Dear Nick,
I would appreciate your help again! You once told me that I have a particular medicine I don't know if you will remember--you must talk to so many people. Anyway it was something to do with having both feminine and masculine energy,??? And I am keen to know more about it as you also told me that not many still have this kind of medicine, it would be good to learn how to use this to help others, I feel that I am stumbling around in the dark and don't know how to help myself to learn more about this, I hope that I am making sense? And that you can help me help myself.
Love to you and your family.
M., England
Dear M,
There are lots of people who don't see things as I do when it comes to homosexual people--including homosexual people. I see homosexual individuals coming about in two ways. One is those who are made by life circumstances.
For example, a child is sexually abused and "decides" to become the opposite so that the abuse or memory will not affect them. A girl child decides (at an inner level) that they will no longer be feminine, but will be masculine. This you could say is a defense mechanism. Men are not interested in a masculine woman (theoretically). The girl child, by becoming masculine, is also stepping into the role of a boy or man--the one with the "power".
Now one might ask why some children become homosexual while another does not, even though their upbringing or life circumstances were similar. I believe there is a genetic component involved, but do not truly have the answer. I certainly can't prove my opinion.
Then there are those individuals who are born with the spirit of one sex but the body of another, and there are those born with two spirits--one masculine and one feminine. Frankly, I am not sure there is any difference spiritually. Maybe it is just the way that one "sees" what is going on. I personally like the concept of the two-spirit, one is the spirit that matches the physical and one that matches the opposite. My frustration is that many homosexual people have been made (if you will) yet are supported by the homosexual community to pretend that they were created. This prevents them from acknowledging their truth and receiving assistance to overcome the impacts which made them homosexual. They are hiding and avoiding.
A logical question would be whether all homosexual people who were born homosexual (i.e., did not have a life-experience impact) are two-spirit people. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to "see" enough of these people to know the answer. Maybe those who I would describe as having the spirit of one sex within the body of the opposite are actually different from those for whom I would use the term, two-spirited persons.
So, when I said to you that I saw you fitting into the category of the two-spirit person, I meant that Creator had created you as opposed to life circumstances making you (no matter what your genetic makeup might have been). The reason that I said that you had a difficult walk was that there is really no one to assist you. There is no cultural history which can guide you. The homosexual community uses the term "two-spirit" but applies it to all homosexual people. So, if you look there, it will be difficult to separate wish from truth.
I feel that I am not qualified to guide you on your journey any more than I am qualified to guide a woman in regards to moon-time. I mean, I don't have the inner knowledge of either as I am neither two-spirited nor female. However, I have at least known some females who have shared information on moon-time. You are the only person I know (that I know I know, anyway) that is truly two-spirited. You are the one who will need to share with me.
Fortunately, I have been able to share some of the techniques I know with you that you might use them to assist you on your journey. These techniques--such as drumming--will allow your spirits to surface and teach you. These techniques may allow you to come into contact with some who have crossed (died) that are willing to support and advise you on your journey. Heck, through the use of these techniques you will ultimately discern whether you have two spirits in one body or a spirit of one inclination in the body of its opposite. Again, I am not sure that it really matters other than as a point of curiosity.
I feel that the journey of a homosexual person is difficult in today's society. Maybe it is difficult in any society, past or present. Fortunately, in many traditional societies, the homosexual was honored. We don't have that today. Mostly the only people who honor homosexuals are those who are homosexual or the friends and parents of homosexuals (who still really wish the person were straight).
I do know that two-spirit persons are sent by Creator to be of service into the world. One of the services they provide is the ability to step into whichever role will best serve a given situation. A two-spirit person will be able to offer a counseling perspective that is of significant value. They can shift into the masculine, they can shift into the feminine. But, what is really awesome is that they can shift into something altogether different. They can become a third thing--an individual who is neither male nor female. Or, you could say, an individual who is both in equal amounts--true androgeny. The true, two-spirit person carries this medicine, this spiritual relationship. No one else does. If you have not, come to total terms with it. Embrace it. You can't escape it. Then do the work necessary to develop your medicine. You will be able to serve the people in ways that I don't even know and in ways that I will never be able.
Here is some information I found:
http://nu-woman.com/berdache.htm
http://androgyne.0catch.com/2spiritx.htm
Here are some American Indian words for the sacred, two-spirit persons. Corrections are appreciated:
Aleut : achnucek
Anishnawbe : Ougokweniini (male)
Arapaho : haxu'xan (male)
Atsugewi : brumaiwi* (female)
Blackfoot : sakwo'mapi akikiwan* (female)
Cheyenne : hee-man-eh or he'emen (male) and hetaneman (female)
Cocopa : warhameh* (female)
Crow : boté (male)
Dakota Sioux : koskalaka* (male) and koskalaka winyan* or winkta* or winkte winyan* (female)
Flathead : ntalha* (female)
Fox : i-coo-coo-a
Hopi : hova (male)
Illinois : chelxodelean(e)* or ickoue ne koussa* (female)
Keres : kokwimu (male)
Klamath : tw!inna'ek* (female)
Kodiak : achnucek
Kutenai : titqattek* (female)
Lakota Sioux : winkte (male) and winkte winyan* (female)
Mandan : mihdacke (male)
Maricopa : kwiraxame'* (female)
Mohave : alyha: (male) and hwame: (female)
Navajo : nadle or nadleeh or nádleehí (male and female); nadleeh <family name> baa* (female)
Ojibwa : agokwa (male) and okitcitakwe* (female)
Omaha : mexoga
Piegan : ninauposkitzipspe* (female)
Sanpoil : sinta'xlau'wam* (female)
Sauk : i-coo-coo-a
Shoshone : tennewyppe or tená-wipeh (male)
Shoshoni : tainna wa'ippe* (male) and sungwe* or taikwahni wa'ippe* or waippu* (female)
Sioux : winkte (male)
Tewa : kwidó or kweedó (male) and senp'aa* (female)
Tiwa : lhunide (male)
Ute : tozusuhzooch (male)
Yokuts : tongochim (male)
Yuki : musp-iwap* (female) and naip* (female)
Yuma : kwe'rhame* (female) or kurami* (female)
Zapotec : ira1 muxe [a Mexican tribe]
Zuni : lhamana (male and female) and katsotse (female)
Blessings,
~Nick