Can’t live with them..
All spiritual, philosophic and scientific teachings posit, in different ways, that the One True Indivisible Whole Reality is manifest by a constant dynamic and creative tension between two (or sometimes more) intersecting forces or dimensions. Theologically and poetically, these two parts of the one are always described as a ‘Masculine’ and a ‘Feminine’ aspect, however these may be understood or defined. This duality is known as Shiva-Shakti, Yin-Yang, Havaya-Shechina, Yum-Yub, Sun-Moon, Sulphur-Mercury, Acid-Alkaline, Heaven-Earth, Spirit-Body and countless other names in different cultures.
Although in theory these two parts have equal value, in practice the ‘infinite’ portion is valued more than the ‘finite’. In mainstream religious and most moral teachings, the transcendent, abstract and enduring are always regarded above the immanent, manifest and transitory dimensions. This view reveals the lack of ease with the chthonic side of existence.
It is easy enough to understand why this prejudice exists and endures. The unpredictable, disruptive and potentially dangerous aspects of the world and of living in a body in space and time are associated with ever-changing Nature. Diseases, suffering, random events of fate, madnesses, intense emotions, vulnerability, ageing and death, all quite dreadful and all quite natural, are defended against. Kali, Isis, Lilith, Ereshkigal, Hel, Izanami, the Erinyes and Baba Yaga are a few examples of these powers as personified in mythology.
These ‘undesirable’ aspects of life are universally identified with the Feminine aspect of the duality.This feminine dimension has become associated with and projected onto the bodies and lives of actual females. In this way, all transcendent religions eventually become misogynist in practice.