This is a portion of an ongoing series which seeks to chronicle the occult, magickal and mystical alchemy roots of the transgender and postgender movements from secret societies and mystery religion sources. I have chronicled these in the Postgender Androgyny, Hermaphroditism & Beyond section.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891 AD) wrote the following in her book The Secret Doctrine, Vol. 1, Stanza III:
Kwan-Shai-Yin is identical with, and an equivalent of the Sanskrit Avalokiteshwara, and as such he is an androgynous deity, like the Tetragrammaton and all the Logoi[1] of antiquity. It is only by some sects in China that he is anthropomorphized and represented with female attributes,[2] when, under his female aspect, he becomes Kwan-Yin, the goddess of mercy, called the “Divine Voice.”[3] The latter is the patron deity of Thibet and of the island of Puto in China, where both deities have a number of monasteries.[4] (See Part II. Kwan-Shai-Yin and Kwan-yin.)
Blavatsky’s footnotes:
1.
Hence all the higher gods of antiquity are all “Sons of the Mother” before they become those of the “Father.” The Logoi, like Jupiter or Zeus, Son of Kronos-Saturn, “Infinite Time” (or Kala), in their origin were represented as male-female. Zeus is said to be the “beautiful Virgin,” and Venus is made bearded. Apollo is originally bisexual, so is Brahma-Vach in Manu and the Puranas. Osiris is interchangeable with Isis, and Horus is of both sexes.
Finally St. John’s vision in Revelation, that of the Logos, who is now connected with Jesus — is hermaphrodite, for he is described as having female breasts [a citation from Blavatsky would have been useful at this unfounded assertion]. So is the Tetragrammaton = Jehovah. But there are two Avalokiteshwaras in Esotericism; the first and the second Logos.
2.
No religious symbol can escape profanation and even derision in our days of politics and Science. In Southern India the writer has seen a converted native making pujah with offerings before a statue of Jesus clad in woman’s clothes and with a ring in his nose.
When asking the meaning of the masquerade we were answered that it was Jesu-Maria blended in one, and that it was done by the permission of the Padri, as the zealous convert had no money to purchase two statues or “idols” as they, very properly, were called by a witness — another but a non-converted Hindu.
Blasphemous this will appear to a dogmatic Christian, but the Theosophist and the Occultist must award the palm of logic to the converted Hindu. The esoteric Christos in the gnosis is, of course, sexless, but in exoteric theology he is male and female.
3.
The Gnostic Sophia, “Wisdom” who is “the Mother” of the Ogdoad (Aditi, in a certain sense, with her eight sons), is the Holy Ghost and the Creator of all, as in the ancient systems. The “father” is a far later invention. The earliest manifested Logos was female everywhere — the mother of the seven planetary powers.
4.
See “Chinese Buddhism,” by the Rev. J. C. Edkins, who always gives correct facts, although his conclusions are very frequently erroneous.
An additional statement from this section of The Secret Doctrine is:
Footnotes
In the Egyptian as in the Indian theogony there was a concealed deity, the ONE, and the creative, androgynous god. Thus Shoo is the god of creation and Osiris is, in his original primary form, the “god whose name is unknown.” (See Mariette’s Abydos II., p. 63, and Vol. III., pp. 413, 414, No. 1122.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A plea: I have to pay for server usage and have made all content on this website free and always will. I support my family on one income and do research, writing, videos, etc. as a hobby. If you can even spare $1.00 as a donation, please do so: it may not seem like much but if each person reading this would do so, even every now and then, it would add up and really, really help. Here is my donate/paypal page.
Due to robo-spaming, I had to close the comment sections. However, you can comment on my Facebook page and/or on my Google+ page. You can also use the “Share / Save” button below this post.