Yin, Yoni and Qi Energy

I felt the topic of female energy to be an essential one for a thorough examination of the information women create and exchange through time.  The concept of feminine energy and power is a concept found in every culture in the world.

Eastern Views of Female Energy

Women, in the wisdom that came out of ancient China, are thought to have a strong connection to Earth’s energy.  Female energy is yin, with dark, soft and quiet qualities.  And energy or Qi (pronounced Tchee per the Chinese, or Kee per the Japanese) is best when it exists in a balanced state between yin, the female, and yang, the male energy.  Qi Gong, that means cultivating energy, is well established in Chinese health and self care understanding. Qi Gong is practiced for health maintenance, healing and increased vitality.
The word yoni that in Sanskrit means abode, source, womb, or vagina, and in Hinduism is the symbol of the goddess Shakti, feminine generative power and, as a goddess, is the consort of Shiva.
Chapter 6 of the Tao Te Ching is specifically devoted to the Mystic Female — the universal feminine energy.  Balance is important, but it the sacred female, the energy of all creation is revered in Taoist thought.

Chapter 6

The valley spirit, undying
Is called the Mystic Female

The gate of the Mystic Female
Is called the root of Heaven and Earth

It flows continuously, barely perceptible
Utilize it; it is never exhausted

— from taoism.net 

Western Views of Female Energy

But the powerful nature of women is not always viewed as a good thing.

On the approach of a woman in this state [menstrual], must will become sour, seeds … sterile, grafts wither away, garden plants are parched up, and the fruit will fall from the tree … Her very look, even, will dim the brightness of mirrors, blunt … steel, and take away the polish from ivory. A swarm of bees, if looked upon by her, will die.

— Pliny in A.D. 77,  Natural History

The western world does not have many good associations between women and energy or goodness or power.  All this is probably related to the direct correlation between Eve and evil in nearly all versions of the creation myth that flowed through pre-Mosaic patriarchal filters.  For a detailed examination of this correlation with excellent examples from art and literature, biblical literature included, see Eve and the Identity of Women, especially Chapter 3: Eve’s Identity.

As is the case with almost everything, the proof is in the pudding as they say, and it does not really matter what religions, or philosophies, say about inherent energies or qualities of women, it is how society actually constructs interactions that matter.  Of course there is a some correlation between the two.

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A to Z Blog Challenge

 The Letter Y, Day 25