What is the Divine Feminine Anyway?

In a recent conversation with my 28-year-old son, Kennan, the concept of masculine and feminine energies came up, as well is the much referenced “Toxic Masculine” and “Divine Feminine” energies.

We hear a lot, these days, about how we need the Divine Feminine to help redirect the world off its current course of destruction created by toxic masculinity. And I don’t disagree. However, as the mother of three sons, I am far from a “man-hater.”

After describing how he had felt almost embarrassed, or ashamed, about his masculinity, Kennan asked whether there is such a thing as “Divine Masculine” and what it might look like. I said, “Absolutely, there is a Divine Masculine!” The two of us then put our heads together and created a thorough list of what makes a masculine trait “Divine” –

You can read my article here: https://medium.com/@catejschultz/can-we-talk-about-divine-masculine-please-abcd56949cae

And his article here: https://medium.com/@ksmighell/balancing-the-divine-masculine-d2e9008c5251

We also compiled a list of the “Divine Feminine” because most men, and even a lot of the women I know, are a bit confused about what exactly that means.

Just as the masculine traits must be mitigated to be “Divine,” so too must the feminine traits be tempered (balanced) to be “Divine.”

Here is our list of Divine Feminine attributes:

RECEPTIVITY-tempered by Decisiveness: Women are inherently receptive to new or alternate ideas and input. However, there comes a time when inclusivity and information-gathering must be solidified into a decision and a resulting course of action.

LISTENING-tempered by Speaking Your Truth: The ability to listen to others is a beautiful thing. It is even more powerful when balanced with the ability to know and confidently express your own voice.

YIELDING-tempered by Resoluteness: Knowing when to be soft and when to acquiesce is an important peacemaker’s skill, especially when balanced by knowing when to be firm in one’s resolve.

GENTLENESS/VULNERABILITY-tempered by Strength: The use of gentleness and vulnerability is more powerful and effective than raw strength and is, indeed, a sign of true strength. There are times, however, when lines must be drawn and strong positions must be held.

EMOTION-tempered by Reason/Logic: The ability to express emotion adds joy and flavor to life. The tendency to go overboard emotionally is best countered by a healthy application of reason and logic.

NURTURING-tempered by Letting Go: As the mothers and creators of life on this earth, women are born nurturers. However, women must also know when to let go, and when to liberate the nurtured to go it on their own.

INTUITION-tempered by action: The dual energies of a human are identified as the left side (the feminine or “yin side) being the side that receives intuition, and the right side (the masculine or “yang” side) being the side that acts on the intuition. Magic happens when both energies are in balance.

In addition to the above characteristics, the Divine Feminine excels at the following traits that run strong in women (the “co” words): Cooperation, Compassion, Compromise, Communication, Collaboration, and Community building. These are the skills that the world is so in need of right now.

At the end of the day, everyone in the world will benefit from a balance of feminine(yin) and masculine(yang) energies. In fact, each one of us can benefit from finding the balance within ourselves, as we each are born with both feminine and masculine energy. Most of us are born with a dominant energy (just as we are born with a dominant hand and foot) that gets encouraged at the sad sacrifice of our balancing alter energy, leaving us with toxic (unhealthy/unbalanced) masculine or feminine energies.

Some people are born with both dominant masculine and dominant feminine spirits. Native cultures, who have long seen people by their spirit, call these folks “two-spirited” people. These souls are often the lesbians and gays and transgenders of the world. Allowed to thrive, these “two-spirited” people can be a great gift to the world as examples of a strong and healthy balance of both masculine and feminine energies. It will be a great thing when we can finally let go of the stereotypes of how a man or a woman should act, or be, to be considered masculine or feminine, and can instead embrace the beautiful uniqueness of each human, with no regard to gender.

When the Divine Masculine meets the Divine Feminine, in each of us and in society as a whole, we will truly create a New Earth, sown from the seeds of the best of both energies.

Embrace your Divine Feminine. Embrace your Divine Masculine.

I’ll see you in the New Earth — a place of peace, harmony, and abundance, where all people are walking in Wisdom, Divinity, Power, Creativity, and Love. It’s gonna be beautiful!