I was scrolling through a reel today and saw a popular spiritual leader being asked a fundamental question: Why are most gurus male? His answer was smooth, almost poetic. He said that being a guru is "beyond the physical body," that it’s a "state of being within." It’s the kind of answer that is true in a spiritual sense. But as I sat with it, it started to feel like something else: spiritual gaslighting.

Although that answer resonates in a higher spiritual plane, and I can understand his take on the question, it still seemed as though he dismissed her question and gaslit her (the questioner). Yes, I am aware of women who have been spiritual teachers; there are enough to name who were renowned in history and still today. But the position of these women can vary from that of the men. Historically, women weren't taught yoga, and tantra was looked down upon.

As an eco-socialist feminist and a practitioner of Tettetu (Kemetic Esoteric), I offer my perspective. The spiritual leader’s answer is a classic example of using "spiritual bypassing" to avoid addressing systemic power structures. By claiming that being a guru is "beyond the body," he uses a metaphysical truth to silence a sociological reality. While it is spiritually true that the soul or consciousness has no gender, the bodies that are allowed to sit on the pedestal, the bodies that are given resources, and the bodies that are historically granted the title of "Guru" have been overwhelmingly male due to patriarchal gatekeeping.

History & Intersectional Values

By shifting the focus from access to essence, it allows for personal accountability to be justified while ignoring the systematic structure. In a patriarchal society, you usually need a male body to be allowed the space to reach or teach that "state of being." For centuries, women were barred from formal Vedic education and the Gurukul system.

To hit on the exact theological blind spot that many modern spiritual teachers have: By separating the spiritual from the physical and calling the physical irrelevant, they are actually operating from a dualistic mindset, which is ironic, because most claim to be teaching non-duality.

The Erasure of Biological Altar & The Feminine

Tantra was one of the few spaces where women were not only included but often centered as the initiators (the Yoginis). Even in Kemetic spirituality, there was a point in time when women weren’t allowed to be priestesses because they menstruated; even for Het-Heru! I've seen people differentiate (dual) when it's convenient. Yes, we all have feminine energy that needs to be awakened (that’s how it’s taught in tettetu), but the physical manifestation of this energy is the female body. in tantra sects, the body of a woman, specifically the vulva, was worshipped.

In the Het-Heru temple of Dendera, her head resembles a uterus. The knot of Isis (tyet/tet) was a mystical symbol of the vulva/vagina. So to have this rigid view of the body being unimportant isn’t accurate, even in ancient times before the Vedic period of India and the later period kingdom of Kemet. In Kemet, you can also find symbolic gestures of the phallus. The Temple of Het-Heru (Dendera) is designed to mirror the female anatomy. The architecture itself says that the Uterus is the Holy of Holies. If the physical body were "unimportant," the ancients wouldn't have carved it into the very stone of their most sacred sites.

The Body Is The Temple

It isn't just an abstract "feminine" concept; it is a literal representation of the reproductive power, often associated with the "blood of Isis." In Kemetic science, the physical was the Hehet (the manifest) reflecting the Heh (the infinite).

In authentic Tettetu, the vulva is the base/foundation. To worship is to acknowledge that the "Unseen" chooses a specific gateway to enter the "Seen." By dismissing the female body, modern gurus are essentially trying to keep the "Light" (wisdom) while throwing away the "Lamp” (source).

There is no Ptah without Sekhem, and the feminine art of tettetu uses the divine feminine and her essence to translate into the metaphysical, which was seen as a woman. The physical component is the gross vibration of the subtle unseen. There is no way of getting out of that realization (for me). Because I practice tettetu, it is all divine, the physical and metaphysical. male, woman, and the unseen. Stemmed from the same source.

Convenient Duality & New Age Dilution

In today's patriarchal, capitalistic society, the masculine (and the divine masculine in spirituality) has been pushed to the forefront. In new age spirituality, they often speak of the divine masculine and feminine in relation to the body only, yet haven’t cultivated their inner sanctum, which is also diluted of what it truly means.

