by Dr. KD Farris: Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í Faith, saw peace as a dove whose right wing was the masculine and left wing was the feminine. “Without both wings,” he said, “the dove of peace cannot fly.”
In this way, the masculine and feminine are forever finding balance with each other, the kind of balance that allows for their flight because both sides move together in grace as they soar in a harmonious direction.
REVOLUTION BEFORE RENEWAL
As a consequence of the industrial revolution, knowledge birthed by the principles of the feminine fell farther and farther away from daily culture. Prior to mass-produced farming, food, home, and hearth, were the domains of the feminine guild, and through the feminine, the power of the masculine was held in balance; a partnership between the sexes was achieved.
Having lost that which held the two wings of peace in place, the feminine archetype was marginalized as the masculine charged headlong into the creation of a new world. From this new world emerged technological advances, scientific discoveries, and aeronautic achievement. Welcome to the 20th century.
Among the scientific discoveries of the 20th century was the birth control pill. Suddenly the world of the female was given access to a new relationship with life. An evolution of both thought and spirit were sparked, and from this spark ignited a revolution. The feminine became gender based, and females were willfully explosive. Merging her nature (characterized by freedom, connection and compassion) with what she had learned from the masculine (characterized by focus, power and performance), feminism was born.
Once the female gender had emerged alive and well from under the oppressions of a male dominated society, the 21st century began to experience a rebirth into a revolution of its own: that of the masculine and feminine.
It is time to put the balance of energy back into the sexes by returning focus to their masculine and feminine natures. It is time to liberate the feminine and empower the masculine so the dove of peace can fly.
RENEWAL OF THE FEMININE
For women, renewal of the feminine is an opportunity to remember who you are, and to embody your nature by spending time in one aspect of your being: your feminine self.
What images are conjured up when you think of the feminine? Nurturing mother?
Sensual companion? The CEO of her own company whose business vision is to make the world a better place?
With what aspects of your feminine nature are you most comfortable? Is it your compassion for others? Your playfulness? The way in which you beautify your environment?
So many women live lives of masculinity, be it through the doing and protectiveness involved in raising children, or the get up and go, go, go it takes to compete in the workplace. Those women without partners “man up” in order that they may handle everything alone in their lives. Those with partners are often concerned that without equality of doing, output, and income, they will be seen as dependant and thus be burdensome or “unattractive” to their mates.
How many women reading this now lay around in the evening, languishing in a chaise lounge, feeling the eternity of time and think to themselves, “I am way too feminine”?
How many male readers look to the women in your lives and think, “I would be so much happier if my woman behaved more masculine”?
Femininity’s timeless nature is measured and marked by its cyclical movement, with the four seasons as her greatest example. Meanwhile, masculinity is characterized by direction: straight, continuous movement toward goals and outcomes. In terms of lifestyle, he is the discipline and constancy in contrast to her overview of life itself, which is a perspective that recognizes cycles of death and destruction as giving rise to rebirth and renewal.
I’d like to extend a challenge to each woman out there, both in single-hood and partnership, that you 1.) move to renew your feminine, while 2.) handing over your masculine to the men in your lives. (This doesn’t have to mean drastic change to your lifestyle.)
In turning to our feminine selves, we re-awaken the masculine in our men. How do we do this? For starters, we give them back their jobs!
Men love to solve problems, they like to help out, they want to do a job and see the results of it. When we women ask a man for help, then tell him how to execute the help, when to do it, how we would do it better, we take all the manliness out of their willingness to help. We become dissatisfied, they become disinterested.
Sometimes the only way to locate the masculine and feminine is to see them in relationship to each other. Eastern philosophy teaches us that all classifications of energy are relative to their counterparts. Masculine energy would be lighter and brighter than its feminine, denser and darker counterpart. Feminine, wild playfulness would be more active than masculine calm steadfastness. For every pair of opposites we can determine one as more masculine and one as more feminine. I’ve included a list of opposites so you can begin to distinguish these energies in relation to each other:
Feminine | Masculine
Black | White
Soft | Hard
Wet | Dry
Active | Still
Receiving | Giving
Listening | Talking
Aikido | Kung Fu
Soul | Spirit
With this list, conceive that each line is a single whole, and the two sides are the balancing components within that particular whole, like the two sides of a penny. “Black and white” is color. “Soft and hard” is texture. “Wet and dry” is moisture. “Activity and stillness” is balance. “Receiving and giving” is exchange. In this way, “Masculine and Feminine” is __________________________________. You fill in the blank.
YOUR RENEWAL
How do you feel about yourself when you receive? Do you feel vulnerable? Judged? Obligated? Do you get anxious? Suspicious? Feel out of control?
Or do you feel grateful? Changed? Receptive? Happy?
Have you ever asked a man what it feels like to him to be received by you?
Over the next several weeks, as you embark upon this challenge, I invite you to ask the men in your life—partners, fathers, brothers, boyfriends, co-workers, waiters, strangers, and good friends—”How does it feel to be received by a woman?” and then dare to be that woman who receives.
By allowing the renewal of your feminine you invite a new conversation into the cultural dialogue, a conversation that moves in life something like this: masculine, feminine, male, female, giving, receiving, doing, being, peace.
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