Gallus

Gallus or Galla (plural galli or gallae) is an Ancient Hellenist, Phrygian, and Roman religiogender for castrated priests (eunoukhoi) of the goddess Cybele (Magna Mater in Rome, sometimes Rhea in Greece). In modern times a gallus or galla may be transfeminine, transsex, an androgynon, intersex, or an AMAB transgender person.

Etymology
The word originates in the Gallos (Gallus) river, a tributary to the Sangario river.

Alternate Names
The gallae were also known as the Korybantes (singular korubas) in Ancient Greece.

There are both masculine and feminine forms of the term. Some modern historians have interpreted them as likely to refer to themselves by the feminine forms, though in most historical sources the masculine form is used.

Masculine

 * Singular: Gallus, gallos
 * Plural: Galloi, Galli

Feminine

 * Singular: Galla
 * Plural: Gallae

Ancient Definitions

 * [The galli] say they are not men... they want to pass as women. Animated by some sort of reverential feeling, they actually have made this element [air] into a woman [Caelestis, the goddess]. For, because air is an intermediary between sea and sky, they honor it through priests who have womanish voices. -Firmicus Maternus (300 CE)
 * Priests, often temple attendants or wandering mendicants, of the ancient Asiatic deity, the Great Mother of the Gods, known as Cybele, or Agdistis, in Greek and Latin literature. The Galli were eunuchs attired in female garb, with long hair fragrant with ointment. - Britannica
 * Castrated and effeminate male priests ... [that] transcend gender. - jeramyt.org
 * The Gallae were priests of the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her consort Attis. They were believed to have spiritual powers to tell the future, bless homes, have power over wild animals, bring rain, and exorcise evil spirits. - Nonbinary Wiki

Priestesses of Cybele
The Gallae were priestesses of the Phrygian goddess Cybele and her lover, Attis, from about 300 BCE to 600 CE. According to mythology, Attis castrated himself beneath a tree in a fit of madness, dying of the wound; the reason for his insanity varies, but is usually a curse.

The gallae would castrate themselves in an ecstatic ritual known as Dies Sanguinis (the Day of Blood) as a devotional act to Cybele, casting their severed genitals into a home or crowd. Whichever family caught the genitals would then provide dress and care for the galla as they recovered from their emasculation. Afterwards, they assumed feminine roles and would serve as a priestess to Cybele and Attis. It is of note that becoming a galla was not a requirement to serve as a priest to Cybele, implying that castration was indeed an early form of gender reassignment surgery to validate internal identity.

Modern historians and transgender people have remarked that the process may have been an early form of gender transition, and that some of the gallae exhibited traits that in modern day may have been considered gender dysphoria.

The gallae lived together in temple compounds and called each other by feminine familial titles such as mother and sister. They were thought to have spiritual abilities and preformed services in exchange for money. The Gallae were also thought to be sexually variant, and were known to marry both men and women.

The Roman Empire
The group spread across the Roman Empire into modern-day Britian in the early 200s BCE. They were disliked by many Europeans for their gender non-conformity and foreign traditons, and were persecuted especially by Christians. By the end of the 600s CE they had been almost eradicated,

The Femminiello
It is believed that the galla tradition was continued by the Italian femminiello after the gallae were outlawed, destroyed, and/or integrated by the rise of Christianity.

Modern Gallae
In modern times, a number of individuals, mainly transgender women, may identify as gallae. Of note is the women's shelter and modern temple of Cybele in New York of worshipers calling themselves gallae established in 1998. Tales of the Galli is a historical fiction comic by a modern Galla by the name of Laura Anne Seabrook chronicling the role, humanity, and life of the gallae.

Other
The gallae symbol, designed by Laura Seabrook. It combines the venus (woman) symbol with the achemical symbol for sulfur.