Dear Friends, you may have noticed a curious symbol towards the bottom of the righthand sidebar (and illustrated to the left here in this post as well). Doubtless you are familiar with the more widely known symbols denoting the male and the female and, of course, the (shudder) horrifying heterosexual act itself!
Sadly these symbols are firmly beholden to "a reflexive binary genderism", as Sister Antiphilia is rightly wont to point out. Oh, yes, creative editing has produced male/male and female/female versions - but those new symbols are still very much poisoned by the idea that one must be either male or female - and so, we are left with symbols for our coming together that create a false barrier right smack down the middle of the Congregation.
This is where the Conjuntio Ingeminata - a pair of interlocked circles aflame - comes in. It is the Alchemickal Symbol for the "redoubled conjoining" of similar energies and as such is perfect to describe what it is we do.
Yes, we will still be battered by the ignorant demand, "Yes, but which one of you is the wife?" But we needn't do that to ourselves. Unless that works for us. Ahem.
The CI, as you will have of course already noted, is emblazoned on the Great Seal of the College of Simple Divinity.
Posts
Yes, the Conjunctio Ingeminata is a huge improvement - and yet it still has its limits. It does not work for the bisexual nor for the polyamorist.
ReplyDeleteWell, of course, it doesn't work for the bisexual. Not all the time at any rate. When the bisexual acts upon urges that are NOT same-sex the bisexual is being one of THEM and not one of US!
ReplyDeleteAs for the polyamorist, I agree it is a serious problem.
We are not best pleased by the use of the THEM/US meme. Surely we can be more generous in our circle-making?
ReplyDeleteAs for the symbol being exclusive of the polyamorist...
Strictly speaking (and, as you know, we always try to speak as strictly as possible) a polyamorist is not necessarily excluded - unless, perhaps, that polyamorist is currently and specifically engaged in a, as it were, team effort of more than two. Frankly, though, if a person manages to be so engaged, we should hope that person has far more important and compelling matters to reflect upon than ancient alchemickal symbols.
And if they *do* have the time to consider such things, perhaps they need to REconsider what and with whom they are.
We're just saying...