History & Philosophy

Flesh & Spirit Community began as a series of workshops and intensives created in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1992 as venue for queer men to build community and explore the unity of the erotic and the spiritual.

Since Flesh & Spirit's inception it has developed into a Bay Area community supporting queer men on a path of healing, integrating and celebrating our bodies and our eroticism as sacred.

The basic philosophy of Flesh & Spirit Community is a weave of loving ideas, concepts and practices from many traditions such as, Buddhism, Tantra, Taoism, African & Native American, spiritualities, Christianity, Wicca, Judaism, Sufism, Feminist theory, congruence theory, liberation theology, healing/recovery models, behavioral medicine, energy medicine and body oriented therapies.

A predominant theme of Flesh & Spirit Community is that of being "survivors and thrivers" through our queer male bodies. There are six archetypal images that seem to embody the essence of these notions of survivorship used in Flesh & Spirit work: The Peaceful Warrior, The Lover, The Sacred Prostitute, The Elder, The Mystic and The Prophet. The themes from these archetypes, although not unique to queer men seem especially applicable to queer men on an ecstatic/erotic spiritual path.

Philosophy developed by Dr. Kirk Prine, CMT.