#queer deities

[inkbottlebird]

I was thinking about different sides of Loki and it just popped into my head: the image of Loki putting a sign on a door,

"Gone Feral, Be Back Gay."

[cavorta]

I am always happy when I read about deities who are queer in some way and/or who are venerated by modern queer pagans. I am currently reading “Pagan Portals: Loki - Trickster and Transformer” by Dagulf Loptson and found this quote: "Due to Loki’s resistance to maintaining any kind of recognizable gender roles, he has also been adopted as a patron deity by many people in the LGBTQ community, who themselves have often been the victims of oppression, misunderstanding, and fear-mongering."

[imightnotbehuman]

  Folks really out here thinking poc and LGBT+ folks didn’t exist or were ‘rare’ in certain historical settings and having them there is ‘inaccurate’.  Y’all, they’re FOOLS absolute FOOLS I SAY!! If they claim a specific time period to be this pure white cishet setting it’s FAKE I tell you and they know jack shit about history.

  Cowboys- REAL cowboys- were mostly POC and many were also queer: Fact. Many pirates were also POC, many of which being freed slaves, and a whole fuck ton of them were queer too. Vikings? Again, many were also POC or mixed because they did have interracial marriages, freed slaves and thralls also joined their ranks, and again a lot of vikings were queer- Vikings literally have LGBT+ gods and goddesses, you really think they’d be okay with the whitewashing anti-lgbt? Hel no.

  POC and LGBT+ people aren’t anything new in any of these modernized whitewashed settings if you actually know history, the records of them are there but these racist bigots are too wimpy to face reality because it doesn’t suit their ideals. Suck it up, buttercup, history is gayer than you think. Don’t be so sensitive about POC and queer folk in historical settings because they were there.

[concerningwolves]

The gods anon gave me the idea to ask about my own gods. In my story I have many gods (Gods, goddesses and Auds-non-binary gods) & one of them is Phetia, Aud of time. The thing is they/she is demigirl & I don’t know how to navigate those genders or write them as I’ve never met a Demi-gendered person irl & I don’t want it to be incorrect & offend and/or give a negative idea on them. Do you have any tips on how phetia’a worshippers will navigate pronouns & how to interact her her/them in story?

ENBY-GENDERED DEITIES & THEIR PRONOUNS  

This is! Very cool!! Thank you for asking Nonny, I had fun answering this <3

How the worshippers could navigate pronouns:

The gender (or lack thereof) of gods/deities is always a fun topic because although they’re not human, and gender is a human construct, the gods get genders by default of being worshipped by… well, humans. So unless your god (or, in this case, Aud), has a physical role in the story, the worshippers may pick their pronouns based on:

a) context 

b) aspect

Context means stories/myths/legends; basically the extant records or oral traditions that surround the deity. It’s likely that in episodes where the Aud was presenting as neutral, worshippers would refer to them with the pronouns they/them, (or some other neutral pronoun set), while in episodes where she presents as female, the pronouns are she/her. 

Take Loki of the Norse pantheon: although mostly referred to as a male, sometimes he’s referred to as a “she” or as a “mother”. Popular modern interpretations like the Magnus Chase books describe Loki as (gender)“fluid”. The pronouns used depend on the context — so when talking about the time Loki transformed into a mare and then got pregnant and gave birth, people give her she/her pronouns and female titles. This means that Loki is the mother of Sleipnir and the father of all his other children. 

Aspect is about statues/images/totems or other objects of worship that capture a small piece of the deity. Deities and saints rarely represent one concrete thing, even if they are the “god of chaos” or “goddess of wisdom” or “aud of time”; they all have different aspects. It’s possible that an aspect might have certain pronouns attached, particularly if the aspect comes from a piece of scripture/myth/legend/story etc. 

I think because worship and faith are personal experiences, each worshipper could approach Phetia’s pronouns in their own way, (unless there’s some Official Rule prohibiting that). But I also think gender is a deeply personal experience, and therefore the human worshippers won’t know which pronouns to use. So, assuming Phetia has no direct role or interaction with her/their worshippers (I’m coming back to this), here are some alternative ideas for how to handle pronouns: 

worshippers don’t use pronouns, at all. 

Maybe they believe that, as humans, it isn’t their place to assume an Aud’s gender or pronouns at any given time

or maybe they avoid pronouns because it’s more respectful, since their Aud can’t tell them directly which pronouns they prefer. 

worshippers only use pronouns in a certain context, but avoid them at any other time. 

so if there’s a tale in which the Aud states a preferred gender/pronoun, it’s seen as okay to use those pronouns (but no others!) while discussing it 

only high-ranking officials of the faith can use pronouns.

is there some way they could divine the Aud’s preferred pronouns of the day? 

or are they being arrogant and making assumptions? humans are flawed, and they don’t always interpret the teachings of a faith correctly. 

I recommend that you avoid worshippers using a fixed blanket pronoun for an Aud whose pronouns change. A really common problem that people with fluid genders face is this idea that they’re being “difficult” or want to “act special” by using different pronouns. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the sentiment “Why don’t you just used they/them, it’s easier for everyone” which makes my stomach turn, because it’s..... not. Well, easier for bigots and transphobes I guess, but their feelings don’t factor into how someone experiences their gender. (But it is only a recommendation; you might want to tackle the issue somehow, and that’s up to you)

But what if the deity is an active participant in the story?

I’ve answered with the assumption that Phetia is a symbol of faith, and doesn’t interact with anyone. But this is a fantasy, so anything is possible!

If your Aud is actually a being instead of a faith concept, then maybe they have a way of telling their followers directly. Lots of folks with changing pronouns use items like bracelets, pins, shoelaces, necklaces or other small accessories to show when their preferred pronouns shift. There’s no reason you can’t adjust this method for an Aud. 

Perhaps there is a statue or a magical item in their temple that shows their worshippers what pronouns to use that day

or maybe worshippers wake up Knowing because of some divine power

 Maybe something in the world changes, like the colour of the sky at dawn or the type of birdsong 

or maybe there are subtle changes in things related to the Aud’s domain; in your case, that could mean clock-hands change colour or timepieces work differently 

There are lots of things you can do, so try them out and see what works for your storyworld. Once you’ve finished (or once you’re satisfied with what you’ve got), then reach out to sensitivity readers who can give their input. 

Happy writing Nonny, and drop back in my inbox if you have any more questions! 

[queeraroace]

Queer Deities zine by Ky Greyson

[thegreatlibraryfangirl]

15 LGBT Egyptian Gods

Hieroglyphics recount numeous queer deities who were worshipped in ancient Egypt.

[bxy-meets-xirl]

tdevotionalfw your Just A Hunch™︎ upg finally manifests zhæself as the syncretic form of two very different nb fxmme divines by way of personality, craft+spiritual correspondences, & raw power level: The Blue Lady & The Boundless One Who Comes Forth

like, i spent a good solid [insert rando time measurement here] wondering wtf brought those two together & why ...& all i got in answer was some giggling & The Boundless One going “b/c sometimes shi’s mine’n i’m hirs don’cha know? 😘”

uuhhh no i didn’t know, that’s the whole fucking point ya’ big gai nerd

anyway i’m excited to start working more w/To Who Breathes Brightly—b/c it’s always cool to finally learn the name of a sometimes-there, sometimes-not divine