Journey to Ixtlan

September 19-26, 2016, marks the time for Bisexual Awareness Week. GLADD (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) promotes the week as a recognition of bi and bi+ in regards to history, culture, community, and current policy priorities. For myself it is a celebration of choice and living as a human being. The poem "The Norm Beyond" explores the myths of bisexuality: gender confusion, laziness (not willing to choose), and loose morals.


The Norm Beyond

Is it too much to love
the world as a whole
to see all as beautiful?
To each there own is the call
attraction is the realm of self
extending to a wider world.

Awareness is the greatest tool
to relate to these ways
not to agree or condone mind you
just to see the human face
present in the condition whole
presented by the bi plus ways.

Confusion is not the case
anymore than others feel
when attraction is a puzzle
to step outside the formal box
lends a person to ponder life
to be sure that this is their choice.

Consider this not laziness
inclusion is the only path
to be drawn to the all
when geometry matters less
than finding the perfect one
of the same or different kind.

This is not a call to be a slut
discernment is still a goal
predilections have their sway
as the world is viewed
with a judgement of the desired
against the whole of humankind.

Thank you for listening to these words
speaking truth beyond the norm
of relating to same or opposite
while diversity is an option too
with human beings as themselves
with a single question to now voice.

Is it too much to embrace
the idea that bodies please
no matter the form they have?
The end game is the same
to find a person fulfilling needs
to find a soul that can complete.

2016, Sean Green. All Rights Reserved, 20160921.

A friend bravely shared something going on in their life that I suspect many are feeling. Society gives us mixed messages about sex and sexual relations . Religion says one thing. Peers say another. Media says something else. At the heart of the matter is how YOU feel about it, and sometimes the intimate act of sex means less than the other things in life. Does this mean a person is less than those members of society who are sexual, and through this, are continuing humanity through procreation? That’s the topic the poem “I Wonder If” tries to tackle. There are no easy answers.


I Wonder If
Poem for Day 87 – 20141219

People describe sex
the same way I describe my passions:

Distracting
Consuming
Centering

I may bake a cake
and feel the same as they feel.
I may sing a song
and feel the energy surge through me.
Why am I judged
by the driven sex lives of others?
Are all my passions
the reason I cannot measure up to them?
My friends share with me
the power of intimacy in their lives.
My friends ask of me
if I have sex to the same degree.
I cannot answer
Yes.
I wonder if I
would be more grounded if I fooled around.
I wonder if I
need to put my passions down to feel alive.
I wonder if I
am normal enough for you.

© 2014. Sean Green. All Rights Reserved.

Spirituality and sexuality are intertwined in the human experience. I've indulged in some. I've danced around the others. This blog entry is about a root commonality of seeming incongruent spiritual path: the sexual narrative.

I recently read a blog that started with the paragraph:


This got me thinking about expressions of sexuality and the shadow sides of religions. I found the first sentence to be especially interesting. A quick search on Google revealed a tantric oriented article that said:

Another Google plunge found a Christian oriented page that said:


The long of the short of it is that pagan's don't have the market cornered on believing sexuality is sacred. There are many spiritual paths that feature their stand on sexuality front and center. The reasoning seems simple enough. People think about sex. Sex is a motivational driver. Any spiritual path worth anything will address the topic, and do so in a way that satisfies those who will embrace the path.

This gets really interesting when you consider the message of each spiritual path, and then consider where it seeks to connect with the follower. We are all wired a little differently, with varying fears, desires and convictions.  Every spiritual path has a narrative that hooks and feeds the adherents. Does your spiritual path have a sexual narrative that you connect with?

A sharing person asked the following on a LJ group:

I can think of a few potential reasons: that the Pagan community is more welcoming of such interests and/or orientations than general society; that as part of examining one's life and one's self, Pagans are more inclined to examine their sexual/relationship life and be open to alternatives; that some common Pagan practices such as ritual nudity etc already move into the realm of what society may consider deviation from sexual norms, this making further explorations more acceptable to practitioners; correlations with other communities more keen to explore alternative sexualities, such as hippies and geeks (although this still doesn't adequately explain why);or that magic-workers are often interested in power and its relation to the self, and may choose the bedroom as a place to explicitly explore this

I answered:

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