transgender by touching them in the womb. http://tamorapierce.wikia.com/wiki/Kyprioth


    ==Gender-variant deities, saints, and spirits, organized by what they are patrons of==
    === Views about gender variance in fictional spiritualities ===
    ''Information needed.''


    In many spiritual traditions, one directs one's prayers or other spiritual practices to an entity who is the patron of the particular issue in concern. For example, if one is praying for healing of an illness, one prays to a deity who is a patron of healing, or even a patron of the specific illness. One often finds that certain genders of deities tend to be patrons of certain concerns, linked with common cultural symbolic associations of gender roles. For example, patrons of the sun tend to be male, and patrons of the moon tend to be female. However, it is possible to find deities, saints, and spirits who preside over virtually any concern who are themselves gender-variant, or at least who have a strong connection to gender-variant people. See above for further information about any of the gender-variant deities, saints, and spirits listed below.
    === Gender variant figures in fictional spiritualities ===


    ===Abuse victims and survivors===
    Spiritual gender-variant figures from fiction include:
    * Wilgefortis, Saint
    * '''Kyprioth,''' a trickster god in the fictional Tortallan culture, in the fantasy novels by Tamora Pierce (Bloodhound and Trickster’s Choice.) Kyprioth is a transgender man, and makes people be born transgender by touching them in the womb. http://tamorapierce.wikia.com/wiki/Kyprioth
     
    ===Actors===
    * Lan Caihe
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Agriculture===
    * Inari
    * Enki
     
    ===Air, wind, sky===
    * Changing Woman
     
    ===Alcohol===
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Animals===
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Coyote
    * Cybele (of all animals, but especially lions)
    * Huehuecoyotl
    * Kyprioth (of crows)
     
    ===Arts===
     
    (See also: “crafts,” “music and poetry”)
     
    ===Asexuality===
     
    (For the sexual orientation marked by a lack of sexual attraction, see “celibacy…” as patrons of celibates will likely also be sympathetic to asexuality.)
     
    (For the intersex condition marked by a lack of sexual organs, see “intersex people.”)
     
    ===Battle and war===
    * He'e
    * Inanna
     
    ===Beauty===
    * Erzulie Freda
    * Aphrodite
    * Venus
     
    ===Beggars===
    * Lan Caihe
     
    ===Birth===
    * Cybele
     
    ===Celibacy(and possibly asexual and aromantic)===
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Wilgefortis, Saint
     
    ===Children===
    * Erzulie Freda
    * Hercules
    * Kwanyin
     
    ===Civilization===
    * Inanna
     
    ===Compassion===
    * Kwanyin
     
    ===Creation===
    * Obatala
     
    ===Cross-dressing===
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Crossroads===
    * Legba (Ellegua) 
    * Pomba Gira
     
    ===Dance===
    * Huehuecoyotl
     
    ===Death===
    * Dionysus
    * Ghede Nibo
    * Obatala
    * Odin
     
    ===Disabled people===
     
    (See also: “mentally ill people.”)  
    * Kwanyin
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Divorce===
    * Wilgefortis, Saint
     
    ===Drag queens===
    * Pomba Gira
     
    ===Earth===
    * Baphomet
    * Tatenen
     
    ===Eunuchs===
    * Shiva as Ardhanari
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Cybele
    * Samba
     
    ===Family===
    * Ardhanarisvara
     
    ===Fertility===
     
    (see also "harvest")
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Cybele
    * Dionysus
    * Hapi
    * Hermaphroditus
    * Phanes
    * Kwanyin
    * Wadj-Wer
     
    ===Fire===
    * Loki
     
    ===Flowers and florists===
    * Erzulie Freda
    * Lan Caihe
     
    ===Fortune telling, omens of the future===
    * Shai/Shait
     
    ===Gay men===
     
    (See also: “love,” “marriage,” “sexuality.”)
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Erzulie Freda
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Hair===
    * Wilgefortis, Saint (of facial hair)
     
    ===Humankind===
    * Obatala
     
    ===Illness (warding against)===
    * Kwanyin
     
    ===Intelligence===
    * Baphomet
    * Odin
     
    ===Impotence===
     
    (See also: “celibacy,” “fertility,” “sterile women.”)
    * Bahuchara Mata
     
    ===Intersex people===
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Changing Woman
    * Hermaphroditus
    * Turquoise Boy
     
    ===Lesbian women===
    (See also: “gay men,” “love,” “marriage,” “sexuality,” “women.”)
    * Erzulie Dantor
     
    ===Love===
    * Aphrodite
    * Venus
    * Inanna
    * Erzulie Freda
     
    ===Marriage===
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Hermaphroditus
     
    ===Mentally ill people===
     
    (See also: “disabled people.”)
    * Kwanyin
    * Lan Caihe
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Mercury (planet)===
    * Odin
     
    ===Mothers===
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Cybele
    * Kwanyin
     
    ===Moon===
    * Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto
    * White Shell Girl
     
