The sun and the moon represent the masculine and the feminine. This can be explored through many traditions and perspectives, but in this article I wish to present a very specific direction. Later in the article, I will also speak about how this relates to relationships between men and women.
Father Sun and Mother Moon
In relation to Earth, I like to refer to the moon and the sun as the mother and father of Gaia.
Father Sun gives of his light, gives life energy (also at the biological level), represents the seed of all potentials (at the spiritual level).
Mother Moon preserves order, protects. Ensures that everything will be in order. She governs Earth's rotation, the cycles of the seasons, the movement of contraction and expansion. The fact that Earth has one large moon contributes to the stability of climatic conditions. The existence of a single moon, unlike most other planets which have multiple moons, prevents chaotic behaviour. The moon's size contributes to the relative stability of Earth's axial tilt in relation to the ecliptic plane, thereby stabilising the seasons and preventing large shifts that would lead to extreme and destructive climate conditions.
Together, they make life on Gaia possible.
There are two interesting facts relating to the essence of the moon as mother.
1. The moon moves away from Earth each year by approximately 3.8 cm. On the metaphorical level, this is the mother moving away as her child grows, so the child may learn to take responsibility for itself.
2. The prevailing scientific explanation today is that the moon was formed billions of years ago, when the solar system was still forming, as a celestial body called Theia, roughly the size of Mars, collided with the developing Earth. Fragments from the impact were ejected into space, merged, and formed the moon.
When we understand how the moon was formed, from the merging of Earth and Theia, we can understand that the moon contains parts that once belonged to Earth. The Hebrew word "kisufim" (longing) originates from the word "kesef" (silver), the glow of the moon. This is the longing for unity, for wholeness. The longing of the child to merge back with its mother, with unity.
The Man and the Woman in Patriarchal Culture
In a harmonious state, each of us holds a certain balance between our inner representations of sun and moon, between the masculine and feminine within us. Like yin and yang.
In a harmonious state, women and men act together, bringing masculine and feminine qualities into a unified, harmonious expression.
Unfortunately, both at the personal and collective levels, this is not the case.
The patriarchal culture currently dominant has shaped us, women and men alike, in its image.
A man, in order to succeed, must be forceful, aggressive, and controlling.
A woman, in order to succeed in a masculine world, must become forceful, manipulative, and erase her feminine markers (for example, placing a "plug" in her menstruation and continuing as usual). She may exaggerate her feminine markers, but this will always preserve her position beneath men.
I am, of course, making a broad generalisation here.
In patriarchal culture, women have lost the essence of their power, and men have lost the essence of theirs. The culture enforces conformity.
It is possible that if a matriarchal culture indeed dominated in the past, balance did not exist there either. Women may have been the dominant force, perhaps not allowing men equal space beside them, space that could enable them to fully express their capacities.
On a slightly more optimistic note, I wish to say that the world is changing. Slowly, perhaps too slowly for us to witness the full fruits of this transformation within our lifetime. But the shift is already present.
Just as the moon has its own "technology" (absorbing sunlight, moving cyclically around Earth, etc.) and the sun has its own (constituting most of the solar system, radiating immense light, etc.), so women and men possess built-in "technologies" capable of supporting the full expression of our power and vision here on Earth. Yet much of this knowledge has nearly disappeared. This operating system was once passed from mother to daughter and from father to son, and this knowledge has gradually been lost (or concealed).
The feminine monthly system is complex, exquisite, and profoundly deep.
When a woman learns to work with it, she becomes realised at fuller and higher levels.
I know. I teach women how to work with it, and I witness the transformations they undergo through this remarkable journey, the inner strengths that reveal themselves.
The masculine system is also powerful and extraordinary. When a man learns to work with it, he too realises his full capacities.
When women and men learn to work with the "higher technology" embedded in their bodies, we may walk a new path. A path that honours both femininity and masculinity. A path that neither erases nor rejects nor wounds the feminine, nor the masculine.
Each of us is responsible for our own growth, for the sake of a better world.
A world in which women and men act together, in harmony, through the union of their qualities. If you are a man who feels called to explore this inner work, I offer a workshop for men in Aljezur, Algarve.