When we hear the name Jeffrey Epstein, we think of abuse, power, corruption and moral decay. Of a man who was able to exploit young girls for years while a network of influential people looked away. Of elites protecting one another. Of a system that failed.
Jeffrey Epstein is dead.
But the dynamics that enabled him are still alive.
We speak of him as a monster, an exception, a deviation. That is reassuring. Because if he were an exception, then the world is essentially healthy. Then we only need to remove the rotten apple.
Saturday, March 7, 4:00 – 6:00 PM Amsterdam time (CET). WOMEN – the day before International Women’s Day. In this workshop, we will explore the masculine and feminine within ourselves. Also interesting for men.
See: https://systemic-ritual.com/online-circles-systemic-ritual/
But what if Epstein was not an anomaly?
What if he were merely a symptom?
And what if that symptom does not exist only “out there” — but also in you and in me?
To understand that, we have to look beyond individual guilt and examine the forces that shape our culture.
The Masculine and the Feminine – Yin and Yang
When I speak of the masculine and the feminine, I am not referring to men and women. I am speaking of fundamental energies within the human psyche and within civilisation itself. Yin and Yang are more neutral terms for these archetypal forces.
Yang — the archetypal masculine — is goal-oriented, rational, analytical, focused on control, distinction, efficiency, expansion and results. Yang structures, analyses and gives form. Without Yang, there would be no science, no infrastructure, no decisiveness.
Yin — the archetypal feminine — is receptive, relational, intuitive, connected to the whole, to the body, to emotional life, to rhythm and care. Without Yin, there would be no connection, no ethical boundaries, no space for the irrational or the spiritual, no art.
In their healthy form, Yin and Yang complement one another.
Yang creates structure. Yin moves with life.
Yang distinguishes. Yin connects.
Yang acts. Yin feels.
Yang without Yin becomes hard.
Yin without Yang becomes shapeless.
When these two are in balance, wholeness emerges.
When Yang detaches from Yin — purpose detaches from care, power from integrity, efficiency from humanity — a fundamental imbalance arises.
When Yin is not supported and grounded by Yang, it can manifest as feelings of victimhood, avoidance, indecision, passivity or moral superiority without action.
But in the context of abuse of power, the emphasis here lies on Yang without Yin.
A Culture of Yang Dominance
We live in a culture where Yang values dominate: growth, competition, efficiency, scalability, profit maximisation, status, control, manageability and productivity.
These values are not wrong in themselves. They become problematic when they are not balanced by Yin — by reverence for the whole, relational awareness, long-term responsibility and ethics.
A Yang culture without Yin focuses on parts rather than the whole.
It improves products and maximises profits, but does not consider the consequences.
It admires power, yet neglects integrity.
What is an archetypal disconnection at the psychological level, translates, at the societal level, into objectification. The concrete feminine body is reduced to a means, to property.
The consequences of Yang without Yin are visible in colonialism, imperialism, slavery, labour exploitation, ecological depletion, the climate crisis and war. The pattern is the same: expansion without limits. Growth without reflection. Power without integrity.
In a culture where Yin is structurally marginalised — where care, relational intelligence, intuition and long-term accountability are dismissed as “soft” or “irrational” — civilisation may become technically brilliant, yet morally fragile.
That is the soil in which Epstein was able to flourish.
Epstein as a Symptom of Imbalance
According to biographer Barry Levine, Epstein was able to continue his abuse for years because authorities looked the other way. Even after his conviction in 2008, he avoided a severe sentence through a plea deal negotiated by a powerful legal team and was allowed to continue working from his office. After his release, his activities resumed with little interference.
As Levine describes it, Epstein was “a collector of people.” The wealthier and more powerful someone was, the more he sought to bind them to him. Women were used as currency to gain access to influential men. In doing so, he gathered compromising knowledge about many of them. The mutual dependency within such networks made many vulnerable.
Even after his conviction, celebrities continued attending his gatherings. Status and networking appeared more important than moral distance. From such networks came deals, investments, opportunities.
What does that tell us?
That status can become more important than ethics.
That access to power can outweigh the protection of the vulnerable.
This is not merely individual failure. It is a collective failure. That does not absolve individuals of responsibility, but it helps explain how abuse can persist within respected circles. Not everyone is actively committing abuse. But the system valued influence more than integrity.
This stems from a societal structure marked by Yang dominance. A Yang-without-Yin system protects power, protects status — and ultimately protects itself.
When Yang is not restrained by Yin — by care, moral reflection and relational awareness — space opens for exploitation. Not because everyone is evil, but because self-interest outweighs the good of the whole.
Epstein fits this pattern. Girls became means. Networks became currency. Relationships became instrumental. Everything revolved around access, status and control.
Why Blame Is Not Enough
Abuses must be exposed. Perpetrators must be held accountable. That is beyond question.
The danger, however, is that we externalise the problem. We say: “That’s the elites.” “That’s corruption.” “That’s the top.”
But the system does not live only in institutions. It lives in the psyche.
As long as we insist that the problem lies in a single monster, we do not have to examine the underlying dynamic.
As long as we do not ask why networks continue functioning despite warning signs.
Why authorities look away?
Why status outweighs integrity.
Why economic and political interests prioritised over the protection of girls?
As long as that dynamic remains intact, a new “villain” will eventually emerge. Not because evil is inevitable, but because the breeding ground remains.
You and Me
The uncomfortable part is this: the system lives in us.
It shapes what we find impressive.
Whom we admire.
Beauty ideals
What we call success.
How we translate time into money.
How we prioritise comfort over humanity.
How we see land as property rather than as a living ecosystem.
How we undervalue women.
The patriarchal system — or, in archetypal terms, the dominance of unintegrated Yang — is not only political or economic. It is psychological. It lives in our choices, relationships and ambitions. It is not a male trait. It is an energy that can be embodied by both men and women.
Therefore, the solution is not only legal or political.
It is also internal.
Restoring balance between Yin and Yang means:
- connecting purpose with care;
- connecting structure with relationship;
- connecting power with integrity;
- connecting growth with limits;
- connecting rationality with intuition.
In a culture where Yin and Yang are in balance, structural exploitation would not find fertile ground. Power would be restrained by care. Networks would function as communities of responsibility.
Epstein was not an anomaly. He was an extreme expression of a deeper imbalance — as were the people around him.
If we truly want such stories to stop repeating themselves under different names and in different forms, we must address the underlying dynamic.
Restoring balance between Yin and Yang is not a policy measure. It is a cultural shift. And cultural change begins in awareness.
It requires systemic reflection:
Where in me thinks control is more important than connection?
Where in me fears exclusion, belonging to groups even when these don’t fit my values?
Where do I use relationships instrumentally?
Where do I admire power without questioning it?
Where do I choose comfort over courage?
This is not an accusation. It is maturation.
When Yin and Yang are integrated within the psyche, inner authority emerges — no longer dependent on external status. Then one can say “no” to a network that drifts into ethical compromise. Then integrity becomes more important than access.
Without that inner shift, every external reform remains fragile.
A slow, radical, collective work.
The work of you.
And of me.
And of us together.
Systemic Ritual and Systemic Constellations 