Imagine that you are planting a seed in moist fertile soil. You stick your finger into the ground and make a small hole, you drop in the seed, add a little water and cover it over. The seed is received into the soil, it sprouts upwards and downwards. Roots appear, connecting to nutrients and water. A stem with leaves reaches for the sky and the sun. See it growing, branching, putting out leaves and more roots, it becomes a vine, or a bush, grass or a tree.
Feel into this image of creation and sense the balance of it, the yin and yang of it, the masculine and the feminine, the stretching out and the flowing in. The dance of these polarities are woven through all creation. The insertion of the seed, the reception of the soil. The rooting and skyward reach. The growth so that water and light and minerals can flow into the heart, which fuels more growth.
Imagine the life force flowing through your plant, the dancing of the plus and minus in the atoms, the polarities across cell boundaries, from the leaves of the crown to the deep roots, polarities of charge and concentration, temperature and light. From the forming of the intention to the flowering of the plant, when the next cycle can begin, at all scales and in all things the masculine and feminine are dancing together to create life.
Feel into your being now. Where is the masculine, the aspects that initiate, the seeds, the insertion, the expansion? Where are the impulses, the ideas, the thoughts, the feelings or words that are the seeds; for yourself or for others? Where is the feminine, the receptive, nurturing ground that the seeds are planted in? Where are the spaces, the acceptances, the appreciations, the openings to new possibilities, new ideas, and new growth that receives the seeds and makes space for them to flourish?
Allow your awareness to enter in, and open up, to the marriage of the two, the marriage that is necessary for creation to unfold. Breath: air entering, lungs opening, expansion; air leaving lungs releasing, compression; the pulse of life. Give yourself time to allow the subtler aspect to come into the experience too. The subtle receiving of ourselves that is necessary for our creativity to take root and manifest. The subtle aspect of initiation giving yourself to yourself and others, trusting and moving forward.
Notice any limitations or fears on either the feminine or the masculine. Perhaps you are more conscious of reluctance to initiate, concern about how our seeds will be received in the world? or perhaps you are more aware of the limits on your ability to receive, to open sufficiently that your seeds have the space to flourish? How often are we afraid that our intentions might really grow and things might really change? How often do we allow the fear that they won’t to keep us from even trying.
Reach for courage, masculine and feminine. Stepping on a stage, or offering an idea takes a form of courage, of trust in yourself and Spirit. It may feel risky to decide, or to offer forth, but this is the strength of the masculine. The receptivity to growth, change, success, requires a different courage, a different vulnerability. It may feel like walking naked in the world, but it is the great source of feminine power and strength.
When we limit our initiation and our receptivity, we may feel safe, but we are left with a small center ground which lacks creativity and true life force. Opening this ground into a larger space requires both sorts of courage, trusting our creative impulses and also receiving them and the energies that will help manifest them. Work them back and forth, a bit of one, a bit of the other. Leverage your courage and make the space for your creativity.
May you find this balanced courage in abundance, and come into a flourishing creative dance with yourself, Spirit, and your partners and friends. Honoring both your feminine and masculine you join in the co-creation of your world. Set the intention and open to the understanding, it will come clear to you.
(© 1/2010)
