THE KYBALION --- 13 CHAPTER 13. GENDER

CHAPTER 13. GENDER

"Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine
and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all
planes."--The Kybalion.
The great Seventh Hermetic Principle--the Principle of Gender--
embodies the truth that there is Gender manifested in everything--that
the Masculine and Feminine principles are ever present and active in all
phases of phenomena, on each and every plane of life. At this point we
think it well to call your attention to the fact that Gender, in its Hermetic
sense, and Sex in the ordinarily accepted use of the term, are not the
same.
The word "Gender" is derived from the Latin root meaning "to beget; to
procreate; to generate; to create; to produce." A moment's consideration
will show you that the word has a much broader and more general
meaning than the term "Sex," the latter referring to the physical
distinctions between male and female living things. Sex is merely a
manifestation of Gender on a certain plane of the Great Physical Plane--
the plane of organic life. We wish to impress this distinction upon your
minds, for the reason that certain writers, who have acquired a
smattering of the Hermetic Philosophy, have sought to identify this
Seventh Hermetic Principle with wild and fanciful, and often
reprehensible, theories and teachings regarding Sex.
The office of Gender is solely that of creating, producing, generating, etc.,
and its manifestations are visible on every plane of phenomena. It is
somewhat difficult to produce proofs of this along scientific lines, for the
reason that science has not as yet recognized this Principle as of
universal application. But still some proofs are forthcoming from
scientific sources. In the first place, we find a distinct manifestation of
the Principle of Gender among the corpuscles, ions, or electrons, which
constitute the basis of Matter as science now knows the latter, and which
by forming certain combinations form the Atom, which until lately was
regarded as final and indivisible.
75
The latest word of science is that the atom is composed of a multitude of
corpuscles, electrons, or ions (the various names being applied by
different authorities) revolving around each other and vibrating at a high
degree and intensity. But the accompanying statement is made that the
formation of the atom is really due to the clustering of negative
corpuscles around a positive one---the positive corpuscles seeming to
exert a certain influence upon the negative corpuscles, causing the latter
to assume certain combinations and thus "create" or "generate" an atom.
This is in line with the most ancient Hermetic Teachings, which have
always identified the Masculine principle of Gender with the "Positive,"
and the Feminine with the "Negative" Poles of Electricity (so called).
Now a word at this point regarding this identification. The public mind
has formed an entirely erroneous impression regarding the qualities of
the so-called "Negative" pole of electrified or magnetized Matter. The
terms Positive and Negative are very wrongly applied to this
phenomenon by science. The word Positive means something real and
strong, as compared with a Negative unreality or weakness. Nothing is
further from the real facts of electrical phenomenon. The so-called
Negative pole of the battery is really the pole in and by which the
generation or production of new forms and energies is manifested. There
is nothing "negative" about it. The best scientific authorities now use the
word "Cathode" in place of "Negative," the word Cathode coming from
the Greek root meaning "descent; the path of generation, etc," From the
Cathode pole emerge the swarm of electrons or corpuscles; from the
same pole emerge those wonderful "rays" which have revolutionized
scientific conceptions during the past decade. The Cathode pole is the
Mother of all of the strange phenomena which have rendered useless the
old textbooks, and which have caused many long accepted theories to be
relegated to the scrap-pile of scientific speculation. The Cathode, or
Negative Pole, is the Mother Principle of Electrical Phenomena, and of
the finest forms of matter as yet known to science. So you see we are
justified in refusing to use the term "Negative" in our consideration of
the subject, and in insisting upon substituting the word "Feminine" for
the old term. The facts of the case bear us out in this, without taking the
Hermetic Teachings into consideration. And so we shall use the word
"Feminine" in the place of "Negative" in speaking of that pole of activity.
