6        The womb

The valley spirit never dies. It is called the mystical female.

The entrance to the mystical female is called the root of Heaven and Earth.

Though gossamer, as if barely existing, it is used but never spent.

The womb

Lao Tzu seems to allow himself a little play with words here. The Chinese word for valley can be translated gorge, and the word for female (of any species) also refers to a deep gorge. The word for mystical can be translated dark or deep. So, Lao Tzu describes a dark depth, from the entrance of which the whole world springs, like from a mother’s womb.

            No doubt, Lao Tzu implies the latter. The sign for entrance, also meaning gate or door, shows a swinging door, just like the one to the saloon in every western movie. In the context of this chapter, it is an intricate image, also suggesting the gate to a woman’s womb. Indeed, the latter is also a birthplace of tremendous significance.

            To Lao Tzu, the origin of the world is female, like a mother of any species. Heaven and Earth are rooted at the entrance to its womb, but there is a vast depth beneath the entrance, from which so much more can emerge. This mother of all is endlessly fertile, and continues to breed and nurture.

            Lao Tzu must mean that this mystical female is Tao, the Way. Again an intriguing imagery. The way to this primordial female leads into the dark gorge.

            The essence of the Way is as vague and fine as cobweb, because it is a principle, a natural law, with no substance of its own. That is why it lasts, no matter how much it is used. Like a formula.

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