The Revolutionary Psychology of
Gay-Centeredness in Men
by Mitch Walker, PhD
Treeroots, 28 page monograph, $5.00
Pioneering gay psychologist Mitch Walker was the first Jungian
theorist to propose that gay people respond to an archeytype, which
he called the Double, in the way that straight people respond to what
the Jungians call the anima/animus, that is, by falling in love and
forming deep interpersonal soul bonds. This was an important step in
affirming gay consciousness as a real and specific personality
pattern and not just a shadow-ridden dysfunction of anima/animus.
Developing that theoretical framework over the years, Walker
now articulates a full-fledged psychology of archetypal
Gay-Centeredness. The three essays collected in the monograph titled
The Revolutionary Psychology of Gay-Centered in Men succinctly
outline the terms of that Gay-Centered inner work, emphasizing the
crucial importance of facing the Gay Shadow with all its internalized
homophobia and self-judgment.
Walker writes: "If you examine your feelings of offense and
shame carefully they will lead you inside to a world of the hurt
self, where a wounded, terrified boy has lurked for decades full of
unresolved painful experiences. Following these experiences out by
continuously expressing, processing and mirroring them leads not just
to 'healing' that little boy but to his being drawn into a profoundly
deeper initiation inside, whereby his truest capacities and most
spiritual gifts may unfold."
Especially interesting to students of gay movement history are
Walker's accounts of his debates and disagreements with fellow gay
pioneer Harry Hay (with whom Walker worked, along with Don Kilhefner
and a few others, in forming what has become the Radical
Faeries).
Brief, but challenging and interesting, this monograph deserves
attention.
Mitch Walker's monograph The Revolutionary Psychology of
Gay-Centered in Men is available for $5 in select gay bookstores
or on the web at
http://hometown.aol.com/gaypsychology.
For further information about gay-centered inner work or to order,
contact: Doug Sadownick, 7060 Hollywood Blvd, Suite #307, Hollywood
CA 90028, email:
Treertsla@aol.com.
Out There
by Perry Brass
Belhue Press, 184 pages, pb, $10.95
Perry Brass is a marvelous writer. His words flow. The text is
rich with imagery and texture, sensual and delicious. It's therefore
a little shocking to find these lovely words to be about such
horrible and demonic things as this collection of short stories deals
with. Of course, this counterpoint is what makes the book a success
and a sort of "pleasure" to read.
Brass's imagination is remarkable. The stories often begin,
like classic Alfred Hitchcock, with one plot that is suddenly
supplanted by a new and unexpected one. Several of them seem to be
about issues in gay men's relationships: how to deal with outside
sex, handling a messy breakup, seducing an attractive but shy and
self-abnegating partner, coping with a lover with a small penis. But
then Brass's fascination with the weird, the supernatural, the
unnatural takes the story a very different direction. He's always
reminding his readers that things aren't what they seem and that
there's sometimes a layer to reality--what the Greeks called The
Underworld--that demands a totally new way of looking at things.
This reviewer would have liked a couple more happy endings. The
story about the boy with the small penis could have resolved with a
visit to an endocrinologist instead of with a sacrifice to the devil.
And the story about the outside boyfriend could have resolved without
a fatality. Curiously, one of the most disturbing stories about a gay
man's being kidnapped and sold into slavery to half-human,
"half-alligator" people had the sweetest of endings with the
discovery the alligator people could be quite affectionate and
devoted.
But Perry Brass's gift is showing you that the world isn't
always so sweet and even the weird and awful things demonstrate the
richness of consciousness.
Always entertainng, this collection of stories reminds us there
is a close connection between spirituality and horror--both reminders
that the world is bigger than we think and nature, after all, has a
supernatural side!
