In most Shamanic traditions, a religious belief system that pre-dates all the mainstream religions, and appears to be almost universal amongst the peoples from whom most modern cultures drew their inspiration, so might be seen as the authentic root from which all later variations of religious belief sprouted, gender expression is seen as a special power bestowed by the higher powers, and some degree of transsexuality and/or transvestism was and is essential to the role of spiritual advisor to the community, because of course the spiritually-limited, those who weren't able to incorporate the full gamut of human traits and aspirations, were necessarily mundane.

The religious outliers that denied such fluidity were primarily the creatures of warlike cultures that forced ‘conversion’ at the point of a sword, unlike most Shamanic cultures, which were relatively peaceful, so the spread of "organised religions" can be overlaid directly on the map of conquest with very few excursions from the general rule and almost total overlap. Because of this link to violence, almost all the ‘mainstream’ — thus bellicose — religions are relentlessly patriarchal, since male warriors formed the basis of almost every historic army.

In the grand scheme of things, ‘Changing Woman’ the dynamic and ever-fruitful alternative to static (often destructive) masculinity, is a useful antidote to the sexist, masculinist, narrative many have grown up with.

Blessed be,

Puddintane

_________

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

-- Tacitus

Slaughter, plunder, usurpation of power they call empire; they make a desolation and call it peace.

-- Tacitus