You’ve heard about the divine masculine and divine feminine, but how can we apply these practically to our lives?
When I first entered the world of spirituality, I remember the excitement I felt upon hearing the words “the divine feminine.” What was this seemingly angelic force of nature? Where did the almost automatic magnetism to these mystical ideas come from?
It turns out there was nothing mystical or esoteric about them, and I want to tell you why.
The divine feminine and the divine masculine can be thought of as opposing qualities, that when brought together and balanced create a beautiful synergy of nourishing care and penetrative ambition. We can all use more of both of these qualities in our lives I think!
Similarly, we can see how in Ancient Chinese philosophy we see a common thread in the yin and the yang. The difference within the yin and yang symbol show that in each part also exists a seed of each opposing force. This notes that one energy or part cannot exist without the other. Even though the yin and the yang do entertain a feminine energy (in the yin) and a masculine energy (in the yang), these differ when we recall the divine masculine and the divine feminine because they are actually gender-less in form. One is not dark nor light, neither male nor female.
The divine feminine and the divine masculine actually exist in both males and females, although depending on the individual, each can differ in quantity. For example, a man can just as easily be more in their divine feminine as a woman, and likewise for women being guided in their divine masculine. When you hear the divine feminine and the divine masculine, I want you to just consider one word: qualities. What they are ultimately are different qualities that when in balance, can help a person move forward from a grounded, heartfelt place and be able to achieve their goals with passion, grit and a clear direction.
The key between understanding these qualities and learning how to integrate them in our lives is the balance and connectedness between each in our own bodies. When we live too much with one quality as our guiding force, that is when problems and confusion can begin to arise.
Let’s explore these for a moment…
From the “School of Embodied Arts” podcast by Jenna Ward, she discusses how being too much in our divine feminine energy can make it feel like we are ever-changing, dynamic, attached to our senses, and without clear direction. It’s not to say that being in our divine feminine energy or essence can’t be healthy, it certainly can be! However, it must be balanced with the energy of the divine masculine. Why? Because the divine masculine energy will help us move, make goals and discipline us to be devoted by what drives our heart. Devotion takes discipline to execute the path of true embodied actualization of our greatest desires. If we spend too much time feeling things deeply without using it as a force of power within each of us to move forward for us and the collective, it would eventually feel incomplete or unfulfilling in how we see ourselves. it could also drain us of that very life force that empowered us with love and energizing momentum in the first place!
Another example of a potential imbalance can be when we are too heavily identified with our divine masculine qualities. Much of what we see in our capitalistic society and culture is related to an over abundance of the penetrating and intense masculine energy. Over-performing, over-stimulating and driving ourselves to burnout without the body in mind can lead us to unhealthy behaviors and make it almost impossible to feel grounded in our own selves. When our energy feels pulled outwards by all things external, or like we feel we need to prove ourselves to have value and be seen as someone worth more, this can also be a sign we have veered out of balance.
So, I know what you’re thinking. Then how do we come back to balance and maintain that equanimity of both qualities?
Well, Jenna states in her podcast the idea of “calibration.” I thought this was absolutely genius, but we can consider, for example, when we are driving across a bridge in an unfamiliar town when a GPS begins to say “recalculating” to find a new route. Just as the GPS attempts to gather information to take on this new unknown route, we need a space of nothingness to help our minds process and ground our energy before stepping forward in any action. Otherwise, we will feel scattered and directionless.
We can ask ourselves if we are feeling overwhelmed and ungrounded one question to shift into a more embodied state: “What is the one next step to success here?” Really take a moment to either sit with your feet grounded on the floor or lie down on a flat surface like the bed or the grass outside (if you’re home or in a park, bonus points for earthing). Close your eyes and shift your gaze inward to the fullness or answers within. In this quick shift we can learn our answers for what need to come next can be found within our own voice and bodily sensations. Maybe your body feels tightness in the chest and an inability to move forward because the body is sending you messages to take a rest to slow down because it is being over-processed. And this is okay! What’s not okay is when we ignore our bodies’ messages and continue to go-go-go. This turns our connection off to our beautiful internal world and turns us on to everything outside of us which is actually not a part of us at all, even if it seems like it.
There’s a beautiful respect we can form within when we begin to honor both qualities within ourselves. True embodied confidence, I believe, is formed when we can bring the divine feminine and the divine masculine into balance in our own bodies because we come to see we can be both loving, beautiful, dynamic, deeply feeling beings also capable of abundance, great prosperity, leadership and strength of mind! While these terms do circulate the spiritual communities, I feel like they should be truly known by all people to help bring a sense of balance and embodied wisdom to daily life. We have a depth of wisdom within our unique bodies, and when we can shift to feel it and experience all sensations within our own bodies, we can take action to helping others experience that same wisdom inherent in the entire collective consciousness.
