Saints Symeon and John: The holy fool and the hermit who loved each other

“Symeon and John” by Jim Ru

Sixth-century Syrian monks Symeon and John were joined in a same-sex union and lived together as desert-dwelling hermits for 29 years. After a tearful split-up, Symeon went on to become known as the Holy Fool of Emesa, the patron saint of all holy fools (and puppeteers.) Their feast day is today (July 21).

These Byzantine saints are important for LGBTQ people because of their loving same-sex bond and Symeon’s role as holy fool. In the tradition of “fools for Christ,” believers deliberately challenge social norms for spiritual purposes. LGBTQ Christians, who face insults from both sides for being queer AND Christian, may be able to relate to the motivations and experiences of the holy fools.

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Symeon of Emesa and John: Holy fool and hermit who loved each other


Symeon the Holy Fool (or Simeon Salus) of Emesa (c. 522 - c.588) and John of Edessa were close friends starting in childhood, although Symeon was six years older. Both came from wealthy families. When Symeon was 30, they made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On the journey home they were both filled with an irresistible desire to leave their families and join a monastery together.

They took vows in the monastery of Abba Gerasimus in Syria. The two men were tonsured by the abbot who blessed them together in an early monastic version of the adelphopoiia ceremony -- the “brother-making” ritual that historian John Boswell calls a “same-sex union.” They were referred to as the “pure bridegrooms (nymphoi) of Christ.”

Soon the two men went together to live as hermits in the desert near the Dead Sea, where they could practice spiritual exercises in solitude. There is no suggestion that their relationship was sexual, but they shared a life together in the wilderness with all the emotional intensity of a same-sex couple for 29 years.

At that point Symeon decided to leave his longtime companion and move to the city of Emesa in modern Lebanon.  He wanted to do charity work while mocking social norms as a “fool for Christ.” John begged him not to go. John’s passionate plea is recorded in “Symeon the Holy Fool” by Derek Krueger:

“Please, for the Lord’s sake, do not leave wretched me. For I have not yet reached this level, so that I can mock the world. Rather for the sake of Him who joined us, do not wish to be parted from your brother. You know that, after God, I have no one except you, my brother, but I renounced all and was bound to you, and now you wish to leave me in the desert, as in an open sea. Remember that day when we drew lots and went down to lord Nikon, that we agreed not to be separated from one another. Remember that fearful hour when we were clothed in the holy habit, and we two were as one soul, so that all were astonished at our love. Don't forget the words of the great monk….Please don’t lest I die and God demands an account of my soul from you.”

Even this heartfelt appeal did not change Symeon’s mind. Instead he invited John into a long, intimate prayer session as described by Krueger:

“After they had prayed for many hours and had kissed each other on the breast and drenched them with their tears, John let go of Symeon and traveled together with him a long distance, for his soul would not let him be separated from him, but whenever Abba Symeon said to him ‘Turn back, brother,’ he heard the word as if a knife separated him from his body, and again he asked if he could accompany him a little further. Therefore, when Abba Symeon forced him, he turned back to his cell drenching the earth with tears.”

Symeon went on to help the poor, heal the sick and do other good works in Emesa. In order to avoid public praise, he shocked people by deliberately acting crazy, making himself a “holy fool.”

Not long before his death, Symeon had a vision in which he saw his beloved John wearing a crown with the inscription, “For endurance in the desert.” 

Symeon and John were honored together as saints on July 21 in many ancient calendars. In the 16th century Caesar Baronius separated them and moved Symeon to July 1, but some traditions still celebrate them both on July 21.

Artist Jim Ru was inspired to paint the Symeon and John as a couple, with John’s fervent words to his beloved, “Please don’t leave lest I die and God demands an account of my soul from you.” The painting was displayed in his show “Transcendent Faith: Gay, Lesbian and Transgendered Saints” in Bisbee, Arizona in the 1990s.
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More resources:
“Symeon the Holy Fool: Leontius’s Life and the Late Antique City” by Derek Krueger (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1996).

Simeon the Holy Fool (Wikipedia)

To read this post in Spanish / en español, go to Santos Queer:
Simeón de Emesa y Juan: un “santo loco” y un ermitaño que amaban el uno al otro
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This post is part of the LGBTQ Saints series by Kittredge Cherry. Traditional and alternative saints, people in the Bible, LGBTQ martyrs, authors, theologians, religious leaders, artists, deities and other figures of special interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people and our allies are covered.

Copyright © Kittredge Cherry. All rights reserved.
Qspirit.net presents the Jesus in Love Blog on LGBTQ spirituality.