76
The latest scientific teachings are that the creative corpuscles or
electrons are Feminine (science says "they are composed of negative
electricity"-we say they are composed of Feminine energy). A Feminine
corpuscle becomes detached from, or rather leaves, a Masculine
corpuscle, and starts on a new career. It actively seeks a union with a
Masculine corpuscle, being urged thereto by the natural impulse to
create new forms of Matter or Energy. One writer goes so far as to use
the term "it at once seeks, of its own volition, a union," etc. This
detachment and uniting form the basis of the greater part of the
activities of the chemical world. When the Feminine corpuscle unites
with a Masculine corpuscle, a certain process is begun. The Feminine
particles vibrate rapidly under the influence of the Masculine energy,
and circle rapidly around the latter. The result is the birth of a new atom.
This new atom is really composed of a union of the Masculine and
Feminine electrons, or corpuscles, but when the union is formed the
atom is a separate thing, having certain properties, but no longer
manifesting the property of free electricity. The process of detachment or
separation of the Feminine electrons is called "ionization." These
electrons, or corpuscles, are the most active workers in Nature's field.
Arising from their unions, or combinations, manifest the varied
phenomena of light, heat, electricity, magnetism, attraction, repulsion,
chemical affinity and the reverse, and similar phenomena. And all this
arises from the operation of the Principle of Gender on the plane of
Energy.
The part of the Masculine principle seems to be that of directing a
certain inherent energy toward the Feminine principle, and thus starting
into activity the creative processes. But the Feminine principle is the one
always doing the active creative work-and this is so on all planes. And
yet, each principle is incapable of operative energy without the assistance
of the other. In some of the forms of life, the two principles are combined
in one organism. For that matter, everything in the organic world
manifests both genders--there is always the Masculine present in the
Feminine form, and the Feminine form. The Hermetic Teachings include
much regarding the operation of the two principles of Gender in the
production and manifestation of various forms of energy, etc., but we do
not deem it expedient to go into detail regarding the same at this point,
because we are unable to back up the same with scientific proof, for the
77
reason that science has not as yet progressed thus far. But the example
we have given you of the phenomena of the electrons or corpuscles will
show you that science is on the right path, and will also give you a
general idea of the underlying principles.
Some leading scientific investigators have announced their belief that in
the formation of crystals there was to be found something that
corresponded to "sex-activity" which is another straw showing the
direction the scientific winds are blowing. And each year will bring other
facts to corroborate the correctness of the Hermetic Principle of Gender.
It will be found that Gender is in constant operation and manifestation
in the field of inorganic matter, and in the field of Energy or Force.
Electricity is now generally regarded as the "Something" into which all
other forms of energy seem to melt or dissolve. The "Electrical Theory of
the Universe" is the latest scientific doctrine, and is growing rapidly in
popularity and general acceptance. And it thus follows that if we are able
to discover in the phenomena of electricity-even at the very root and
source of its manifestations a clear and unmistakable evidence of the
presence of Gender and its activities, we are justified in asking you to
believe that science at last has offered proofs of the existence in all
universal phenomena of that great Hermetic Principle-the Principle of
Gender.
It is not necessary to take up your time with the well known phenomena
of the "attraction and repulsion" of the atoms; chemical affinity; the
"loves and hates" of the atomic particles; the attraction or cohesion
between the molecules of matter. These facts are too well known to need
extended comment from us. But, have you ever considered that all of
these things are manifestations of the Gender Principle? Can you not see
that the phenomena is "on all fours" with that of the corpuscles or
electrons? And more than this, can you not see the reasonableness of the
Hermetic Teachings which assert that the very Law of Gravitation-that
strange attraction by reason of which all particles and bodies of matter in
the universe tend toward each other is but another manifestation of the
Principle of Gender, which operates in the direction of attracting the
Masculine to the Feminine energies, and vice versa? We cannot offer you
scientific proof of this at this time-but examine the phenomena in the
light of the Hermetic Teachings on the subject, and see if you have not a
better working hypothesis than any offered by physical science. Submit
78
all physical phenomena to the test, and you will discern the Principle of
Gender ever in evidence.
Let us now pass on to a consideration of the operation of the Principle on
the Mental Plane. Many interesting features are there awaiting
examination.