This article is a prequel to the sequel of my book, Soul Sex. When I volunteered to do a workshop on the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine, I realized I did not know enough about what that really meant. My research to learn more about it led me into the subject of the Goddess and opened an entire new world of ideas to me. There is so much I decided to create the Soul Sex sequel, a workbook dedicated to integrating the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine. The following are a few ideas that resulted from my research.
WHAT IS THE DIVINE MASCULINE & THE DIVINE FEMININE?
I had a hard time finding a true definition of what the Divine Masculine and Feminine is. I finally settled on the following: masculine and feminine is a gender-based attribute associated with human qualities. Divine masculine and feminine is the highest and best qualities associated with each gender stereotype.
What makes a characteristic masculine or feminine? One way to categorize human qualities as masculine or feminine is based on which gender we believe has the preponderance of a certain characteristic. However, if we all sat in a room and categorized qualities as masculine or feminine, I am betting there would be some disagreement because bottom line, what we consider masculine or feminine, is based on our own personal perception. And, our perception of another’s degree of masculinity or femininity is based on what we believe ourselves to be. In other words, someone that you might consider feminine might be more feminine than you are as feminine as you are. And vice versa, if you consider someone masculine, it is because they are more masculine than or as masculine as you feel you are.
Not only is our perception of gender qualities based on our own identity but it is also very much related to cultural beliefs. Masculine and feminine qualities are not universal but differ not only from culture to culture but over time as well.
The history of gender associations with the colors blue and pink is a good example of perception shifting over time. Color distinctions for boys and girls did not develop until the early 1900s. Until then, all infants were dressed alike and mostly in white. Until 1939, pink, because it was close to the color red, was a boys’ color and blue was a girls’ color. After World War II, blue became a boy’s color and pink became a girls’ color.
In time of the Goddess, She was represented as Heaven and the Sun and her male consort was represented by the Earth and Moon. During the last 2000 years, these representations flipped and the God is now represented by Heaven and Sun and the feminine side of God as Earth and Moon.
Below is a list of stereotypical qualities I found that are associated with the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine. Read through the list and see how many of these you concur with. I, myself, found a lot of these to be androgynous or neutral. In other words, they apply equally to both males and females.
Divine Masculine
Healthy Attributes: active, adventurous, analytical, capable, consistent, courageous, determined, disciplined, decisive, fearless, focused, goal-oriented, heroic, intelligent, linear, logical, loyal, ordered, practical, predictable, protective, provider, powerful, rational, reliable, rugged, sensible, single-minded, smart, stable, strong
Unhealthy Attributes: aggressive, autocratic, authoritative, closed-minded, controlling, dogmatic, dominating, heartless, non-communicative, rigid, rule-bound, ruthless, self-centered, stubborn, tough, violent
Divine Feminine
Healthy Attributes: adaptable, beautiful, caring, care-giving, creative, ever-changing, fertile, flexible, forgiving, gentle, inspirational, intuitive, kind, loving, mysterious, nurturing, open-minded, passive, patient, peaceful, playful, receptive, serving, soft, spontaneous, sweet, tender, understanding, warm, wise, yielding
Unhealthy Attributes: ambiguous, bitchy, controlling, emotional, fickle, illogical, indecisive, irrational, manipulative, powerless, pushy, stupid, unpredictable, weak
Below is a table of comparisons of beliefs between the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine:
DIVINE FEMININE
Communalism, Cooperation
Union / Oneness
Archetypes: Goddess, Queen, Priestess, Warrioress, Lover, Wise Woman, Muse
Unmanifested Matter
Compassionate Love
Electrical Side
Stillness, Presence
Receiving, Receptivity
Darkness
Growth from Support & Praise
Earth & Water
Moon
DIVINE MASCULINE
Capitalism, Competition
Separate / Duality
Archetypes: God, King, Priest, Warrior, Lover, Sage, Magician
Manifested Matter
Ecstatic Love
Magnetic Side
Action
Obtaining, Expression
Light
Growth from Challenge
Air & Fire
Sun
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GODDESS WORSHIP AND GOD WORSHIP?
