Daily Meditation: Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Principle, feminine - although defined as passive, it is not inactive

09/15/2010

The masculine principle is defined as active and the feminine principle as passive. But passivity has no less a role than activity; while the masculine principle brings content, the feminine principle brings the container (form), and form is endowed with an extraordinary power of attraction. The feminine principle is defined as being passive in contrast with the active masculine principle. But to say it is passive does not mean it is inactive; it exerts an action, and this action, which takes on the appearance of passivity, is extremely effective. Instead of projecting itself forward, as the masculine principle does, the feminine principle draws to itself. That is its activity, and anyone who does not have sufficient resistance to oppose it is absorbed. The activity of the masculine is more visible, but it is not more powerful. You could say that to be active implies moving from the centre out to the periphery and that to be passive implies attracting elements from the periphery to the centre. And even if this attraction is not so visible, it is very real and has its own activity.