Gender variance in spirituality: Difference between revisions

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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.}}

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.  

Some relevant Wikipedia articles:  

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

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>

[[File:Adam Kadmon - Androgyne.jpg|thumb|150px|The Tree of Life juxtaposed upon Adam Kadmon, in which Adam is shown as a Primal Androgyne.]]

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>  

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>  

Scholars think Lilith was a goddess or introduced from a neighboring Southwest Asian religion, or that she at least corresponds with some of them.  

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

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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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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.  

[[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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[[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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[[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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[[File:Liao Dynasty Avalokitesvara Statue Clear.jpeg|thumb|200px|Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanshiyin) statue from China, 11th-12th century CE.]]

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

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[[File:Dinastia ming, l'immortale lan caihe, 1510 ca..JPG|thumb|100px|Ming dynasty figurine of Lan Caihe. Circa 1510 CE.]]

Gender-variant figures in Taoism:

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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.

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Gender-variant deities and patrons of gender variance:

* '''Ungud''', Australian aboriginal rainbow serpent god, androgynous

[[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.

Gender variant deities and patrons of gender variance in Greco-Roman religions:

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[[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.]]

Gender-variant deities in Norse religion:

* '''Friga''', usually female, but sometimes both male and female

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Figures from other European spiritual traditions include:  

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==See also==