Having spent quite some time reading articles on your website, I found one that is of interest to our readers, as many do not have computers. I would like your permission to reprint the three articles under "A realistic look at Gender Variance. I found them to be quite well written and would be of interest to so many. Credit for the articles will be attached as written.
Congratulations for your home page.
I cite as an example your section on the Assyrian king Ashurbanibal. It is indeed true that Ashurbanipal was a great ruler + warrior. Yes, he conquered much new territory for the Assyrian empire. Yes, he assembled the greatest library in the ancient world, patronized scholars from all reaches of his empire + built awesome palaces.
.But come on! You make him out to be sort of a warm + fuzzy hippie...just an old romantic crossdresser. Are you aware that he was a ferociously cruel tyrant, who had countless men captured in battle flayed (that's skinned alive)?
He also boasted of how he personally cut out the eyes + tore out the tongues of every survivor of armies he defeated. It's true that there's no record of his doing harm to women, which of course is highly commendable. He had a large harem + each woman in it most likely led a life of nearly royal comfort + luxury.
The fact that he only brutally tortured men ( + proudly had these deeds chronicled) doesn't make him a "nice guy!"
Bill
* Ashurbanipal, like many rulers in those distant times, and
not so unlike rulers today, needed to growl louder, appear
larger and more fierce than his enemies. I don't doubt that some
of the tales are true, nor do I doubt that many of them are
exaggerated. But one might note, were they all true, these were
things done to captured enemies. Here, it appears, was a
gender variant, with a strength and a ferocity not surpassed by
heterosexual monarchs. Personally, I expect I would have felt
quite safe and content as one of his subjects.
On the issue of an anti-heterosexual spin on our website ... I
don't think so. We support the issues of gender variants, and
tell their stories, true. But we also have stories of marvelous
women and with pride we display quotes of the Founding Fathers
and other famous men. Mostly heterosexuals, I presume. GriN! (Not
to mention the pictures in the Ancient Sexuality section that
express the joyful view of sexuality in times past.)
Many thanks, S. V.
* Actually, S.V. had it pretty close: "ubi bene ibi patria".
We will try to answer such requests, when possible, unless it
would require research beyond our own extensive library. If we
can't answer it, then we recommend a University library.
Sometimes you may not be able to answer the question you were
seeking, but searching for it is a reward unto itself. Amazing
things, things you never imagined are to be found in ancient and
almost forgotten tomes. Almost like a Hollywood adventure, many
of the books we peruse have had to have the dust blown off of
them, dust from laying unused for who knows how long.
Please excuse my ramblings. But, with so many feelings to deal
with on
my own, I think I get a little bit "off" sometimes. What I am
trying to
get at is that now I know that my struggle is the curse of
Ereshkigal. And,
more importantly, I now know that the Queen of Heaven herself
has blessed me.
I suppose that only another TS (or T-something person) would know
how wonderful it is to find out about such a curse.
And, I am certain that only a "T" person would be able to
experience the immense joy of hearing of
Innana's promise to ALL Gallae. Yesterday was the first time
that I
encountered Inanna's promise. At least, it was the first time
that I
actually heard it from outside my self. She once told me in a
dream that I
would be her honored guest in heaven, even as patriarchal
"inheritors of
the kingdom of God" jeered at me.
I had read of the Gallae before. I found comfort in Merlin
Stone's monumental work.
I like to consider her a mentor. And, I was glad to see in your
bio that you like her too. Although, I
must say that Merlin Stone's speculations about the Gallae's role
were not
the most comforting. (I will save Janice Raymond for later. She
is another
wonderful woman mentor to me.)
I do not have many "real life" mentors though. By real life, I
mean
people with whom I interact personally. In completing a Masters
degree in
Psychology earlier this year, and working now as an intern (in
addition to
working many more hours at a better paying job), I have found
several
mentors, -all good for one thing or another! But when it comes
to gender,
the best that I get from the best of them is encouragement to go
on to do a
dissertation on the topic myself.
Meanwhile, I developed a half baked idea to explore the
possibilities on
the internet. I decided to run a personal ad at TG Forum. When
I noticed
that so many of the "T" people were using web-sites to promote
themselves,
I decided that I ought to give it a try myself. A couple of
days later, I
felt like I did in my younger days the morning after allowing
myself to
become a bit too playful with "some guys".
I felt like I needed to hide. I asked a "T" friend computer guru
abo
anonymous e-mail and websites. Next thing I know, I'm coming
up with a
web site at geocities.com. And now, this brings me to you.
Again, I feel like I need to hide, or, at least back up. I
had no
idea that there was anything going on like the Metro'on. I am
soooo
immensely happy to find you. Please consider me your student.
