Queer Themes And Gods: Part 2

 

fig 3. Xochipilli by Adrian Herrera 

Xochipilli is probably the most flamboyant queer Latin American deity to be worshipped. His name translates to “flower prince” and some archaeological remains point to statues of him being depicted as being immersed in “psychedelic and bodily ecstasy”⁵. Xochipilli is the patron deity of homosexuals and male sex workers, as well as the god of flowers, communal music and dance, beauty, and sex.⁶ 

Xochipilli is said to have presided over one of the Ages of Mankind, called the Age of Flowers, where “manly” virtues of warfare and administration were kept aside to delight in the pleasures of love and sex. Xochipilli is even thought commonly to embody the hippie archetype, and serves as a good representative of safe sex, communal merriment, and pleasurable non-procreative sexual activity. 

fig 4. Sedna, Inuit Sea Goddess by gcsehart

The Inuit Goddess Sedna was born a human, and married a bird spirit in disguise, who turned out to be horribly abusive, leading to her near death.⁷ Instead of dying a mortal death by haemorrhaging and drowning in the sea, however, Sedna morphs into an immortal sea goddess, and her limbs which were amputated as a result of abuse turns into a diverse range of marine creatures. It is believed that whenever Sedna’s rules are broken, it pains her and as a result she curses humans with storms and famine. 

Sedna lives at the bottom of the ocean with her female partner Qailertetang.⁸ In some forms of the myth, Qailertetang is believed to be a female shaman who wins her affections and stayed on with Sedna as an immortal, making sure to care for the humans when Sedna’s anger stops herself from doing so, and gaining a small bit of control over the weather and sea animals. 

5. https://m.facebook.com/QueerMagic/photos/a.126106144744507/140294346659020/?type=3&source=54

6. Clayton, M. (2018). In Aztec mythology: captivating Aztec myths of gods, goddesses, and legendary creatures. essay, Independently Published.

7. Monaghan, P. (1993). In The book of goddesses & heroines. essay, Llewellyn Publications.

8. https://glbthistory.fandom.com/wiki/Sedna