Artemisia Gentileschi paints strong Biblical women

“Judith and Her Maidservant” by Artemisia Gentileschi

Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi inspires many with her paintings of strong Biblical women -- created despite the discrimination and sexual violence that she faced as a woman in 17th-century Italy. She was born 418 years ago today (July 8, 1593).


For a new version of this article, click this link to Qspirit.net:
Artemisia Gentileschi paints strong Biblical women

On Gentileschi’s birthday, we honor her here at this blog devoted to LGBT spirituality and the arts. Gentileschi was apparently heterosexual, but lesbians have drawn energy from her life and art. Many queer people can relate to her battles against prejudice and sexual violence, documented in her rape trial in 1612. She could be considered the patron saint of women artists.

Gentileschi (1593–1652) was successful in her own day, but was mostly written out of art history until the 1970s, when feminist scholars rediscovered her work. Now she is celebrated in many books, films and plays, and her work is widely reproduced. Her greatest paintings include “Judith Beheading Holofernes” and “Susanna and the Elders.”

Lesbians who have created tributes to Gentileschi include painter Becki Jayne Harrelson and playwright Carolyn Gage. In the play “Artemisia and Hildegard,” Gage has two of history’s great women artists debate their contrasting survival strategies: Gentileschi battled to achieve in the male-dominated art world while Hildegard of Bingen found support for her art in the women-only community of a medieval German nunnery.

The daughter of a painter, Gentileschi was born in Rome and trained as a painter in her father’s workshop there. She was refused admission to the art academy because she was a woman, so her father arranged for her to have a private painting teacher -- who raped her when she was about 19. Gentileschi herself was tortured by thumbscrews during the seven-month rape trial, but she stuck to her testimony. The teacher was convicted, but received a suspended sentence.

“Judith Beheading Holofernes”
by Artemisia Gentileschi

Gentileschi used art to express her outrage. During the trial Artemisia began painting “Judith Beheading Holofernes” (left). Judith, a daring and beautiful Hebrew widow, saves Israel by cutting off the head of the invading general Holofernes. Judith and Holofernes became one of Gentileschi’s favorite subjects, and she painted several variations during her lifetime.

Her realistic style, influenced by the great artist Caravaggio, shows dramatic contrasts between light and dark. But Gentileschi usually created her own unique interpretations expressing a strong female viewpoint. The violence of Judith beheading the male general Holofernes speaks for itself. Another example is her painting (below left) of the Biblical story of the Hebrew wife Susanna and the lustful elders who spied on her while she was bathing. While her male contemporaries painted the scene as a voyeuristic fantasy, Gentileschi presents it as a violation of the vulnerable Susanna by the predatory elders.

“Susanna and the Elders”
by Artemisia Gentileschi

Soon after the rape trial Gentileschi married and moved to Florence, where she became the first woman accepted into the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno (Academy of the Arts of Drawing). She had a full career, producing many paintings of powerful women from Christianity, history and mythology. She worked in various Italian cities and even spent a few years painting in London, England. It is believed that she died when she was about 60 years old in a plague that swept Naples in 1656.

Today Gentileschi’s life and work are admired by many, including artist Becki Jayne Harrelson. She is best known for her LGBT-affirming version of “The Crucifixion of the Christ” with the word “faggot” above Jesus on the cross, but Harrelson has also honored Gentileschi in her art and blog.

As we celebrate Gentileschi’s birthday, Harrelson offers this tribute: “Artemisia Gentileschi’s talent and mastery was equal to her male counterparts, yet because of sexism and misogyny, she was denied the recognition she deserved as a master painter until many centuries later. She also suffered sexual violence and was treated unjustly for standing up against it. Her art and life inspires me to persevere despite adversity and prejudice.”

Artemisia Gentileschi is included in the GLBT saints series at the Jesus in Love Blog because she has inspired so many of us with her paintings of women and her success despite gender barriers and sexual violence. She could be considered the patron saint of lesbian artists, women artists, and everyone who breaks gender rules.
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This post is part of the GLBT Saints series by Kittredge Cherry at the Jesus in Love Blog. Saints, martyrs, mystics, heroes and holy people of special interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) and queer people and our allies are covered on appropriate dates throughout the year.

Artist shows sensuous gay saints: Ted Fusby

“Two Saints: Tete-a-tete” by Ted Fusby

Saints are “carnal, gay, and live worldly lives” in the paintings of Arizona artist Ted Fusby.
He specializes in male nudes, including saints and demons. His “Two Saints: Tete-a-tete” (above) is widely used on LGBT spirituality websites. It shows two male saints resting against each other, haloes joined in a moment of bliss.

