A while back, I sat down with Julian Crossan-Hill to talk about the transformative power of authentic ritual, and about the deep connection that some of us feel between our erotic and spiritual lives. You can access our conversation as Episode 22 of the Queer Spirituality Podcast. Julian's series is profiled below in the post of September 20.
Some of the takeaways of our talk:
Queer spirituality is about finding the extradordinary in the middle of our ordinary life. It's not a separate dimension of our lives, but an integral part of our existience. When we embrace our queerness, we can tap more fully into what's already present in our lives that connects with the divine.
We're hardwired to be happiest when we're grateful.
What we do in and with our bodies we do with our souls. We build our spiritual life out of physical acts and gestures, out of interactions with physical objects and with each other.
(A word about words here: I acknowledge that the word "queer" doesn't work for everyone. For some of us, it still evokes the trauma of a taunt that was hurled at us for years, sometimes with physical along with verbal violence.
If those negative connotations are a stumbling block, I apologize. Julian uses it as a way of embracing what's outside the mainstream of cultural and sexual expectations. He's affirming what sets us in the margins of heteronormative expectation--what therefore allows us a perspective that's not only authentic for us, but a resource for the rest of the world, to move the needle toward a freer, fuller life. It has the advantage of encompassing, in one syllable, shorthand for a wide range of sexual diversities, from full-on Kinsey-6 gayness, through bisexuality, polyamory, solosexuality, ace life on the gray scale, trans life, gender-fluidity, and more.
It's less cumbersome than an endless alphabet of possibilities, and less self-parodic than QUILTBAG (Queer, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, Gay).
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