Based on his experience of his own marriage of more than 50 years, Male and Female is Baruch Urieli's important contribution to the sociological and political minefield of gender studies. Taking a spiritual approach, Urieli shows how differences between male and female can be explained by the concept of 'complementary etheric bodies'. This differentiation creates a need for the opposite sex, enabling the ultimate creativity of procreation to take place. He describes all this in the context of marriage as an archetypal human relationship.

Beginning with the threads of the male and female elements in cosmic evolution, the author studies the mythological and Judaic-Christian traditions, culminating in the present situation of the sexes within contemporary western culture. From the traditions of the past and the chaos of the present, he looks to the future with hope and promise.

Building on his previous book, Learning to Experience the Etheric World, Urieli develops the theme of "empathy" as a guiding star for male-female relationships based on inter-recognition, inter-acceptance and inter-dependence. Through the ever-increasing power of empathy it will become possible for individuals and couples increasingly to perceive their true destiny, thereby bringing new order into this realm of human and world evolution.

BARUCH LUKE URIELI is a retired priest of the Christian Community and a long-standing member of the Camphill movement, which has many centres around the world for people with special needs.