The gender principle
NOVEMBER 10, 2022 (updated on March 14, 2024)
“There is a gender in all things; everything has its Masculine and Feminine principles; gender manifests itself on all planes.” [1]
Table of contents
Here we are, almost at the end of a journey started more than a year ago… I did not think I would cover so much information when I started following in the footsteps of the Hermetists; to tell the truth, my first idea was to present the seven principles in one article… What a joke! I didn’t count on the richness and depth of these teachings, which gave me an ultimate surprise with the gender principle…
It all started with a double questioning. First, why does the gender principle occupy the 7th and last place in the Hermes teachings? And second, if the Feminine and Masculine can already be expressed through the principle of polarity, what is the purpose of the gender principle? The only answer I found is related to… guess what: geometry! So far, nothing very surprising you might say!
Although geometry was in fact my first reading key, I will come back to it in the second part of this article. Because, unexpectedly, a further exploration of the gender principle brought me back to the experience I had a little more than 10 years ago, and whose story is at the origin of this blog. Since everything starts from the experience, it seemed obvious to me to relate it again and above all, carried this time by the teachings of the Feminine and the Masculine.
An experience of the gender principle
I will resume here the unfolding of the events by keeping only the most significant ones in relation to the theme of this article. If you do not know my story, a first reading could give you a perspective already rich in teachings. However, my original story also contains a lot of didactic information, which could lead you on a rather long alternative route… Moral: I let you choose which way you prefer to go!
In any case, and in order to make the most of this new sharing of experience, I invite you to consider that the dynamics of the Feminine and Masculine principles are currently present and active in you on the mental level, whether you are a man or a woman. If this seems a bit abstract to you, your perspective should broaden as I go along.
My purpose here is to highlight the mental genre dear to the Hermetists, by illustrating the ballet of feminine and masculine energies that played out for me that night.
The dynamics of the mental
Before my experience, I was aware that the mental is a very efficient male energy to perceive reality in a specific way: separation, time, space… For me, if it was theoretically possible to live another state of consciousness, a state of unity, the simple fact of wanting it was not enough to live it. I then placed perception at the heart of the mystery, thought having usurped the place of true perception, that of unity. The question was to what extent brain activity could maintain the illusion that it produced consciousness when it simply allowed access to and interpretation of experience.
I was not aware, however, that the dynamics of the mental are both masculine and feminine. The Masculine has the ability to give a direction to the mental creation. Like the woman who gives birth, the feminine then makes this seed germinate with the help of the unconscious reactive patterns at the heart of its own dynamics. This is how the thought process is structured, which always repeats the same patterns in similar or analogous circumstances.
Whatever the seed is, whether it is a seed of control or a seed of liberation, the Feminine will grow it. The Masculine and Feminine each have a responsibility in this process. To be aware of this is to pay attention to the quality of the seeds sown by the Masculine, and to use discernment to choose the seeds that the Feminine will make flourish.
I’ll come back to that. But now let’s dive into my experience…
Looking for an explanation…
December 19, 2013 – 8pm
A ruptured aneurysm has just caused a bleed in the right hemisphere of my head, in the meninges. I feel a sudden and violent headache that warns me that something unusual is happening. The intensity of the pain completely focuses my thoughts on this state of affairs.
It occurs to me that I may have the first migraine of my life, but how can I know since I have never had one? My mental, not being satisfied with the approximation of this possibility, looks for another hypothesis. I quickly assess my other symptoms: at this stage, none.
- The Masculine directed the Feminine in a first direction of research. The Feminine did not have the possibility to make this seed flourish, so the Masculine directed it in another direction. Together they tried to understand the events.
… desperately
However, the possibility of having a stroke does not cross my mind at all. My mental is probably simply incapable of suspecting this diagnosis because in its database at the moment, my symptoms do not correspond at all to those that define this pathology.
