"Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine
and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all
planes."--The Kybalion.
and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all
planes."--The Kybalion.
The great Seventh Hermetic Principle--the Principle of Gender--embodies
the truth that there is Gender manifested in everything--that the
Masculine and Feminine principles are ever present and active in all
phases of phenomena, on each and every plane of life. At this point we
think it well to call your attention to the fact that Gender, in its
Hermetic sense, and Sex in the ordinarily accepted use of the term, are
not the same.
The word "Gender" is derived from the Latin root
meaning "to beget; to procreate; to generate; to create; to produce." A
moment's consideration will show you that the word has a much broader
and more general meaning than the term "Sex," the latter referring to
the physical distinctions between male and female living things. Sex is
merely a manifestation of Gender on a certain plane of the Great
Physical Plane--the plane of organic life. We wish to impress this
distinction upon your minds, for the reason that certain writers, who
have acquired a smattering of the Hermetic Philosophy, have sought to
identify this Seventh Hermetic Principle with wild and fanciful, and
often reprehensible, theories and teachings regarding Sex.
The
office of Gender is solely that of creating, producing, generating,
etc., and its manifestations are visible on every plane of phenomena. It
is somewhat difficult to produce proofs of this along scientific lines,
for the reason that science has not as yet recognized this Principle as
of universal application. But still some proofs are forthcoming from
scientific sources. In the first place, we find a distinct manifestation
of the Principle of Gender among the corpuscles, ions, or electrons,
which constitute the basis of Matter as science now knows the latter,
and which by forming certain combinations form the Atom, which until
lately was regarded as final and indivisible.
The latest word of
science is that the atom is composed of a multitude of corpuscles,
electrons, or ions (the various names being applied by different
authorities) revolving around each other and vibrating at a high degree
and intensity. But the accompanying statement is made that the formation
of the atom is really due to the clustering of negative corpuscles
around a positive one---the positive corpuscles seeming to exert a
certain influence upon the negative corpuscles, causing the latter to
assume certain combinations and thus "create" or "generate" an atom.
This is in line with the most ancient Hermetic Teachings, which have
always identified the Masculine principle of Gender with the "Positive,"
and the Feminine with the "Negative" Poles of Electricity (so called).
Now a word at this point regarding this identification. The public mind
has formed an entirely erroneous impression regarding the qualities of
the so-called "Negative" pole of electrified or magnetized Matter. The
terms Positive and Negative are very wrongly applied to this phenomenon
by science. The word Positive means something real and strong, as
compared with a Negative unreality or weakness. Nothing is further from
the real facts of electrical phenomenon. The so-called Negative pole of
the battery is really the pole in and by which the generation or
production of new forms and energies is manifested. There is nothing
"negative" about it. The best scientific authorities now use the word
"Cathode" in place of "Negative," the word Cathode coming from the Greek
root meaning "descent; the path of generation, etc," From the Cathode
pole emerge the swarm of electrons or corpuscles; from the same pole
emerge those wonderful "rays" which have revolutionized scientific
conceptions during the past decade. The Cathode pole is the Mother of
all of the strange phenomena which have rendered useless the old
textbooks, and which have caused many long accepted theories to be
relegated to the scrap-pile of scientific speculation. The Cathode, or
Negative Pole, is the Mother Principle of Electrical Phenomena, and of
the finest forms of matter as yet known to science. So you see we are
justified in refusing to use the term "Negative" in our consideration of
the subject, and in insisting upon substituting the word "Feminine" for
the old term. The facts of the case bear us out in this, without taking
the Hermetic Teachings into consideration. And so we shall use the word
"Feminine" in the place of "Negative" in speaking of that pole of
activity.
