by Wyrmwood

>  Is it a male thing to feel emotions only to temper them by thought?

I think that it is more that the emotions are usually only superficially felt in most men - and not understanding what they are feeling or why (ie if the emotions felt are complicated), then the emotions shift to readily identifiable emotions of anger, joy and frustration. This is just automatic, unless greater thought is given to what the deeper underlying emotions actually are (descriptive) and why they are occurring (understanding)

Because men are generally encouraged to suppress their emotions in our society rather than examine them (so as to understand them), they don't learn how to deal with difficult emotions, or how to understand deeper emotions, and shy away from them when they occur. This could be blamed almost for every unthinking, unfeeling man in society....maybe....

You can be a brave man and have emotions. You can be a emotionally strong man (and many men who do this are) if you embrace your emotions rather than suppress them. Not to the point of letting them throw you around, not the point of being super-sensitive to everything in life (and thus being a doormat for everyone else's issues and consequently emotionally weak), but understanding them and allowing them to happen - exploring how you feel, spending the time sussing it out. You can be a warrior and have emotions. You don't let them control you, but you don't ignore them either. To be an effective witch/magician/cunning man you need to be in touch with your emotions (as this is where some of the greatest connectedness with spirit can be found). And the greatest of all these emotions is Love.

Now 'love' as a word has little meaning. It is thrown around so much today in our society that it means everything from Lust to Friendship to the 'Love' of the universe. What does 'love' actually mean? IMO, it means many many things (and still not describe it accurately), but overall, it is a feeling, an emotion that runs throughout your body and influences how you interact with the world and other people. One great way to feel it is do a chakra meditation and especially focus on opening your heart chakra. When you are sure it is open and you are buzzing all over, imagine feeling like that every day and you would be taking a step towards understanding what 'love' is. However, I believe that understanding 'love' is a lifelong journey that even the greatest of spiritual masters have something to learn about it. And that also makes it one of the greatest of mysteries.

love and blessings,

Wyrmwood