I don’t know yet that the main characteristic of a meningeal hemorrhage is a sudden, extremely intense and long-lasting headache, which is precisely the symptom that manifests itself at that moment.
The truth is that it cannot relate this strange sensation to any other. No matter how much it searches in its database, nothing corresponds, no known state that comes close to this one, no equivalent experience to weigh up in order to know what to do… In the end, despite itself, all it manages to find are its limits.
- With the Feminine’s research leading nowhere conclusive, its dynamic eventually ran out of steam and lost the energy it usually generates through its own movement [2]. But this loss of momentum helped reveal another dynamic of the Masculine…
From detachment to presence
Fear then begins to overcome me. Strangely, I also feel a certain detachment from this fear. I have an unusual awareness of it, so to speak. It is as if I can observe my fear, as if I recognize that the fear is there, but that it might as well not be.
It is then that my self-awareness will somehow expand. The state of emergency in which I find myself is about to push me into a “time” that is unfamiliar to me: the here and now, the presence.
- When the Masculine sent another impulse to the Feminine, in this case fear, my consciousness realized that the Masculine was also capable of “standing outside of the mental creation and behaving towards it as a spectator,” as the Hermeticists teach.
- The detachment of the Masculine had as a consequence to stop the impulse of the Feminine, rendered thus incapable to make this fear grow.
- It has also led my consciousness to perceive events directly, beyond the temporal dimension, which belongs to the perception of the mental.
Open hearted
Precisely, my consciousness shifts from my head to my heart. I still feel my pain, but it is as if in the background, almost secondary.
Then something that is not of the order of thought, something greater takes place in me, like a power of an absolute serenity that emanates from my heart and which, if translated into words, would tell me: “Whatever happens, it’s going to be okay.” It imposes itself without imposing itself.
It’s a very different energy from what I’m used to, it doesn’t try to be right, it’s there in all simplicity.
- At that moment, the Masculine was no longer observing the mental dynamics of the Feminine. Thus, my consciousness became dissociated from any mental process, whether it was masculine or feminine. My Being became conscious of itself.
A new perception
In the moment the presence manifests, it simultaneously counteracts my sense of fear and freezes my mental. At that moment, I am my consciousness out of sync with my emotions and thoughts. As if my consciousness is no longer focused on my mental.
So I am here, more than ever, conscious, present, but I am not my mental, I exist outside of it, in unity with All. I live myself as a larger version of myself. This state of grace lasts for an instant, an eternity.
- It would be more accurate to say that I experienced my own uniqueness, in the sense that I no longer had the perception of being connected to anything or anyone else. I simply was.
- This is beyond mental awareness. Indeed, this one implies an observer, it progresses from the unconscious to the conscious, by return of experience. It is based on a double movement: outward (observation) and inward (feedback). It involves the masculine and feminine dynamics respectively, thus offering the human being the incredible possibility of experiencing himself from both the outside and the inside.
- What I had previously perceived as external, as an observer, was no longer. Then the authentic perception manifested itself: no more observer, no more identity, the observer and the observed were one [3]. It was a perception that I can compare to that experienced during a synchronicity.
Another expression of the masculine
Then, against all odds, convinced of being right and unable to let anything but itself exist, my mental quickly takes over. It immediately identifies with the “whatever happens, it’s going to be okay” emitted by the consciousness emanating from my heart and I tell myself that it can’t be too bad, that this headache will pass. At that moment, everything goes very fast, the urgency of my body pushes me to act, while grace is already carrying me.
I’m waiting for my partner, James. He’s running late. I would like him to know as soon as possible what is going on because it is urgent. I call him and to my insistence on coming to me, he leaves the purchase of his sandwich on hold.
One question came to me after that evening: who knows if I would have lived that moment of “presence to me” if this experience had happened to me in his own presence?
- An expression of the Masculine, embodied by James, did not manifest itself externally, due to its delay. A “non-event” that resonated with the collapse of a boundary – the rupture of an aneurysm – within.
