The Craft and Homosexuality

Author: Keith Franks
Posted: On WitchVox August 15th. 1999

I remember picking up an article on the Ford Hood dilemma and, after becoming infuriated with the fanatical Rev. Jack Harvey, I notice that he makes a comment: "God detests this," Harvey said. "This is like homosexuality, which God also says is an abomination." It seems like he was seeing how many " abominations" he could fit into one report.

Genetics prove that homosexuality is naturally occurring and not "against Nature"

This is not the only article I have seen connecting Wicca to "Greek love", both on the Internet and off. There is a pronounced link, which I'll get into in just a moment. If I sometimes decide to read a composition from a collection, there always seems to be one that I'm drawn to particularly, on a good day, which mentions one or the other from a Christian (most Christians, that is) point of view, of course. Another Christian article, from Dragon Willow's web site (you can find her listed under the Pagan Teens) rambles on about how the military kicked gays out and on how they should do the same thing to the Wiccans.

There is plenty of evidence to suggest that homosexuality has been around a long time before Christian domination. I mentioned earlier "Greek love". The ancient Greeks would educate youths on how to be a citizen, they also taught them on what they called Platonic or Socratic love, which was only expressed between people of the same gender (although I consider all positive love pure). For more information about this read K.J. Dover's Greek Homosexuality. Many temples to Aphrodite and Eros had both ritual prostitutes of women and boys, as Eros inspires both homosexual and heterosexual passion. For instance: Zeus and Ganymede. The priests of the Roman Goddess Cybele castrated themselves, dressed like women, and took men as lovers. The Native American Indians called homosexuals berdaches and were considered powerful shamans and healers. (Check out The History of Male Love web site at http://androphile.org/ ). These are just a few mentions of ancient homosexuality.

Sybil Leek devotes a whole chapter in The Complete Art of Witchcraft, as does Laurie Cabot. I have heard that gay Witches have a unique energy emanating from the male/female balance within.

In short: Love is Love. I cannot see homosexuality as an abomination or a sin; I never could. We have coined a nice, precise little word for this unique ignorance: homophobia.

Keith Franks -- August, 12, 1999
EMAIL: Frankst@bigriver.net