I find it interesting how strongly some people dislike the terms divine masculine and divine feminine. I wonder if it is shown in its core essence outside the gender stereotype, people would understand it more? Maybe it’s because my religious/spiritual background is different to quite a few people so I never saw the divine masculine and feminine as gender attributes. Rather the nature of energies within the universe that govern certain attributes.
Divine Masculine, Divine Feminine and their true meanings in yogic/Hindu spirituality
Which I believe we all could benefit from understanding
In Hindu philosophy, every single person regardless of gender, sexual orientation etc has both masculine and feminine energies within them. I’m pretty close to a cis female and I acknowledge I have masculine energies within my spiritual body too, which is part of and affects my physical body. The terms prescribed here have nothing to do with the physical, and everything to do with the spiritual/energetic layers of a being.
What do they both represent then, if not gender? I’ll try to break this down as best as possible with my accumulated study and understanding, but if I miss out anything crucial here that others are able to pick up on please feel free to add on to this discussion in the comments.
Masculine energy representation:
I will use a very Shaivite lense to this, and backtrack to a more general explanation here. In this school of thought the masculine is represented by Shiva, who is deemed the aware consciousness observing the universe. However, this masculine energy remains stable and unmoving, simply observing and in a state of calm/balance. These attributes represent Shiva’s calm, composed and meditative nature when personified into a deity.
In another perspective, this masculine energy is methodical, generally functioning in a uniform, logical manner.
Feminine energy representation:
Here I will use the elements of Shaktism to explain as best I can for the first part. Shakti’s name itself translated from Sanskrit means ‘power’, that energy which drives the universe. Whilst the masculine observes, creates space for energy to exist in, the feminine energy is the spark that brings forth creative energies and kickstarts creation itself. Hence why the feminine is associated with things like art, literature, all things expressive and creative over the logic of the masculine. Feminine energy is not as stable, changing and morphing depending on what is needed at the time. Much like the life of a woman is ever changing.
In a more general sense, feminine energies are those creative and expressive energies observed in life. One’s tied to the impermanence of emotions, and spontaneous ideas born of creativity.
I will finish on the note that whilst these are the general functions often cited for each aspect of energy, BOTH are crucial to maintaining a balanced body mind and atma (spirit). The goal in Hindu/yogic belief is to bring both sides to a balance, as having one energy more dominant than the other can cause problems in the less developed aspect of one’s energies. Purusha (masculine) and prakriti (feminine) can only flourish if both are working collaboratively in tandem within the energetic system.
Hence why the ideal state of both energies reached within oneself can be represented by Ardhanarishwara. Contrary to recent popular conclusions, the initial point of this form of the divine is to illustrate that both masculine and feminine energies are essentially one and the same, and must co-operate within the energetic system to reach their full potentials. Hence why Shiva and Shakti as the divine personification of his concept needed to find each other through the mythos. They completed one another by being themselves, rather than establishing a hierarchy or transforming themselves into something different in order for their combination to work.
To summarize, I feel there is a dissonance in understanding what the true essence of the divine feminine and divine masculine represent in a spiritual sense. The reason why deities can be seen fluctuating between genders in mythos around the world is because it was never a concept tied to gender anyways. It was always about the different types of energies within the system of each and every one of our bodies. To refer to the essence of spiritual concepts, we need to be move beyond the corporeal imagery of the body including gender and look deeper into the esoteric concepts.
I find this to be very fascinating the first time I learnt about these concepts, so for anyone having any issues regarding how gender fits into spirituality I highly recommend you research deeper into the concept beyond the physical. After all spirituality goes beyond flesh :)
