Two-spirit spirituality from around the world
Information from Independent Lens
Russia: The Skoptsy were a Christian religious sect with extreme
views on sex and gender. The community, discovered in 1771 in Western
Russia, believed that Adam and Eve had had halves of the forbidden
fruit grafted onto their bodies in the form of testicles and breasts.
Therefore, they routinely castrated male children and amputated the
breasts of women to return themselves the the state prior to original
sin. Sex, vanity, beauty, and lust were considered the root of evil.
They faced persecution, but grew to as many as 100,000 in the 20th
century. Many were arrested or deported. Only a few were allowed to
procreate. By the 1950s they had almost disappeared.
India: In South Asian cultures including India, Pakistan, and
Bangladesh, hijras are physiological males who adopt feminine gender
identity, women's clothing and other feminine gender roles. In the
past the term referred to eunuchs or those born intersex or with
indeterminate genitalia.
Most hijra do not consider themselves to be men or women or
transgender, but a distinct third gender. A tradition of castration
still exists but is no longer requisite to be recognized as a hijra.
Hijra generally live on the margins of society and many are forced to
survive by begging or sex work. In India per Hindu mythology, hijras
represent the half-male, half-female image of Shiva — an image
symbolic of a being that is ageless and sexless.
Hijras have a long recorded history in the Indian subcontinent, from
the Mughal Empire period onwards. Many hijras live in well-defined,
organized, all-hijra communities, led by a guru. (The word hijra is
originally from Urdu, but has been adopted into Hindi. In Urdu, it is
considered an epithet, and the term Khwaja Saraa is used instead).
During the era of the British Raj, authorities attempted to eradicate
hijras, whom they saw as "a breach of public decency." Also during
British rule in India they were placed under the Criminal Tribes Act
1871 and labelled a "criminal tribe," hence subjected to compulsory
registration, strict monitoring and stigmatized for a long time, after
independence however they were decriminalized in 1952, though the
stigma continues.
A subset of the hijra tradition are the aravanis, who are
born male but adopt female gender roles early in development. They
take their name from the mythical deity Aravan (the brides of Aravan).
In the ancient sanskrit epic Mahabharata, the Pandavas could conquer
Kurukshetra if they sacrificed a ‘perfect’ male from among themselves.
Aravan, the virgin son of Pandav prince Arjuna, offered himself up for
sacrifice. But he had a request: that he be allowed to spend one night
as a married man.
No king was willing to give his daughter in marriage only to have her
widowed the next day, so finally, Lord Krishna assumed female form and
married Aravan, and after a night of sexual bliss, Aravan was
beheaded.
Every year, during the first full moon of the Tamil month of Chittirai
(April- May) aravanis converge at Koovagam to commemorate this ancient
narrative. They identify themselves with the female form Krishna
assumed for his night with Aravan.
Myanmar: A third gender consisting of males assuming the dress and
social role of women is known in Burmese slang as acault. Acaults
often serve as spirit mediums in the indigenous animistic belief
system. While some acault are gay, not all are.
Indonesia: The Bugi people of southern Sulawesi recognize three
sexes (male, female, intersex) and five genders: men, women, calabai,
calalai, and bissu. Calabai are biological males who embody a feminine
gender identity. Calalai are biological females who embody a male
gender identity. Bissu are considered a "transcendent gender," either
encompassing all genders or none at all. The bissu serve ritual roles
in Bugi culture and are sometimes equated with priests.
Siberia: The Chuckchi (and neighboring indigenous peoples including
the Koryak, and the Kamchadal) are a nomadic, shamanic people who
embrace a third gender. Generally shamans are biologically male with
some adoption of female roles and appearance, who married men but also
were not subject to the social limitations placed on women. Third
gender Chuckchi could accompany men on the hunt, as well as take care
of family.
Uganda: Uganda Prior to colonization, the Ankole people in what is now
Uganda elected a woman to dress as a man and thereby become an oracle to the god Mukasa.
Navajo: The Navajo term nadleehi refers to that culture's traditional third
gender, in which a biologically male-born person embodies both the
masculine and feminine spirit. Dilbaa refers to a female-born person
with a more masculine spirit. Both are considered to encompass both
genders in one person.
Fred Martinez, the subject of the documentary Two Spirits, was
nadleehi. Navajo tradition places nadleehi and dilbaa in high esteem
and they often assume roles as healers in their tribes.
