Honoring the Feminine Throughout 2022
You may be familiar with the terms patriarchy and matriarchy, with the male and female principal or yang and yin. Yang being more masculine, assertive or Mars like and Yin being more feminine, receptive and Venusian. Perhaps you’ve heard others speak of the ways the patriarchy has been predominant in our world. We see elements of it all around us with more males in leadership, higher paying positions, in government and in corporations than their female counterparts. Even many households all over the world see the male of the household as the primary authority, some even reduce the woman to subservient roles.
In the not too distant past in America, women couldn’t vote until 1920. But even more recently in the 1960’s women couldn’t get a credit card without a husband or male authority figure signing on for them. There was a time when women couldn’t get home loans, car loans or school loans. Women couldn’t obtain a salary that was on the same scale as the male counterpart even while doing the same exact job with the same degree and experience. Some of you who are in your twenties or even thirties may not be familiar with Title IX, the law was passed in 1972 to aid in preventing gender discrimination in the United States in the educational and athletic systems. It was a celebrated law.
I mention these things because historically Americans, as well as some other cultures, value the masculine principle over the feminine. Some value punishing hard labors, long working hours, staying constantly busy, working when ill, versus rest, relaxation and calling out sick from work when you are truly sick. We sometimes value over-exercise, extreme diets and self deprivation versus getting in sync with the natural rhythms of our own internal natures.
I don’t mean to say ALL are like this but we can still see a fair amount of this in our current societal structure. And yes, it is changing and rather swiftly some would argue, but can we usher in a greater value of the feminine principle right now? And not just for the sake of women but for men also as we possess both energies within each of us and honoring them in a balanced manner creates wholeness, stability through chaotic times and greater health.
The astrological lens offers us a great response when asking how to more fully honor the feminine energies. The zodiacal earth and water signs are feminine in nature. They include: Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces. The air and fire signs are masculine and include: Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. Earth and water feminine signs absorb whereas air and fire, masculine signs tend to reflect. We possess the energies of all the signs within our natal horoscope and thus within ourselves. In this upcoming year we will see a lot of planetary energy taking place in the earth and water signs so it can be helpful to work on honoring our “feminine” now.
We can honor the feminine by honoring our earthly terrain, our physical bodies: taking care of them, giving them proper nourishment, movement, rest and pleasure in balanced measure. We can allow our full spectrum of feelings represented by the water signs, We can allow ourselves to feel what we feel without shame or embarrassment. Lastly, we can use our intuition, and allow ourselves time to cultivate it and trust it more fully along with our instincts. Honoring the feminine energies within ourselves will help us throughout 2022 as our world potentially experiences chaotic times as we continue to evolve into this Aquarian Age.
