Have We Misunderstood the Masculine and Feminine?

A key principle in understanding astrology is understanding the masculine and feminine principles that are woven throughout it.

Without going too deeply into the metaphysical foundations of these principles, we can understand them quite simply as two different movements of energy.

It is important to understand from the beginning that when astrology speaks about the masculine and feminine, we are speaking archetypally. Masculine does not simply mean man, just as feminine does not simply mean woman. Both principles exist within all of us.

The masculine principle is generally associated with outward movement and action. Assertion, aggression, going after what we want, competition, initiative, desire, courage, conflict and decisiveness can all sit within the masculine principle.

The feminine principle has a different movement. It is more receptive and inward, associated with our capacity to receive, feel, nurture, connect and respond.

Neither principle belongs exclusively to men or women.

Masculine Does Not Mean Male

I was reminded of how easily this can become confused during a conversation with a female friend last year. We were discussing women collectively, and I mentioned assertion as an expression of the masculine principle.

She responded quite abruptly, “But I don't believe that's masculine. Women can be assertive. Women can be aggressive.”

And of course they can.

But this is exactly where I think some of the confusion lies.

To say that assertion belongs archetypally to the masculine principle is not to say that assertion belongs to men.

A woman can be assertive. She can be aggressive. She can compete, pursue what she wants, experience anger, initiate, defend herself and enter into conflict when necessary. None of these things make her less of a woman.

In the same way, a man can be receptive, emotionally sensitive, nurturing and connected to his feeling nature. These qualities do not make him less of a man.

This is where I think some of the current conversation around women “living in their masculine” can become confusing. There can be an idea that if a woman is assertive, ambitious, competitive, angry or willing to enter into conflict, she is somehow moving away from her femininity.

But integrating the masculine principle is not the same thing as imitating men.

And equally, a man embracing the feminine principle isn't trying to become more like a woman.

We are talking about archetypal principles that exist within both.

When the Feminine Has Teeth

Cancer gives us a really good example of this.

Cancer is a feminine water sign. Water is associated with feeling, receptivity, sensitivity and our emotional and instinctual nature. But Cancer is also cardinal. There is an initiating, active quality to it.

So what happens when we combine the receptive and feeling nature of water with something that initiates and acts?

Feeling itself can become what drives the action.

Something matters to me. Something I love is threatened. Something doesn't feel safe. Therefore, I act.

When we think about Cancer's association with the mother archetype, this becomes even easier to see.

Think of a mother bear protecting her cubs. Her nurturing, attachment and instinct to protect are deeply connected to the feminine principle, but threaten what she loves and those same feelings can produce enormous aggression, courage and assertion.

Her aggression isn't separate from her nurturing nature. It is there because of it.

And I think this is where reducing femininity to softness, receptivity, gentleness and agreeableness becomes problematic.

The archetypal mother can be nurturing and incredibly aggressive. She can hold and comfort, but she can also protect and fight. Her capacity for aggression does not suddenly negate the feminine principle she embodies.

In fact, in this instance, the masculine principle of outward action and assertion is being used in service of the feminine.

And perhaps this is the distinction that gets lost when we start dividing human qualities too rigidly between men and women.

The point isn't for women to remove the masculine parts of themselves in order to become more feminine, just as it isn't for men to suppress their feminine qualities in order to become more masculine.

Both are there.

And I think understanding this distinction becomes really important before we start looking more deeply at the individual planets and what they represent within us.

This is particularly true when we come to Mars, which I'll explore in my next blog.