Is There Gender Equity in Hermetic Qabalah?

Many people on various Pagan paths are drawn to study Qabalah, a form of Western mysticism. At first glance it may seem like a good fit. Qabalah includes both female and male divine images as part of the sefirot (Hebrew, plural; singular, sefirah), also called emanations, which occur on the Tree of Life, long a Goddess symbol. But a closer look at Qabalah reveals problems for those who seek gender equity in spiritual life, reject …

…her, among the snakes, is the head and shoulders of a crownless man. For, as we have come to understand, for example with the traditional Christian concept of Mary as passive, empty vessel, it does little good to incorporate the concept of the female/feminine in divinity, if that concept reinforces the stereotype of women as tinged by evil (which must be kept under control), and passive--empty vessels waiting to be filled by male "emanations."