by Young
Just as I was about to respond, the maître d’ guided us to our table.
Angels
As soon as we were seated, the botanist inquired, “I can’t wait to hear your seraphic experiences. Do illuminate me.”
Although I had related my preternatural erotic encounters to Andy, I had not spoken about my experiences with anyone else.
Professor Thomason listened attentively until I finished before he declared, “It’s incredible that you are so attuned to the preternatural world. Although I’m no angel expert, I know a retired Oxford scholar, Professor Olivier P. Augustin who can enlighten you on your celestial rendezvous. He lives in Cornwall. Pay him a visit if and when you are in his neighborhood. I’ll be happy to introduce you.”
“Thank you, I will love to meet Professor Augustin,” I replied exuberantly.
“All I know of these divine messengers are from religious texts. Angels are well documented in Judaism and were heavily influenced by Zoroastrianism. Per Zoroastrian mythology, it describes a cosmic clash between Ahura Mazda and Ahriman – the forces of good and evil with their armies of angels and demons. Like Ahura Mazda, Yahweh from the Old Testament also has an army of angels battling Satan’s evil forces, who, may I add resembles Ahriman.”
I chirped, “My teachers had mentioned these entities in past tutorials.”
“Then you are familiar with these religions,” he commented before he continued, “Superseding the Zoroastrian view, Judaism divided the universe into three parts: earth, heaven, and hell. Earth became the home of humans. Heaven is where God and his angels reside, and Hell is the shadowy domain of Satan and his cronies.
“In both religions, angels link heaven with earth, by revealing God’s laws and commandments to humans. As you know, their servitude is to carry out God’s plan. These benevolent beings reward those who do good and punish the malevolent. They also assist earthlings to understand God’s will, and to return righteous souls to the heavenly kingdom upon their passing.”
Andy opined, “The Christian concept of a three-part universe also correlate to Judaic and Zoroastrian paragons, including angels as God’s messengers. They comfort sufferers and impart personal prayers to God.”
“What are the functions of a guardian angel?” I questioned.
My chaperone joked, “To safeguard ‘fairies’ like you.”
The faery expert gave a suppressed chortle before he commented, “Angels in the Islamic faith perform similar tasks as their Judaic and Christian compatriots. Per Islamic lore, they were created from fire, and can purport human or animal forms.”
I quipped, “Like a shapeshifter?”
The men laughed at my declaration.
“They can also be visible or invisible to the naked eye,” Frederick expressed before our waiter arrived to take our orders.
Gender Fluidity (Chapter Seventeen)
“You can be a man or a woman
I will love you the same.
If you are a cis or a trans,
Or a mix of the two;
You are a beautiful person
Just by being you.”
Curt Eberhardt
The Second Week of July 2014
David’s Response to Andy and Me
Thanks, Andy, for the Water analysis. Olivier, one of my ex-tutors explained Fire this way. He said, and I quote: “Fire is a masculine element, its aspects are change, passion, creativity, motivation, willpower, drive, and sensuality. It represents physical and spiritual sexuality. Fire is used in spells, rituals and candle magic for healing, purification, breaking bad habits, destroying illnesses and dis-ease and sex. It is also the element of authority and leadership.”
He went on to clarify the properties of Fire:
Heat
Making things fruitful
Celestial light, and
Life-giving.
The Infernal Fire is its opposite:
Parching heat
Consuming all things, making everything barren in its wake, and
Darkness.
My ex-Valet, Jack, added that Fire is associated with happiness, love, passion, leadership, spirituality, insight, dynamism, aggression, intuition, reason, and expressiveness.
My Fire initiation ritual is a reminder to E.R.O.S./V.T.A. initiates of their forth-coming experiences in love, compassion, fun, joy, and pleasure. And most importantly, to share joy and laughter without thought of reward.
