Berdaches and Soft Man Beings

[Natasha]

Berdaches and Soft Man Beings

http://wordpress.hotpress.com/petermurphy/2008/09/18/berdaches-and-soft-man-beings/
9/19/2008

"Shamans frequently encounter androgynous and bisexual beings and
spirit guides in their initiation journeys. They play a key role in
the drastic reorganization of categories that shatters the shaman's
old perception of reality and opens him or her to the multiple
dimensions of existence. Along these same lines, gender ambiguity
frequently characterizes many shamans who themselves were gay or
lesbian. Homosexuality and androgyny create a liminal status that
helps to legitimize the shaman as interpreter and go-between on both
social and spiritual levels.