I am fairly familiar with what it is like to live in a God-worshipping patriarchal culture. What I felt was completely unknown to me was Goddess-worshipping matriarchal culture. In my research I was looking for the sociology of Goddess culture. In other words, what were the characteristics of living in the time of the Goddess? How did they worship? What did they believe? How did they live? What did they do?
Perhaps because most of the Goddess cultures existed so far back in history, many of it before the written word, this information just doesn’t exist. Also a lot of information was destroyed during the transition from Goddess worshiping societies to the Judeo-Christian-Islam societies of the past 2000 years. Perhaps the bulk of what we can know is what archeologists and anthropologists can gather from pottery shards and statues.
The Goddess is immanent and embodies the Divine as female. She is in Nature, the Earth, and the Universe. One who worships the Goddess may be called a Goddessian. According to Judith Laura in Goddess Matters: The Mystical Practical & Controversial, the subsets of Goddessian worship are:
– Matrist – The Great Mother or other Mother imagery
– Dianic – The Maiden
– Kalian – The Crone
– Tripletarian – The Triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, and Crone
– Kwantarist – Asian Goddesses
– Guadalupista or Guadalupera – Central and South American Goddesses
– Asherastarite – Ancient Near East Goddesses
– Willendorfian – European Neolithic Goddesses
– Gaians – Earth-based Spirituality and Environment
– Isian – Egyptian Goddesses especially Isis
I have started a comparison of characteristics of the worship of the Goddess and God as shown here on the table below.
GODDESS WORSHIP
Immanent – The Divine is located within every person, animal, plant, the Earth, and the Universe
Polytheistic, Pantheistic, Panentheistic
Matriarchy, Matrilineal, Matriotism
Philogynist, Women are equal or dominant
Sexuality is natural & sacred
Congregation is in a circle
Congregation shares thoughts
All are equal in spiritual authority
Leadership is rotated
Congregants are equally connected
Conducted through rituals and celebrations
Little to no dogma or book of rules
Holistic thinking
Body affirming
Earth centered
In right relationship with Nature
GOD WORSHIP
Transcendent – The Divine is located outside (usually above) the material world
Monotheistic, sometimes Henotheistic
Patriarch, Patrilinear, Patriotism
Misogynist, Women are a lower caste
Sexuality is sinful & shameful
Congregation faces a pulpit
Congregation listens to a sermon
One individual (male) is considered specially ordained
Leadership is fixed (usually a sole male)
Congregants are in a fixed hierarchy
Conducted by worship
Much dogma and many rules
Dualistic thinking
Body denying
Heaven centered
Rules over Nature
Even though patriarchal God-worship has dominated much of the world the past 2000 years, they do have Divine Feminine aspects within them. Most likely they have been carried over from the earlier Goddess-worshipping cosmologies. The following religions have the presence of the Divine Feminine within them:
RELIGION DIVINE FEMININE
Taoist Yin
Kabbalah Shekhina
Gnostic Sophia
Buddhist Praj-na-para-mita (wisdom)
Christian Grace & Faith
Catholic Mother Mary & Virgin Mary
A SHORT HISTORY OF SPIRITUAL ENERGY MANIFESTED ON EARTH
Goddess worship can be dated as far back as 33,000 years ago. It would be natural to see the Divine as Feminine at that time. The people were very in tune with the Earth and Nature. They had no modern comforts such as structures to separate them from the natural elements. Survival was dependent on hunting and gathering skills. It probably was not known what the male’s role in procreation was. So the female was the one with the power to procreate. Societies were matrilineal and matrifocal (see reference glossary at the end). Eventually agricultural skills and domestication of animals were added to hunting and gathering skills. Nomadic lifestyles were replaced by life in villages. Societies were communal. Food and property were shared. The Goddess was the main deity. The Divine Masculine was present as her lower ranked male consort.
