Gender Principle

Definition

The seventh of the seven Hermetic Principles as The Kybalion (1908) numbers them, stating that gender is in everything and every act of creation requires two complementary forces — the masculine (projective, active, assertive) and the feminine (receptive, creative, nurturing) — referring not to biological sex but to universal creative polarities.

Deep Understanding

The Principle of Gender is the most frequently misunderstood of the seven principles The Kybalion calls Hermetic. It does not describe biological sex but the two complementary forces present in all creation. The masculine principle provides direction, will, and focused intention. The feminine principle provides substance, intuition, and receptive creativity. Neither can create alone — all generation, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, requires the union of both.

Jung named these internal forces Animus (the masculine within the feminine psyche) and Anima (the feminine within the masculine psyche) and considered their integration, symbolized as the Hieros Gamos or Sacred Marriage, a step toward the wholeness of the Self that individuation aims at. The Hermetic tradition, as The Kybalion reads it, arrived at the same conclusion: mastery requires the conscious balance and union of both poles within oneself.

When these forces are balanced, creation flows naturally. When they are imbalanced, one either pushes without receiving (leading to burnout and force) or receives without directing (leading to stagnation and passivity). The Great Work is not the dominance of one force over the other but their conscious integration.

Primary sources

• Three Initiates, The Kybalion (Yogi Publication Society, 1908), ch. II and ch. XIII–XIV: gender in everything, sex as its physical-plane form, and a masculine and feminine side of each mind. Open-access copy
• Asclepius (The Perfect Sermon) XX.3–XXI.1, trans. G. R. S. Mead, Thrice-Greatest Hermes, vol. II (Theosophical Publishing Society, 1906): God is full of the fertility of both sexes, and all things share both. Open-access copy
• C. G. Jung, Aion (Collected Works 9ii), chs. III–IV, trans. R. F. C. Hull (Princeton University Press, 2nd ed. 1968): anima and animus as a syzygy; integrated, the anima becomes the Eros and the animus a Logos of consciousness. Catalogue record

In Practice

Before acting, ask: does this moment require more assertion or more receptivity? More will or more surrender? The answer changes constantly. True mastery is not defaulting to one mode but moving fluidly between both poles as the situation demands. Practice noticing which force you habitually favor, then consciously engage the other.

Stefan's Alkimia. (2026, October 4). Gender Principle. Pleroma Guide. https://pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/gender-principle

Stefan's Alkimia. “Gender Principle.” Pleroma Guide, 4 Oct. 2026, pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/gender-principle.

Stefan's Alkimia. “Gender Principle.” Pleroma Guide. April 2, 2026. Last modified October 4, 2026. https://pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/gender-principle.

@online{alkimia2026genderprinciple,
  author = {{Stefan's Alkimia}},
  title = {{Gender Principle}},
  organization = {{Pleroma Guide}},
  date = {2026-04-02},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Last modified 2026-10-04},
  url = {https://pleroma.guide/en/lexicon/gender-principle},
  langid = {english}
}