The Fire of Etherus
I believe that my Enlightened Royal Oracle Society/Valkyrian Templers Abbey initiation rite derived from The Fire of Etherus - that signifies love and compassion. In ancient lore, followers of Etherus lived a simple life. Acolytes of this order had sufficient food to eat, and wine to satisfy their craving. Clerics use the Ethelian weed to transcend their telluric existence to a sexually charged consciousness where they experience erotic encounters with a variety of partners.
These Etherus precepts are more than lustful transcendence. The flame of Lust and Love must be ministered, rekindled and refreshed for its fiery passion for aggrandizing and envelope change. They desire to transform lust from affection to compassion.
It is also within this unbridled spiritual fire that hatred and anger dissipates. Thus, morphing these negative energies to love and happiness. It is the Fire element that motivates a person’s survival instincts. It is the driving force for his/her rectitude, dreams, and beliefs; thereby, transforming his/her commitments to achievements.
Fire knows no fear, doubt, shame or mercy. It scorches everything that stands in its way from accomplishing its goal. These are the reasons our E.R.O.S./V.T.A. initiates had to pass through a ring of fire; to disarm our fears, doubts, shame, and to replace our negativities with joy, love, compassion, leadership, spirituality, insightfulness, dynamism, aggression, intuition, resourcefulness, and last but by no means least, expressiveness.
Gentlemen, I look forward to your thoughts and insights regarding your respective relationships with your various Big-Brothers and Valets.
Best wishes to the both of you.
David
Early in November 1968
Aboard Sindbad, Off the Coast of Tunisia
My private moment with my ex-patriarchs did not materialize, until the following evening at a Hammam in the medina quarter of Tunis.
When we finished our provocative photoshoot, the first light of dawn had slipped through the intricate latticework inside the Mosque of Olives. As the muezzin’s call to Allah’s devotees echoed through the tall minarets to summon the faithful to their morning prayers; our entourage disappeared unnoticed via a series of secret passageways and corridors.
We slept till the early afternoon before Emily, Joshua, Leon, together with Señor Victor Angel Triqueros joined Curt and me for a group lesson aboard Sindbad.
Eberhardt began, “Sex roles, sex-role stereotypes, and sex-role socialization were the topics of my last tutorial with Young. I promise him that I will discuss gender fluidity in this session.”
He looked to Triqueros for a response.
“Curt, that is an interesting topic. Please start the discussion,” the Señor responded obligingly.
My teacher gave me an adoring glance before he resumed, “Do any of you know the meaning of gender fluidity?”
None of us answered.
He continued, “For some individuals, gender is not just being male or female. Their identification can change from day to day or from hour to hour. When gender expression shifts between masculine and feminine, gender fluidity are often displayed in the person’s style of dress; the way he or she expresses and delineate themselves.”
“Other terms to describe gender fluidity are Genderqueer (GQ) or non-binary gender,” Victor injected.
Eberhardt resumed, “Gender fluidity conveys a broader, more flexible range of gender expression, with interests and behaviors that change from day-to-day. In some cases, from moment-to-moment. Folks that are gender fluid are not confined by restrictive boundaries of masculine or femi
nine stereotypes. Their gender identity extends beyond a person’s behavior and interests. In other words, some days a person may feel they are more female than male while on others, the reverse holds true. There is the possibility that neither term describes them accurately.”
The Señor voiced, “Think of the varieties of hues and shades in a color spectrum.”
He paused before he resumed, “Visualize the most feminine expression you have seen or the most masculine you’ve come across. Now, put yourself somewhere between the feminine and masculine range, then you’ll understand what we are getting at.”
“Does that mean, gender fluidity is the identification of what feels right for the person at a specific time/day or situation?” Emily queried.
Our professor answered, “Emily, you are partially correct, but not entirely. Genderqueer is a catch-all category for gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine. These identities are outside of the gender binary and cisnormativity.
“Genderqueers can be classified as one or more of the following:
Having an overlap of, or indefinite lines between gender identity.
