The Essential Gay Mystics

by Andrew Harvey (Editor)

Compiled in this volume are the writings of some of the best-known thinkers and same-gender (and bisexual) lovers of all time. Poems and quotes by such notables as Sappho, Sophocles, Walt Whitman, Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Thoreau, Melville, Cocteau, Virginia Woolf and many more, attest to their same sex muses and partners and their brilliance in elucidating their feelings.

Genres: Poetry, LGBT, Spirituality, Queer, Religion, Gay, Nonfiction

290 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Andrew Harvey is an author, religious scholar and teacher of mystic traditions, known primarily for his popular nonfiction books on spiritual or mystical themes, beginning with his 1983 A Journey in Ladakh.

From Wikipeadia

Reviews

[George Ilsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been chipping away at this for ages, so might as well mark it as "read." This is not a volume I would ever read cover to cover, but one I can savour like an old friend (Cavafy), or pick up and discover something new (Elsa Gidlow).

Edited by Andrew Harvey, who is a spiritual seeker and now widely considered to be the primary author of the bestselling The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. The time frame of this anthology ranges from the Greek and Roman traditions (it opens with Sappho), and travels through the Far East, Persia, and tries very hard to include Native Americans.

Besides the usual suspects, like Whitman, Cocteau, and Michaelangelo, this book includes well-known authors one might not at first expect to see here, like D.H. Lawrence and Henry David Thoreau — although my surprise probably just reflects my vast ignorance.

There is a notion, perhaps true in every era, that we are currently living in the most advanced period of human development. An anthology such as this offers insight into a variety of historical conceptions of sexuality and identity, and can open the minds of curious readers to new possibilities. Or, perhaps I should say, old possibilities.

5 stars because this is always something new to be found in this old anthology.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was definitely not what I was looking for. I was expecting a book that engaged me spiritually. Instead I got a whirlwind tour of the human experience of homosexuality through the ages. I discovered queer writers I'd never heard of, and I was able to explore the experiences of authors I already knew about.

I didn't really pick up any novels or poetry collections that I wanted to explore further, which is part of the reason for the low rating. The rest of the reason is that I just didn't really enjoy most of the book. There were definitely some gems in there, and I have no regrets about reading it. I definitely liked the beginning, with the Indian and Buddhist mystics, and the end, with the modernists and contemporaries, the most.

I don't mind that it wasn't what I was looking for, but I gave it a chance and it just didn't impress.

[Bebo Saucier Carrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book will live in my mind for a long time, maybe forever. I feel very grateful to have read something so beautiful and enlightening.

It was so good and healing to read mystic/religious texts from queer people throughout the ages, and I want to read more from so many of the authors featured! The introduction was also an incredible intro to the relationship queer people have with the Divine, despite so many people who want to deny or crush it.

This is a wonderful text for those looking to explore queerness and faith (of all sorts), and truly could be used as a little queer prayer book if one so wishes.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

they're gay, they're mystics...what's not to love?!

[J]

ok so inmyopinion andrew harvey is a little very ridiculous and maybe not so reliable and again wow almost all cis white dudes but yeah, this is a fun collection of poetry and prose

[Jasmine]

DNF.

Selections felt random, or not particularly queer. Didn't like the Native American section which had very little work actually by indigenous people. The Chinese section was most interesting. Overall, needed more curation and I wasn't mad when my library hold was up.

[Skinzy K · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed learning which historical figures / artists were queer (get it Michelangelo) but was hoping for more spiritual guidance and clarity overall, a cohesive through-line of meaning to take away

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Harvey is great, he knows how to meticulously find and select obscure and well known queer authors.

[Adamm. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fun to read, although contains many of the usual suspect...