The roles that we are ‘assigned’ by society are part of our cultural heritage and environmental experience, often thought of as patriarchal though, I have to admit that my upbringing was much more matriarchal in its construct. The major role of mother/grandmother in the family was much more dominant, from my perspective at least.
Through a cultural/historical evolution we have stereotyped specific attributes as masculine and feminine.
There is a teaching in Yoga that there are three major channels of energy, one central and balanced to which we strive and the other two on either side being sun and moon energy. It is here that I tend to shy away from the association of masculine-sun and moon-feminine and prefer to the description of active and reflective energy or character traits taken to that level. In this way we are no longer making unnecessary associations based on gender only the energetic aspects of personality, both are necessary for a balance to be achieved. One does not exist without the other. Our emotions can be associated with one of these energies, just like the magnetic field of the earth or a battery both are needed to complete the circle of energy, ebb and flow. When we place positive and negative in this instance there is perhaps only a slight thought of good and bad. Yet, when we use that in a description of traits then there is more of a judgement. They are neither, they must be in order to be complete and return to balance, only with one more dominant can anything be accomplished no matter what we call it, masculine/feminine, active/reflective, right/left (again we have an association with right being correct and left being associated with evil if raised in a particular religious environment). The sun energy is the active force and the moon the reflective or nurturing energy. Like the changing of the seasons we need both in order to manifest upon the physical plane we have to act, yet the act can only take place after the idea or thought has been brought to the conscious mind. Thus, the latter is the reflective energy of creation. Both in tandem give rise to the manifestation of anything within that which is All on a path to light.
© T.S. (Tim) White
All rights reserved