Books by Perry Brass
Perry Brass writes mythic science-fiction, beautiful and
illuminating poetry and insightful cultural criticism. How to Survive
Your Own Gay Life ($11.95), The Lover of My Soul ($8.95), Mirage
($10.95), his newest Angel Lust ($12.95) and others are available
from White Crane Journal. Send price of book(s) plus $1.50 p&h to
White Crane, P O Box 2762, Wimberley TX 78676
Queer Corners
by Donald Olson
Bridge City Books, 325 pages, pb, $14.95
Queer Corners is an engrossing and entertaining novel with a
large cast of characters. It's set in a slightly fictionalized
Portland Oregon, in a quaint little gay-dominated neighborhood known
to the residents as Queer Corners. Into this idyllic hamlet move a
political, right-wing gay-baiter and his evangelist wife, bringing
their message of intolerance and tackiness.
An enjoyable read, the story springs one surprise after
another. Like a Dickens novels, the characters are interrelated to
one's another history in surprising ways.
How the homophobic couple are finally brought to ruin and the
gay neighbors vindicated and solidified in their gay community is a
pleasure to read. Of course, it's all gay fantasy, but that's the
delight of it.
It is gay fantasy, isn't it? People like the right wing
homophobes don't really exist, do they?
Coming out of a gay community that's really experienced this
kind of politics, the novel reminds us to stay vigilant.
Running with Jesus
by Malcolm Boyd
Augsburg Press, 119 pages, hb, $15.99
In 1965 Malcolm Boyd's book of prayers became a runaway
bestseller. Originally titled "Prayers for a Post-Christian Era," it
appeared as Are You Running With Me, Jesus? The book's popularity
came in great part from the simplicity and humanity of Boyd's
dialogue with a God who'd understand modern life, one who didn't
expect to be addressed in Old English. And one who was deeply
concerned about the civil rights movement in America. For that is how
Episcopal priest Malcolm Boyd came to be known: as an important civil
rights activist in the Church.
Some 35 years later, Malcolm Boyd is still active in the Church
and is probably better known now as an activist for AIDS and gay
causes. He is longterm partners with gay spiritual writer and former
Advocate editor Mark Thompson. And now a new book of prayers, with
the same immediacy and relevance to modern life, has been published.
It's a lovely little book, with an appealing photo of Fr. Malcolm on
the cover, and the same sweetness in its pages--and demand for
justice and righteousness based not in old fashioned laws, but in
daily life in this now really "Post-Christian Era."
The prayers give a meaning and substance to the overly
mythologized image of Jesus, making His message more obviously
applicable today than ever. This book would make an especially nice
gift for a Christian whose faith you'd want to affirm--or to wake
up!
Out on Holy Ground
By Donald L. Boisvert
Pilgrim Press, 148 pages, pb, $19.95
Donald Boisvert is a Canadian, former seminarian with the
Blessed Sacrament Fathers, sociologist of religion, and now a college
administrator in Montreal. In Out on Holy Ground he offers a series
of "meditations," as he calls them, on gay men's spirituality. He
says gay spirituality is the process by which we, as gay men, create
and inhabit religious spaces.
Combining occasional autobiographical sketches, some of them
surprisingly frank, with academic scholarship, the book weaves a
marvelous discussion that runs from poignant ex-seminarian
reminiscences to scholarly literary criticism and socio-political
analysis. In a way what Boisvert is saying is what all the books in
the genre of gay spirituality are saying: there is something queer
about the way gay men experience life, often with a fascination for
the spiritual which directly challenges the traditional religions'
notion of truth and holiness. That what he is saying is both so
original and so familiar, that it rings true to its gay readership,
is evidence of the shared experience many of us have of our lives
that we call spirituality.
Particularly interesting is the discussion of the centrality of
male beauty to gay consciousness and to the gay experience of
sacrality.
The book poses the question whether gay spirituality is a
manifestation of a genuine religious belief or just a mode of
identity politics and activism. The author answers that there's a
danger both that spirituality will distract us from politics (for
there are serious political changes that the homosexual's plight
demands) and that it will become itself only politics.