Having two or more genders; such as bigender, trigender or pangender.
Having no gender, like agender, nongendered, genderless, genderfree or neutrois.
Moving between genders or having a fluctuating gender identity (genderfluid).
Or being third gender or other-gendered; a category that includes those who do not place a name to their gender.”
Victor edified, “A person who is genderfluid prefers to remain flexible about their gender identity, rather than committing to a single gender. They may fluctuate between genders or express multiple genders at the same time.
“On the contrary, an agender person (‘a−’ meaning “without”), also called genderless, genderfree, non-gendered, or ungendered, is someone who identifies as having no gender or being without gender identity. Although this category includes a broad range of identities that do not conform to traditional gender norms, people who identify with any of these stances may not necessarily self-identify as transgender.”
I questioned, “What are cisnormativity and transgender?”
“I’ll get to that,” Curt announced. “Cisgender (often abbreviated to simply cis) is a term for people whose gender identity matches the sex that they were assigned at birth. Cisgender may also be defined as those who have ‘a gender identity or perform a gender role society considers appropriate for one’s sex’; which is the opposite of transgender.
“This brings me to transgender. This term applies to those who have a gender identity, or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex. Transgender folks are sometimes called transsexual - if they desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another.”
Professor Triqueros clarified, “Transgender is also an umbrella term that includes those whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex – such as trans-men and trans-women. It may also include individuals who are not exclusively masculine or feminine - people who are genderqueer, e.g., bigender, pangender, genderfluid, or agender. There are many definitions of transgender; like folks who belong to a third gender, or conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. At times the term transgender can also include cross-dressers, regardless of their gender identity.”
Victor added, “Being transgender is independent of sexual orientation. Transgender individuals may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, asexual, and the list goes on. He or she may consider conventional sexual orientation labels inadequate or inapplicable. The term transgender can also be distinguished from intersex - a term that describes people born with physical sex characteristics ‘that do not fit a typical binary notion of male or female bodies.’”
Eberhardt gave me a quick glance, to keep my mouth shut about Penny’s gender condition.
I took the hint and stayed silent.
Curt clarified, “An individual who feels genuinely authentic, accept his or her identity, and is comfortable within his/her external appearance is known as transgender congruence.
“Although, many transgender folks experience gender dysphoria and some may seek medical treatments such as hormone replacement therapy, sex reassignment surgery, or psychotherapy; not all transgenders desire these treatments. These treatments are expensive and are out of reach to many, nor can their medical condition undergo such intensive surgeries.”
“How do I address a genderqueer person?” Joshua asked.
“That’s a good question,” Victor blazoned.
Our German professor advised, “Some genderqueer folks prefer to use gender-neutral pronouns such as one, ze, sie, hir, co, ey, or singularly ‘they,’ ‘their,’ and ‘them.’ There are those who prefer the traditional gender-specific pronouns – ‘her’ or ‘him.’ While others prefer to be addressed as he and she. There are also those who like to use their name without pronouns. Titles such as ‘Mx,’ is an appropriate address instead of Mr., Ms., or Miss.”
Leon interposed. “These terms sound awfully complicated. I can’t remember them.”
“Don’t worry boy, you’ll familiarize with the idioms as time goes by.”
These were the Señor’s final words before our lesson came to a close. Triqueros pinched Leon, his clandestine lover lightly on the cheeks, as we readied ourselves to join our patriarchs at a Hammam in old Tunis.
Last Week of June 1968
Sharrow Bay, Lake Ullswater, Penrith, Lake District
On the final night of our stay at Sharrow Bay, I was awakened by a shimmering glow outside the French windows in the room I shared with Andy. I crept out of bed to the veranda without waking my lover. I gazed at the serene moonlit lake. An unanticipated radiance encircled my head. I could not delineate its glowing silhouette. The bright object fluttered back and forth around a flowering bush to look for an entrance in to our chamber. Bedazzled, I remained unmoved.
