The goddess Quan Yin was originally male, then spent years as both male and female, until finally becoming the famous female deity of compassion celebrated globally today. Nowhere have I read of Quan Yin's gender fluidity and transition as being controversial as it would be in monotheistic doctrines and scriptures. The transformative gender of the goddess seems gradual and natural, a beautiful and accepted blossoming.
The herb rosemary is regarded today as possessing male solar energy but was initially regarded as female; in fact,
there was an adage that once said, "Where rosemary grows, the woman
rules." Keeping with the transformative ease of gender in both Quan Yin
and the metaphysical properties of rosemary, this ritual is
open to gender flux. Keep in mind that the (Soma)tic note-taking in the ritual
is not expository writing, but relying on the writer trusting themselves at the
moment enough to allow an unimpeded flow of words. That said, let us delve into
the question of gender as a continuum. The complexity of such an issue is
something exciting to take on, not merely imagining being the opposite of
whatever gender we feel we are, but also a much broader range of multiple
genders. Consider how and why your ideas of gender would make third or fourth
genders more or less male or female. What if a fifth gender was not more male
or female, but something else entirely? What does this question mean to you?