Goddess worship was dominant around the world throughout the Stone, Copper, and Bronze Ages. This was also the Age of Leo, Cancer, Gemini, and Taurus. In the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, which was also the shift into the Age of Aries, metal tools and weapons were invented. This was accompanied not only by a rise in warfare and aggression, but in the ways of living, and shifts in spiritual beliefs. The surplus of material goods and animals began to be accumulated and hoarded by individuals. Men, being physically bigger and stronger, were the most powerful at gathering wealth. In order to protect their property, God worship, with the Divine Masculine as the dominant force, and consequently rules and restrictions against the Goddess, increased rapidly. Most of today’s religious factions began in this period of time, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.
There was a brief time when the God and Goddess co-ruled. This was the time of the Greek and Roman Pantheons. Also Hinduism has a good balance of Gods, Goddesses, and even many Androgynous deities. However, the Hebrews believed that there was only one true deity and most of the laws set forth in the Torah, and subsequently the Bible, were specifically designed to “kill” off Goddess worship and lower the status of women to be below men. With the dawn of the Age of Pisces, the patriarchy of Christianity came into full power.
I have created a graphic representation of the historical timeline of religions and ages. Anodea Judith, in her book The Global Heart Awakens, overlaid the chakra system on the timeline of human history. The first and second chakras were at their peak during the time of the Goddess. The third chakra rose to its peak during the rise of God worship, specifically monotheism. We are just now entering into the energy of the fourth chakra. It seems to be no coincidence that it is timed with the onset of the ascension energy and the Age of Aquarius that we are now transitioning into.

Deepak Chopra, in his new book The Future of God, explains his concept of the progression of spiritual energy on Earth as:
God 1.0 – The last 2000 years of religious belief that God is the Father, the big man in the sky that was created in our image. His role is the supreme lawgiver, the divine protector, the punisher, and the loving father image.
God 2.0 – Humans are shifting into the belief that God is the “interface between us and infinite consciousness”. Characteristics of those that are experiencing God 2.0 include: becoming centered, gaining self-awareness, experiencing higher consciousness and more purpose, enlightenment, and merging with the source [pure consciousness].
Chopra says that God 1.0 is a noun. God 2.0 is a process, a verb.
What Chopra left out of his book is Goddess 1.0, what I call the period of Goddess worship that predated God 1.0. In addition, I believe in order to achieve the level of consciousness that Chopra refers to, we must reframe God 2.0 to encompass the energy of both the God and the Goddess. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it Androgyne 1.0, because it is the Androgyne that is gender neutral; that embodies all of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine qualities. The Androgyne is the Divine Marriage of the Masculine and Feminine. It is the Divine Androgyne that is the energy in alchemy that can ascend back to the spirit world.
God 2.0 must include the Return of the Goddess. The patriarchy and monotheism of the past 2000 years has created an incredibly unbalanced energy on Earth. India is the only country where the Divine Feminine is worshipped today by a large number of people.
The alchemical process of how the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine descend and re-ascend to the Spirit World (called the Logos) is shown in the diagram below. Spiritual energy (manifested as the Soul) descends to Earth as separate Masculine and Feminine energy. A Sacred Marriage of the two creates the birth of the Divine Androgyne (a unification of the Masculine and Feminine) who then ascends in Consciousness, returning to the Logos.
It is a principle of physics that anytime two separate energies merge, they create a third and more powerful field of energy. The Androgyne’s power is in this third, balanced energy field.
Sharon Mazer says that “this divine union relationship is a co-creative partnership of equality. The child of cosmic birth is referred to in alchemy as the True Self, and it is created from a union known as the sacred marriage of dualities. In the Greek alphabet, the letter Delta (triangle/triune) was the symbol for cosmic birth. The triangle can represent: father/mother/child or the Perfect Union of the Two that creates the Third or the perfect union when two become one.”
So Spirit, as represented in our Soul, evolves through the integration of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine. I believe there are two ways to integrate these two energies:
1. Balancing the masculine and feminine within oneself as represented by Ardhanarisvara, a Hindu deity that is half male-half female.
