Feminine isn’t passive, she is the life force

In one of the paths of the tantras, the indian spiritual tradition taught from the sanskrit tantras, which has nothing to do with popularised, and usually linked, notion of superlative sexual experience is not what I am talking about nor is it Tantra. What I offer, to us as women, is a unique, insightful window into the aspects of the divine feminine. To recognise the power as feminine is soul lifting as it is to also recognise that something like yoga, a practice which through much altered forms, can be traced back to the Tantrik tradition.  Which is not purely a physical practice but one of wisdom teachings, ritual and workship, mystical and mediative practices and daily practices.

True Feminine essence is not love and light

Let’s just say this, the Yoga texts are complex, the feminine form is complex, and in reality, there is a big gap in the reality of how medieval hatha yoga’s actually lived and practiced. For example, like, the earth that nourishes the roots and philosophies by which yoga is developed is very rich. It comprises many different soils. All mixed together, including vedic,  sharmanic traditions and early tantra and a complex network of Indian Hindu and Buddhist traditions. So for simplification, I have drawn my writings from the teachings of two sources, both from the tantrika traditions.

And it’s this perspective that approaches the practice from a place of non-dualism (Advaita). Non separateness. Wholeness. Not two, not one. Interconnectedness. 

So with this concept, what if I challenged you to think of looking deeply into the energies at play in the world, as pure creative, the life giving force behind all evolution and change within our world, essentially from an inner feminine source. It’s not outside of us. It’s not separate. Just like your toes aren’t separate from your foot, and your ear isn’t either, it’s part of the greater whole.

From the tantrika perspective, all of our biological activity is feminine. The power behind the breathe, the heartbeat, the energy which fires our muscles, the impulse behind our thoughts. And to breathe Kundalini energy, the hidden power of spiritual awakening.

So practising with the goddesses gives us a direct connection to the inner force that can transform the consciousness itself.

In the teachings of Sally Kempton, “goddess energy” comes alive when we envoke and call in the qualities, as if living, breathing, feeling, palatable beings, whether we see them as internal archetypes or as personalities.

The goddesses embody transformative power, especially power to kindle the spiritual energy in each of us, the soul making energy that lets us awaken to our true self. In this tradition, there is powerful set of 10  goddesses called the Dasa Mahadavidyas, the Maha Devis, for whom we can turn to in practice through imagination, meditation, intention, devotional practice/external ritual, chant and so forth. (NB, Goddess in Yoga have many forms or incarnations and story, this is my interpretation).

One of my favourites is the union of Shiva and Pavarti, mother of Ganesha and the divine yogini, – she isn’t technically a Mahi Devi because of her Union with Shiva and her consort, she rides a Tiger!). Anyway, one way to discover both the richness of our deeper self, and the invisible “help” of the goddesses is the learn about them.

So who are they?

The Great Goddesses

In this series on Awakening Shakti, the Goddesses of Yoga, we will touch the edges and learn about 4 of the 10 transformative goddess to awaken your connection to the elements of “Deity yoga”.

These are divided into two groups in my mind,

the fierce and the relatively, tame.

And the important references to these goddesses, is that they relate, in sequence to the evolution of a woman’s lifeforce, life stage, regardless of if she suckles children, has a partner, or not, and these are those goddesses that are essentially independent of male consorts, unlike other incarnations of the goddesses in Yoga. As with energy work, it is perfectly possible to view the experiences of motherhood, without birthing physically as transformation, which occurs in the consciousness of a woman.

It’s the inner world of the woman which can felt in the symbolic representations of the goddesses, their capacity to destroy, awaken us, to astonish us to act or to delight us.

The ten great Wisdom Goddesses, representing the feminine form, different aspects of consciousness, wisdom and power. Their names in order, as they usually appear, and how they relate to the menstrual cycle are (Ref, Yoni Shakti, Uma Dismore Tulti PHD)

1. Kali, the black goddess
2. Tara, the goddess who guides us through troubles
3. Tripura Sundari, beauty of three words
4. Kamalatmika (the lotus goddess of delight)
5. Matangi (the outcast)
6. Bhuvaneswari, she who’s body is in the world,the queen of the universe
7. Chinnamasata, the self-decapitated one, conscious beyond the mind
8. Bagalamukhi, the paralaiser
9. Pavarti, Mother, Mountain Goddess
10. Dhumavati, the widow, the crone

Wildly curious about the practical application of working with, and understanding the goddess energy applied in daily life?

Then,

Further in this series we will explore Mahi Devi goddesses; Pavarti (Mother Mountain Goddess representing Ovulation she is’nt technically a Mahi Devi because of her union with Shiva, but I love her), Sundari (Beauty, representing the Maiden, and pre ovulation, Follicular energy), Kali, (the Black Goddess, representing the Pre Menstral, Luteal Wild woman energy) and Dhumavati, (The Widow the Crone, representing the Wise Woman and Bleed/menstruation and menopause energy) (The inspiration for these writings from the teachings drawn from the interpretations of Sally Kempton and Uma Dismore Tuli)

Here is a sample of the series which is part of the Nest Private Membership – Goddesses of Yoga

You can read more about each Goddess in the Nest, a private membership container for women. In the series you also receive Yoga classes and written teachings to support your relationship with Goddess as well as the link to our menstrual cycle.

Aum Shanti Shanti Shanthi Aum.