According to ancient Hindu philosophy, the cosmic dance of the masculine and feminine forces of Shiva and Shakti are what sets the universe in harmonious motion.

Any imbalance in the equality of these energies causes conflict, upheaval and disaster. The male force of Shiva is said to be the force of consciousness, and the female force of Shakti is said to be the force of energy. Shakti is considered divine, due to her unique ability to create and act as an agent of change. The divine feminine has always been respected and honored in ancient Hindu mythology.

Rampant patriarchy, the objectification of women and misogynistic social structures have all caused an imbalance in these energies and have suppressed natural feminine energy in both men and women. Feminine energy has been deemed weaker than masculine energy. The result of this hierarchical structure has promoted aggression, self-interest and the rise of ego-driven desires.

Materialism has taken precedence over spirituality, Western rationality over Eastern philosophy and self-interest over communal harmony. Our intellect is valued more than our intuition, development is furthered over the protection of the environment and war is the preferred solution over peace.

The divine feminine represents the depths of our subconscious, the connection to the universal source of energy. She stands for nurturing our intuition, empathy, community, wellness and purpose. She inculcates values of patience, humility and peace. She brings to light all that has been repressed, denied and suppressed with love and compassion.

As our mass consciousness is moving into higher frequencies, the inherent suppression of the opposite polarities in each of us is coming to light. As men and women are getting more in touch with their shadow sides, they are realizing the detrimental impact of harmful societal conditioning.

Women are conditioned to be peaceful, while men are conditioned to be assertive, rather than the other way around. Women have a feminine core and are already naturally more giving and kind-hearted. Men have a masculine core and are already naturally more dominant and self-concerned. This type of conditioning paves the way for women to become more meek, more subservient, more submissive and unable to express righteous anger. It teaches men to become more arrogant, egotistical and angry, rather than nurturing their emotional vulnerability.

While the feminist movement was essential to establishing the rights of women as equal beings, women began to lose touch with their feminine nature. Many women began seeing it as something undesirable to be overcome. This led to women trying to be and act like men, rather than nurturing their natural gifts as women. While there is no fixed notion of how women should or should not act (the entire basis of feminism), this bias toward masculinity has done a great disservice to the nature of the divine feminine.

The rise of the feminine in same-sex relationships is a manifestation of the resistance to the imbalance of energies, similar to how feminism has been a manifestation of the rebellion against the suppression of female energies. People are beginning to explore alternate sexualities that favor feminine expression; men and women are leaning toward increasingly androgynous lifestyles. There has also been an impetus of strong feminine archetypal tropes in media and television.

There has been a huge boost to Eastern philosophical practices, such as Zen Buddhism, ancient Hinduism, and Taoism with the advent of new-age spirituality and the mass adoption of yoga, minimalistic practices, mindfulness meditation, green living, and the balance of the body and the mind. Intuition, the power of imagination, and emotional intelligence are being recognized as important.

The selfish needs of a consumerist society are destroying our Mother Earth, as is the immediate gratification of materialism and rapid technological development. The number of natural disasters and calamities is on the rise, and the importance of a sustainable future for the next generations is finally being realized—at least by some.

Social theories prove that civilizations rise, reach a peak and fall in power, bringing in the dawn of the next. With the current state of global politics, we have reached a peak in the destructiveness of the dominance of masculine energy.

The divine feminine is rising.

The dualistic nature of Shakti and Shiva, or Yin and Yang, is setting the forces of change in motion. As it is understood by many Eastern philosophies, whenever one quality reaches its peak, it will naturally begin to transform into the opposite.

The masculine and feminine energies are realigning and returning to a proper cyclic balance of ceaseless motion to bring about peace, harmony and a new world order.

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Author: Nikita Mor

Image: Flickr/Rich Anderson

Editor: Callie Rushton