The Tango Between Virtues and Sins 

We embark on the Kybalion’s Principle of Gender.  

“Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine principles; Gender manifests on all planes.”
— The Kybalion

This principle does not necessarily mean biological sex. In Hermetic philosophy, the Masculine means active, directive, initiating, penetrating, structuring and the feminine means receptive, generative, nurturing, incubating, and form-giving.  According to this philosophy every person, object, thought, system, and universe contains both.  Nothing is created by one force alone.  Creation requires a masculine impulse like an idea or an intention, mixed with a feminine matrix, such as space, receptivity, and gestation.  Without both, nothing comes into form.  This is perplexing to ponder.  What if the universe were created the same way humans create and reproduce?  We have been told the creator is this man sitting on a throne in the clouds with a thunderbolt. What if it were both male and female?  What if there were two creators? 

Using this philosophy in the mental plane, a thought is “conceived” when masculine intention enters the feminine subconscious.  The masculine is focused attention, direction, and decision, whereas the feminine is imagination, intuition, subconscious.  On the emotional plane, masculine is expression, assertion, and boundaries, while feminine is feeling, empathy, depth, and processing.  Emotional health comes from balance rather than dominance of one.  On the physical plane, masculine is structure, force, and movement, and feminine is form, matter, and containment.  For example, think about human creation from sperm to egg to the creation of a tree, a seed, which is masculine, put in the soil, which is feminine, equates to life.  On the creative plane, masculine is concept, design, and authorship, and feminine is material, embodiment, and execution.  A vision without embodiment stays abstract. Embodiment without vision lacks direction.  

True mastery comes from integrating both within oneself, not choosing sides.  Understanding that creation is relational, power without receptivity is sterile, and receptivity without direction is chaos.  The Kybalion teaches inner polarity, not hierarchy.  

For the past 5000 years, we have been taught that the masculine is superior and the feminine is passive.  Our species way of life has been far out of balance by brute force and control, without the patience and intuition of the feminine to guide it.  When we are in flow or any sort of harmony, there will be a rhythmic exchange between the two.   The Principle of Gender restores balance as intelligence.  When patriarchal systems fused religion with power, they distorted this principle by elevating the masculine force alone, authority without wisdom, control without creation. The feminine principle was suppressed, women’s bodies were (and still are today) hidden and then feared, regulated, or erased. What was once understood as a sacred, generative balance became a hierarchy: masculine over feminine, spirit over body, authority over intuition.

The current reclamation of women’s rights can be understood, through the Kybalion, not as a reversal of dominance but as a restoration of equilibrium. Women clawing back autonomy is the feminine principle reasserting its rightful place in creation—not in opposition to the masculine, but as its necessary counterpart. Until both principles are honored—within individuals, institutions, and belief systems—societies remain spiritually imbalanced. What we are witnessing is the slow alchemical correction of that imbalance: a return to wholeness rather than a fight for supremacy.  And every human on earth, especially those delightful ones who study our history, understands how far off balance we are.  Think of the current moment, the tyrants who rule the US, China, and Russia.  They are all land-grabbing other countries, such as Venezuela, Taiwan, Greenland, and Ukraine, for resources and leaving a dark path of human destruction in their wake.  These men are all tyrants, no different than the Hitlers, Mao’s, and Stalin’s from the past generations.  Just repeat history until we learn our lesson, which is to balance.  

The strongest and wisest of men lift women up to be beside them, for they know that, just like in parenting, a united partnership is how a child will succeed and thrive.  And the wisest of us all know everything starts with the feminine.  Everything starts in the womb.  

In my own life, the partnership my husband and I have built has been a living dance with this principle since the day we met. As a tomboy and as the firstborn “son” of my father, I learned early how to survive in masculine spaces. I sat in boardrooms with older Southern men who neither valued my opinion nor gave me the floor to speak. I learned to be quiet, to be furious internally, and to wait. My father put me in cigar rooms so I could smoke cigars and drink brandy with the boys—his way of preparing me for a world that did not yet know how to receive women. Fully embracing my masculinity to earn respect, I overcompensated. I became burned out, lost, and angry.

My husband, by contrast, was raised by a mother who ran her own company in a male-dominated world, alongside two sisters who helped shape him. His femininity taught him trust, intuition, and empathy—though he continues learning assertiveness. My masculinity taught him to push forward; his femininity taught me to soften. Together, we balanced.  Together, we created Thèria.  

When Justin—who has launched many successful brands—asked me if I wanted to build one with him, I told him I needed three days alone at a meditation retreat in Bali. From that solitude came the concept of Thèria, rooted in our family crest and woven with the people and values that matter most to us. Because my husband believed in me—believed in my mind, my art, my heart—I created. That belief was the most prolific gift I have ever received, second only to our son.

He insisted I have full ownership of the company. I resisted for a long time, because we are partners—equals, complementary in every way. Eventually, I understood. It was the same reason he took my last name. He believes that women being forced to take men’s names is an outdated concept, and he respects my father, who has two daughters.  We became Oltz-Green—OG—as a symbol of partnership.

It takes a strong man to stand up for women by giving them more space, not less. My father tried this with me, though his generation had fewer tools and language to do so fully.

Imagine a world where husbands believe in their wives, where fathers believe in their daughters, where women are supported in creative journeys they may not even dare to imagine until given permission. My husband gave me that permission. That is love beyond love.

From that love, I created. Our son is growing up witnessing equality in action. His respect for me will shape every relationship he has for the rest of his life, because everything is born through the interaction of intention and receptivity. Creation happens when the inner masculine meets the inner feminine.

As this is the final print in this series, let me end with this:

Like any enduring civilization, philosophy, or belief system, we begin with principles, commandments, the laws we strive to uphold.  

We are grateful you are part of our creation story.

Now, we go deeper into the next phase of creation.

With the dream that everyone may live intentionally and artfully.

With love and kindness,

The OG Thèria Family