79. Queer Mysticism: Gay Men & Spirituality

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Astrology and tarot and witchcraft. Oh, my!

Episode Introduction (0:23)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless and, today, I am a non-jaded gay because I have just been feeling so cozy in my house lately.

Like the weather finally cooled off. It's really feeling like fall, loving spooky season. I've been just watching scary movies left and right.

And just this past Friday, I was just sitting on my couch, watching some movies. You know, that was dark out. I had some candles lit, and it just felt really cozy in my house.

So, I'm starting to feel settled, really like my new space, and I'm just so excited that it's almost Halloween. Woo hoo.

Queer Mysticism (0:56) 

Anyway, today's episode is going to be a lighter one. So, Halloween, it's fast approaching, and I wanted to do an episode on the correlation between gays and things like tarot, astrology, crystals, things like that.

Because, you know, within the gay community, there are some different groupings, like the gym rats or the plant gays, and I did an episode on the latter back in March.

So, if you haven't listened to it, check that one out. I thought it was a more fun one to keep things light. But I thought might be fun to take a look into this for spooky season.

But first, let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (1:29) 

So, the card for this episode is the Three of Wands in reverse. And Wands, as you know, is tied to the element of fire, which is representative of passion, creativity, ambition, and sometimes sexuality.

And it's masculine energy, which means it's very action-oriented. And in numerology, three is all about collaboration, community, and expansion.

So, when we pull this card in reverse, it's telling us that we may be feeling a delay in our plans or a disconnect from those around us.

And understandably, this can be frustrating, but these struggles we're feeling may be there to show us that there is a better solution available that just hasn't presented itself to us yet.

So easier said than done, but we need to remain flexible and patient. And it can also be telling us that growth and expansion are available to us, but we're playing it safe, meaning that we may be closing ourselves off to a new opportunity.

So, we really need to trust our intuition and take that risk, to open ourself up to new possibilities. And with that in mind, let's get right into the episode.

The Intersection of LGBTQ+ Identity and Mysticism (2:28)

And kicking it off, let's talk about if there is a connection between being LGBTQ+ and embracing more spiritual beliefs like tarot and crystals.

So, as you may remember, in the plant gays and mindfulness lessons episode, we talked about how data from a 2021 Gallup survey found that 10.5% of millennials identify as LGBTQ+.

Meanwhile, only 4.2% of Gen X, 2.6% of Baby Boomers, and 0.8% of Traditionalists identify as being LGBTQ+.

Additionally, a July 2019 Los Angeles Times article titled How Millennials Replaced Religion with Astrology and Crystals, noted a spiritual shift among generations.

Here's an excerpt:

"A growing number of young people — largely millennials, though the trend extends to younger Gen Xers, now cresting 40, and down to Gen Z, the oldest of whom are freshly minted college grads —have turned away from traditional organized religion and are embracing more spiritual beliefs and practices like tarot, astrology, meditation, energy healing and crystals.

And no, they don’t particularly care if you think it’s “woo-woo” or weird. Most millennials claim to not take any of it too seriously themselves. They dabble, they find what they like, they take what works for them and leave the rest. Evoking consternation from buttoned-up outsiders is far from a drawback — it’s a fringe benefit.”

And the article cites a combination of factors that are causing the spiritual shift among millennials. For starters, a common theme emerged among 18 to 40-year-olds who were interviewed.

They stated that they were raised with one set of religious beliefs, you know, Catholic, Jewish, Buddhist.

But as they became adults, they felt that faith didn't completely represent who they were or what they believed.

And as a result, they looked for a sense of community, guidance, purpose, and meaning elsewhere, since they can't find those things in their parents' religion.

Additionally, millennials tend to feel alienated by mainstream religion due to abuse scandals and negative attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people and women.

Another big draw towards spiritual practices is that it allows younger people to pick and choose instead of an all-or-nothing approach.

So, for example, you can get a little into crystals and tarot without completely adopting it into every aspect of your life.

Also, a lot of spiritual practices that weren't mainstream, lacked a public way to connect.

But with the rise of social media, which is widely used by millennials, things like tarot, crystals, and divination have been able to be accessed by more people.

And lastly, the article states that young people have grown up contending with a major recession, climate change, and a more general awareness of seeing a political and economic system that many feel hasn't benefited them.

So, it shouldn't be a surprise that they're pushing back against those systems at the same time they're exploring non-traditional religious beliefs and finding ways to integrate it all.

Now, with all that being said, I wasn't able to find an actual study or finding about a legitimate link between LGBTQ+ people and things like crystals and tarot, but from what we just talked about, between the Gallup poll and the Los Angeles Times article, I think we can see some connections.

I mean, right off the bat, we have a larger number of LGBTQ+ identifying individuals in the millennial generation, the generation which is really participating in these spiritual practices.

Additionally, some of the reasons Millennials are leaning towards spirituality is because of feeling alienated by mainstream religion and seeing political and economic systems that haven't benefited them, and we've touched upon all those things in past episodes.

So, with that being said, let's take a look at a few of these spiritual practices. And right up top, I will say two things.

