In the teachings of the Tantras, the goddesses are said to have three forms through which they can be engaged: the image we see in paintings and statues, the mantra, and the geometric form, or yantra. Each of these forms, the Tantric sages say, fully contains the energy of the deity. As we tune into that unique energy signature, it will start to co

Mythic doesn’t mean unreal. The mythic realm interfaces with our psyche on several different levels. What that means is that the energies of the Goddess will show up through the human beings and animals in your life. They will reveal themselves in the natural world.

I suggest that you read Awakening Shakti with an exploratory attitude. Notice what comes up for you as you read, and also notice how your view of each goddess expands when you do the exercises that are layered into each chapter.

The Greek word phantasia, from which we derive the word fantasy, comes from a verb that means “to make visible.” We make subtle energies visible by creating images in the mind. What we don’t always understand is how these images can transform our inner landscape, and then our life.

Though traditional deity practice often uses external ritual, Goddess practice is primarily an activity of intention and imagination. Mystics, like artists, discover truth through imagination. In our ordinary understanding of things, the imagination is considered unreal, made up. “You imagined it,” we say—meaning, “It doesn’t hold up empirically, s

the icon of Goddess Lakshmi shows her with hands that drip gold coins, signifying her power to bestow abundance. In the physical world, she shows up as money and precious metals, but also as every form of fertility and abundance. You might recognize her energy in a blossoming fruit tree, in a golden bracelet, a Vogue fashion spread, or in the glow

Recognizing your Shakti as it expands and empowers your inner gifts lets you flow at your growing edge and can also give you profound confidence that you are supported from within, and even from the universe itself. When we engage these Shaktis, we touch into the deep structures of the cosmos and of ourselves. We touch the source code, the hard dri

TRANSFORMATIVE SYMBOLS We’ve known since Jung’s time that myths and symbols have a lock-and-key relationship to energies in our personal consciousness, as well as in the collective. The ancient spiritual traditions understood very well the power of the imaginal realm. They knew how contemplating an enlightened quality (like compassion) or a divine

From the Tantric perspective, all our biological activity is inherently feminine. The power behind breath is the expression of the feminine, not to mention our heartbeat, the energy that fires our muscles, and the impulse behind thoughts. Even more important, the Hindu view of the Goddess identifies her with the kundalini energy, the hidden power o