Through an open window, it darted towards my sleeping chaperone. An array of glistening fairy dust fell over my dormant lover. Instantly an irrepressible radiance befell him as if he was in an ebullient dream. He did not stir. Before I had time to adjust my vision, the sky-dancer was atop my head. It scattered golden dust upon my person.
Exuberance enveloped me as if blessed by a divine entity. Romanticism tingled my body. The dancing light disappeared as speedily as it had appeared. Suddenly I registered this animated object. I had seen it in An A-Z Fairies Encyclopedia, the illustrated book that Professor Frederick Thomason had gifted me after our meal at the Lakeside Restaurant. This sky-dancer was an Asparas.
I was transfixed by the serenity that conceals the mysteries of the other realm when a pair of sturdy hands reached around my waist. My lover’s intoxicating breath caressed the sides of my tender neck. Excitement coursed through my person. A heightened warmness had nuzzled every fiber of my person and propelled me into an eroticism that was lustfully loving. By divine intervention and without mortal interference I was overpowered by my Valet’s lubricious intensity.
His adoring fingers tweaked my perkiness to sturdy attention as I gyrated my yearning derriere against his hardened masculinity. Within this patio of idyllic delight, we craved to unite our blazing fervor.
Was it the winsome moonscape that had bewitched our youthful vitalities or did the Asparas’ enchantments pixilated our emotions? This I will never know. What I do remember was our erotic intensities grew in potency as our sprightly essence merged in concatenation.
Andy glided his throbbing stiffness into my pulsating cleft and sent my frenzied soul to unbridled jubilations. Our mind, body, and spirit coalesced into an otherworldly existence, a weightless immersion of mystical transcendence. From above, I witnessed our copulation. A surreal, out-of-body experience that Andy and I had encountered during our time in India.
This subliminal providence catapulted our concupiscence to unconstrained lasciviousness. Like the drunken revelry of the Celebrating Ellyllons, our lovemaking i
mpelled me off my feet. His fiery passion pierced my irrepressible hollow and hurled me to nirvanic ecstasy. Our covetousness ignited every filament of our buoyancies as he torpedoed into my chamber of love. Every crevasse of our longing orifices spurred us into a palpitating unit of wanton indulgence.
He drove into me with unencumbered deliverance as I laid against his bosom of amorousness. I welcomed his rapturous onslaught before I exploded onto our gliding torsos. His divinity poured into my twitching recess with aplomb and enshrouded my core to overcapacity. From my leaking portal, I scooped to share his bulbous remains.
This Valet, chaperone, Big-Brother, guardian, and lover never fails to intoxicate me. He was and still is my soulmate. In which my ex-professor, Victor Angel Triqueros chronicled so artfully as Sahasrāra; the blossoming of a ‘thousand-petaled.’ The White Lotus that encircled Andy and my sacred union within our Garden of Supernal Love.
PART TWO
Algeria – Algiers
Morocco – Casablanca, Marrakech, Atlas Mountains
England – Cotswolds, Thornbury, Cornwall, London, Daltonbury Hall
Switzerland – Lucerne
United Arab Emirates – Dubai
Release & Allow (Chapter Eighteen)
“I don’t put the truth in a cage. I try to find a way to release it.”
William Hurt
Early in November 1968
Kasbah, Medina of Tunis, Tunisia
Kalf, the young Tunisian knew all the secret places where the underground gay local community hung out. He guided us to an inconspicuous colonial-style mansion that could have been a private residence. Located within the old al-Ḥimāya al-Fransīya fī Tūnis (French protectorate of Tunisia), this walled manor house once belonged to a wealthy French family, before it fell into disarray after the country gained its independence. Away from the prying eyes of the Islamic government, an independently wealthy European merchant transformed this dilapidated property into a secret Hammam; where he and his like-minded compatriots could have erotic rendezvous with the gay locals.