The latest scientific teachings are that the creative
corpuscles or electrons are Feminine (science says "they are composed of
negative electricity"-we say they are composed of Feminine energy). A
Feminine corpuscle becomes detached from, or rather leaves, a Masculine
corpuscle, and starts on a new career. It actively seeks a union with a
Masculine corpuscle, being urged thereto by the natural impulse to
create new forms of Matter or Energy. One writer goes so far as to use
the term "it at once seeks, of its own volition, a union," etc. This
detachment and uniting form the basis of the greater part of the
activities of the chemical world. When the Feminine corpuscle unites
with a Masculine corpuscle, a certain process is begun. The Feminine
particles vibrate rapidly under the influence of the Masculine energy,
and circle rapidly around the latter. The result is the birth of a new
atom. This new atom is really composed of a union of the Masculine and
Feminine electrons, or corpuscles, but when the union is formed the atom
is a separate thing, having certain properties, but no longer
manifesting the property of free electricity. The process of detachment
or separation of the Feminine electrons is called "ionization." These
electrons, or corpuscles, are the most active workers in Nature's field.
Arising from their unions, or combinations, manifest the varied
phenomena of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, attraction, repulsion,
chemical affinity and the reverse, and similar phenomena. And all this
arises from the operation of the Principle of Gender on the plane of
Energy.
The part of the Masculine principle seems to be that of
directing a certain inherent energy toward the Feminine principle, and
thus starting into activity the creative processes. But the Feminine
principle is the one always doing the active creative work-and this is
so on all planes. And yet, each principle is incapable of operative
energy without the assistance of the other. In some of the forms of
life, the two principles are combined in one organism. For that matter,
everything in the organic world manifests both genders--there is always
the Masculine present in the Feminine form, and the Feminine form. The
Hermetic Teachings include much regarding the operation of the two
principles of Gender in the production and manifestation of various
forms of energy, etc., but we do not deem it expedient to go into detail
regarding the same at this point, because we are unable to back up the
same with scientific proof, for the reason that science has not as yet
progressed thus far. But the example we have given you of the phenomena
of the electrons or corpuscles will show you that science is on the
right path, and will also give you a general idea of the underlying
principles.
Some leading scientific investigators have announced
their belief that in the formation of crystals there was to be found
something that corresponded to "sex-activity" which is another straw
showing the direction the scientific winds are blowing. And each year
will bring other facts to corroborate the correctness of the Hermetic
Principle of Gender. It will be found that Gender is in constant
operation and manifestation in the field of inorganic matter, and in the
field of Energy or Force. Electricity is now generally regarded as the
"Something" into which all other forms of energy seem to melt or
dissolve. The "Electrical Theory of the Universe" is the latest
scientific doctrine, and is growing rapidly in popularity and general
acceptance. And it thus follows that if we are able to discover in the
phenomena of electricity-even at the very root and source of its
manifestations a clear and unmistakable evidence of the presence of
Gender and its activities, we are justified in asking you to believe
that science at last has offered proofs of the existence in all
universal phenomena of that great Hermetic Principle-the Principle of
Gender.
It is not necessary to take up your time with the well
known phenomena of the "attraction and repulsion" of the atoms; chemical
affinity; the "loves and hates" of the atomic particles; the attraction
or cohesion between the molecules of matter. These facts are too well
known to need extended comment from us. But, have you ever considered
that all of these things are manifestations of the Gender Principle? Can
you not see that the phenomena is "on all fours" with that of the
corpuscles or electrons? And more than this, can you not see the
reasonableness of the Hermetic Teachings which assert that the very Law
of Gravitation-that strange attraction by reason of which all particles
and bodies of matter in the universe tend toward each other is but
another manifestation of the Principle of Gender, which operates in the
direction of attracting the Masculine to the Feminine energies, and vice
versa? We cannot offer you scientific proof of this at this time-but
examine the phenomena in the light of the Hermetic Teachings on the
subject, and see if you have not a better working hypothesis than any
offered by physical science. Submit all physical phenomena to the test,
and you will discern the Principle of Gender ever in evidence.
Let us now pass on to a consideration of the operation of the Principle on the Mental Plane.
Special Thanks to:- The Kybalion