Please
consider me your sister. Please, do as you please with my
website. I almost feel like I have infringed upon your copyright. I named
my site
Gallae, having no idea whatsoever that your site had already
done what I
was only imagining. My attempt at coming up with something along
the lines
of what you have done is laughable. My efforts are half baked.
I will
remove it if you think I should.
Yes, it seems this Goddess Brede never died. Per one of Diane
Steins books - this is the Lady that is really appearing in
Medjugorie - not the Lady Mother of
Yesua. A visitor there, brought back photos of a Goddess with
long red hair and a wreath of flowers. Apparently this Lady has
been journeying afar and is now back. Ms.Stein says She is an
Ascended Teacher come back to help us at this time. The Lady's
photo is on the front cover of a book.
So, unless there have been two Goddesses appearing - the Roman
Catholic church has taken over and been putting one over on us.
You can imagine that the priests took over the Visionaries as
P.R. and putting words in their mouths. (elsewhere Mother Mary
has appeared She says convert - (in Annie Kirkwood's
dictated book, Mary explains that she means return to the path of
spirituality- and Spirit - but this has been changed to mean
something else. Thanks again for your beautiful information.
Blessings
The myth of Brigit IS a beautiful myth and the catholics did
co-opt it and other goddess myths and present them as support for
the myth of Mary. It is our function to show the perfidy of
christianity, and the herinous acts that they have commited. It
is not, however, our function to support paganism or goddess
worship as real. Myth should be admired as we admire any fiction
or fantasy. Stories of miraculous appearances and other
miraculous occurences are simply that, mythical stories. They are
no more a reflection of reality when pagans claim them then when
the catholics claim them.
email:xxxx@xxxxxxx
name: Jennifer Grant
country:USA
message:Hello Laura,
I am very pleased to have found your site, to read of our
history, to learn the
truth of our past. So much to understand...
I saw the post about the Turkish Transgender women, and their
plea for help.
Do you have a secure way to send money to them? Can Turkish
government
officials be contacted to effect relief? What would you suggest?
email:xxxx@xxxxxxx
name: A.W.
country:USA
message:
Dear Laura and all,
I have just come upon your page and I wanted to say that it is
GREAT! I myself am a Pagan with T* feelings and was doing
different hunts
with Hotbot on such words as transgendered+pagan,
pagan+mail+list+
transgendered, etc... When I came on your page. I would have
downloaded
the text of the whole thing but I was using my local libraries
hook-up (all I can
do at home is e-mail) and so could not.
Any way, good work! A.W.
email:xxxx@xxxxxxx
name: S.V.
country:?????
message:
Dear Laura,
I'm not sure whether I should approach you, but this is my quest:
I remember from my classical education that there is a proverb in
Latin
that freely translates as "Where ever there's me, there's my
fatherland"
or more contemporary "Where ever I lay my hat there's my home". I
also
remember that it should sound quite a bit like: "Ubi ego, ibi
patria".
The problem is that I don't have any dictionary to find this
stuff, so I
did a search on the web, and found your interesting site with
Catullus'
poems and more. But not what I needed. But I figured that you
might
know these kind of things by heart. If you could help me, I
would be
extremely grateful. (The phrase is supposed to become the slogan
of a newspaper for expatriates)
email:xxxx@xxxxxxx
name: Grumpy
country:United States
message:Dear Laura,
I discovered this site several months ago while following links
on the
subject of transgenderism and bookmarked it. So glad to see that
it
(the website) is still here. I could write a book on how I feel
about
the same subject matter but lack most of the information. You've
done an exemplary job of it. PBS did a series called "Goddess
Remembered," the first part of a trilogy. Very informative, as
are their
other documentaries on historical fact broadcast over the last
few
months. It never ceases to amaze me how many truths are removed
from what we
are taught, or how much is manipulated in an effort to emphasize
one's own philosophy.
I could go on and on, but will refrain. Again, thank you for
your
efforts in publishing this site.
email:xxxx@xxxxxxx
name: Anonymous
country:United States
message:
Dear Laura;
It seems that I can not stop weeping since I visited your web
site
yesterday. Tears of joy, and sadness, then joy again keep
coming up. I am
sooooo happy to have found Metro'on. I often struggle with
words,
especially when I have soooo much to say. I miss my Mom. I'm
angry at my
Dad. (They've disowned me). I'm sad that Thanksgiving is coming,
and I will
probably be welcome only with some gay friends. Even my children
will be
with their in-laws for Thanksgiving. And although I know that
they (my 2
sons, 1 daughter in-law and 6 mo. old granddaughter) always
love, accept,
and encourage me, I am not invited to be with them either.
email: ????
name: Diana
country: USA
message: I was reading Joan's poetry. Please tell her I enjoyed
it a lot.
