Inner Peace

While I was contemplating the two trees from my previous blog, I was reminded once more about the differences between men and women and the way we interact in the world. If the outer world is a reflection of our inner life, what is going on inside of us? Thinking about what masculine energy is and what feminine energy is and how it is demonstrated in society, made me reconsider a few beliefs I have created over time. Historically how has that changed in our culture and in my own life?


As far as historians can ascertain, centuries ago society was based on a matriarchal system. This is true in many indigenous tribes and in our European backgrounds with the Celts and Druids. The Divine Feminine was honored and respected in one form or another from Greece and India to North America and Africa. She was revered as the source of all life and sustenance. Women held positions of power and authority over their clans. Their intuition and healing were valued among their people.

In the past 2,000 years we have been ruled by a patriarchal society. The men have been conditioned to obey and follow the example of their fathers- to deny their emotions, to trust science over their own knowing, to follow commands without reflection and that might makes right. Women have been taught to be subservient, to martyr and limit themselves.  Instead of a society based on cooperation and compassion, the world has become a place of competition and struggle. Women have been considered weak, disregarded and unintelligent. It was only within the last 200 years, that women have risen above the rank of chattel.

What does that say about the conflict that persists within our being? I once thought that being dominant and assertive was a man’s role. I was mistaken; it is a component of the masculine energy which is in both men and women. Just as at times, we do not value our partner’s opinions or actions because they are “just like a guy” or “all women do that”, are we doing that to ourselves?

My mind and my heart have been in conflict many times. When I have a decision to make, I can hear myself say, “I feel this way” or “My heart tells me…” My intellect and brain may be giving me all the statistics and the logical reasons why those emotions are wrong. My outer world reflects my inner world. My thought process has been that one of these energies must win and the other lose. If my intellect is my masculine and my emotions my feminine energy, can they live in harmony inside of me? Can I respect and honor both of them for the insights that they bring me? As a union, they give to me a complete and whole perspective of the world. My life becomes peaceful and comes to me with ease when I am completely accepting of all that I am, all of the energies that make me who I am. I am not strictly one energy or another. I am all.

I own my masculine driven, powerful, dynamic self and I cherish my feminine compassionate, sensitive, nurturing self. I encourage everyone to look deep inside and see if there is an element of you that you fear, banish, run away from or criticize. It may have something to teach you. It is not possible to be fully in relationship with another on the outside if you have not resolved the conflict between your masculine and feminine energies. If you have not possessed totally and come to honor the feminine inside of you,  you will disrespect that energy in your partner. If you are not capable of admiring and cherishing the masculine energy in yourself, you will not see the beauty of it in your mate. Love yourself entirely and wholly, love your mate the same. Accept all, be all. We are perfect and complete.