In a time of pervasive gender dysphoria, it would probably be prudent to maintain a high level of silence on such a charged topic. Would it be responsible? I never see myself as an old fogey, but then there are not many mirrors in my world!
This is such a complex subject that it is hard to know where to start. We are all both yin and yang; and, truth be told, we should aspire to a level of balance so that we can express both energies gracefully.
Yin is magnetic and yang is radiatory. In the late seventies, I published on this in international journals.
Creation is a projection and therefore causal, but nothing comes into manifestation without receptivity. Yin has the option of integrating or rejecting the influences that attract or offend her. So, yes, yin is feminine and yang is masculine, but each chakra spins in the opposite direction of the one above or below so it is entirely possible to feel yinish in one chakra and yangish in another.
The chakras are associated with endocrine glands and the trigger mechanism is normally in the aura and chakras, not the physical body.
If the subject matter is narrowed to gender, then pheromones would trigger distinct responses in specific individuals, meaning not everyone would respond in the same way to the same catalyst. Think of body language, perfumes, sounds, and we realize what turns on one person may actually be offensive to another.
We have inherent preferences and aversions based on the memories we bring into incarnation, and one very strong association is often with what we might call success or social status. In most cultures, males were more celebrated for their achievements than females. This said, many women may be very content in roles that they find satisfying, such as homemaking, looking after family members, and enjoying the love and praises of those who appreciate the safety of devotion.
Some people might never have experienced these emotions so they have sought rewards in the outer world, a world that is much more competitive and hierarchical than inclusive and bonding. This is again a dichotomy because yin is integrative and yang is more individualistic.
Sex is determined by chromosomes so whether or not one is XX or XY remains constant regardless of whatever preferences a person may have at any particular time in life. What is happening at this time in our world is that many chemicals act as hormone disruptors that very often exaggerate the influence of “fake” female hormones, xenoestrogens.
When this was first reported in fish, I flirted with the idea that the world would become a softer place if estrogen competed with testosterone for dominance. It is however not this simple.
With fish, it was found that male fish were not developing the reproductive organs necessary for sustaining the species. In this particular instance, it was fish, not the canary in the coal mine, who signaled a warning.
The first transgender person I saw clinically was born a female and was transitioning to becoming a male. In those days, extensive protocols were followed such as psychological and psychiatric counseling which at no time raised the question as to future partnering aspirations or intentions. I was dumbfounded that anyone considering gender reassignment surgery was never asked about dating or partnering preferences and the role they would play in the future.
The process involved little steps in the direction of becoming the opposite gender, like dressing as the other gender, using restroom facilities for the other gender, getting used to social responses when people see the person, such as a male rather than female. Then, synthetic hormones are introduced. In this case, they had the undesirable side effect of contributing to acne. This is because the body recognizes the hormones as foreign and tries to eliminate them, a process that one would expect to go on indefinitely because the immune system is supposed to monitor what is exogenous and, in its opinion, undesirable.
This was the ostensible reason for consulting me. The problem was that anything I could think of that might address the acne would most likely also affect the beard the client was trying to grow.
Up to this point, all the preparatory actions are reversible, meaning that if they were suspended, the person would revert to the former self, perhaps with the added insights of three years of psychotherapy.
However, once the doctors have signed off on the patient’s desire to change genders, the procedures are not reversible. Worse, the amount of surgery involved is truly extensive. All surgery involves disturbance of meridians and energy flow, and sometimes many complications and unknowns.
In theory, the adult making these decisions is determined, well-informed, and mature enough to understand the ramifications of loss of body parts and various indeterminate health risks.
However, when the procedures are undertaken before puberty, there are countless additional factors to consider, not the least of which is that the hormones of the reproductive system cap the ends of bones so that they stop elongating. At what age should these hormones be active?
As an opera fan, I had occasion to study castrati, and came to understand that to preserve the soprano voice, the procedure had, of course, to be done before puberty. The person would then be tall and have extremely long vocal cords which would dazzle audiences . . . as shown in the brilliant film Farinelli.
For those who have not studied the production of the film, it took audio specialists about four years to create the merger of a male and female voice. The soprano voice is that of E. Małas-Godlewska and this was merged with the voice of Derek Lee Ragin, a counter tenor. Unlike Stefano Dionisi who played Farinelli in the film, the historic singer was “unusually tall” and this was confirmed by exhumation in 2006.