One, I don't have anything about crystals, because when I Googled gay men and crystals, everything was tied to crystal meth usage among the LGBTQ+ community, and that is an entirely different episode than what we're talking about today.

And two none of these sources I'm reading are from scientific journals or factually proven through studies and experiments. So, take everything with a grain of salt.

Again, this is meant to be a lighter and fun episode for the Halloween season. So, with that being said, let's start off with astrology.

Astrology (6:23)

In January 2020, astrologer Chani Nicholas was interviewed by the Advocate about why queer people love astrology so much.

She starts off by referencing Esther Perel, who said something along the lines of how we used to forever have a sense of identity through the place we were born, the family we were born into, the community that we were in, and that a lot of that was predetermined for us.

But in today's world, most people don't live in the city we grew up in, and this is especially true for LGBTQ+ people, like we've talked about in the gay villages episode.

And because of that, we may not have that connection to tell us who we are.

So, Nicholas states that in the cornucopia of choice, it's really helpful to know what things resonate for us as a part of understanding our life's direction.

She also states that astrology allows people to get confirmation that the things that they want to do and the talents that they have are actually there in a marking in the sky the moment that they took their first breath and that they can access a map of their life if they want to.

She also explains that astrology is a very queer phenomenon. A lot of religious institutions or traditions that we come from have shunned us, and on a deep soul level, we want to be seen.

And so, we need an alternative way of seeing ourselves or of being witnessed.

You know, growing up in a culture that doesn't see us, it tries to make us invisible or forces us to conform to something we're not. And we need ways of being reflected that make us feel true.

Additionally, a June 2021 article in the Daily Californian noted that astrology is a very individualistic thing. It's not tied to one leader, political party, or theology.

The author states that it's also a social-cultural currency that represents an alternative mode of self-knowledge, an anti-traditionalist path to exploring identity.

Here's a quote:

“When society doesn’t see you, the stars still do. Astrology anoints the individual, and its modern resurgence is both a sign and a symptom of the narcissism embedded in our social landscape.”

Now, that term narcissism referenced isn't the same as what we think about when we think of an abusive and manipulative partner.

The author is instead referring to cultural narcissism and references novelist Tom Wolfe, who dubbed the term quote-unquote the me decade in the 1970s.

Wolfe claimed that the new alchemical dream is:

• Changing one's personality
• Remaking, remodeling, elevating, and polishing one's very self
• And observing, studying, and doting on it

And this culture of narcissism operates differently in subdominant cultures.

Like we talked about in the queer history of disco episode, disco music was born in queer communities, empowering and refashioning the terms of identity for queer, Black, and Latinx folks.

And then it went mainstream, and revolutionary expressions of personhood gradually lost steam.

And the author writes that while astrology never ascended to such heights as the disco movement, it nonetheless reached a peak popularity in quote-unquote the me decade.

So, it's hardly surprising that the next spike arrived in the age of the internet, Instagram, and influencers.

And the article also coincides with what Nicholas was talking about in her interview, that astrology makes every individual person visible and included, while simultaneously reducing everybody else to celestial shorthand.

And I really like this closing paragraph of the article:

“While it’s flattering to hear what makes you special, it’s especially meaningful to be affirmed, to know that your quirks and traits are written in the stars; you belong in something bigger than yourself, and the towering, timeless cosmos give you permission to be exactly who you are. The prevalence of astrology in queer culture is a sign of the times, representing a proud reclamation of place and purpose in the world.”

Additionally, astrologer Clarisse Monahan states that queer astrology should be communicating in a more nuanced, modern, and non-binary way.

So instead of speaking about masculine and feminine signs and planets, it might talk about outward and inward energies.

Monahan explains that the shift helps divorce queer astrology from gendered concepts that are alienating.

And that's not just for certain forms of queer identification, but also for straight men and women who are increasingly uncomfortable with being pushed into rigid gender roles.

Tarot (10:23)

So now shifting away from astrology, next, we're moving on to something of personal interest to me, and that is tarot.

So, in November 2021, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation published an article titled Queer Tarot: A Brief Story of Meaning and Healing.

Right off the bat, they state that tarot is, without a doubt, a queer art and practice.

Here's a quote:

“It’s no surprise, then, to find that queer people and social spaces across various historical contexts have understood and celebrated this queerness almost intuitively, resonating with its famous esoteric images and reveling in its mysterious existence between the realm of dreams and waking life, at the margins of everyday logic: similar to queer life itself.”

And I've got to admit, I didn't know what esoteric meant. So, I looked it up, and it's something that is understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest.

Now the author of this article, Pedro J. Rolón, goes on to assert that both the political, social, and ethical practices of queerness, as well as the art of tarot, require us to renounce the normative.

Both are stories of reshaping and reclaiming meaning, of holistic self-development and self-making, not only of ourselves but of those with whom we commune and share love and care for.

Also from a historical standpoint, tarot decks began being widely distributed in 1909 when the Rider-Waite-Smith deck was developed.

And this is one of the most popular tarot decks, and its cards' images tend to be literal representations of the cards' meanings.

Now, Pamela Colman Smith was a Woman of Color, of Jamaican and British descent, who painted the now iconic images of this deck.

