The Duality of the World
So long as Unity remains undivided, it excludes not only the possibility of creation; it cannot manifest, nor can it know itself. Therefore the first step of any system — whether the cosmos as a whole or any one of its elements — toward manifestation is the separation within it of the subject and the object of knowledge, the turning of the Monad into a dyad.
This Great Separation, Polarity, the binary that emerges from the depths of the One to accomplish the world Process, has many manifestations.
First, it is absolutely necessary for the process of manifestation and creation. No work can be performed except on the condition of a difference in potential, a polarity produced by the dyad. This is true both with respect to the arising of Worlds begotten by the Great Mother through the Power of the Great Father, and with respect to any event or phenomenon within those worlds.
So long as Unity is undivided, it lacks both the possibility of manifestation and self-knowledge. The One’s self-knowledge requires the disclosure within it of a knower and the knowable — subject and object. And although this division is conditional and in many respects illusory, for any specific act of cognition, any act of creation is necessary. The One’s revelation of the poles of the binary is the first stage of its manifestation, its self-knowledge and self-actualization.
At the same time, any binary is perfect only when its poles are not merely opposite but also fully reflect one another. Both the poles as wholes and each of their elements must correspond to one another. In other words, the knowing activity must fully mirror the knowable, and this full mirroring is the realization of all the potentials of the Infinite.
The World Principle of Fatherhood, the monadic principle, is thus reflected in the principle of motherhood, the Principle of Plasticity. This gives rise both to the Duality (and thereby the triplicity) of the Great Mother (more on this below) and to the Triplicity of the Father.
Monads in this scheme act as the knowing part of the Duality, while the medium, the energies, constitute the knowable. By reflecting the energies, the Monad acquires their properties, reveals their possibilities within itself, and therefore becomes operative, not merely a knower. Thus awareness and reflection bring about the emergence of actual reality, the realization of potentials that existed in the One in unmanifest form.
And not only the world process, the macrocosm, but also human life and nature are polar.
The masculine principle in a person is not only the obvious principle of activity; it is the property of expansiveness, the impulse to manifest oneself beyond one’s limits. In ordinary terms, this means the masculine, martial impulse; in the realm of feeling, the striving toward creation; in the realm of will, the striving for realization.
The feminine principle is not merely the well-known “passivity,” that is, applicability, plasticity; it is the property of attractiveness, the impulse to include and draw into itself to unite with itself and within itself. In terms of manifestations, this means the familial principle; in the realm of feelings, the drive toward birth; in the realm of will, the striving for perception.
Of course both expansive and attractive principles are combined in both masculine and feminine beings, yet it is the predominance of one or the other that determines sexual (not in the sense of primary sexual characteristics, but in the sense of gender self-identification) belonging.
Mythological systems reflect this idea very precisely. On the one hand, paganism rejects the notion of woman as a “lower,” “imperfect” being. Instead, it often stresses not merely equality but even a certain greater perfection of women compared to men.
At the same time, it is made perfectly clear that the Masculine and Feminine Ways are very different. The Scandinavians distinguished two kinds of magical activity — Galdr (the Magic of Runes and amulets) and Seid (the Magic of Visions and ecstasy). It is emphasized that only Odin (whom, incidentally, Loki reproaches as “womanish”) mastered both kinds of Magic, and Seid was taught to him by Freya. Meanwhile, the knowledge of the Runes was given to men (in the person of the hero Sigurd) by a woman — the valkyrie Sigrdrifa. Yet the valkyrie is a woman in whom the masculine, warlike principle is strong, and it is precisely the combination of the masculine capacity for differentiation and classification with the feminine intuition, the knowledge of synthesis, that enables Sigrdrifa to understand the Runes. But even Sigrdrifa, aware of the application of the Runes, did not herself employ their power, remaining on her own sensuous path.
We see the same division among the British Celts: the Masculine Way of the Druids stands beside the Feminine Way of the Mothers of Avalon. Just as virginity was required of the druid (this is how the druid differed from the fili, the secular priest-prophet), so for a Mother of Avalon it was undesirable, even obstructive, since a woman’s nature is fulfilled after the reflection of the masculine within her…
Thus I wish to stress that traditional paganism (as opposed to neo-paganism) understood well the difference between the Masculine and Feminine Ways; it understood that just as a woman could not become a good Eril, nor could a man attain a Vala’s wisdom.
Only the unity in the opposition of the two Ways reflects the world’s fullness — wisdom with knowledge.
The primordial duality, the cosmos’ binary nature, is a prerequisite for further realization.
A strengthening article on the path to understanding one’s qualities. ‘-But even Sigdrífa, who knows about the use of Runes, did not use their power, remaining in her own deeply emotional path…’, how beautifully it is written.
And what to do with this attractiveness?! When you want to stay at home, knit, read, draw, dance, and give birth, but you have to get up, go, dig, fight, and give birth to nobody?)))
