Reclaiming the Power of the Divine Feminine...
Today we're talking about masculine and feminine or you may hear the terms referred to as anima and animus, meaning the male aspect or the feminine aspect of not only who we are but those characteristics that are embodied in the universe as a whole.
First…a story. One time I was at a friend’s son’s graduation party and I saw a woman. I'm always interested in meeting new people so I approached her and introduced myself and made a little small talk, not thinking much about the interaction, and we exchanged information. Now, little did I know that what she perceived to be happening was something that I never intended. I was just being me, showing up in the world the way that I show up and she thought I was trying to hit on her or that I wanted to ask her out. She called my friend excited about getting to know me better. There's nothing wrong with that, of course. I bring this story up because over the years it has become obvious to me that I carry a sort of masculine energy.
Now where did that come from? It was always there, I guess. I can recall being a kid and when my mother put a dress on me I’d scream and fall out in the floor. I loathed them. And being a child in the 70s and a teenager in the '80s I witnessed a lot of progress being made for women. In the 70’s, Gloria Steinem was leading marches all over the United States for what was then referred to as Women's Lib and as a teenager in the 80s, I witnessed the rise of the supermodel who could command thousands of dollars just to wear clothes and walk down the runway for literally an hour's worth of work. Not to mention their beauty had men eating out of their hands. They were power players for sure.
On television were shows like Dynasty and Knot’s Landing. Our evenings were spent watching women who were very powerful and who were very much in command of their masculine energy. In fact, they behaved just like men…ruthless, cut throat. And we loved them for it.
I can't help but think that in some way, whether it was conscious or unconscious, the atmosphere of the times kind of shaped me.
So, fast forward to adulthood. On my journey to discovering the truth of who I really am, and shed the layers that don’t belong to me, I’ve become very introspective. I believe self-knowledge is the key to life itself. When I looked at myself through an unfiltered and unbiased lens, I saw that I carried within me the capacity to show up as very masculine. Not just in the way that I speak, but sometimes in the way that I dress and even in the way that I think.
Like anything in life, balance is always good.
So, let's talk about what masculine energy is versus the Divine Feminine. I think masculine energy is going to be obvious for most people. We live in a patriarchal society that is very rooted in masculine energy. It is ruled by might, by power. It rewards dominance. But the Divine Feminine, which is equally as important, is a very soothing energy. It is calm. It is receptive. It is creative. It is life-giving and Universal. It’s not the best feeling to live in a world where the Divine Feminine is not present, but unfortunately here we are, and we can all see the hurt and pain that it’s causing.
When I took a deep dive and went further into my own self-exploration, I realized that I was missing the Sacred Feminine. That I was missing that nurturing, receptive, beautiful quality that the world had conditioned me out of. The thing I had traded for some false notion of power. The world told me I needed to be brash and brazen and to take no prisoners. That I needed to be bold and dogged. And while that is true, the balance of that energy is equally important, and that is where the Divine or the Sacred Feminine enters the chat.
So, I decided that it was time to go back and reclaim those aspects of myself that weren't showing up in everyday life. I wanted to reclaim the nurturance. I wanted to reclaim the loving energy. I wanted to reclaim the caretaker, the healer. I wanted to embrace the life-giving energy, the ability to incubate and to create something new. The Divine Feminine is the energy of receptivity...of taking something in and allowing something beautiful, useful and meaningful to come forth.
I was missing the balance and so it's no surprise that the lady mistook me for something that I wasn't, confusing the hell out of my friend. And as I said, no shade, it just reminded me that it was time to go back and bring that aspect of life into my spirit and to begin to embody that quality so that the masculine in me is completely balanced and able to be its best. It is the balancing of the energies that makes us powerful, whether you are male or female. We’re getting it all wrong.
So, what does that look like? For me that looks like I show up fully as myself, and I am bold and I am brazen, and I am active, and I am directed and I am powerful, but I am also creative, loving and open. That I carry within me the sacredness of all that we are. That I am willing to receive. At the same time that I'm bold and brazen, I'm also a giver. At the same time that I am action-oriented, I also flow in the energy of rest and balance. To every encounter I bring the energy of life and create space for others to expand into the fullness of who they are.
We need more of that in the world. We’re far too dominant and aggressive and people are being trampled in the process…they are lost and being left behind.
That’s where the Divine Feminine comes in.
What about you? Are you carrying the essence of the Divine Feminine within you? If not, here’s your reminder.