One of the reasons I chose to adopt Greek traditions to a wiccan framework, was the wealth of tradition within it that supported me both socially and spiritually. Transgendered personages appear throughout greek myths and are accepted as natural part of things.

Athena

Zeus, fearful of a prophecy that a son would usurp him as ruler of the Gods, swallowed whole the titaness Metis, who was currently with his child. However, the child continued to grow within him, causing Zeus migraines. Hephaestos was summoned and split the side of Zeus's head, out of which leap Athena, fully clad in armour and ready for battle.

Thus, from the head of a man was born a woman. This aspect of Athena has been called patriarchal by many feminists, however I think this a misreading of the myth. Zeus did not give birth to Athena, but rebirth, since she was formed within Metis beforehand. Zeus was attempting to ensure his own rule, and in doing so attempted to repress any successors including any feminine principles that threatened him. But the irrepressible nature of the feminine could not be suppressed or contained, and in the end had to be acknowledged and released.

This parallels the development of male-female transsexuals. Such a person, while male in body, is female in mind and spirit. Gender transition is the matching of one's body and social status to one's mind. For this reason I consider Athena to be a patron of transgendered women.

For while Athena was a staunch ally as daughter to Zeus, she was her own woman. Athena had many traits that might be considered masculine by some, but here they are in a woman.

Cybele & Attis

Cybele is an elder Goddess that predates the Olympians. Attis is her son who dies and is resurrected as her daughter, as told on my Attis page.

Attis a representative of a transsexual person. Beginning as Cybele's son, he is transformed and revived as her daughter (through crude surgical techniques as well). Cybele therefore, can be considered another patron of transgendered people, since she indirectly causes and then accepts the transformation of her son to a daughter.

Note: Major portions of the above text are based on information found at the Gallae homepages.

Hermaphroditus

The son of Hermes and Aphrodite. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with this beautiful young man but he spurned her. She preyed to the gods that they might be together forever. When next he bathed in the pool she inhabited, she caught him in her arms. Then, the two melted into one. Salmacis got what she wanted, but at a price. Hermaphroditus was now transformed into a being with with both male and female characteristics, possessing both male genitals and breasts.

Hermaphroditus resembles pre-operative transsexuals and intersexed persons, in appearing to possess the characteristics of both sexes.

As I write this, I am still pre-operative. However, one day I will have reassignment surgery and then be more like Attis the Hermaphroditus. In either case, I feel my mind and spirit is that of a woman, not a man, and therein lies the difference.

Transformations

There are a number of instances where humans have their gender transformed by the Gods:

Siprotes the cretan was transformed into a woman for having spied upon Artemis and her companions bathing. This was better than the fate that befell Actaeon, who was transformed into a stag and then hunted down for the same transgression.
Tiresias, depending upon the source, is changed from a man to a woman for a period of seven years, and then changed back to a man. The causes of this vary, from intervention in the coupling of serpents, to the wrath of either Hera or Athena. Other sources suggest that Tiresias changed gender several times, and ended her days as a crone.

Transgendered priestesses

Male followers of Cybele were called Gallae. They performed ritual castration upon themselves, and lived as women and priestesses to the goddess. They wore robes of grass-green, chateaus, purple and saffron. For more about the Gallae, see my own page, and those of the metro'on.

Hecate is a triple goddess of the moon and patron of witches. Like Cybele, some of her followers were transgendered males, called Semnotatoi. Their functions included casting horoscopes, performing spells, and maintaining temples and sacred groves.

The goddess Astarte (a goddess of love and war) was worshipped by the Kelabim or Gerim. They maintained and protected temple grounds and divined the future. They also participated in celebrations of Adonis, consort of Astarte.

Meaning and Synthesis

One of the creation myths of the greeks pictured an original race of beings which had two sets of heads, arms, legs, and genitals. Due to various worries and transgressions, the Gods split each member of this race into two, creating man and woman. In such a scheme, a combined state of masculine and feminine was seen as ideal, and personal attributes were not exclusively belonging to only one particular state.

Now the condition of being transgendered appears initially to be at odds with society in general. This is because, partly, that there are no historic role models on which to judge oneself. Any such are too recent or contemporary. Myth and religion however provide such role models, and also historical accounts of those (like the gallae) who've gone before. These accounts are not readily available in the media, and it's only by study that you find them.

The essence of my faith is an acknowledgement and acceptance of myself in many ways. Some are social, some physical, some religious. It seems that I "naturally" drifted into being wiccan and neo-hellenic. It all seems right for me. And the greek myths (and Goddesses & Gods) match those meanings.

The essence of magic is change, and myth is about struggle and change, the greek myths especially so. And being a gallae is something that I can accept. What this means in the modern world is this -- that who I am and my expression of what it means for me to be a woman, is a valid one.

I have precedents...

[Laura at Peace with herself and her Goddess]

...and those are good ones.