There is an idea for a new section of the site – the Mag’s dictionary. You read and read, feeling the importance of the information, understanding something between the lines, but sometimes the text shifts to a bird language – it’s difficult.
I still don’t understand what a binar is in Your Reflections: the principle of duality, any idea, thought, phenomenon, and event. From the Internet, Binar is a form of thinking. As it is seen: Monad is something singular, a unit, indivisible like an atom; Binar is two, something paired, which only exists having a second side, like yes-no, good-bad. For example, bottom-top, joy-sorrow, inside-outside, light-dark.
The modern reality differs in that it is full of strong streams that contradict human existence, its natural inclinations. These streams diminish the primal strengths of a person and suppress their will, depriving them of space for action, opportunities for natural organization of society. In such a situation, human essence often loses orientation and cannot achieve significant goals through obvious paths. Men have a harder time precisely because they lack the strength for the transformation of the surrounding space, and a large part of their willful efforts goes either to unnecessary things or to feed predators. As a result, the investment of efforts is immense, while the return is immeasurably small, which leads to a feeling of inferiority. Women also have it tough. Under the hostility of the surrounding world, they are forced to significantly limit their horizons and their field of actions, which also reduces their strength. Observations show that women who possess enough strength to create a cozy home are still hard to find. Most modern women remain brides throughout their lives, i.e., unaware.
Under the pressure of the surrounding world, weak men and women in marriage usually begin to blame each other, unconsciously striving to take energy from one another. In the end, the strongest wins.
In general, the problem is solved by searching for an external source of energy, uniting opposites, establishing order in the ongoing flows, setting rules and establishing a common goal, and separating opposites for further separate movement.
On virginity. It usually implies the untouched state of the micro-world from external influence. Virginity can be restored, however, in most cases, this is almost an impracticable task.
Life itself is alive and plays with us, loving and helping, but only as long as we play with it… But if we stop seeing It and paying attention to the SIGNS, it continues its dance, playing with us but not with us… God ‘out of boredom’ split into two parts (on different levels: Male and Female, good and evil, past and present, etc.) and appeared. An ancient tale… A quantum exists in two states and materializes upon the observer’s detection… Male and Female we have from our ancestors… in everyone… and patriarchy prevails even in Women – they also become slaves of LOGIC, and do not use it as a tool… We are slaves of LOGIC – the irony of LIFE… And we live in a vicious ⭕ circle, even though we have the opportunity to live on an ascending spiral… In ❓ Islam and Christianity, it is said: at the trial, there are no guilty or accomplices, there is only You and Your Life… Adam and Eve… Who is the chief?✋☝!? Or…
Here is an interesting question, why should a woman become an erile? Good or bad? By the time the erile makes conclusions from the laid (discarded) runes, the seita has already begun seeing how things are going, where it starts from, where it will lead, and what needs to be done for that or how to eliminate it. Why should Sigrdrifa use the power of the runes, if she has her own, deeply sensual path? Allow me to only speculate that Sigrdrifa uses the runes as an original source that gave a push to the development of her sensuality. This can be characterized as her not using the runes, but living “in the runes”, as an original source of her powers. Thus, she knows and feels them, which is why she was able to convey them to people.
Runes are given for logic, the male part of every person, while in the soul we, especially girls, already know everything…
You can talk about duality. But doesn’t it seem to you that this understanding is given to create ‘pure’? Or must a mage be ‘dual’?
Dear Enmerkar, can you (once again!) clarify the concept of “reflection”? In the word “reflection,” there is both “reflection of an attack” and “to repel a strike” and “to strike the enemy.” Is there a more understandable synonym? “…At the same time, any binder is perfect only when its poles not only oppose but also fully reflect each other. Both the Poles as a whole and each of their elements must find mutual correspondence in each other. In other words, the Cognizing activity must fully reflect in itself the Cognizable passivity, and this complete reflection is what signifies the full realization of all potentials of the Infinite.” Can yin-yang serve as a symbol of integration? How can one see “complete reflection” in there? After all, 100% of one reflects 0% of the other. The questions, of course, sound childish, but perhaps you will find time for this.
Reflection means correspondence. If you consider the Taiji symbol, the number of “black dots” is absolutely equal to the number of “white dots,” and each black dot in “yin,” regardless of its position and size, can find the corresponding white area in “yang.” And it is this completeness of mutual correspondence that gives birth to the perfection of the binder.
Thank you for the answer. So, what is “white” in me, of different sizes and qualities, I must balance by “extracting” from the Darkness the “dark” – of the same size and opposite quality? That is, become a “demon” too? A “demon” for “demons”? Or is there already enough of the “demonic” in us, and we need to translate the extracted only, and only, into Light, into Order? You will now say that this is a matter of choice.)
You do not need to “become” a demon; you need to identify your various attractions and tendencies and find a balance between them.
Yes, of course.