The "inner sanctum" is the resonance chamber.

The Masculine/Phallic: Represents the Vector/Intent—the direction of the frequency.
The Feminine/Uterine: Represents the Void/Vessel—the space where the frequency is amplified and birthed into matter.

When society only values the "forefront" (the masculine vector), we get a world of pure "doing" and "expansion" without "being" or "nurturing." This is why I see my eco-socialist feminist framework is so vital, it demands that we return to the "Uterus" (the Earth/The Source) as the primary provider and protector, rather than be governed by the "Phallus" (the ego/the hierarchy).

Reclaiming Dense Matter As Divine

As a musician who understands frequency, I know that a sound wave doesn't exist in a vacuum; it requires a medium to vibrate through. You cannot have the "unseen" frequency without the "seen" resonance. In my view, the body, including menstruation, isn't a "stain" or an "obstacle"; it is a specific vibrational state.

The historical ban on priestesses (even for a goddess of joy and fertility like Het-Heru) reveals a fear of the raw power of the feminine cycle. Menstruation is the physical manifestation of the life-death-rebirth cycle. To call it "unclean" is to reject the very Sekhem that powers the universe.

Image of Sekhem, personified as Sekhmet Behind Ptah.

As I said, "There is no Ptah without Sekhem." Ptah is the consciousness (the silence), but Sekhem is the vibration (the music). Without Sekhem, Ptah is inert (the unmanifest). If the physical is the "gross vibration of the unseen," then how we treat the earth (eco), how we organize our labor and resources (socialism), and how we treat the feminine (feminism) are all spiritual acts.

Ancient wisdom didn't teach us to transcend our bodies; it taught us that the body is a portal. The feminine art of Tettetu uses the divine essence of the female form to translate the metaphysical into the physical. Consciousness (the silence) is paralyzed without Vibration (the manifest).

Sacred Reality

Tantric & Tettetu philosophy is body-affirmative. It teaches that the physical world is a real, tangible manifestation of Sekhem (divine energy). Because the creator and the creation are one, the body is considered a temple for the divine. The body is seen as a "mini-universe." Every law, deity, and cosmic power existing in the macrocosm is believed to be present within the individual human body. By studying and "tuning" the body, one understands the entire cosmos.

Unlike ascetic traditions that seek to escape the body, Tettetu uses it as a tool.

Experience as Teacher: You gain enlightenment through bodily experience (senses, breath, and energy), not by denying them.
The Vessel: Without the body, the soul has no platform to perform the practices (like Arit Sekhem Smai Tawi) required for spiritual realization.

In Tetteu, Ma’at is redefined. It is not a "lie" that hides the truth, but the creative power of the Divine Mother. The only isfet (chaos, illusion) is the belief that you are only a separate, limited physical body rather than the infinite consciousness experiencing that body.

“The body is a divine instrument; wake up within it." - Erika Hartgrove

Eco-Socialist Feminism Integration

From an eco-socialist perspective, we have to look at access. If the "state of being" is all that matters, why do male bodies hold the vast majority of land, wealth, and "guru" titles?

By claiming gender is irrelevant, these leaders protect a patriarchal status quo. From an eco-feminist standpoint, the same logic used to dominate the Earth, viewing "matter" as something "lesser" to be transcended, is the logic used to marginalize women. We are told the "spirit" (transcendent) is superior to the "earth/body" (feminine/immanent).

True spirituality requires us to acknowledge that we are both the Source and the Manifestation. Like my perfume blends, where I mix oil and water, two seemingly opposing elements, we are a unified field of different densities.

Final Vibration

We don't need to transcend our womanhood, our cycles, or our physical reality to be spiritual. We need to realize that our physical existence is the highest technology of the Divine.

The next time a leader tells you that your body is "just an illusion" to explain away your exclusion, remember: The "Gross" is just as holy as the "Subtle." We are the music and the instrument, and it is time we took our place at the front of the stage.

The Holy Instrument: A Holistic View of The Body & Spirituality