I don't know if your book is more about the traditional judaic kabbalah, I'm not too familiar with that to comment, but I think it has some differences compared with kabbalah that tarot is involved with.
I agree Sam ... and I can assure you, quite a few traditional mystical Rabbis would agree too .... some state you cant comprehend Kabbalah without being Jewish. Technically, what we are talking about here is 'Hermetic Kabbalah' ... its a bit of a chimerical beast .... I doubt the 'traditional Judaistic Kabbalah' would 'approve' of our tarot associations to it !
But yes, Gevurah is feminine as it sits in the pillar of severity.
I get what you mean .... but it also looks like ; 'the feminine is severe ' . The other pillar, termed ' mercy ' would then be 'masculine ' . For many, this seems a reversal (think of the traditional roles in the family of mother and father ... yes, I realise I am being old school ... so are many of the concepts in Kabbalah ) .
Hence, this has been a 'kabbalistic contention' for some time in Hermetic Kabbalah. My take is that the 'crown' of those pillars define them, the left hand pillar is 'feminine' as it is topped by Binah - a distinctly feminine aspect ( Holy Spirit , Sophia, The Great Mother, The Great Sea, etc . ) The Other pillar is topped by Chokmah .... on the right, a male column .
Some say, below the abyss the qualities are reversed , so the feminine, intuitive, emotive Venusian Netzach is on the right , while the Sephiroth in the other column on that level is Hod, Mercurial, intellectual, investigative, analytical and under Binah (female) and Geburah / Mars (male ) - they also compare this to human physiology where the left hand brain hemisphere controls the right side of the body and visa versa .
To me, generally, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus can have 'yin aspects' and Chokmah, Mars, Mercury can have 'yang' aspects .....
..... at times 'feminine and masculine ' seem too loaded , yin and yang see better, for a reference see this ;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_and_yang#Yin_.2869.29_Yang_Principle_Table
If one just sees the top triad (only ) as a mirror reflection and the rest of the Tree the same (or visa versa ), it eliminates a whole lot of confused 'justifications' IMO.
This is general and simplified of course ... each has some of the other ... look at the ying yang symbol , the dark has some light and the light has some dark .... actually, this may explain in other way what I mean .... the light small circle in the dark half of the yin/yang can be seen as the Chokmah crown over the 'dark' pillar and the 'darkness' of Binah can be seen as the small dark circle in the white side.
Hope that makes sense ...... 'cause I just made that up
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But this feminine quality isn't some "touchy feely" kind
, but more fierce. For me, it helps to think all the warrior goddesses of old mythologies, like Sekhmet.
Thats another way of looking at it too. Yes, the use of 'feminine' can be 'loaded' with dominant cultural or temporal concepts .... yin/yang seems better IMO.
We need to realise, each of us, man and woman has both qualities in varying proportions.
Can I focus for a moment on 'severity' and 'mercy' the titles of those pillars ? For me there is a great lesson in this, as outlined in Liber Librae ( originally a Golden Dawn document 'On the development of the soul ' ) ;
" Remember that unbalanced force is evil; that unbalanced severity is but cruelty and oppression; but that also unbalanced mercy is but weakness which would allow and abet Evil. "
http://hermetic.com/crowley/libers/lib30.html
And you are right, with more reading you're able to add to your understanding. This knowledge will be built on layers upon layers.
I agree. Eventually, one finds then that it can have real and benevolent APPLICATION in one's life. That then can be a 'pearl of great price' .
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Nine-Dragon_Screen-2.JPG