I am sure that many of you are bored of the old cliché about getting in touch with your opposite (feminine or masculine) side, men have been told for 15-20 years to go home to cook, get involved with the child rearing and eat quiche, and women are equally expected to go out into the world and make their way, be ladetts for a while, do everything that men do, etc etc. So bored in fact is everyone, that it is now scoffed at, or simply ridiculed.

It's a pity, because it is probably one of the most crucial subjects that society faces today to redress the imbalance that is causing so many issues amongst the out of control young, the angry and aggressive, and the repressed to name but a few.  In short, the whole point of the ideal has been totally misunderstood.

This is not a new concept, the Bible refers to the fact that we were originally one - Eve was created from the body of Adam in order for humans to experience the concept of separation. We all have male and female sex hormones, and indeed in many Eastern cultures their Gods are depicted as having both male and female genders - i.e the Hindu God Shiva is half man and half woman. Buddha taught that there was a right and left side of each individual that had to be brought into balance - both physically and psychologically. We are all able to experience what both male and female sexual energy feels like, though many wouldn't realise it. Physically, there is a right and left side of each body, corresponding to the opposing sides of the brain. This is now well documented by science, one side dealing with logic and reason (the right brained male side) and the left brain corresponding to the more feminine abilities of for example creativity.

The Eastern traditions have long held that imbalances in the masculine and feminine psychology of an individual will lead to imbalances in the corresponding areas of the physical body - creating illness, outward afflictions harming the body (falls, bruises, strains, breaks etc) and worse. However, their philosophy goes even further, their holistic approach to medicine is to balance not only the psychological (emotional) issues that are causing the physical symptoms, but also the spiritual, as they see the interconnection between the whole, and only by bringing the whole into balance can lasting wellness be achieved on every level. 

I could go on about the Yin and Yang, the anima and animus, the duality of creation, all are relevant, and add something to the equation, but that would be a dissertation in itself, and I can sense your boredom threshold! I do like the analogy though of the achievement of this balance as similar to passing through the eye of a needle. This has largely come from the image of the vesica pisces, seen right (in an image from the cover of the Challace Well in Glastonbury) as the crossing of two equal spheres. The eye is the centre, and it is within this part of the sacred geometry that the eye of the beholder is truly opened and truth and enlightenment revealed.        

My own experience has shown me how critical balancing the masculine and feminine is to maintaining ones true essence and in ultimately bringing ones soul into the totality of one's being. The total magnificence that the soul is, can only truly emerge if union has been achieved on an emotional, mental and physical level. Any imbalance will restrict the soul from truly being able to come forth. This is absolute in my experience. One has to create a psychological (or emotional) "body" in which the soul is comfortable to be true, and the mental and physical framework in which to sustainably hold it. And the key reason for this - souls have NO gender. If the physical, emotional or mental self is either too masculine or too feminine, it simply cannot express it's true self. I have witnessed souls emerging from within individuals and indeed myself, and the power and intensity is almost indescribable. Unless one has prepared both the physical and by definition the emotional and mental self, one simply cannot sustain this power. All the fuses would be blown - rather like a premature kundalini rising, which is very dangerous indeed, and can result in mental disintegration. Indeed the two are linked. Thus the correct process for most of us is, by it's nature, gentle, progressive and sustainable, so that when the conditions are correctly attained, the soul can emerge into it's full radiance.    

This is of course the ultimate spiritual goal, but I am not for one minute suggesting that everyone should strive to achieve this in their life. By simply re balancing on any level just some aspects of the psychological persona, enormous strides can be achieved in redirecting a life path into a more satisfying and worthwhile experience. Each step aligns one more with the soul's purpose. However the more you do - the better it gets! 

So where do we start? How do you know if and where you might be out of balance? The easiest way is to look at the chart below and see which qualities you relate to and which you can honestly say you do not possess yet (yet being the operative word as the potential exists within everyone of us to be all of them....). This is not an exhaustive list either!

If you are truly in balance, your qualities would also include all of the following:

You may well be lucky enough to have some of these balanced qualities openly in you - or at least have experienced some of them from time to time, - but I am talking here about a sustained state of being rather than a fleeting moment. 

So how can this be achieved, I hear you ask?  Well there are a number of paths to achieve balance, and all require self analysis. In short, one has to unpick what has taken you off balance, which happens as a result of three main reasons:

1, Family, parental or carer, and siblings/friendship patterns learned as an infant (from womb onwards) through to early adulthood.

2, Genetic patterns passed down the family line from generation to generation, and

3, Past lives.

Once the issues (i.e. what takes you off balance) have been highlighted they can be released relatively easily. How do you know if you have an issue - well the easiest test is to register whether your emotions respond to any given situation. Do you get angry or upset easily, by certain people, by certain situations? (So you know where you are aiming for - your emotions in a balanced state will be largely neutral to negative outside influences.) The next step is to own those emotions, and deal with the issue rather than simply blame the offending party or situation with copious amounts of judgment and hostility - a game we all play to make us feel better! By owning and then releasing each reaction to a specific situation, eventually balance becomes a sustainable possibility.  

Part of this process also concerns the identification of the ego and the rearrangement of the role it plays in your life. The brain has in effect to be reprogrammed to aid you rather than act as a rather uncouth bouncer at a night club - stopping anything coming near that threatens to harm! It is because we all put up barriers and barricades to protect the harm and damage done as a result of negative experiences in the three categories above, that we program our brain to react in a particular way (which results in defensive behavior, isolation, anger, arrogance, selfishness to name a few) - and the expert programmer in this story - is the ego! As the issues are released the ego becomes more and more redundant, and is gradually replaced by the higher self as it's voice becomes clearer and more prominent, until the switch is complete. 

Finally, and of key importance is the healing of what is known as the inner child. Part of each of us stays as the child we were - hurt, frightened, angry, and abandoned. Many may have read that the way to spiritual enlightenment is through the eyes of a child, and only by healing this child within - fully and completely - can true progress be made.   

This of course all takes time, and each individual's journey is wonderfully different. How boring if we were all the same! The miraculous result is an automatic re balancing of the masculine and feminine - almost without our even being aware of it happening. By definition, as all one's issues are released, wholeness and purity is reclaimed that corresponds with a balancing of the two. Adam and Eve become one again. What is an anagram of RECLAIM - MIRACLE! And it really is a miracle. Every shift in one's being creates a deeper connection with what is. Whatever your religious convictions are, this work will take you closer to what you hold most sacred and will be a journey you will never regret. It is the most important journey of self discovery that there is.  

Are you ready to meet your soul - are you ready to become your soul, are your ready to find and really live your soul's purpose, are you ready to be free?