Gender Essentialism and The Rites of Eleusis
As you may have guessed from the title, I am about to encourage ritualists to be bold, experimental, and entirely free from restraint when it comes to gender roles in The Rites of Eleusis. So if you were just wanting my broad opinion on the subject, you can move along, because that is exactly the position I endorse.
If you would like to know my reasons for supporting such a broad attitude, or you want to review my bullet-point in order to engage me in a lively debate, let’s dive in and examine my views.
But before that:
***BIG DISCLAIMER*** This is my blog. These are my opinions. They are based on 18 years of practice, study, success, failure and hard work. These opinions carry the weight of that sweat, determination, and foolhardy optimism as the singular seal of their authority; they are not statements endorsed or supported by any organization, including O.T.O., A.:. A.:., or E.G.C.
Now, to my list of reason why an essentialist adherence to the gender roles in The Rites of Eleusis is unfounded or unnecessary.
1. There is no singular authority that can lay claim to The Rites of Eleusis.
I should clarify that this claim presumes that you have not entered into any agreement with anyone that grants them authority over your public artistic expression. For example, if you are performing The Rites of Eleusis under the auspices of a Chartered O.T.O. body, the Master of that body may have something to say about how you stage the material. But you are not required to do so under any official auspices.
The Rites of Eleusis, themselves, are within the public domain. They may be performed by anyone, anywhere, in whatever manner. Cast members need not be members of O.T.O. or A.:. A.:., although members of those organizations are often involved in staging The Rites. They are rituals that were originally presented to raise awareness for the A.:. A.:. to be certain. But in their original form, they were intended to be public, and while they certainly contain mysteries in my experience, those mysteries are not subject to the oversight of any person or organization. Drive it like you stole it!
2. The rabbit hole of “strict observance” can become a trap.
Artists can choose to place limits upon themselves in order to enhance the creative process, and it is a fantastic way to shape a play or series of plays in order to create an overarching theme, vision, and style. When done thoughtfully, it can create a level of cohesion to a project, and inspire a great deal of creativity. For example, in staging our Rites of Eleusis, we made an effort not to change any of the words. This resulted in a few lines from The Treasure House of Images including some awkward scansion, but the result was true to our original vision and goal, and inspired some really creative music to make it all fit.
That does not necessarily make the performance of our Rites more legitimate, by the way! Because without a singular authority as mentioned in point one, legitimacy becomes a matter of pure speculation.
Now, one could chose to present The Rites of Eleusis with a ‘strict adherence to the original gender role’ policy, but how strict? Should the Crowley roles be performed by a bisexual male, age 35, who has some romantic interest in both the violinist and the principal dancer? Without the aforementioned authority, who can argue that attraction between the actors is more or less important that gender identity? Honestly, the traditions of theater have their roots in the festivals of Dionysus, filled with fabulous actors, gender transgression, and ecstatic liberation! These traits are evident in the lives of actors and performers since time immemorial! Why break with that tradition?
Obviously, this is all open to interpretation, so I would encourage you not to allow yourself to feel stifled unless it is an intentional choice. Otherwise, you can ‘strictly observe’ yourself right out of a cast, and limited your troupe out of an opportunity for exploration. Don’t fall into that trap. Drive it like you stole it!
3. The audience is either going to “get it” or they wont. Gender is not the determining factor.
There is a school of thought that says: “If Venus isn’t played by a woman, and audience will not understand the symbolism!”
That is just non-sense! Do you honestly think that someone could attend a Rite of Venus, and be fully capable of comprehending the levels of meaning in The Rite, and somehow miss out because the performer is male? Or trans? Or Asexual? Or non-binary?
Do you seriously want to argue that your audience is well versed enough to understand the depth and breadth of the this profoundly dense esoteric material, but somehow they can’t understand acting?
Allow me to say, with all the weight of my experience, this is a poor argument. We cast a variety of roles with various genders. No attendee or cast member was ever confused by this. There were about 100 other confusions, but the gender identity of the performers was never a problem. Drive it like you stole it!
4. The Rites of Eleusis are experimental.
I know it may be obvious, but in case you hadn’t noticed, The Rites of Eleusis are a grand experiment. The various talents of a few friends harnessed to attempt to create a state of ecstasy in the audience, and especially in the performers!
Additionally, they are the best vehicle I have ever found for creative experimentation in Thelemic circles. The only rules are self imposed. The only limits are your imagination, and whatever laws of physics you can’t find your way around!
You want to stage an all mime Rite of Mercury? So be it! Drive it like you stole it!
You want to perform a post-apocalyptic Rite of Mars at Burning Man, with a random cast selected from the audience and handed scripts? You go! Drive it like you stole it!
You want to mount a Rite of Venus set in a castle where all the characters are dressed like the cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Oh, my God! Please do that! And invite me!
Don’t Dream It! Be It!
In closing, as has been stated previously, I am in favor of exploration, experimentation, and interpretation. This is entirely consistent with my views on The Rites of Eleusis as a whole, and once again, I encourage ritualists to be bold, experimental and entirely free from all but intentional constraint.