But, he says, "As long as there are gay men trying to make
sense of their position of marginality in this world, there will be
some form of gay spiritual expression, for it is a compelling
necessity imposed on us by force and by circumstance. . . . Gay
writers have generally approached the problem of the sacred in gay
lives in one of four broad ways: by providing counter-interpretations
of commonly accepted theological or historical facts (the apologetic
mode), by offering paradigms of positive psycho-spiritual health (the
therapeutic mode), by suggesting ethical parameters for gay men's
relations with the world and with each other (the ecological mode),
and finally by reflecting critically on the individual religious
upbringing and experience of gay men (the autobiographical mode). On
a considerably smaller scale, each one of us, in the depths of his
own soul, engages in these four "spiritual exercises," for each one
of us must struggle with what it means to be gay at this time and in
this place. When you think about it, each one of us is really all of
us."
This book is a welcome addition to the growing library of gay
spiritual and mystical insight.
The Crucifixion of
Hyacinth
by Geoff Puterbaugh
Authors Choice Press (iuniverse.com), 178 pages, pb, $13.95
Reviewed by Toby Johnson
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Subtitled: "Jews, Christians, and Homosexuals from
Classical Greece to Late Antiquity," this little book
documents and explains what was likely really going on in
the ancient world.
In a way, of course, what the ancients thought is
truly irrelvant today. Our world is so unlike theirs, one of
them transported by time machine into the year 2001would
hardly recognize he was still on earth and that these
current day creatures were descendants of his. And yet
interest in the ancients has survived, perhaps for that very
reason. For one of the big differences is how sexuality and
homosexuality are viewed.
That the ancients had different ideas is a reminder
that the notions conventional culture takes are time-bound
and arbitrary. And that's good news for people dealing with
the misunderstandings of modern, Christian-influenced
society.
Puterbaugh presents a wealth of quotes and references
and does a creditable job of explaining them in context.
That homosexuality isn't such a new thing is not surprising.
But understanding what that means in context often remains
elusive. Things were just so different back then.
Geoff Puterbaugh helps make it all make sense. The
book is interesting, informative, and readable. And it's a
nice addition to the library of books about the historical
bases of gay consciousness.
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An Excerpt
from the book
Ancient Greece was the foundation of
western civilization. Historical scholarship, with rare
unanimity, declares this innovatory role to be a fact: the
history of modern man begins in Greece. There, the twin
lights of democracy and science first shone.
The earlier, eastern cradles of
civilization were theocracies, characterized by the absolute
rule of a priest-king and his priesthood. These societies
were marked by a dogmatic rigidity which endured for
thousands of years with little change and little progress.
It could be argued, indeed, that the rulers of Sumer and
Egypt found change threatening, and lacked the very concept
of progress.
Against this vast, alien backdrop, the
Greeks appear astonishingly modern. They explored the
universe with joy and exuberance. An entirely new set of
rules for living appeared, and the priestly classes were
relegated to a more decorative role. The science of physics
was born. Philosophy was born.
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The traces lie in our language. Here is a list
of Greek words for things very much with us today; the Greeks did not
originate all of these, but they brought them to their first
maturity: schools, gymnasiums, arithmetic, geometry, history,
rhetoric, physics, biology, anatomy, hygiene, therapy, cosmetics,
poetry, music, tragedy, comedy, philosophy, theology, agnosticism,
skepticism, stoicism, epicureanism, ethics, politics, idealism,
ranny, plutocracy, and democracy.
The Greeks made a profound advance in human
civilization. Though any criticisms have been made of ancient Greek
society, it is not possible find another beginning to the history of
western civilization.
One more word belongs on the daunting list
above. It was formerly as noble as any of them, but is infamous in
modern times&emdash;the word, of course, is pederasty.
Pederasty is a Greek word which means "the love
of male youths or boys." The Greeks had no word&emdash;and no
concept&emdash;which corresponds to our "homosexual." There is, now,
no doubt that pederasty was common among the Greeks.