Taking back control, but in a different way
Given my condition and obvious lack of confidence in moving, he considers two options: take a taxi, go home and monitor the situation, or call the fire department directly.
My mental won’t give in, it has already decided to give up on the evening, it doesn’t want to consider moreover that something serious might happen to me and that I might be in danger. It doesn’t want to consider it, this is its way of regaining control. In fact, it’s looking for an explanation and a solution again, and to do that, it needs to have a clear head. This is why it files the experience of being present under the heading “I didn’t understand anything, but I’ll look into it later”, while believing, without really knowing why, that “it’s going to be okay”.
- The Masculine did not understand what had just happened, it sought to regain control by recovering what it could, sending this new impulse to the Feminine.
An achievement to be embodied
Through the desire of my consciousness to get out of the mental and thanks to the combined intervention of Madeleine and the neurosurgeon who performed the embolization of the aneurysm [4], I came as close as I could to the limit beyond which I could not have brought the deep realization of this experience into my incarnation. Finally, this experience led me to establish a new relationship with myself. Otherwise, continuing on this Earth would have been too difficult for me.
- Fundamentally, the Feminine and the Masculine wish to work in good understanding for the advancement of consciousness. As embodied principles, however, they have to deal with higher or lower vibrations. They can then get lost in growing “bad” seeds, or let’s say, in experiencing suffering and .. which nevertheless advance consciousness…
- My experience has shown me that by choosing divine seeds, miracles are obtained. In its deepest interior, my Feminine received the full support of the Masculine. In other words, the deep desire of the Feminine (to experience self-love and share it with the Masculine) resonated with the deep desire of the Masculine (to serve the Feminine in order to open to self-love). It’s as if the Masculine said to the Feminine, “Okay, I’m going to set everything up “out there” for you to have the experience you want to have more than anything. And I’m going to do everything so that the spirit we inhabit can continue its incarnation with that realization.”
- This total and selfless commitment of the Masculine remains to this day an immense source of inspiration for my Feminine.
Having discussed the mental genre through my experience, let us now return to the Hermetic teachings.
The mental genre
Women and men are respectively the representatives of the Feminine and Masculine principles. However, the Masculine principle is also present in women, just as the Feminine principle is present in men [5]. The Hermeticists also remind us that “the mental gender has no relation to the physical gender of someone, nor does it imply that someone of a certain sexual gender is necessarily of the same mental gender.
The "I" and the "Me"
“No physical, mental or spiritual creation is possible without [the gender principle].”
The purpose of the gender principle is to give birth on any plane of phenomenal life. On the mental plane, the Hermetists speak of a double aspect of the spirit that is found in every individual: the “I”, which corresponds to the Masculine principle, and the “Me” to the Feminine principle.
As we have seen, the “I” has the ability to project a vibratory energy current towards the “Me” in order to initiate a particular mental creation. Thus the Feminine principle constantly tends to receive the impressions that the Masculine principle constantly tends to send to it. The “I” is also capable of remaining a spectator of the creations and mental generations of the “I,” which possesses an enormous power of creative energy. The Hermeticists tell us that “the “I” appears to the consciousness as endowed with the latent power to create and generate mental offspring of any nature ».
It is thanks to the energy it receives from the “I” that the “I” is able to materially realize its mental creations. But if the “I” receives energy from the “I” that shares the same mind as it, it also receives energy from other “I” outside of itself. This is where it is surely useful that consciousness and discernment enter into play…!
On the proper use of the mental gender
To take a salient example, living in a patriarchal society does not imply that we use the Masculine principle excessively, nor for good purposes. In fact, paradoxically, most of us use our Feminine principle more, and most of the time to unconsciously maintain a patriarchal society. Simply because we have integrated the idea and we make it flourish by accepting other seeds related to patriarchy (which can therefore be pro or anti patriarchy seeds…).
