around. From a Tantric perspective, the inner masculine—Shiva—is the source of consciousness, awareness. But in order to act, to stir, he must take energy from the inner feminine. In ordinary life, this is exactly what many men do when they project their creative energy outward into a muse, a nurturing wife or assistant, who then pours her energy

Shakti cannot individuate without simultaneously disguising her wholeness.

The most immediate and powerful way to unlock the energies of the sacred feminine is through the technologies of deity practice. In deity practice, we contemplate the forms and qualities of subtle beings. Advanced practitioners in the Hindu and Buddhist Tantric traditions have developed deity meditation into a living science for transforming

Part of Parvati’s mystery is that even as a wife she remains a virgin, in the sense that her independence is always intact.

fundamental unity. In order to do this, her energy will subtly or dramatically transform your nervous system and the architecture of your brain so that you begin to be able to see with what some traditions call the “eye of the spirit” or the “eye of the heart.”

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.

It’s a truism that scientific materialism has tended to reduce all natural phenomena to mechanical processes, as postmodernism has tended to reduce metaphysics to an outworn cultural artifact.

Awareness allows the feminine to see herself and gives both containment and direction to her energy.

Deity practice helps us embody the subtlest powers of the universe. It affects us psychologically, spiritually, and even physically. It can protect us, empower us, teach us unconditional love, and even enlighten us.