“A visitor once asked me, after seeing halos on some figures, if I thought that gay people were saints,” Fusby says. “I told him no, but some saints may have been gay. I also believe that, being human, they were probably more carnal than many idealists would like to believe.”

Fusby enjoys teasing the viewer with the unexpected, including modern gay leathermen mixed in with traditional Christian iconography. “I like ambiguous subjects, such as martyrs who may or may not be saints, and S/M situations which may or may not be Christian,” he explains.

Much of Fusby’s art is too sexually explicit to be posted here, but it can be viewed on his website, tedfusby.com. As stated there, “This website celebrates the glories of the adult male nude, and to all those who enjoy male nudes, welcome!” The website includes 26 paintings in his “saints and demons” series, as well as male nudes in landscapes, locker room and other settings.

Born in 1943, Fusby is largely self-taught as an artist. His recent work is done in watercolor and colored pencil, sometimes with additions of metallic watercolor, gouache or ink.

Special thanks to Ted Fusby for permission to reproduce his art on the Jesus in Love Blog. “I will be curious to see if they get any reaction from your viewers,” he says.

“Two Saints” by Ted Fusby

Queer artist's “I Love Lupe” video censored

Artist Alma Lopez documents the controversy about her queer “Our Lady” in the new video “I Love Lupe” -- but Facebook won’t let you see it.

A few minutes ago Facebook blocked me from posting a link to the Alma Lopez video. I got a message warning, “You are trying to post content on Facebook that has been marked as abusive.” (Update: Facebook allowed me to it!)

Originally I included the video in today’s post “Blasphemy update: Queer Our Lady artist thanks supporters,” but I separated out when it got blocked.

You can see the trailer above, on YouTube or at AlmaLopez.net -- but not on Facebook. I will ask Facebook to lift the block, and I'll let you know what happens.

I suspect this is part of the censorship campaign waged against Lopez by conservatives who use Christianity as a weapon against LGBT people.

The 46-minute video features a round-table conversation with Chicana artists Ester Hernandez and Yolanda M. Lopez. For the first time, all three artists discuss their controversial Guadalupes. The video is included with the new book, “Our Lady of Controversy: Alma Lopez's Irreverent Apparition,” co-edited by Lopez and Alicia Gaspar de Alba.

Blasphemy update: Queer Our Lady artist thanks supporters

Our Lady of Controversy
by Alma Lopez

After facing blasphemy charges for her queer “Our Lady” last month, artist Alma Lopez is back from Ireland and thanking her supporters. All the supportive emails, including five from friends of the Jesus in Love Blog, are now posted on her website.

Click here to see all the emails at almalopez.net. She has posted letters of support the following friends of this blog: Trudie Barreras, Yvonne Aburrow, J.C. Fisher, Douglas Blanchard and myself (Kittredge Cherry).

Lopez thanks those who supported her in the face of a censorship campaign by conservative Catholics who attacked Ireland’s University College Cork for hosting “Our Lady and Other Queer Santas” (Saints), an art show and speech by Lopez. According to news reports, they compromised the university’s email system by bombarding it with thousands of negative messages and petitions.

The exhibit was part of a Chicano/a culture conference, which proceeded as planned despite pickets by right-wing Christians and a counter-demonstration by atheists. There were about 50 attendees, including scholars from Arizona, Germany, Mexico, England, Ireland and Spain. There are unconfirmed reports that the university may face government investigation under Ireland’s new blasphemy law.

Lopez offered thanks and an update in the following recent email to me:
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Thank you for this email and all of your support during this event. We just returned from Ireland. We feel good about the exhibition, the conference, and the many Irish citizens who were very supportive. We also feel good about engaging in the Irish blasphemy laws. Hopefully, this incident will prompt them to act against those laws.

I will be posting your email as well as all the supportive emails sent via your site onto my site where I archive all the responses to this print.

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The opposition has made an impact on her art. In a new version of “Our Lady,” Lopez has the Virgin of Guadalupe wearing boxing gloves, ready to defend herself in a powerful painting titled “Our Lady of Controversy.”

For more info, see our previous post
Our Lady and Queer Saints art attacked as blasphemy - Show support now!

Speaking of censorship… This post originally included a trailer for an Alma Lopez video on the controversy, but Facebook blocked it with a message saying, “You are trying to post content on Facebook that has been marked as abusive.” I moved the video to a separate post, and you can click here to see it. Later Facebook let me share the video.