    ===Mountains===
    * Cybele
     
    ===Mirrors===
    * Ishi Kore Dome No Kami
     
    ===Music and poetry===
    * Huehuecoyotl
    * Lan Caihe
    * Odin
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Pregnancy===
     
    (See also “birth”, “fertility”, and "mothers")
    * Bahuchara Mata
    ===Psychic abilities===
    * Odin
     
    ===Sailors===
    * Kwanyin
     
    ===Sexuality===
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Baphomet
    * Hermaphroditus
    * Pomba Gira
    * Aphrodite
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Sex workers===
    * Aphrodite
    * Inanna
     
    ===Sheperds===
    * Pales
     
    ===Sobriety===
    * Obatala
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Stone cutters===
    * Ishi Kore Dome No Kami
     
    ===Sun===
    * Turquoise Boy
     
    ===Transgender people of any kind===
     
    (including third-gender groups such as two-spirits)
     
    (See also: transgender men, transgender women)
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Inanna
    * Aphroditus
    * Kyprioth
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Transgender men===
     
    (including trans masculine third-gender groups, and people assigned female at birth who assume a male role, and/or pass as male)
     
    (See also: men)
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Eugene, Saint
    * Kyprioth
    * Marinus, Saint
     
    ===Transgender women===
     
    (including trans feminine third-gender groups such as hijras)
     
    (See also: women)
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Cybele
    * Kyprioth
    * Inanna
    * Aphrodite
    * Samba
    * Shiva as Ardhanari
     
    ===Trickery and tricksters===
    * Coyote
    * Kyprioth
    * Legba (Ellegua)
    * Loki
    * Pales
     
    ===Vegetarianism===
    * Bahuchara Mata
    * Kwanyin
     
    ===Venus (planet)===
    * Inanna
    * Kwanyin
    * Aphrodite
    * Venus
     
    ===Water and water bodies===
    * Hapi
    * Kwanyin
    * Obatala
    * Wadj-wer
     
    ===Wilderness and nature===
    * Cybele
    * Dionysus
     
    ===Women===
     
    (See also: lesbian women, transgender women)
    * Cybele
    * Erzulie Freda
    * Kwanyin
    * Inanna
    * Aphrodite
    * Venus
     
    ==Gender-variant figures from spirituality, organized by their sex and/or gender==
     
    See above (in the section organized by region) for more information about each of these figures, and what we know about them that makes them gender-variant.  
     
    ===Both male and female at the same time===
    * Agdistis
    * Ardhanarisvara
    * Baphomet
    * Bathala
    * Elohim
    * Hermaphroditus
    * Mawu-Lisa
    * Mwari
    * Nana-Buluku
    * Obatala (Oxala, Blanc-Dani)
    * Phanes
    * Purusha
    * Ta-aroa
    * Vondu
    * Zurvan
     
    ===Generally or sometimes interpreted as not male, and not female; or transcending gender as we know it===
    * All types of angels in Abrahamic religions are sexless and genderless, though they are usually described in grammatically masculine language
    * Brahman
    * Holy Ghost, the
     
    ===Transgender men, and/or changed sex (female to male)===
    * Kyprioth
     
    ===Transgender women, and/or changed sex (male to female)===
    * Samba
    *Aphrodite
    *Inanna
     
    ===Eunuch (even if in only one out of many stories about this figure)===
    * Dionysus
    * Odin as Jalkr
     
    ===Female, usually but not always===
    Figures that are usually female, but changed to male on occasion. Or sometimes described/interpreted as both. Or a male or both-gender aspect of a female goddess.
     
    * Cybele
    * Friga
    * Inari Okami (Oinari)
    * Kwanyin
    * Venus Barbata (Venus Biformis)
     
    ===Male, usually but not always===
    Figures that are usually male, but changed to female on occasion. Or sometimes described/interpreted as both. Or a female or both-gender aspect of a male god.
    * Adam (before the creation of Eve)
    * Avalokiteśvara
    * Coyote
    * Jehovah
    * Huehuecoyotl
    * Jesus Christ
    * Kwanyin
    * Legba (Ellegua)
    * Loki
     
    ===Male, with noted feminine traits===
    * Ghede Nibo
    * Hapi
    * He’e
    * Nih’a’ca
    * Samedi, Baron
    * Tatenen
    * Turquoise Boy
    * Wadj-wer
     
    ===Female, with noted masculine traits===
     
    * Changing Woman
    * Lilith
    * White Shell Girl
     
    ===Female, adopted male gender expression (such as clothing)===
     
    * Marinus, Saint
    * Neith
    * Wilgefortis, Saint
     
    ===Male, adopted female gender expression (such as clothing)===
    * Coyote
    * Hercules
    * Odin as Jalkr
     
    ===Uncertain, unspecified, or varying gender===
    * Ishi Kore Dome No Kami
    * Lan Caihe (Lan Ts'ai-ho)
    * Pales
    * Shai (Shait)
    * Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto


    ==See also==
    ==See also==
    Retrieved from "https://nonbinary.wiki/wiki/Gender_variance_in_spirituality"