The Mahdi Times The Mahdi Times Issue #26 January 2015 | Page 79

The Principle of Gender (see Lesson I and other lessons to follow) is manifested on all planes of life, material mental and spiritual. But, as we have said before, "Gender" does not mean "Sex" sex is merely a material manifestation of gender. "Gender" means "relating to generation or creation." And whenever anything is generated or created on any plane, the Principle of Gender must be manifested. And this is true even in the creation of Universes. Now do not jump to the conclusion that we are teaching that there is a male and female God or Creator. That idea is merely a distortion of the ancient teachings on the subject. The true teaching is that THE ALL, in itself, is above Gender, as it is above every other Law, including those of Time and Space. It is the Law, from which the Laws proceed and it is not subject to them. But when THE ALL manifests on the plane of generation or creation, then it acts according to Law and Principle, for it is moving on a lower plane of Being. And consequently it manifests the Principle of Gender, in its Masculine and Feminine aspects, on the Mental Plane, of course. This idea may seem startling to some of you who hear it for the first time, but you have all really passively accepted it in your everyday conceptions. You speak of the Fatherhood of God and the Motherhood of Nature - of God, the Divine Father, and Nature the Universal Mother - and have thus instinctively acknowledged the Principle of Gender in the Universe. Is this not so? But, the Hermetic teaching does not imply a real duality THE ALL is ONE - the Two Aspects are merely aspects of manifestation. The teaching is that The Masculine Principle manifested by THE ALL stands, in a way, apart from the actual mental creation of the Universe. It projects its Will toward the Feminine Principle (which may be called "Nature") whereupon the latter begins the actual work of the evolution of the Universe, from simple "centres of activity" on to man and then on and on still