There has been much talk about the Divine Feminine, or return of the Goddess. I was expecting a very gentle, nurturing energy to enter human consciousness. Not so much. As a friend said, “She’s back, and She’s pissed!” I don’t think I quiet agree with that sentiment, but She is definitely stronger, more defined, and more insistant than I ever imagned feminine energy could be. I think this says way more about my ignorance of what it means to be truly feminine than it does about the energy itself. What is feminine energy, anyway? The way I was raised, femininity was never held in high regard, and that message is echoed throughout our society.
First, we need to understand this isn’t a gender thing. All humans have both masculine and feminine energy within them, and we can have an imbalance in one or both of them, regardless of our human gender. The phenomenon we are calling ‘Return of the Goddess’ is really just a return to balance within ourselves, and then expressing that new balance in society. Not only have we been heavily emphasizing the masculine (lots of doing and getting, as opposed to being and nurturing), but we have also been living mostly in the shadow side of both energies.
For example, the shadow of the masculine can be either aggressive or an eternal child (Peter Pan complex), among other things. The feminine shadow can include manipulation and victimization (martyr complex). Again, this is NOT about gender. I know lots of women with control issues (masculine imbalance) and lots of men who live as victoms (feminine imbalance). When in balance, masculine energy can be protective without being possessive, focused without being dominating; feminine energy can be nurturing without being smothering, creative without being flighty. It’s a matter of balance, as well as living in the light instead of the shadow.
Masculine energy is what our world is currently built on. It’s an outward moving force, yang energy, with the emphasis on doing and acquiring. It’s a mental energy, and likes step-by-step processes. It’s about focusing the will, and making things happen. It’s a linear energy, and is represented by a straight line.
Feminine energy is largly missing from our current culture, thus the Return of the Goddess to bring us back into balance. It’s an inward force, yin energy, with the emphasis on being and nurturing. It’s an emotional energy, and likes spontaneity. It’s about allowing life to flow, and surrender to Divine Will. It is a cyclical energy, and it represented by a circle or spiral.
What does all this mean? It means we are being nudged (some harder than others) to return to balance. How does it look? Honestly, it looks like chaos and feels even worse. Being a recovering control freak, there are many days I simply can’t find the beauty in this Divine dance, can’t find my place in this new world. Other days I feel so blessed to be here to witness this shift humanity is making. For me, allowing the feminine energy to flow through me, no matter what my mental to-do list says, makes the process easier. For others, taking action towards a goal might be beneficial. We are each being brought into balance in whatever way we need.
Have you felt this strange pull to be you in an entirely new way? Don’t fight it. In my experience, resistance is futile. Give yourself permission to change. That’s harder than it sounds, because we’ve spent years creating our identities, and we get rather attached to our stories. The energy around you is changing, the collective consciousness is shifting. Accepting this change will be the beginning of a whole new adventure for us all.
Walking In Both Worlds 