If they see
breasts and long hair coming
they call it a woman
If beard and whiskers
they call it a man:
but, look, the Self that hovers
in between
is neither man
nor woman.
Devara Dasimayya, 10th century CE
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Look here, dear fellow:
I wear these men's clothes
Only for you.
Sometimes I am man,
Sometimes I am woman.
O Lord of the Meeting Rivers
I'll make wars for you
But I'll be your devotees' bride.
Basavanna, 10th century CE
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Locks of shining red hair
A crown of diamonds
Small beautiful teeth
And eyes in a laughing face
That light up fourteen worlds
I saw His glory
And seeing, I quell today
the famine in my eyes.
I saw the haughty Master
For whom men, all men
Are but women, wives.
I saw the Great One
Who plays at love
With Shakti,
Original to the world,
I saw His stance
And began to live.
Mahadeviyakka, 10th century CE
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The Eternal Androgyne
I am the Mysterious One, the Eternal Androgyne who knows not Death and who ever dwells in the Great Beyond. I am not male! I am not female! I am the ever Authentic, Perfect Self. Neither am I merely a Spirit, or an abstract concept. I am a Living Entity, a Cosmic Living Organism. I am Love, the Supreme Oneness beyond all pairs of opposites. Know and love me, for I am your loving Creator. Did I not make the heavens, the clouds, the moon and the stars? Am I not responsible for the beauty of rivers and flowers, and all forms of beauty? Know, my Descendants, that all these things I made out of love for you. Did I not place the Sun in the heavens to light your days, and the Moon to light your nights? I am the Caretaker of my Descendants and my love knows no boundaries. All those things you see around you are my pure loving essence. All were made out of love and play, to share the Bliss and Beauty of my Spirit, my Greatness and Power, which is only fair, for you are all my Descendants and rightful partakers of my Glory.
Saadaya
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Song of Antinous
A star that shines above us
a drop of refreshing dew
the beauty of the holy lotus
all of nature reminds me of You
I sing of your beauties
I sing of Antinous
My love, my Numen, my Devs
In the darkest times of night
when my soul takes refuge in God
your embrace is the spark of light
that leads me back to Ma'at
I sing of your beauties
I sing of Antinous
My love, my Numen, my Devs
I'm in love with the child of Bithynia
His amazing strength is my shield
and he leads me to light like the rays
of the boat of a million years
I sing of your beauties
I sing of Antinous
My love, my Numen, my Devs
Ave Antinoe
Ave Antinoe
Ave Antinoe Evohe
Saadaya
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sinking under the desert sand
as time swallows it
lies the holy city of antinoopolis
where the people of antinous
honored the memory of their good god
eighteen hundred years ago;
the boat of a million years has journeyed over it
more than six hundred thousand times
the gods wondering what became of its past glory
sinking beneath the thirsty dunes
lies the holy city of antinoopolis
under the scorching sun
lifeless, bare, fruitless like the eunuchs of the desert
forgotten lie the ruins of our sion
its arches raise their arms to the heavens
nowhere is there a refuge for the children of antinoopolis
they go to the gallows in persia
they are beat by wild beasts in egypt
they are silenced and persecuted in nigeria
murdered and hung from fences in america
did not antinous die that we may live?
do not the whispers of our prayers reach the ears of the gods in heaven?
what would khnum-hotep say to his lover niankh-khnum
is he were to see these crimes against homosexuals?
they that hold each other in eternity
meaning no harm to no one
surely must be uttering prayers to antinous
'come forth by day again
refresh your ka perpetually
the world needs you, antinous
accomplish your salvation'
as thoth utters the heka
that breathes new life into the resurrected Antinous-Osiris the Just
and the ba of the good god manifests vitality
thus says oracle of the good god:
'hold the visions of the resurrected god Antinoos-Osiris the Just
and do not forget them
for through them you are my covenanted people
and I become your god
know that I AM resurrected
do not forget that I AM the sustainer of my people after the inundation
year after year'
ave vive antinoe
in memory of his immanent majesty
Saadaya
A Spanish version of this poem is available.
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IV
Food bringer, rich with provisions, himself the author of all his good things;
Awe-striking master, yet sweet the aromas rising about him,
and, how he satisfies when he returns!--
Transforming the dust to pastures for cattle, bringing forth for each god his sacrifice.
He dwells in the undeworld, yet heaven and earth are his to command,
and the Two Lands he takes for his own,
Filling the storerooms, heaping the gainsheds, giving his gifts to the poor.