Indeed, if we do not know the existence of the gender principle and make good use of it, we will tend, without even realizing it, to make our own the thoughts and ideas sent to our “I” by the “I” of the mind of other individuals… These ideas thus lodged in our mental will develop and end up being considered as our real mental thread.
To use the two mental principles correctly is to be able to choose the idea we want to focus on, and then give it sustained attention. The Masculine principle will then stimulate the Feminine principle on that subject, and the Feminine principle will work to generate consistent mental activity.
The qualities of the Feminine and the Masculine
The “I” acts in the conscious, the visible, and the “Me” in the unconscious, the invisible.
The feminine energy is that of creativity, artistic expression, fluidity and generosity. It is the energy that gives life. It is represented in the form of spirals, which start from the center towards all directions. It is an energy that swirls and flows.
The masculine energy is that of strength, balance, organization and stability. It is the ability to do things, to protect. It is also a mental energy. The Masculine radiates its energies from the center, in straight and structured lines.
However, to say that the Masculine principle brings balance is as true as to say that it generates imbalance [6]. Like the Feminine, it alternates between the two positions, without which no progression would be possible. A thing can be both one and its opposite, depending on when and where it is observed.
Straight lines for the Masculine, curves for the Feminine: both principles express the same geometry but differently.
The female curves represent 12 Fibonacci spirals. They all start from the same central point – there is no rotation without a reference point – and meet at the 12 nodal points of the star. The first 6 points delimit a central hexagon (or cuboctahedron in 3D), the next 6 a 6-pointed star (or tetrahedral star in 3D).
Let us now observe the dynamics underlying this geometry.
Geometric dynamics of the gender principle
There is no polarity without geometry
In the introduction, I questioned the necessity of the gender principle, given that the principle of polarity already allows the expression of feminine and masculine energies. It turns out that the gender principle responds to a very specific geometry.
Based on Nassim Haramein‘s unified field theory, we can equate the cuboctahedron (left) with the Feminine; it is the energy that goes inwards, towards the infinite. The tetrahedral star (on the right) represents the Masculine, the energy that goes outwards, towards the limits [7].
These two geometries are the basis of the geometry of the vacuum and explain how the structures that make up the universe can keep their coherence (Feminine principle) while evolving (Masculine principle) [8]. They are nested in each other at all scales, evolving in a fractal process. Thus, the cuboctahedron is both the content and the container of the tetrahedral star, itself being both the content and the container of the cuboctahedron.
The gender principle, an energetic outcome
As representatives of the seventh and final principle, the geometries forming the gender principle contain:
- The principle of mentalism, represented by a dot
- The principle of correspondence, due to the perfect symmetry of these geometries
- The principle of vibration, which allows to link vacuum and matter via scaling waves
- The principle of polarity, with two distinct and at the same time inseparable geometries
- The principle of rhythm, via the fractal progression that unites them
- The principle of cause and effect, as the upper fractal can only exist because of the lower fractal
The principle of gender is like the culmination of the previous principles, the manifested form that encompasses the first six principles. The duality finally resulted in the geometrical manifestation of the Feminine and Masculine principles.
An energetic dynamic was then set up: that of the double torus. The information circulates there by winding in opposite directions from the poles and towards the center. It is a double rotation in which the two toruses turn in opposite directions. From this double movement are born the gravitational and electromagnetic forces present in the universe, which correspond respectively to the feminine and masculine energies.
The Yin / Yang representation of the gender principle
The Chinese represent this dynamic with the Yin and Yang symbol, which corresponds to the double torus seen from above.
According to Nassim Haramein, there is a direct analogy between this symbol and the dynamics of the universe. There are indeed 64 possible combinations of Yin and Yang which, according to him, correspond to the 64 tetrahedrons forming the vacuum structure, from which everything emerges and to which everything returns. Note that Yin and Yang can each divide into Yin and Yang sub-elements, ad infinitum, thus illustrating a fractal process.