Pederasty was sometimes evidence of the Greek
love of pleasure, but its main purpose was education and social
integration. The late Dr. Marrou was one of the few modern scholars
who had the clarity of vision to recognize that pederasty and paideia
were inseparable in Greek culture.
The Greek type of love helped to create the
particular kind of moral ideal that underlay the whole system of
Hellenic education...The elder's desire to stand out in the eyes of
his beloved, to shine, and the younger man's corresponding desire to
show himself worthy of his lover, could not but strengthen in both
that love of glory which was, moreover, extolled by the whole
agonistic outlook... The tradition of antiquity is unanimous in
linking the practice of pederasty with valour and courage. (A History
of Education in Antiquity)
As we develop a true picture of the role of
pederasty in Greek civilization, it may startle us. The erotic love
of a mature man for a youth or boy (Marrou places the age of the
youth between fifteen and nineteen) was a pillar of Greek education,
and, for any society, education is the main building block for all
further social development, the means by which its culture is
transmitted. It is difficult to step back and realize that what many
today call the "abominable crime against nature" was an honorable
institution of ancient Greek society. Modern democratic societies
have worked their way around to tolerating, more or less, "homosexual
relations between consenting adults." But this is not what the Greeks
admired.
The cultural difference is great: while we may
admire the achievements the Greeks and even feel indebted to them,
there is, in their culture, a large and apparently central area of
athletic nudity, pederasty, and celebration of masculine virtues
which we simply do not comprehend.
Just how prevalent pederasty really was among
the Greeks has long been disputed. Those who would impose our own
morality upon the Greeks have, for many years, attempted to confine
what they perceive as an abomination within very narrow borders. Thus
Arno Karlen claims that only a "tiny literate minority" was involved,
a minority even in the Greek upper classes." Some homosexual
apologists would have us believe that all the Greeks were engaged in
pederastic love affairs all the time, which is just as
untenable.
The tide seems to be in favor of the
apologists, however: the modern scrutiny of the Greek record, which
takes place without the censorship and bowdlerism so long prevalent
in classical studies, only strengthens our impression of how
widespread the custom was.
If we had to compare Greek pederasty to some
American institution, we would have to choose something like
football. Not everyone loves football; we even have stern moralists
who think it should be abolished. But it would be folly to assert
that football was the pastime of a "tiny literate minority." Football
is part of the American way of life&emdash;beloved of some, detested
by others, but indisputably there, and, for the average citizen, a
source of national pride. To deny the centrality of pederasty in
Greek and Hellenic civilization would be just as absurd.
Jung And The Alchemical Imagination
By Jeffrey Raff
Nicolas-Hays, Inc., 288 pages, pb, $18.95
Reviewed by Robert O. Cameron
Jeffrey Raff, PhD, 1976 graduate Jungian analyst from the C.G.
Jung Institute in Zurich, twenty four year veteran analyst in
Littleton, Colorado, has fashioned his perceptions in a timely way so
as to jolt the seeker after enlightenment. He challenges several
commonly held collective views of the nature of change, fantasy
versus imagination and the existence of and encounters with the
psychoidal transpersonal realm.
The premise of the book is that Jung offered a spiritual model
for the modern world, and that this model is closely related to
earlier traditions such as alchemy. A major tenant of that model is
the idea of the inherent value of every individual. Within each is an
inner figure with its own voice, one that can be heard directly in
dreams, active imagination, and even in ordinary experiences. Jung
referred to it as the Self. Raff makes the distinction between the
latent and manifest Self. Within the life experiences of all people
there is an imperative call for the conscious part of us, the ego, to
begin a process toward and discovery of the inner figure, called the
process of individuation that usually commences with creative efforts
such as writing, painting, dancing or improvisation and then expands
to deeper satisfactions in an analytic relationship.