Castration was, sadly, a very common practice so many people may actually have been through this horrifying experience in one or more past lives. Besides the effort to save the beautiful purity of a boy’s voice, eunuchs were put in charge of harems and captives were castrated as a form of humiliation. This was the case of Admiral Zheng He that I have mentioned from time to time in relationship to exploration and Chinese foreign policy. In 1381, he was captured and castrated by the Ming Armies who were fighting Mongols. He was ten at the time.
Likewise, there have been women who cross-dressed to avoid being tried for witchcraft or other zealous forms of persecution or subjugation. It is very likely that many women not only took male pseudonyms but may have lived decades in which hiding their identities preserved their lives.
My own experience as someone who has done astrological readings for thousands of people and facilitated regressions for some is that we do always incarnate with residuals of past lives. There may be positive and negative associations with each lifetime. We are also deeply impacted by our family experiences and will almost always favor one parent over the other. In times in which couples both have to work to make ends meet, some traditional roles have been redefined; and sometimes bonding is incomplete so behavior is so objectionable that one or both parents fail to meet the needs of the children.
Though it may sound cold, on some level, we chose to be born when and where we find ourselves so the mature approach would be to seek insight into what we can learn from the experiences we have had. If we complete this work, we may accept our pre-birth choices, or we may want to make changes, but from a position of self-knowledge and understanding.
In my professional opinion, no child is mature enough to make a decision about gender preferences. Playing games in which one pretends to be a cowboy or pilot or Santa Claus is one thing, but surgical transformation is a very big decision that should only be contemplated by an adult who has thoroughly explored all the medical and psychological ramifications of change. It is entirely possible that some people will function better in the opposite gender than their birth choice, but many will come to see that fads and social pressures affected them adversely when they were too young to understand what they were doing.
Copyright by Dr. Ingrid Naiman || All Rights Reserved
Images:
Yin Yang: Gunung Kawi | Dreamstime.com
I remember seeing the Farinelli film years ago and it deeply affected me. It is so beautiful and so sad at the same time. Why must beauty be achieved by such mutilation? I could not make sense of it then.
Your post has awoken the unanswered question. Why does one have to go through mutilation of the body to achieve a fleeting sense of beauty?
I suspect the culprit of our suffering is hidden within the principle of duality that we are born into and accept as truth in this dimension. Everything in this world is based upon the entanglement of opposites including the creative forces Yin and Yang.
Albert Einstein was disturbed by the phenomenon of entanglement in quantum physics, being unable to accept this as truth.
Indeed, is it not the form of ultimate torture to be two opposites existing within one?
This duality theme also made me think of Mercury in homeopathy. Homeopathic provings of Mercury show that this element is associated with deep bleeding wounds. Taken further, its essence is connected to the deepest wound, or CUT, or schism within the mental and physical body of ONE.
Coming back to male and female aspects of ONE within duality, there is fission between the two instead of fusion, causing the deepest confusion of Identity, which in turn causes all the torturous expressions we see in an attempt to resolve this (corrupt information on the level of the principle of our existence.)
Here is a relevant article called “Some thoughts about Mercury” by renowned homeopath Misha Norland (http://www.schoolofhealth.com/docs/SOH/Articles/Some_Thoughts_about_Mercurius.pdf.)
Lana,
As usual, you pose such deep and interesting questions.
Let's reword part of your first paragraph. The beauty was there so the goal was to preserve it, not to allow hormones to slay the purity of divine voice. Think of Pie Jesu and how it is sung by a boy soprano.
This however is a judgment, is it not? The divine is perceived in the high notes, and devil is a bass, but it need not be so. One of the most extraordinary music therapy sessions I facilitated gave the result that hearing the male and female voices in harmony helped her to sort out a lifelong problem with the opposite sex. If we can sustain the harmony, we will probably experience immortality.
Mercury is one of the most extraordinary substances because it amalgamates with other metals and then separates with just a little heat. Out of this interaction, we find gold. If mercury drops one electron, it becomes gold. Purified mercury has incredible alchemical benefits. I took it to stop bleeding after Fukushima. I had numerous hemorrhages, profuse nose bleeds. This was also the most common symptom of children in Japan after Fukushima. People were focused on changes in the thyroid, but the reality was that children were having nosebleeds almost every day.
Your mind is extraordinary and your thoughts are precious. I appreciate that you take the time to share your thoughts.