Footnotes
           

(1) Some have claimed that this is a reflection of cultic acts that are known to have been practiced in some parts of Greece, during fertility festivals. This, we don't plan on doing ourselves, but one can see the magical reasoning behind the cross-dressing. Children are born of the mingling of man and women, so by symbolically taking on some of that which represents the other gender, one symbolizes the mingling of that which brings forth children. Thus, the bearded Aphrodite.

This, we are tolerant of, as an outside practice, but it is displeasing to us, aesthetically, so it will not be part of our practices here.

One should point out that others would argue that classical scholars are often too eager to see magical explanations, where everyday arguments will suffice. Lovers, after making love, have often been known to do things precisely because they are silly and unexpected.

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(2) "What about among Traditionalists?", is the obvious question. The obvious answer is that many will be defectors from Neo-Paganism, and will bring some of the problems of that community with them. Also, many of these attitudes were already present, before Neo-Paganism saw its early 1990s vogue. Neo-Paganism merely strengthened them.

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