I feel that transitioning is a very spiritual thing for all of us. It is, in a sense, our 'religion' in that it is a re-linking, a rejoining of our mental and emotional selves with the physical. It is, in a sense, a yoga, a method and way of authenticity and self-introspection. It is, in a way, our deen, because it directs us to the straight path of rightness, betterment, and goodness.

Poetics aside, I find that there is something spiritual about transitioning, because it moves us to think deeply on who we are, and how we desire to relate into the world. It is something that while many people take for granted, we who are t* are awed by our dysphoria and thus search into how we may accord our selves into harmony.

Our transitioning is our search for our personal authenticity, of what we are, who we are, and how we are to present ourselves in the world. It forces us to become more genuine with our thoughts and impressions, and leaves us to deal with the implications of a former discomfort into a newer sense of self-satisfying comfort.

What does it mean for you to see transitioning as a spiritual process?

For me, the whole gambit of this transitional piece of life was instrumental in me becoming a better, more holistic, and happier person. My womanhood gave me a better sense of self, and certainly a happier future!

To me, it is an act of making and becoming. I am changing a false mask for an authentic one (and I use "mask" here in a very culturally-specific way; not to mean something fake, but rather our physical selves, our skin, is a mask). An almost shamanic form of transformation that there is no truly returning from.

For a long time I didn't know I trans*; it wasn't until I began exploring my spirituality in earnest that I came to terms with why I hated myself for so long. So for me transition is super spiritual like you both have said as it is a authentication of Self. There's this Hermetic (alchemic) practice/idea called a chemical wedding, in this wedding the alchemist unifies the masculine and feminine dualities in their own being with the intention of creating a divine hermaphrodite, a total human being. I like to think of transition this way some times though I don't necessarily believe in distinct, cosmic masculine and feminine energies; I just like the idea of unifying, by means of a wedding, the disparate elements of my being to make one whole and happy dynamic individual.

Kia your post reminds me of my tattoo that I got to commemorate the beginning of my transition. It's a gender marker, not in any common usage of course, but it's the alchemical symbol for gold, astrological symbol for the sun, and I take it to mean non-gendered. I also take it to symbolize the concept of a free neutron, or the imagined substance of neutronium, the most inert that's conceivably possible.

Quote from: Lo on August 14, 2013, 05:31:50 PM
Kia your post reminds me of my tattoo that I got to commemorate the beginning of my transition. It's a gender marker, not in any common usage of course, but it's the alchemical symbol for gold, astrological symbol for the sun, and I take it to mean non-gendered. I also take it to symbolize the concept of a free neutron, or the imagined substance of neutronium, the most inert that's conceivably possible.

That's cool, hyper-neutrality

Ah, you agendered and questioning folks!

Although, I have to say, being agendered, bigendered, genderqueer, etc. is very much a blessing in disguise. Knowing about the fa'afafine from Samoa, they were seen as superior to the more binary gendered peoples, simply because they had the strength of a man, with the touches and tastes of a woman. Talk about having it good on both sides!

That is something I will never have as a woman. But I do appreciate and respect those who identify themselves with neither male nor female, because then they are gifted to be able to relate on both sides. While the communication rifts between men and women seem far apart, those who are gender-queer and whatnot have the ability to be a bridge between those thoughts, I would assume!

Quote from: Catalina on August 15, 2013, 04:59:47 AM
Ah, you agendered and questioning folks!

Although, I have to say, being agendered, bigendered, genderqueer, etc. is very much a blessing in disguise. Knowing about the fa'afafine from Samoa, they were seen as superior to the more binary gendered peoples, simply because they had the strength of a man, with the touches and tastes of a woman. Talk about having it good on both sides!

That is something I will never have as a woman. But I do appreciate and respect those who identify themselves with neither male nor female, because then they are gifted to be able to relate on both sides. While the communication rifts between men and women seem far apart, those who are gender-queer and whatnot have the ability to be a bridge between those thoughts, I would assume!

I think everyone has got a bit of both in them, Taoist cosmology says that "the One (Tao) creates the two (Yin/Earth and Yang/Heaven) the two combine to create the three (Taiji/Man)". We as humans are this perfect arising of dualistic forces that includes masculine and feminine, but I'd say we all experience it differently and some of those traits aren't exactly gendered. For instance a woman can be as strong as a man but that doesn't necessarily make her masculine.

But as far as bridging the gap, you'd think right? I guess in a way I do sort of... but at the same time I just don't get binary people
Like I'm sure you and I could communicate and relate as women, and I might be able to relate to a man as a man (I've done an alright job faking it more or less so far) but a the same time both have their confusing mysteries that befuddle me



the A is for androgyne btw