There is now a situation where women are in danger of turning against men and seeing themselves as rivals rather than partners and co-creators with them. The #MeToo movement could run the risk of this. Maintaining the balance between the Yin of the Feminine Principle and the Yang of the Masculine one both within women and men and in society as a whole is essential if women are to move beyond their anger and men beyond their defensiveness against it.

But before this balance can be achieved, there is the huge task of raising woman’s awareness of her intrinsic and unrecognized value and, more specifically, the heart values she has carried for millennia. Even now, the ‘unskilled’ work of women carers who look after the old and disabled is not valued as highly as the ‘skilled’ work of women who work in journalism, politics or publishing. Even the title ‘unskilled’ is grossly offensive to women since their skill consists of the care they give to others. 

In our society in general, woman’s voice has not been listened to or valued for thousands of years, so putting her head above the parapet is a risk and a challenge. Women need the support of other women and the support of men who are in touch with the feminine aspect of their own nature and are able to give expression to it in their work and their relationships. The Feminine is about holding the caring values of the heart and the importance of relationship with all forms of life; the Masculine is about bringing these values into manifestation in the world. Ideally, these two archetypal principles need to be balanced in both men and women. This was one of the meanings of the alchemical work of squaring the circle.