The abstract is from the cover of the book.
Did you know that in medieval French folklore a person might change sex by passing under a rainbow? Or that same-sex unions have been celebrated by peoples of the ancient Mediterranean, Africa, China, and indigenous America? Or that Sappho, da Vinci, Emily Dickenson, Nijinsky, Benjamin Britten, Mishima, Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Keith Haring, Boy George, and Derek Jarman number among those who have explored the spiritual dimension of gender and sexuality in their works?
While the terms many of us employ today to identify ourselves—‘queer', ‘lesbian', ‘gay', ‘bisexual', ‘transgendered'—differ markedly from those of peoples of other times and places, we are nevertheless the bearers of a rich spiritual history that has been ignored or suppressed, a history encoded in sacred texts as well as in works of art, music, dance and other media. Drawing upon religion, mythology, folklore, anthropology, history and the arts, the ENCYCLOPEDIA is a cornucopia of queer spirituality, containing over 1,500 alphabetically arranged entries from Aakulujjuusi to Zeus.
The product of meticulous research, the ENCYCLOPEDIA offers detailed, yet concise, cross-referenced entries, and an index of attributes and traditions, in order to encourage both quick reference and casual browsing. Beyond its use to scholars, the ENCYCLOPEDIA aims to inspire and empower—and of course, entertain.
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