What is dark feminine energy?
This post is an excerpt from the 90-page book The Dark Feminine by Sarah Lindenfeld. It’s a quick read, but there is a lot of good stuff in here.
She begins by mentioning that there are many different kinds of energies, and that the word “energy” can mean any combination of them (e.g., “classical,” “Hindu,” or “energetic”). She expands on it and suggests that what really matters is how you package it:
The best way to describe energy is as a concept rooted in its power to move, to give motion. The most important thing about energy is its flow. It may be described as something moving toward something else. I prefer to think of energy as something moving through space at a high velocity—a photon flowing through the vacuum at more than the speed of light! The more we understand this principle, the more we understand what energy can do for us in our lives.
You may have noticed that I have used certain words repeatedly throughout this post—such as “emotion,” “vitality,” and “spirituality”—as they are key themes in this book. I think they are particularly appropriate here because these words all refer to spiraling patterns: emotions and other thoughts that create or reinforce habit patterns; vitalities (including biochemistry) and other physical states; spiritualities (including mythologies) and other consciousnesses; and so on. These patterns create our lives and our experiences—and often we don’t even know what they are!
When you choose an approach to life with intentionality or awareness you begin to notice these patterns because your experience changes when you do so. You begin to notice how your thoughts become specific parts of your experience rather than just random bits floating around in isolation (like photons). As a result your life becomes much more powerful than it was before because you have chosen where those bits will be flowing rather than just letting them flow randomly into space without any intentionality whatsoever (which is what most people think happens). On the other hand when you don’t choose where your bits will be flowing they become random events like photons flying randomly through space without any intentionality whatsoever (which is what most people think happens).
This difference between intentions versus randomness creates two very different outcomes: things become both more powerful but also less predictable because of
The Dark Feminine: expression of dark, positive, necessary energy
This is the expression of dark, positive, necessary energy that captures the mysteries of womanhood and magic, the chaos of creation and destruction, death and birth, transformation, rage, fierce compassion, seduction and pure spiritual ecstasy.
The Dark Feminine is a concept I started playing with in 2011. It was inspired by the work of author Marina Tsvetkova (a Russian culture expert) and writer/photographer Vaneeta Kaur Khalsa. They have developed a very fruitful partnership on this topic and their research goes far beyond the basic idea of “dark feminine” (which I’ll get to below).
Their research at first led me to explore what it means to be feminine in a modern context — how does it feel to be an independent woman? — but their work also got me thinking about what it means to be dark feminine in a modern context as well. They claim that dark feminine energy is not only vital for our survival; it is essential for our development as human beings. And they go on to say that dark feminine energy can be found in every sentient being on this planet. They go so far as to conclude that there is no such thing as light vs darkness because they are all part of one universal force or energy: “nothingness … which is defined by its own experience.”
Given that we are all connected at various points throughout our lives by other people (whether we consciously realize it or not), how do we know when we are connecting with our own inner darkness? In her book The Dark Side of Femininity, author Sherry Turkle writes:
This [dark femininity] has an effect on us — because women lack social support systems … The world would be more cohesive if everyone felt safe enough within their communities — if everyone felt supported enough by their intimate relationships with family members … If everyone felt safe enough within their communities — if everyone felt supported enough by their intimate relationships with family members — then we could feel comfortable connecting with each other at all times without fear or anxiety . . .
Turkle maintains that these experiences include being afraid or anxious faced with danger or uncertainty. She also says they contribute to depression and anxiety disorders in women; she points out multiple studies showing this association whether men were involved or not. Turkle also notes that these feelings often lead women into isolation because they have a difficult time sharing these feelings even with other women (why?). She concludes: “If you are a
The Dark Feminine and womanhood
Since I am an avid follower of Stéphane Cardin from whom I learned how to read French (although it was not until he appeared on Mythic Beasts that I discovered this), I am in an excellent position to write about this subject. In fact several times a week I blog about it.
Cardin is a highly respected member of a group of mystics called Tarotists (which are members of various esoteric societies) who have been studying the Tarot for many years. They claim to be able to translate into modern languages the meanings contained within its symbols. In his case he seems to have inherited some form of psychic ability which enables him to do so as well. It’s not uncommon for Tarotists to use their own words in their translations which helps them understand their deeper meaning as well as being able to communicate with spirits that may help them understand more fully what they are trying to say.
This article by Cardin explains his method for interpreting the meanings contained within Tarot cards:
In order to understand how Tarot cards can be used in actual practice (or how they can even be “read”), it helps us first take time out from our daily lives and spend some time meditating on our own inner workings (or simply spending time alone). This allows us work through our own thoughts and emotions before looking at those same issues with different eyes when we look at these cards again after spending time meditating on them. Some people will find it easier than others but try doing it anyway if you’d like – many people find that this helps them feel more grounded while they explore these images further by taking things slower than they usually would without meditating on them first.
