DiotimosReading Desk

Mental life and practical action

Mental gender

Mental Gender; Masculine Principle; Feminine Principle

Mental gender is the application of the seventh principle to directing, receiving, and generating thought.

From the book

The Kybalion

Three Initiates · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordMental gender is the application of the seventh principle to directing, receiving, and generating thought.
  • In The KybalionXIV compares the model with dual-mind theories, then turns to the I and Me.
  • In this editionMental gender is retained as the author's technical label.
  • A place to readXIV.2: … “of Gender on the Mental Plane-the manifestation of Mental Gender. And examining further he finds that” …

Meaning

Mental gender is the application of the seventh principle to directing, receiving, and generating thought. The author places both principles within a person and also uses the pair to explain influence between people.

Use in the book

XIV compares the model with dual-mind theories, then turns to the I and Me. The Me receives and develops mental forms; the I initiates and witnesses. The author calls the functions feminine and masculine and aligns them with becoming and being.

Sustained attention requires cooperation between them. The following sections explain suggestion and telepathy as the projection of a seed-thought from one person's directing principle into another's generative principle. The chapter finally returns to cosmic creation as the same pattern on a larger scale.

Places to read

  1. XIV Mental Gender · Block 2… “of Gender on the Mental Plane-the manifestation of Mental Gender. And examining further he finds that the ancient philosophy took cognizance of the phenomenon of the "dual mind," and accounted for” …
  2. XIV Mental Gender · Block 8“After this laying-aside process has been performed, the student will find himself in conscious possession of a "Self" which may be considered in its "I" and "Me" dual aspects. The "Me"” …
  3. XIV Mental Gender · Block 9… “mind of every person. The "I" represents the Masculine Principle of Mental Gender-the "Me" represents the Female Principle. The "I" represents the Aspect of Being; the "Me" the Aspect of Becoming.” …
  4. XIV Mental Gender · Block 11“The tendency of the Feminine Principle is always in the direction of receiving impressions, while the tendency of the Masculine Principle is always in the direction of giving, out or expressing.” …
  5. XIV Mental Gender · Block 12… “mind. The majority of persons really employ the Masculine Principle but little, and are content to live according to the thoughts and ideas instilled into the "Me" from the "I" of” …
  6. XIV Mental Gender · Block 18… “able to see that the energizing of the Feminine Principle by the Vibratory Energy of the Masculine Principle Is in accordance to the universal laws of nature, and that the natural” …

In this edition

Mental gender is retained as the author's technical label. The lexicon explains its historical symbolism rather than treating it as a modern account of identity.

Reading the argument

The model combines several distinctions that can be examined separately. It is an interpretive grouping of activities, not proof that an empirical mind consists of two gendered parts. The text's statement that both principles operate in each person also rules out an exclusive assignment to men and women.

Mental Gender

“Mental Gender” — 14 occurrences in 9 text blocks: XIV.2, 9–10, 12–13, 16–19.

Masculine Principle

“Masculine Principle” — 18 occurrences in 11 text blocks: V.14; XIII.5, 8; XIV.2, 9, 11–12, 14–16, 18.

Feminine Principle

“Feminine Principle” — 13 occurrences in 6 text blocks: V.14; XIII.8; XIV.2, 11, 14, 18.