Now do not jump to the conclusion that we are teaching that there is a male and female God, or Creator.  That idea is merely a distortion of the ancient teachings on the subject.  The true teaching is that the all, in itself, is above Gender, as it is above every other Law, including those of Time and Space.  It is the Law, from which the Laws proceed, and it is not subject to them.  But when the all manifests on the plane of generation or creation, then it acts according to Law and Principle, for it is moving on a lower plane of Being.  And consequently it manifests the Principle of Gender, in its Masculine and Feminine aspects, on the Mental Plane, of course.

This idea may seem startling to some of you who hear it for the first time, but you have all really passively accepted it in your everyday conceptions.  You speak of the Fatherhood of God, and the Motherhood of Nature—­of God, the Divine Father, and Nature the Universal Mother—­and have thus instinctively acknowledged the Principle of Gender in the Universe.  Is this not so?

But, the Hermetic teaching does not imply a real duality—­the all is one—­the Two Aspects are merely aspects of manifestation.  The teaching is that The Masculine Principle manifested by the all stands, in a way, apart from the actual mental creation of the Universe.  It projects its Will toward the Feminine Principle (which may be called “Nature”) whereupon the latter begins the actual work of the evolution of the Universe, from simple “centers of activity” on to man, and then on and on still higher, all according to well-established and firmly enforced Laws of Nature.  If you prefer the old figures of thought, you may think of the Masculine Principle as god, the Father, and of the Feminine Principle as nature, the Universal Mother, from whose womb all things have been born.  This is more than a mere poetic figure of speech—­it is an idea of the actual process of the creation of the Universe.  But always remember, that the all is but One, and that in its Infinite Mind the Universe is generated, created and exists.

It may help you to get the proper idea, if you will apply the Law of Correspondence to yourself, and your own mind.  You know that the part of You which you call “I,” in a sense, stands apart and witnesses the creation of mental Images in your own mind.  The part of your mind in which the mental generation is accomplished may be called the “Me” in distinction from the “I” which stands apart and witnesses and examines the thoughts, ideas and images of the “Me.”  “As above, so below,” remember, and the phenomena of one plane may be employed to solve the riddles of higher or lower planes.

Is it any wonder that You, the child, feel that instinctive reverence for the all, which feeling we call “religion”—­that respect, and reverence for the father mind?  Is it any wonder that, when you consider the works and wonders of Nature, you are overcome with a mighty feeling which has its roots away down in your inmost being?  It is the mother mind that you are pressing close up to, like a babe to the breast.