Even though he is the one who popularized in the 20th century the notion of men’s feminine core, or anima, Carl Gustav Jung is not the first one who discussed this topic. As he himself acknowledged, gendering the soul in the opposite sense to the person’s outer identity is a recurrent theme in alchemical and mystical literature.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) was one of the most relevant figures of the Middle Ages. A fiery figure who employed his immense energy for several causes, some of which can only horrify us, such as his sponsoring of the Second Crusade. He even wrote a text in praise of the Knights Templars, the first Catholic order allowed to carry and use weapons, and spoke of the killing of Muslims who opposed the Crusaders as an “evil-cide” (malicidium) and a good action. He opposed Abelard and free inquiry, which he defined as lack of humility, and in general he seemed to like confrontation rather than appeasement and dialectical engagement.
Bernard was, however, also a main figure in the reform of the Benedictine order, which was taking place at his time, and established with others the Cistercians. These were monks who wanted to work with their own hands rather than exploiting the work of servants. They also praised and revered mystical experience, including the work of the Holy Spirit to whom they were especially devoted. Already a famous intellectual, Bernard recognized the gift of Hildegard of Bingen and helped secure papal approval for her and her writings.
I once wrote a paper titled “Men Are Really Women After All” in which I discussed the Sermons on the Song of Songs by Bernard. It was a fascinating study for me. Through the Sermons — written for the monks of whom he was the abbot — Bernard leads his male audience to an inner transformation which can only be described as an acknowledgement and growing of their inner feminine core.
Weeping, deep feeling, sighing and longing… these are all encouraged by Bernard, even though understood as feminine behaviors. Several Gospel female characters are cited in the Sermons as models for the monks, and almost never any men. The monk is the bride of the Song of Songs, and Jesus Christ is the bridegroom. But this is not just a rhetorical device; it is instead a passionate call.
At the beginning, the monk is called to deep humility, symbolized by kissing the feet of Jesus like the woman sinner in the Gospels, and weeping on such feet just like her. In successive stages, the monk is allowed to kiss the knees of Jesus, then his breast, and finally — hopefully but not certainly — his mouth, to signify complete union with the divinity. A fine line of interpretation would be to study the overt homoeroticism of the whole process, as the monk is, after all, a man. But what fascinated me was instead the very serious effort at turning each monk into a woman, or rather to let the feminine core of his personality expand.
The main idea is that monks cannot develop their soft core at an instant, but only through a very slow and painful process through which they shed at least certain components of their masculinity, mainly pride, and accept submission as the very first step of their training.
The description of the abbot — that is, of himself as well as the ideal abbot — is all the more suprising. He is called to develop breasts through which milk can flow and from which the monks can be nourished. This is explained as capacity to listen and offer consolation, as well as deep affection. The more a monk is advanced in his becoming the bride of Christ, the more he is a good candidate for becoming an abbot who will rule both with severity (masculine quality) and lenience (feminine quality) according to the circumstances. Clearly, however, the masculine qualities are presupposed, while the feminine ones are to be cherished and developed.
In all of this, Bernard does not speak fondly of real women — save for exceptionally gifted ones such as Hildegard — and occasionally has misogynistic expressions. Bernard was also known for his flourishing hymns to Mother Mary, whose supernatural milk he supposedly drank in a vision. But a full picture of his devotion must include his ideal of producing himself enough milk to feed others, and be a mother to them.
I wonder also if his love for the Knights Templar is to be understood as a balance for the excesses of his own monastic ideal, or just another version of it. Consider that Bernard himself was going to become a knight before he chose to become a monk instead. In his suggestions to the Knights Templar, he writes that they should arm themselves inwardly with faith and externally with iron. Again, the inner-outer dialectic.
I am not sure what lesson we could derive from Bernard’s Sermons on the Song of Songs, except that the issue of the core female identity of men is not new or necessarily progressive. It has been used within a quite patriarchal system by Bernard. Did his preaching to his monks create good men or odd neurotic folks? Or something in between? He himself can easily be described as a hysteric, though one who moved mountains. By the way, his Sermons on the Song of Songs were one of the most copied books before the invention of the press, comparable only to the Bible. For sure, his arguments were considered impressive.
What is the main difference between Bernard and Jung? Surely Jung did not dispose of the tremendous direct amount of power and influence on people as Bernard did. Obviously, Jung was not the leader of a religious community, and he did not intend his ideas as dogmas. But I found it fascinating that they both worked on the same topic, that is, on the idea that men would do well if they developed their inner femininity.
Banner Image: “Anima, the Love of Life.” Image by Sinned-angel-stock shared by Alice Popkorn on Flickr. Gradient background added.
Queries for Contemplation
What do you make of Bernard’s suggestions? Do they portend a utopia or a dystopia?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
The Hidden Spirituality of Men: Ten Metaphors to Awaken the Sacred Masculine
Meister Eckhart: A Mystic Warrior for Our Time
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Hildegard of Bingen’s Book of Divine Works: With Letters & Songs
Charles Burack, ed., Matthew Fox: Essential Writings in Creation Spirituality
2 thoughts on “The Feminine Core of Men”
G.G., I like your essay. Very provocative in the most positive sense of the word. It is said that Jesus had the soul of a woman in the body or a man. Experience presents stern mothers and indulgent fathers as well as effeminate men and manly women. I read that Indigenous Tribes honor persons with two souls, extraordinary people who combine both male and female qualities. Biology reveals androgenous creatures of many kinds as typical, not exceptional.
Reproduction can bring bisexual creatures, a sign of God’s panoramic creativity, not a grievous accident. Rarity can be celebrated and contemplated. Paul wrote that in Christ there is no male or female. John the evangelist wrote that, in the future, we don’t know how we’ll be transformed, but thus we’ll be enabled to know Christ as he is.
I struggle with these topics, having always occupied the space between masculine and feminine. It’s difficult for me to discern what is typically male or typically female behavior. I know very nurturing and loving men, and I know very aggressive and angry women.
I don’t have a reasoned argument for this, but my intuition tells me we are evolving into androgyny, or at least some portion of us humans are. My personal meditations and spirituality transcend gender. The archetypes of “masculine” and “feminine” are still quite strong, but there’s a new one emerging between them that is much more balanced. That is where I choose to live.
That said, the masculine archetype is in “hysterical” mode these days in some power circles and it would do us all good to infuse that energy with softer qualities. But how??
The image that keeps coming to my mind is that of a forest after a big fire. We can focus on the sadness of the burned, twisted, and tortured old growth which will not survive, or we can marvel at and nurture the emerging green shoots at our feet. I think the change we seek will come from the roots in due time. It’s already happening. Just look at how the younger generations are manifesting gender today!