Dr. Raff convincingly shows that if one gives paramount
importance to inner work and approaches it as one approaches the
theory and technique of any art, then it is assured that a vital
relationship with the manifest Self will be achieved. Springing from
this transformed or transmuted Self is an altogether new life that
empowers us to meet every situation with the appropriate response. We
are kind when kindness is appropriate, and severe when severity is
required. We are not afraid of our own dark side (shadow), nor are we
dominated by it, but express it in a suitable manner. We see the
creative spirit in the material world, and enjoy material pleasures.
In short, we are unafraid to express all sides of our personality and
repress none. Our willingness to be all that we are, and to embrace
all of our parts, allows us to experience ourselves as whole
beings.
Raff shows us how Jung found within ancient alchemy and
Gnosticism parallels to his psychology as he struggled to express his
profound contributions to modern men and women. Many people such as
Gerhard Wehr suggest that Jung's work is part of esoteric
spirituality and that he takes his rightful place along Jacob Boehme,
Paracelsus and the Rosicrucian movement.
In the two thousand year alchemical western tradition two major
components are discernable, visionary states and experiences and
physical work with material substances, elixirs, potions and
transmutations of all kinds for the alleviation of suffering. The
book focuses on alchemical visionary states ìaimed at
transforming the personality or facilitating the experience of divine
truths. Raff takes the reader on a careful and accurate reading of
the ancient texts and emblems that provide roadmaps in the inward
journey toward union with the manifest Self.
All GLBT spiritually concerned individuals will want to read
this book as an aid in the clarification of misunderstood ideas of
the shadow in particular and of the inner journey in general.
Gay men's search for and understanding spirituality, the
bedrock of whole and fulfilled living, will be enhanced and broadened
by reading Raff's loving and careful understanding of ancient and
modern alchemy.
Many will share in Jeffrey's courageous disclosure, I am, I
suppose, a mystic. I have never been at home in organized religion,
but have had to find my own path and decipher my own truths. Without
either Jung or alchemy, though, my efforts would have failed.
Robert O. Cameron lives in rural
Missouri.
Brave Journeys: Profiles in
Gay and Lesbian Courage
By David Mixner and Dennis Bailey
Bantam Books, 337 pages, hb, $24.95 (pb, $13.95, May 01)
Reviewed by Wil Biggers
This is a great read! Mixner, who gave us Stranger Among
Friends, and his collaborator David Bailey offer six intimate,
engrossing, and compelling stories of seven contemporary Gay heroes
whose very personal, and public struggles for equality and truth are
profoundly inspiring. Yes, these accounts of strength in spirit are
riveting. Most of our Gay history is ignored, suppressed or back
paged; these people would not be unheard; they are heroes all.
One surprise the reader finds in these remarkable accounts is
that only two men are featured out of six stories, the rest are
women. And intermixed and woven throughout most of these struggles is
a solid commitment to gay and lesbian unity, a refreshing twist. Each
one is a wonder in perseverance, self-awareness, hope, courage, love
and dogged resolve. These seven have significantly altered and
bettered our world.
We're given just about everything here in diversity. It would
have been heartening to see a Gay African-American here;
nevertheless, diversity is shown&emdash;and hopefully in Volume II...
Hispanic-American Dianne Hardy-Garcia courageously and
effectively fights for enactment of hate crimes bills in her native
Texas in spite of her Governor's unyielding wall of opposition.
Elaine Noble becomes the first openly gay person to be elected to
state office. Top-Gun navy pilot, Lieutenant Tracy Thorne outs
himself on Nightline and shows us what the right stuff really is.
Pioneers Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, together now fifty years,
started the first Lesbian organization. Roberta Achtenberg faced off
against the venom of Jessie Helms in her confirmation hearings for
appointment to government office. Sir Ian McKellen, arguably the
world's finest Shakespearean actor, came out to the public on the
BBC; as an activist he fought in the battle against AIDS and fights
for parity of Gay citizens under the law in the UK.