Once we have spent some time contemplating something or someone we want to understand more deeply then we go back over everything we were thinking about in order to see if there are any connections between those things or energies that back up what was happening before our contemplation in order not only with those feelings but also with previous ones we may have felt about similar things… So for example if you were thinking about your mother and you were experiencing intense feelings towards her then there will likely be some connection between these two
The Dark Feminine and magic
I’m not sure what to say in this space at the moment. I find myself very excited about all this research and work on the dark feminine. It is a beautiful thing, and I am really grateful for all the work that has gone into it. But it is also very hard to explain here.
I think a good place to start would be to ask: What does it mean to be a woman?
The first thing that comes to mind is most probably something like, “Well, I’m a woman, so that means I’m just a female human being who happens to be created by God, who” etc. And then you start getting into “the concept of women as fundamentally different from men” or whatever.
But let me tell you, deep down inside there are some fundamental things that are inescapably women: our bodies have female reproductive organs; we have female brains; we have female genitals; our bodies are naturally designed for females (in fact they were designed for us); our primary and secondary sex characteristics are still found on both sides of the globe and our genders are different from men both culturally but also biologically; many of our social structures come from women; etc etc….
Let me give you an example which might help you better understand this. A few years ago when we were writing the book The End Of Men , one of the chapters was about how people define themselves by their perspectives rather than their gender roles. You can imagine shepherds and rulers (men) versus farmers (women). Now if you think that way, then you can see how having “women” as your perspective defines you exclusively in terms of your gender role – namely insofar as you are male or female.
But if instead you think of yourself as an individual who also happens to be born with male genitals, then her perspective will define her uniquely in terms of her gender role – namely insofar as she is male or female. This means her definition of herself will necessarily exclude herself from defining herself by other perspectives or identities other than being male or female (most obviously: your gender identity doesn’t include being a shepherds / ruler). And this is a very important distinction because if your only definition for yourself was according to your perspective about who you were then it would actually hinder your self-definition considerably! This is why many people get so frustrated when asked how old they really are: they don’t
The Dark Feminine and creation
The Dark Feminine is an archetype of female power and creativity. It is also a symbol for death (and rebirth), chaos (and order), fertility (and deathlessness) , destruction (and creation) . The Dark Feminine can be used to represent a woman’s power over her own life force or her ability to create a positive change in others’ lives.
In this article we will explore what it means to be a “dark feminine” person. The Dark Feminine is not something unique to women; it is universal in nature. All of us have been affected by it at one time or another; perhaps even you are one now. We will explore how being dark feminine can be beneficial in your life as well as what dark feminine energy looks like in your life. Let’s get going…
The importance of the Dark Feminine
In this post, you get to know the origin of the term “dark feminine energy” and why it’s so important for women.
The Dark Feminine is the expression of the dark, positive, and necessary energy that captures the mysteries of womanhood and magic, the chaos of creation and destruction, death and birth, transformation, rage, fierce compassion, seduction, and pure spiritual ecstasy. It comes from two words: “female” + “feminine”. In this context it means a specific kind of energy that is feminine in its essence but not in its form.
It comes from two words: “female” + “feminine”. In this context it means a specific kind of energy that is feminine in its essence but not in its form. This kind of feminine energy is expressed by dark women (as opposed to light women). To be clear: when I say dark women I do NOT mean men who are dark (the term “dark man” was coined by Lierre Keith).
If you are a woman or girl who identifies as a woman but does not identify as a feminist at all or as someone who opposes violence against women or femininity (like yourself), then you may find something deeply resonant with this post — even if you don’t see yourself as belonging to either group. There are just too many good things about being a woman to miss out on them all!
The fact that some people identify more with light than with dark puts them in positions where they have limited choices around how they feel about their gender identity — often being frustrated by both sides of their own gender identity at once:
either they feel like they can never choose between their masculine or feminine sides because those two sides are always competing for them (this can be an issue for trans people because those two sides can often be conflicting); or
they feel like they are always choosing between their masculine AND feminine sides (while still being attracted to both) — which may mean that they choose from one side or the other depending on what feels most comfortable for them at any given time; and/or
they feel like their gender identity isn’t meaningful because there is no clear choice between masculine and feminine for them (because neither side fits how they feel about themselves), which makes it hard for them to connect with either side individually — so instead they end up having to justify their gender identity by arguing against whichever one
