The seventh principle is the most frequently misunderstood. "Gender" in the Hermetic sense has nothing to do with male/female in the biological sense. It is about two complementary creative principles present in everything â in every person, in every process, in every atom.
⥠Two Creative Forces
"Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles; gender manifests on all planes."
â The KybalionThe active-generating principle (traditionally called "masculine") is the force that initiates, gives direction, conceptualizes, projects. The receptive-manifesting principle (traditionally called "feminine") is the force that receives, shapes, nurtures, brings into reality.
Neither can create without the other. An idea without manifestation is meaningless. Manifestation without idea is directionless. Creation always requires both.
Egypt: Osiris and Isis
Osiris (the generating principle â the seed force, the initiator) and Isis (the manifesting principle â the receiver, the shaper, the one who brings into reality). Together they create Horus â the complete manifestation. Isis is not passive â she is the most powerful goddess of the Egyptian pantheon, the master magician.
India: Shiva and Shakti
Shiva (pure consciousness, the silent witness, the unmoved center) and Shakti (creative energy, the dance of manifestation, the force that sets everything in motion). "Shiva without Shakti is a corpse" â consciousness without energy is inert. Energy without consciousness is blind.
Purusha (spirit, the conscious) and Prakriti (nature, the manifesting) â the Samkhya philosophical equivalent.
Taoism: Yin and Yang
Yang (active, expansive, bright) and Yin (receptive, contractive, dark) â not as opposites, but as complementary forces that together form the Tao. In every Yang there is a kernel of Yin; in every Yin there is a kernel of Yang. The well-known symbol shows this perfectly.
Greece: Love and Strife, Timaeus
Empedocles' Love (the unifying, receptive principle) and Strife (the separating, active principle). Plato's Timaeus describes the Demiurge (the active shaper) who works with the Chora (the receptive receiver, the "womb of all becoming").
đ Gender Through the Traditions
| Tradition | Masculine principle | Feminine principle |
|---|---|---|
| Egypt | Osiris â generating force | Isis â manifesting force |
| India | Shiva â pure consciousness | Shakti â creative energy |
| India (Samkhya) | Purusha â spirit | Prakriti â nature |
| Taoism | Yang â active, expansive | Yin â receptive, contractive |
| Greece | Demiurge â shaper | Chora â receiver |
| Hermeticism | Active-generating | Receptive-manifesting |
In which situations do you use the active, generating principle â and in which the receptive, manifesting? Where is the balance disturbed?
Balance Exercise (10 minutes)
Divide a sheet of paper into two columns: "Action needed" and "Receptivity needed".
Write in the left column the areas of your life where more active initiative is needed â where you wait too much, receive too much, are too passive.
Write in the right column the areas where more receptivity is needed â where you push too much, force too much, listen too little.
The seventh principle teaches us: true creation requires balance between both forces. Where is your balance disturbed â and how can you restore it?
Module 7 â The Seven Principles