Yin and Yang are basically common names for concrete things. Yin means “ubac”, the north- facing side of a mountain, and Yang “adret”, the south-facing side. Like the two sides of a mountain or the two sides of a coin, one does not exist without the other, as the principle of polarity rementals us. Thus, the two aspects of the same situation are constantly oscillating, in a continuous beat.
Yin and Yang evolve in a movement that, driven by the advancement of consciousness, invariably produces a passage from one to the other. The Yin / Yang dynamic thus continuously offers an ever more accomplished experience of each principle [9].
The “thinking in twos” induced by Yin and Yang can be compared to the double aspect of the spirit of the Hermetists.
Being and Becoming
From an energetic point of view, the gender principle is balanced in each of us, because it is linked to the geometry of the vacuum structure, which is unalterable. However, our consciousness and our perception can lead us to favour one gender over another, depending on our sex or our understanding of one or the other for example.
Energetically, the masculine “I” is the aspect of Being, and the feminine “I” is the aspect of Becoming. The two are constantly communicating, swaying the universe and its structures between order and chaos in order to move them forward. It could also be said that the “I” stands in consciousness, and that the “Me” has not yet been brought to consciousness but has the potential to do so. Awareness is the engine of Becoming and of the various manifestations of energy.
We do not return to the original consciousness, we are sovereign beings who make consciousness evolve in matter.
I hope to have given back their letters of nobility to the Feminine and Masculine principles. And I hope to have illuminated the Hermetic principles in a different light.
Key points
- The dynamics of the gender principle are present and active in each of us, on the physical, mental and spiritual levels.
- All the ideas lodged in our mental by the Masculine develop thanks to the Feminine, and end up being considered as our true mental. Be careful what we accept…
- From the point of view of geometry, the Masculine and Feminine principles express the same geometry but differently, in straight lines for the Masculine, in curves for the Feminine. The energetic dynamics related to the dynamics of the gender principle is that of the double torus.
- The masculine and feminine dynamics respectively offer the human being the incredible possibility of experiencing himself from both the outside and the inside.
Notes & references
[1] Unless otherwise stated, all quotes are from the Kybalion.
[2] See the article Thought + emotion = mental on this subject.
[3] See also the article Conscious Experience on this subject.
[4] For a more detailed account, read Part 3 of My Story.
[5] Biologically speaking, men and women have the same hormones but in different proportions. They are similar and dissimilar, to use the terms of the principle of polarity.
[6] Extremes mean the same thing, as the principle of polarity teaches us.
[7] See also the article Feminine, Masculine, Connected universe on the subject.
[8] See the article on dissipative structures for a more physical description of the phenomenon.
[9] See also the 5th part of the article The Butterfly Effect about Yin / Yang dynamics.
On the same theme
2 thoughts on “The gender principle”
Hi,
how does one be mindful of what one “accepts” ? it seems like the passage between opening and closing is automatic, whether it is instant or pondered on, the state of acceptance or rejection to an idea, thought, principle seems completely out of one’s conscious control. having said that and with the benefit of hindsight, seeing what one has accepted or rejected whether rightly or wrongly, to one’s detriment or not, how would one go about correcting these errors and bringing them to an end ?
Hello Robin, thank you for your very pertinent questions. “How can we be careful about what we “accept”?” That is indeed the question 🙂 And this questioning goes through the feedback process of consciousness, in which we are all embarked. I suggest you read the article “How do we learn?”, which should provide you with some answers. Briefly, the idea is
1. to become aware that we accept many things unconsciously
2. to evaluate, as we become more aware, whether we still want to accept such and such a thing (this is where we can “correct our mistakes”)
3. consciously choose what is now ok for us to accept, and focus on it.
It’s a continuous process, made possible by the feedback dynamics of consciousness.
You can also consult the article “The conscious experience” to go to another level, in Presence, where everything is accepted because there are no longer the differentials of consciousness created by the very experience of / in the universe.
Hoping to have enlightened you, I wish you beautiful conscious experiences 🙂