According to ancient Tantric traditions, the entire universe is made up of Shiva, or consciousness - the masculine principle, and Shakti, or energy - the feminine principle. The whole of creation was born from their ecstatic union.
Shakti is the creative potential of life... the Divine Feminine, the Goddess. Shakti is our true nature as women, although it manifests uniquely within each one of us.
Shakti can manifest as infinite wisdom, creation, intense power, orgasmic ecstacy. Shakti is nurturing, receptive, open, heartful, loving unconditionally, flowing freely, completely surrendered. She has unbounded freedom and infinite creativity, playfulness, sensuality, and inner radiance. She is the Earth and all of nature in its majesty. She is oceanic bliss and peaceful harmony. Full of fierce grace, she emerges from deep within herself.
"Shakti is that which moves you, which dances you, which breathes you,
which stretches you beyond what you could have dreamed for yourself.
Shakti is what pushes the seed to sprout, the universe to expand,
the bird to migrate,it is the nuclear power at the core of all things."
~Chameli Ardagh
A Goddess is....
"She is a woman who has honestly explored her darkness and learned to celebrate her light. She is a woman who is able to fall in love with the magnificent possibilities within her. She is a woman who knows of the magic and mysterious places inside her, the sacred places that can nurture her soul and make her whole. She is a woman who radiates light. She is magnetic. She has power and softness at the same time. She has powerful sexual energy that's not dependent on physical looks. She has a body that she adores and it shows by the way she comfortably lives and moves in it. She cherishes beauty, light and love. She is a mother to all children. She flows with life in effortless grace. She is fiercely sensual and fearlessly erotic and engages in lovemaking as her way to share with another in touching the divine. She is compassion and wisdom. She is seeker of Truth. She is woman in love with love. She knows that joy is her destiny and is embracing it and sharing it with others to heal wounds. She is a woman who can accept herself as she is. She can accept another as they are. She is able to forgive her mistakes and not feel threatened by another's even when attacked. She is a woman who can ask for help when she needs it. She respects boundaries, hers and another's. She is woman who takes responsibility for everything she creates in her life. She is a woman who is totally supportive and giving. She is a Goddess."
~Unknown
Shakti is all these things, yet at the same time, she cannot truly be defined, she cannot be restrained, she cannot be put in a box.. she is the infinite mystery of existence, and each woman manifests a different aspect of the mystery.
Today, we live in a male dominated society. Women have been encouraged to act masculine in order to survive, to climb the corporate ladder, to be strong and ruthless....
I truly feel that the reason women's groups and circles have become so widespread in recent years is because women are remembering their true essence. We are slowly realising that our real power lies in our soft yet powerful femininity. That our bodies have their own inner wisdom. That our sexuality is richly layered and deliciously, deeply orgasmic, when we embrace it fully. That each time we stop to listen to those whispers of truth within us, in time, those whispers will become powerful roars of truth... and we will know the answers. They are all within us already.
"Unless we awaken to the mystery of the sacred feminine, of the feminine as sacred, and allow it to glow into, irradiate, illuminate and penetrate every area of our activity... we will die out and take nature, or a large part of it, with us."
~Andrew Harvey, The Return of the Mother
I leave you with some wise words from Hopi Indian elders that I feel are particularly poignant on the path of a Shakti in these recent times of global unheaval:
"There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.
The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river
Keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.
See who is in there with you
And celebrate!
At this time in history we are to take nothing personally.
Least of all, ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!
Banish the word "struggle" from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we've been waiting for"
Hopi Elders
Hopi Elders