2. Through relationship with a partner as represented by Shiva-Shakti blending the male-female within the posture of making love.
Mazer believes that in order to experience a unified field with a partner, one must first connect with the internal qualities of masculine and feminine energy within one’s self.
THE FUTURE: WHERE ARE WE HEADED?
We are at the entrance into the Age of Aquarius. This will be a time of spirituality and transformation. Aquarians are psychic, magical, and spiritual. Old superstitions and dogmatic religions will die away as the Divine Awakening or Ascension occurs. It will be a time to celebrate diversity and individuality, peace and prosperity.
Lion Goodman says that as incarnated humans, we stand between the earth and the sky as a product of both mother and father. The soul, when not in human form, is a being of light and energy. It has no gender. Therefore, gender is a construct of incarnation and each of us carries the archetypes of the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine in our psyche.
Earth is moving away from its role of providing dualities for incarnated humans into being a place of connection and universal oneness. Merging the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine is one of these dualities that will collapse to create a balanced Divine Androgyne.
Lion Goodman also says that in cultures where both male and female deities are worshipped, there is more parity between men and women. Right now our dear Mother Earth is suffering greatly from over-abundance of masculine energy and an under-abundance of feminine energy. If Earth is to survive, actually if we are to continue living on Her, we must bring the Divine Masculine into balance with the Divine Feminine. Let’s all welcome in the Age of the Aquarian Androgyne.
GLOSSARY
Patriarchy:
• A form of social organization in which the father or the eldest male is recognized as the head of the family or tribe, descent and kinship being traced through the male line.
• Government, rule, or domination by men, as in a family or tribe.
Matriarchy:
• A form of social organization in which the mother is recognized as the head of the family or tribe, descent and kinship being traced through the mother.
• Government, rule, or domination by women.
Matriotism:
• Devotion to Mother Earth, ecology, sustainability, peace and the survival of life and the human species.
• Love or celebration of women’s influence upon society; the feminine equivalent of male patriotism.
Patriotism:
• Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one’s compatriots; the passion which inspires one to serve one’s country.
• The desire to compete with other nations; nationalism.
• Love or celebration of men’s influence upon society; the masculine equivalent of female matriotism.
Matrifocal – A group, tribe or household led by a woman.
Matrilineal – Designating or of descent, kinship, or derivation through the mother.
Patrilineal – Designating or of descent, kinship, or derivation through the father.
Misandry/Misandrist – Hater of men.
Misogyny/Misogynist – Hater of women.
Philogyny – Love of or fondness for women.
Philandry – Love or fondness for men.
Androgyny – Both male and female in one; of or marked by a blend of male and female characteristics, roles.
Gyandrous – Exhibiting characteristics of both feminine and masculine.
Gynandromorphic – Having male and female characteristics.
Hemigynous – Exhibiting characteristics that are predominantly male. Possessing qualities that are half-woman; womanish.
Hemiandrous – Exhibiting characteristics that are predominantly female. Possessing qualities that are half-man; effeminate.
Androcentrism – An ideological focus on males and men, and issues affecting them, possibly to the detriment of non-males.
Gynocentricism – An ideological focus on females, and issues affecting them, possibly to the detriment of non-females.
Theology – The study of religious doctrines and matters of divinity; the study of God and the relations between God, humankind, and the universe.
Thealogy – The examination of doctrines, scriptures, and practices in various religions focusing especially on: the portrayal and voice of women in sacred writings and practices; the role of women in religion historically and at the present time; and conceptualizing and imaging of the divine. (Definition from Goddess Matters: The Mystical Practical & Controversial by Judith Laura.)
Henotheism – There may be more than one deity but only one is worshipped.
Monotheism: Only one deity is worshipped.
Panentheism: All life and life forms are encompassed within the Divine.
Polytheism: Many deities are worshipped.
Pantheism: The Divine is within all individual life forms including the Earth and the Universe.
Copyright © 2015 Drake Bear Stephen. Except where acknowledged. www.DrakeInnerprizes.com
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