A question on gendered souls, metaphysics, philosophy, and the occult

[Maponos]

TL;DR: Do you believe in gendered souls? If yes, what sort of evidence do you use to support this belief?

(Coming back after a very long hiatus.)

Hello everyone. I have recently restarted my own spiritual journey and it has been wonderful, enlightening, and very, very, strenuous on my own psyche.
I have been studying theurgy, and through theurgy, I was introduced to Iamblichus of the Neoplantonic school of metaphysics, polytheism, and philosophy. At first, I was quite excited to find out there was an entire greater metaphysical and philosophical school dedicated to the ancient polytheism of antiquity and, after a few misunderstandings of some core concepts and having them correctly explained to me once more, I have begun to study Iamblichus's (and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Proclus's) Neoplatonism as I find that his believes match many of my own.

However, a question that has been bothering me most recently (in an ongoing series of such questions) is that of the gender of the soul. For much of my own life, I had no issue in believing that the soul had a gender that was reflected by the body. It is the most natural explanation, especially if one take a more positive and immanently divine view of the world. If matter reflects the divine and the divine is reflected in matter, should not then the soul be likewise the same?
It appears, however, that many more serious occult practitioners do not necessarily believe in a gendered soul. Those who believe it does not seem to hold similar beliefs in the more transcendent divine as opposed to the immanent divinity that I typically believe in. Really, I believe in both, and I assume many of them fall on a similar scale, but that very same scale is tipped heavily towards the transcendent. Because of this more transcendent view, I believe that many of them believe the higher astral planes to be completely immaterial, and thus lacking such qualities or classifications.
This point I very much disagree with. If we are reflections of the divine, then the parts of ourselves that express these categories are reflective of that same divinity. It's where there are gods and goddesses. The male and female principles throughout creation. (Does this make me a Materialist?) Though I suspect those of the transcendent camp have an answer for that.

More importantly though is why I feel strongly about this subject. In fact, I never thought much about it before simply because I accepted it for what it is. I am gay and had a very difficult time accepting that fact. I grew up in complete denial. Like many young gay men, I was attracted to slightly more feminine things when I was younger and always wanted to hang out with female friends, play female characters in game, read about female characters, etc. However, when I accepted my own homosexuality, it was as if I was rubbing sand from my eyes and seeing the day-lit sky for the first time. I came to be at complete peace with my gender and accepted all masculine things then, though I maintain a more Mercurial personality. Being at such profound peace with who I am allowed me to simply accept that I have a male soul, but has caused confusion with those who do not believe in gendered souls.

With that out of the way, I am searching high and low in occult and metaphysical spaces for evidence to support my own beliefs about this topic (as well as my own experiences). If anyone would be so kind, please do let me know if you agree with my beliefs and have evidence supporting it. I am quite voraciously reading many things at the moment.

 

[CharmingOwl]

I don't think souls have a gender just that they have feminine or masculine energy which may bias them towards a certain gender when they physically incarnate or choose a form to present themselves.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

My concept of "soul" is the underlying pattern of the Universe that creates the thing that is an individual's unique experience.

(Not so different from the Neoplatonic ideal if one is willing to stretch that idea a bit!)

In that way, yes, a soul could be "gendered" since gender is part of the experience.

 

[Ella S.]

The Stoics had quite a complex anatomy of the soul, but the chief idea among their approach to the soul was attempting to understand it as something material. Being composed of matter, many Stoics were skeptical about an afterlife at all, instead entertaining the idea of eternal oblivion. (Not all of them, but some of them)

It's worth noting that the word for "soul" and the word for "mind" was the same to the early Stoics. Both were referred to as "psyche." So the Stoics identified the soul with the mind and speculated that the mind was ultimately material.

The precise details of the mechanisms they hypothesized behind this material mind have not held up to scientific scrutiny over the years. However, the idea that the mind is material and physically placed within the body has not gone away. We see this idea being treated very seriously in modern neuroscience.

You know what else is being treated seriously in modern neuroscience? Gender in a neuropsychiatric sense separate from anatomical or chromosomal sex.

So in that sense, I believe in gendered souls.

 

[Maponos]

The Stoics had quite a complex anatomy of the soul, but the chief idea among their approach to the soul was attempting to understand it as something material. Being composed of matter, many Stoics were skeptical about an afterlife at all, instead entertaining the idea of eternal oblivion. (Not all of them, but some of them)

It's worth noting that the word for "soul" and the word for "mind" was the same to the early Stoics. Both were referred to as "psyche." So the Stoics identified the soul with the mind and speculated that the mind was ultimately material.

The precise details of the mechanisms they hypothesized behind this material mind have not held up to scientific scrutiny over the years. However, the idea that the mind is material and physically placed within the body has not gone away. We see this idea being treated very seriously in modern neuroscience.

You know what else is being treated seriously in modern neuroscience? Gender in a neuropsychiatric sense separate from anatomical or chromosomal sex.

So in that sense, I believe in gendered souls.

I've been meaning to read in to Stoicism but my theurgic practices all but demand I study Iamblichean Neoplatonism. Not that I follow it exclusively or completely, but I find he and I share many similar beliefs.

The main difference between Neoplatonism and Stoicism, I believe, is the materialism of Stoicism which I find very interesting, especially as it relates to gendered souks.

The last line is most fascinating. Gender being seperatw from both anatomy and chromosomes would heavily imply that it runs far deeper than we could possibly imagine at this state. I am clearly not well read on this subject, but I certainly intend on it now.

 

[Maponos]

My concept of "soul" is the underlying pattern of the Universe that creates the thing that is an individual's unique experience.

(Not so different from the Neoplatonic ideal if one is willing to stretch that idea a bit!)

In that way, yes, a soul could be "gendered" since gender is part of the experience.

A very interesting take on it something that I could see in a Neoplatonic lense (though I myself am just a neophyte, really).

How one experiences reality is incredibly important and why I revealed my own personal experience and why this topic matters so much to me.

This pattern, as you say, is clearly visible to me at a human level and I see it replicated the higher in order of being one sees.

I've received pushback from some Neoplatonic scholars in that they believe the soul is not gendered but I believe it is due more in part to their own personal politics and perception than it has to do with Neoplatonism, though there are certainly conflicts opinions between the ancient Neoplatonists.

I don't think souls have a gender just that they have feminine or masculine energy which may bias them towards a certain gender when they physically incarnate or choose a form to present themselves.

That is a sensible approach and not entirely out of the realm of my own perception.