- Home
- social science
- religion
- Two Hearts Dancing
Two Hearts Dancing
A Spiritual Journeybook for Gay Men: The Companion Volume to Two Flutes Playing
by Andrew Ramer
Foreword by Don Shewey
Illustrated by Raven Wolfdancer
Imprint: Resource Publications
Two Hearts Dancing: A Spiritual Journeybook for Gay Men isn't a guidebook on "coming out" but a guidebook on coming in--coming in to who we are as mystics, lovers, and healers. Nor is it a sequel to the gay underground classic Two Flutes Playing but a companion volume to it. The first section of this book, "Stories of our People," contains fourteen tales that are grounded in gay archetypes and ends with a responsive reading to be used in gay men's rituals. The second part, "Poems for Our Tribe," contains twenty-four poems that are mythic, mystical explorations of embodied spirituality, sexuality, and love. These poems are followed by another ritual, which has been used in gay men's gatherings around the world, and the book ends with a story about dying that bookends the opening story in the book, on being born.
Andrew Ramer is the author of the gay underground classic Two Flutes Playing, as well as Revelations for a New Millennium, Queering the Text, and several other books that are available from Wipf and Stock Publishers. He’s also a co-author of the international best seller Ask Your Angels. Born in Elmhurst, New York, across the street from an amusement park called Fairyland, he now lives in Oakland, California, up the street from an amusement park called Fairyland.
“You don’t read Ramer—you experience him. This is more than a book. It’s a primer for transformation, a revelation, a celebration, and an imparting of wisdom that is essential and necessary for us all. Ramer’s voice is mythic, indigenous, and of the earth as he shares his vision of what gay people truly are and truly can be—bringers of joy, friendship, creation, love, and healing to those around them.”
—Trebor Healey, author of Sweet Son of Pan
“In poems and stories rich with meaningful metaphors, Andrew Ramer offers the myths of origin for gay men’s queer consciousness that orthodox religion has failed to create and which we, therefore, must create for ourselves. Ramer both reveals and exercises the world-creating power of myth. Here are life-affirming, sex-affirming, gay-affirming metaphors to enrich our experience of our lives.”
—Toby Johnson, author of Gay Perspective: Things Our [Homo]sexuality Tell Us about the Nature of God and the Universe
“Andrew Ramer spins the straw of our daily lives into gold. I want to build a campfire and sit around it while he tells stories. ‘The passions rise in this, in all new moon nights, slowly, surely, to a full brilliant circle of rich hidden silver.’ Indeed.”
—Bo Young, publisher of White Crane Books
“Andrew Ramer . . . seer, poet, storyteller . . . the man with the moon over his shoulder . . . He bids you walk with him as he shares the treasures of a lifelong journey into the mysteries and meaning of men loving men. Two Hearts Dancing will reward you well.”
—Will Roscoe, author of Queer Spirits: A Gay Men’s Myth Book
“Andrew Ramer is a gifted storyteller and mythmaker. Drawing from imagination, inspiration, his deep understanding of Jewish mysticism, and gay men’s spiritual culture, he tells sublime tales that resonate deeply. Andrew and the Maggid Elias are two souls entwined in one body. He/they speak directly to the heart and soul to heal the wounds of millennia of oppression and repression. This book is essential reading for gay men and good medicine for all of humanity.”
—Franklin Abbott, editor of Boyhood: Growing Up Male
Related Titles
