Most of them are ancient souls, acutely aware of an inherent unity of feminine/female and masculine/male energies and qualities within themselves that manifests as the union of opposites in every area of their lives; the Classical Greeks called them "Androgynes", persons who are both genders in the same body at the same time. Blessed with an existence that they cannot evade or conceal (for very long, without suffering harm), they are both valued and vilified by their fellow humans. They are the subject of myths that predate history, our heritage goes back to the very foundation of the universe, yet, while history has exhibited a perennial fascination (and, oftentimes, an infatuation) with them, humanity has consistently demonstrated a perplexity and misunderstanding about androgynes. This perplexity and misunderstanding frequently promotes adverse social behaviour towards them to such an extent that most of them try to conform to convention and make a sincere, concerted effort to exist in either one realm or another, (i.e. to be either boys or girls, men or women). However, androgynes can't sustain this effort for very long without suffering psychological and emotional harm (which can take decades to heal) and experiencing incomplete, unfulfilled and dissatisying relationships with family, friends and lovers. Although they do not have the vocabulary in early childhood to qualify who they are, most of them are aware they are androgyne by the time they enter primary schooling, (circa 4-5 years old); by that age, their particular struggles with gender conformity have often already begun. They usually give up the search for others like themselves at an early age; it seems this planet is a divided world and is intent on staying that way, so they do their best to adjust to it, to assimilate into the social "norms" of this world, albeit unable to divest themselves of the innate understanding of who they are (or to be truly at peace with such assimilation when it involves self- and/or social denial of their true Nature). Some of them just "bite the bullet" and maintain "the mask" for generations while many of them realize they're indulging in psychological and emotional self-deterioration by maintaining the mask and develop healthy ways of living [harmoniously with the world while being] true to themselves, (most frequently at great social and personal [relationship] expense). Too many of them commit suicide, unable to persist in conformity or to achieve self-liberation. Fortunately, some androgynes are born into families and/or communities/cultures (e.g. most Native American nations) which recognize who they are and encourage them to fully realize their existence and the subtle, powerful gifts they bear for the good of this world.

The androgyne-born community is as diverse as any other human community. They are born into all ethnic groups. They are born female, male or intersexed/hermaphrodite. They are heterosexual and non-heterosexual (all other sexual orientations included). Some androgynes are [female-to-male or male-to-female] transsexual -- the vast majority of them are not, (the ratio is probably relative to the percentage of transsexuals evident within the general population). They are artists and politicians, scientists and sanitation engineers, educators and slackers et al. The primary difference between androgynes and other humans is simply that they do not, indeed cannot live life fully as either men or woman because they are and must live as both genders, (regardless which restroom they use). ;-) As you might imagine, (if you are not an androgyne), this ain't easy. However, imagine sawing yourself in half, from crown to crotch, then trying to get about in the world with only the left half of your body or the right. Hmmmm. As we all [androgynes and non-androgynes] learn more and more as we grow older, it is far easier to be ourselves and, thus, fulfill our lives and other's lives here on this world than it is to mask our Nature.

Although some persons have the stamp of the androgyne indelibly imprinted on their consciousness and their bodies [ergo DNA] at birth, the Nature of the androgyne is much wider in scope (and is not confined to persons who are born with an overt duality of gender). The Nature of the androgyne entails an union of opposites within that requires a great degree of self awareness, self acceptance and self actuality (beyond fear of Self and others) to Be fully expressed in one's individual life. To live the androgyne Nature is to experience the breadth of human being-ness. It is through the process of becoming self aware that the individual is enabled to embrace and integrate the (apparently) opposite poles of the psyche, thus awakening the Nature of the androgyne within her/his consciousness. In this manner, the masculine-feminine, anima-animus, intellect-intuition, analytic-Gestalt, left hemisphere-right hemisphere [of the brain], Yang-Yin, Time-Space, Light-Dark, Creative-Receptive, God-Goddess, Heaven-Earth... become One within the person and, paraphrasing the Holy Bible's New Testament, he/she becomes renewed in the Spirit of the mind (hence, the soul/psyche and, in varying degrees, the body -- please, understand that, other than a noticeable increase in vitality and regenerative capacity and [typically] in the expression of balance or personal harmony in the body language, voice and in the cast of the eyes, this internal transformation does not imply overt changes in one's physical [e.g. sexual] characteristics). While some persons have androgyny thrust upon them at birth, (impacting them spiritually, mentally, psychically and physically), while most persons who incarnate in this manner become aware of their fundamental androgyne nature early on, (being awakened by It rather than awakening It), they too must go through many stages of self evolution to become fully conscious of who they are, to become self actualizing as people [who happen to be androgynes], to become the vital Force they are born to be in our communities and the world. The process of engendering the androgyne Nature in non-androgynes and that of fully actualizing one's Nature as androgyne-born is generally the same; it's an individual process of evolving consciousness that requires years of total commitment to becoming the highest and best that we can perceive ourselves to be in the face of misunderstanding and criticism from the world outside ourselves and, within ourselves, fear of rejection and ostracism; the fear is the killer, not the self evolution; evolving liberates, fear incarcerates, (and the self made prison is the worst kind).

It is to the understanding of the Nature of androgynes and androgyny that the following page is devoted. The links thereon are to web pages that examine the Nature of the androgyne intelligently and informatively. Some of these pages do this extensively and others only briefly, some of them simply include references to substantial reading material on the subject of androgynes and/or androgyny but are cool or informative pages nonetheless; the principle criterion for inclusion in this list is scholarly content that shines light on the darkness of ignorance and/or misunderstanding regarding the primary subjects to which these pages are devoted, whether those subjects are literary, religious/spiritual, sex and/or gender related or otherwise. They are grouped generally, though not in any particular order, most are in English, some are in French; they all possess an high level of quality of content. (This study also touches on issues relative to androgyny in the context of transexuality and intersexuality.) Hopefully, this study will help non-androgynes to become more aware of the scope of human being-ness as well as natural role androgynes fulfill in society (globally), in addition to helping androgynes to become more aware of the treasure they truly are.

(Among the growing number of books on this subject, one which the trust recommends is "Androgyny..." by June Singer, Ph.D.. [From the liner notes in the Anchor Press/Doubleday paperback edition, ISBN: 0-385-11026-X] "'Dr. Singer explores various systems of ancient wisdom as well as revolutionary discoveries of Twentieth Century science, and offers deep insights into the nature of the masculine and feminine principles in the universe and their mutual interrelationships.' Stanislaus Grof, M.D., Esalen Institute". Excellent reading for androgynes and non-androgynes alike, even more so, it is a book which can assist us all in becoming more familiar and interactive with our full Nature as human beings, regardless of our personal gender and/or sexual orientation.)

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Knowledge, Understanding and Love of the highest order.

Presented by The MÈRE Project Charitable Trust.




Androgyne: The Union of Opposites Within
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Written by Michaele Alyras de Cygne.

© by de Cygne. All rights reserved.
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