These accounts are deeply personal, and once immersed in any
one of these compelling stories, this reader could not put it down.
Brave Journeys is the product of great historical reporting, superb
interviewing and the exceptionally candid participation of those
whose lives were featured&emdash;as well as their families, their
friends and partners. A must read for anyone who wants to know who
has effected great change in our lifetimes. The work continues.
Wil Biggers is a stained glass artist in
South Carolina.
Gay Spirit Warrior
by John R. Stowe
Findhorn Press, 280 pages, pb, $15.95
Reviewed by Mike Meacham, Ph.D.
John Stowe's Gay Spirit Warrior was last year's
Spirituality/Religion Lammy Award winner.
Gay Spirit Warrior is a book that is written to assist Gay Men
in achieving higher self-esteem, cope with special stressors arising
from their orientation, and empower them. It is written in a concise,
clear, and empathetic manner, which should appeal to nearly any
reader.
The title of the work suggests the content. The author appeals
to all people to become more in touch with the warrior archetype as
part of our psyche. The stereotypical concept of the word hinders its
true meaning. For Stowe, it means seizing the power of the moment
with integrity. It empowers gay men to be aware of the gifts they may
share with others and the courage to openly accept themselves as they
are. Using this definition, the book leads the reader through phases
that develop the warrior and thereby increase self-esteem,
self-awareness, and potential.
Chapter two begins the journey. All that is needed is
motivation, a journal and knowledge about what the reader wishes to
achieve. These achievements are divided into challenges (issues
concerning love of other men) and goals (what the reader would like
to happen). Further discussion focuses on methods of supporting
oneself during the process and upon establishing a trustworthy
support group.
From these beginnings, Stowe leads readers through the many
aspects of their life that has affected them. Early beliefs are
examined in a critic's corner as well as suggestions on ways to cope
with them. Negative beliefs, role models, and ritual cleansing are
important concepts discussed in this section.
Work then progresses to the reader's physical body. Advice on
exercise, diet, and health are included as well as insights into the
mind/body connection. The reader is challenged to know and support
himself on a physical level.
Reviewing how the past has affected oneself as well as gaining
more control and knowledge of the effect of the physical body and
self on each other are essential starting points. From these bases,
the book turns to Jungian-style archetypes. Using these archetypes
the reader is introduced to the geist of gay culture. The culture
itself and the person's part in it are celebrated. Stowe thereby
demonstrates that the reader is no longer alone.
The complexities of the psyche are then addressed. The Magic
Boy assists in developing the emotional and creative side of the
individual. Androgyne investigates the realm of gender and
self-identity. The Lover allows for reflection on what one may look
for in a relationship. Searching for truth and health through
intuition is reviewed using the Shaman/Healer archetype. The
essentials of growth and wisdom are discussed through The Elder. The
Warrior helps with motivation and overcoming fear, while The Explorer
challenges the reader to risk new challenges and insights. The
information and suggestions in these chapters greatly enhances
insight into the multifaceted psyche of the individual. Furthermore,
it relates that psyche to others. Again, one is not an isolate, but a
member of a community with responsibility to humankind.
The final chapters address both spirituality and the empirical
world. No religious or anti-religious dogma is espoused, but methods
of coming to terms with one's own concept of spirituality are
explored objectively and empathetically. A challenging part of the
work is the chapter on the gay warrior's place in the world. He is
challenged to accept his gifts, share them and to actively promote
his causes and his contribution to us all.
This is a book that is important for our time. Our society
appears to be at a crossroads. There are strong undercurrents of
feeling about gay issues and there is some cognitive dissonance
within both the heterosexual and homosexual community about
acceptance. In my opinion, this book does much to bring us together
and teach all of us that we are people with common challenges. I
found this to be the most important lesson of the book for me.
Mike Meacham, Ph.D. teaches at Valdosta State University.
E-mail mgmeacha@valdosta.edu
Last update Dec
15 2000