And scholars of the tarot have now discussed the possibility of Smith's own queerness because she frequented bohemian art and magical spaces with a robust queer presence and was a fervent advocate of feminist causes in her time.

And while many cards in the tarot may appear to have gendered illustrations, such as kings and queens, there's actually a deeper story within the meanings of the cards that tends to resonate with queer and trans narratives of gender and sexuality.

In tarot, gender is expressed as an ever-changing fluid energy, and it tells a story of transcendence from limiting dualistic forms.

So instead of things being masculine or feminine, it affirms that there are masculine and feminine attributes in all of us. And a lot of the cards talk about the important balance of these.

You know, for example, you may draw a card that's tied to a masculine element, but the figure or meaning of the card is tied to a feminine energy, and you need both to work together to achieve the card's outcome.

Here's an example from the article:

“A card like Temperance, of the Major Arcana, speaks of this important combination of opposites––masculine fire and feminine water combined in a chalice by an androgynous angelic being. As a card that centers the importance of blending opposite forces, it tells of the rich fluidity we are capable of embodying and of the deep healing that comes from pursuing the deeper truths within ourselves, truths which often exceed imposed societal expectations.”

Witchcraft (13:17)

And then lastly, we have witchcraft. Well, more specifically, witches.

In a 2020 Pride article, author Brendan Hayley states that in Hollywood, women who practice witchcraft are usually portrayed as both the fierce vixens of our nightmares and the flamboyant divas of our dreams.

So, it only makes sense that a lot of queer fans have a thing for witches.

Gay horror actor and screenwriter Michael Varrati believes that witches are engaging because there's something grandiose about their presentation, which empowers otherness and heightened presentation.

And he goes on to cite Angelica Houston and The Witches and Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus, who portray theatricality, camp appeal, and an edge that goes beyond diva worship.

Here's a quote:

“There's an underlying sense of rebellion there. Witches, by proxy of their being, reject the norm...and in fact, draw power from that rejection. It's what makes them powerful.”

And like we talked about in last year's episode on queer horror, there's a strong LGBTQ+ attraction to the horror genre because it's an outsider that queer people can relate to.

But Hayley goes on to explain that with witches, there's an extra draw because their powers and magic literally come from their otherness.

They are also figures who have historically been ostracized and hunted for being who they are.

Additionally, a GCN article published earlier this year says that at its core, witchcraft is rooted in healing, rebellion, and rituals, which are all things that are intertwined with LGBTQ+ culture.

And there are four key links between witchcraft and the LGBTQ+ community:

So, the first is community

Many witches typically practice in a coven, which can be viewed as a chosen family.

And many LGBTQ+ people grew up in a church or social communities that rejected us, so it's natural to seek out this kind of chosen family ourselves.

The next is healing rituals

Witchcraft has been described as a practical approach to spirituality, and it includes a myriad of sacred healing rituals. Many witches identify as healers, offering their powers to heal themselves and others.

Now, for so long, practicing magic was considered to be wrong because of its otherness, so witches practicing these rituals are returning to themselves in a powerful way and reclaiming their identity.

Similarly, LGBTQ+ people learn to reclaim their otherness, to embrace their authentic selves.

Next, we have rebellion

Witchcraft challenged socially constructed ideas about gender roles and pushed back against patriarchal structures.

Meanwhile, assuming our queer identity also means breaking away from societal norms, which is an incredibly freeing act of rebellion.

And lastly, there's intuition

Witches tap into their intuitive knowing to access their internal power. Similarly, we've talked in the past about how LGBTQ+ people tend to have a heightened sense of awareness because of past trauma and discrimination.

Also, we have intuitive powers of our own, like gaydar, even though they may be based in stereotypes.

Episode Closing (16:05)

So, there you have it. A fun little episode about astrology, tarot, and witchcraft, and why it's so popular with some of us in the LGBTQ+ community.

And tying it back to the tarot number Three of Wands in reverse. It's once again telling us that growth and expansion are within reach, but we might be holding ourselves back because we're afraid to take that leap of faith.

And just like we talked about the tie between Millennials and specifically LGBTQ+ millennials, you know, a lot of younger people are kind of rejecting the antiquated, conservative, strict religious beliefs they were taught as they were younger, and have kind of taken that risk and stepped out of their comfort zone to explore these more spiritual practices, whether it's crystals, tarot, astrology, witchcraft, whatever it may be, because, like we said, it's very pick and choose.

You can do what feels right to you, and it gives you an opportunity to grow and expand your own mindset and kind of find your own ways of healing that might be different than what you grew up thinking you needed in terms of healing.

So, there you have it.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (16:59)

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on this, and especially if any of you practice tarot, crystals, witchcraft, astrology. If you're into any of the woo-woo, I'd love to hear more about it.

So as always, please feel free to reach out to me rob@ajadedgay.com. Also don't forget to check out the website ajadedgay.com for more information about episodes, merchandise, guest information, all that good stuff.

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And remember, every day is all we have, so you got to make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (18:43)

Between the realm of dreams and waking life at the margins of everyday logic, similar to queer life itself.

Oh my gosh. I need to get a tissue. My nose is running. Taking a quick break from recording.

Okay, I'm back.