He causes each kind of good wood to grow tall, and no one in Egypt lacks timber,
making the ship move through force of his flow, so it will not settle like stone.
Yet bluffs are borne off by his fierce upsurging, while he himself is not seen;
He goes to his work, and will not be governed though they chant out the secret spells;
Man cannot know the place where he is, not his grotto be spied in the writings.
XIV
All men honor the Nine Great Gods,
but they stand in awe of that deity
who aids his son, divine Lord of All,
in greening the banks of the Nile.
O Hidden god, be it well with you!
May you flourish and return!
Hapy, river-spirit, may you flourish and return!
Come back to Egypt, bringing your benediction of peace,
greening the banks of the Nile;
Save mankind and the creatures, make life likely,
through the gift of all this your countryside!
O Hidden God, be it well with you! may you flourish and return!
Hapy, Lord of Egypt, may you flourish and return!
Excerpts from The Echoes of Egyptian Voices: An Anthology of Ancient Egyptian Poetry, translated by John L. Foster, 1992. The poems were composed during the 19th Dynasty and they're dedicated to the blessed river Nile (in Kemetic Hapy), who was imagined in cult as a hermaphrodite with pending breasts, a deity of abundance and fertility.
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Mother/Father, who birthed the World
I am your Child
Two-fold in form like thee
Nursling of your deathless milk
From two paps did I suckle
O honey flow and singing stream of Life
Thou Milky Way of souls in flood
Your copulation ever waving
Flesh of Light and Field of Forms
O Father Light and Mother Earth
Embracing in your timeless bed
I am your love child sweet and fair
And promise, I do, your passion to share
Written by Ajnavajra, submitted by George Tessler (thanks :o)
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Ganymede’s Song
Zeus, on his travels, saw the loveliest boyWhen it first happened I didn’t understand
Turned himself into an eagle and snatched the boy up
Brought him to Mount Olympus; made him his cup-bearer
He took me that first time as that magnificent eagle;
I gave myself completely to the power of the god
My beauty given over to the pleasure of the god
My beauty an offering to the lust of the god
He shifted-shape, after, took warrior form
Holding me, caressing me, taking me again, the man loving the boy
I felt a love I never had, never could’ve had, with a mere mortal
Surrendering, for all time: the service of my Lord.
Later, he wrapped me in his arms;
all I could feel was a whirling, a dizziness, a blindness;
Mount Olympus.
And I understood, beyond words, that this would be my holy task.
When my Lord craves wine, I lovingly bring the cup to his lips:
And I live for those moments when his lust rises for me.
My body now only for the pleasure of Zeus; blessed among mortals,
I dwell at his feet; the loving cup-bearer, of the chief of the gods.
By Phil Linz from Graymoor-Croton NY, November 03.
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The Reflection
I looked at the mirror
I gazed at the glass
I saw my reflection looking back at me
My Self
I've seen God naked as Truth
beyond all illussions
inconceivable
but not un-thought of
creating for himself mirrors
to mask the Truth of his Being
to hide how great He/She is
to make us feel significant
Lighting candles I approach him
and when there's enough light
the reflection can be seen in the mirror
speaking in a familiar tongue
consecrating the most ordinary things
and moments
and making them eternal
"I see you", He/She says,
"I've seen you since the beginning
and I always thought of you as a part of me,
my Beloved;
a child unknown to itself,
but whom I knew intimately;
and when you approached me with tears in your eyes
I began to think of healing;
and when you approached me with rage in your heart
I began to invent new visions".
If the mirror could speak so beautifully
I would make the mirror my God,
but it was not the mirror
it was the reflection who spoke in a familiar tongue to me
and showed me things I hadn't thought of.
Thus began my Revolution.
Saadaya
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At the Androgyne Carnival
Step inside, misses and misfits
Acknowledge your symptoms
Prepare for travesties and profound transvestitures
This is the Morality-shaking Magician
Androgyne the Great
Behold the unseemingly hermaphrodite as he really seems.
Is he the master of your questionable solutions?
Is he the mistress of your insoluble questions?
Warning.
He is addicted to effrontery.
He can mess up the neatest arrangements.
He can make certain that your squirmings engulf you.
He is a harmless rascal.
He is a revolutionary harlot.
He offers you nothing less than the risk of everything.
He desires all your desires.
He prickles with fecundity.
Cunningest of cunts.
Cockadoodle of all cocks.
He will dive for treasure in your deep vaginas.
He will grasp your testes and play ball with heaven.
What more could you want? What are you afraid of?
Does no one here wish to embrace the celestial totality?
Does no one want to live out the whole holy story?
James Broughton
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