Debra R. Kolodny

This anthology is insightful, provocative, authentic, and healing. It spoke so well to the tensions I have felt being a bisexual person of faith while also exemplifying wholeness and integration in the midst of those tensions. I feel like my understanding of my sexuality and my spirituality has become more holistic through reading this collection, and I highly recommend it to other bisexual people of faith (with the caveat that some of the language used is dated).

This anthology is very well done and suffused with meaning, down to its title and cover art; the editor, Debra R. Kolodny has done a fantastic job bringing the work of over thirty writers and poets together in one volume. The contributors, while they all identify as either bisexual or pansexual, come from a wide variety of spiritual backgrounds and identities. Among others, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Unitarian Universalism,several denominations of Protestantism, Catholicism, and show more Neo-Paganism are all represented. Although the editor intentionally sought (and achieved) a good range, there is no contributor from an Islamic tradition. But the limitations of the collection are recognized in its introduction.

The book is divided into three parts: By Our Lives, Be We Spirit: Holy Identity; Communion with Spirit: Wholeness is Holy; Wrestling with Spirit: Who Defines Holiness?. The contributors explore the intersection of sexuality and spirituality and how their various identities impact each other. Those that have read Bi Any Other Name will recognize quite a few names names from that groundbreaking volume as authors of the essays and poems in Blessed Bi Spirit. I found most pieces to be very interesting to read, although there were a few that were not as approachable. Overall, though, it is a wonderful treasury. This fantastic collection is not only valuable to those interested in bisexuality, but for anyone interested in how sexuality affects people spiritually and religiously.

Experiments in Reading show less

Title intentional pun --"Bisexuals are blessed by the spirit" or, alternatively, "Spirituality is complex in the way bisexuality is". Anthology --Greta Ehrig, Starhawk, especially good.