Hermetic Principle 7: "Gender is in everything"

The final principle of Hermetisim is the Principle of Gender or "Gender is in everything." As you have probably deduced, this principle states everything has a masculine and feminine side on all planes of existence. On the physical plane this manifests as sex, male versus female (although not everything has a sex or one sex). On higher planes, such as those of the Spirit, the principle manifests in a higher form.

Mastering this principle allows us to comprehend information we wouldn't otherwise be able to. For example, we cannot completely create a new thing. When we make up something new, we are using bits and pieces of other things we have seen and piecing them together. The Gods and Goddesses, unicorns, dragons, and fairies are all things we have created in the image of other things. The Deities, if you believe in their literal existence, don't actually look like us. However, we can't comprehend infinities, so giving them human qualities makes them understandable. This is actually a technique I have used to teach protein synthesis in biology.

This principle is not affiliated with the sexual nature of things so if you are looking for that, this is the wrong place.

It is pretty self-explanatory where this shows up in science. We have males and females; men and women; boys and girls. Sex is biological, but gender is a social construct. Because masculine and feminine aspects show up in all things, you can be born a male but identify as a woman or born a female and identify as a man. It just depends on which traits are dominate. It's not always what is down below. Animals, specifically female frogs, are known for changing sex when males are scarce. On a more literal ground, males carry both sexes within them. Kind of interesting to think about if you ask me.

And where in the craft does this show up? Well, all the deities are masculine or feminine, even herbs, tools, gems, and elements are given a gender. This helps us in spell work to identify which objects are best suited for certain purposes. In general, feminine things tend to be more docile, while masculine tend to be more aggressive. However, there are always exceptions so make sure to look at other aspects of the objects as well.

Where does this principle manifest in the craft for you? Do you find you work with one aspect more often or better than the other? I find myself often drawn to more masculine things, but I tend to be pretty aggressive in my work as well. Just some food for thought.

The Seven Principles:
The Principle of Mentalism
The Principle of Correspondence
The Principle of Vibration
The Principle of Polarity
The Principle of Rhythm
The Principle of Cause and Effect
The Principle of Gender