I read some of her journal too. Your lives are so full of love.
It
gives me hope that someday it might happen to me.
email: jean@arkansas.net
name: Jean Marie Zirger
country:???
message: I've been chipping away at your site for the past few
weeks as time permits in the evenings. There is so much to
ingest, digest, and incorporate I am sure to be several more
weeks at gleaning this wonderful resource. More comments to come
as I progress through this mission. Sincerely, Jean Marie
email: comix@azstarnet.com
name: Martha J
country: USA
message: I enjoyed it very much.
Blessed Be! ~~~~~mj
email: none
name: jameela
country: germany
message: Great side! Many congratulations! To me, born male, but
always felt female, this site and your understanding of the
gallae was very helpful to my sexual and especially spiritual
evolution. I now consider myself an in-between of a hijra and our
own german tradition of gallae, mentioned by Tacitus.
Thanks again for this very nice site!!!!!!!!!
email: cowboyjohn@earthlink.net
name: cowboyjohn
country: USA
message: Julia/???????,
My password on the HP System was cowboy. How the hell
are you doing? It looks like you're enjoying yourself.
You're still on the far left and I'm still on the far
right. I enjoyed the mix of music but, no hillbilly songs.
The HP had disk crash the another day. Since it's been
about four years since you left Baltimore County, I found
it neat that you were on the web. Well, so am I, sort of.
Try out www.cowboyjohn.com. The sucker stole my name.
I'm cowboyjohn. Listen, Julia, you were a kind and gentle
person, knowledgeable and respectful of others. You knew
your job and your HP. I wish the best for you. In the
future, I will certainly disagree with you as per orders
from ALLAH. But for now vote the Limbaugh/Libby 2000 ticket.
Ha! Ha! May the force with be you, always.
Cowboy John
email: none
name: Todd Farnham
country: USA
message: Most beautiful! I am only recently awakening to my own
transgendered reality, the Goddess, and Her spirituality. Thank
you so much for your web-site! It can often get lonely and
frustrating looking for like-minded people, or even someone who
is willing to listen. I don't have a computer, but I wonder how
I can correspond with others of like-heart and mind? Instead of
an e-mail address I offer my home address: 1236 29th ST SE #39,
Auburn, WA. 98002. Would you please pass it on to anyone who
would like to make contact? Thank you so much. I feel a bit
awkward, but I have so much to learn! Once again, thank you for
all the time and energy you put into this web-site - it really
means a lot!
email: decybele@hotmail.com
name: CybeleDarlene K.Linn
country: USA
message: I really enjoyed your site! I found ton's of useful
info here. I will be back. Cybele Darlene is my given name.Kind
of a small coinkidink...PEACE..CYBELE
email: eves@unix.asb.com
name: Eve Stewart
country: US
message: One of the best sites for someone "transitioning".
It puts life in a completely different perspective and
helps change old beliefs.
email: barba@eyewalk.com
name: Barba K. Kutzner
country: United States
message: Greetings!
This is truly one of the most interesting sites ever.
Investigating it is a tour of one's own psyche to the
extent that herein lies the defined and created human
sexual/spiritual weave. While searching the Web for
information regarding gender variance, I have mostly
encountered porn which, like a street drug, ultimately
results in pollution of the animated temple. Yours is
the only site that recognizes the energy, power and joy
of all of the physical possibilities and the biological
magic therein. Wish I had more time to explore but I
must return again another day for more! I also
downloaded most of your goddess images relating to
Kubaba - a name I may change my own to, as it applies
in more ways than are obvious. Big peace to you all,
Barba
email: rather not say
name: Darla
country: USA
message: Thanks! Your website helps me not be so afraid. You have
no idea what it means to me to learn I'm not a fucking freak.
Darla
email: dburton@hotmail.com
name: Manny
country: US
message: Terrific homepage. Laura, your book brought tears to my
eyes. Other times it made me smile. What you ladies are doing is
the stuff of legends. I like to think of the three of you as
aspects of the Triple Goddess reincarnated, bringing back the
Asushunamir. With deepest admiration. Manny.
email: car_joe@webtv.net
name: Carmen Vazquez
country: USA
message: Thank you for your NetPage - it is so full of news, bright and
refreshing. I had been looking for some news of the Sacred
Hierodules.- before the Patriarchal religions and the Schools of
Wisdom were destroyed (teaching about who we really were and
about the Wheel).
email: fairykin@ufl.edu
name: Chrsitine V. Steurer
country: USA
message: LOVE THE WEBSITE!!!!!