Awakening the Feminine Force

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Awakening the Feminine Force

Shakti Tantra in Contemporary Amsterdam

Student: Jessica de Fauwe; Student number: 10346295; Supervisor: Marco Pasi; Second reader: Manon Hedenborg White; Master’s thesis: Religious Studies; Track: Western Esotericism; Date: 13-08-2019

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1. Introduction

A new woman is emerging from the darkness – strong, determined, flowing with primordial power – fearlessly facing her demons, the sword of Kali ready. 1

Quotes like these are widely spread across the internet. One simply needs to type the words “feminine rising” into any online search engine to be covered in an endless array of “calls” for women to rise. The so-called “Feminine Awakening” is supposedly happening all over the world, in which women “unleash the wild woman”, “honor their intuition” and “reclaim their female wisdom”. On Social Media platforms such as Instagram similar messages are being spread by popular accounts such as “Rising Woman”, “the Pussy Witch” and Tantra teachers such as Sofia Sundari.2

A countless variety of retreats is offered which promise women to “reclaim the feminine”, “build a conscious relationship with your guiding Goddess” and “understand our inner landscapes so that as women, we collectively rise”.3_{Popular spirituality books such as Rise Sister Rise, The New Divine}

Feminine and Womb Awakening offer practical tools for discovering the “magical powers” of the

female body and “feminine energy”.4_{Tantra, Witchcraft, magic and countless other esoteric}

traditions are suggested to serve this purpose. There is a widespread appropriation of sacred

1_{https://www.tarapreston.com/, accessed on June 12, 2019.}

2_{https://www.instagram.com/sofiasundari/?hl=nl, https://www.instagram.com/risingwoman/?hl=nl,}

https://www.instagram.com/pusssywitch/?hl=nl, accessed on June 2, 2019.

3_{https://rewildingforwomen.com/, https://www.priestesstempleschool.com/welcome, https://www.wild-feminine.com/, accessed on}

June 12, 2019.

4_{Rebecca Campbell, Rise Sister Rise: A Guide to Unleashing the Wise, Wild Woman Within, (Hayhouse UK Ltd, 2016.), Meghan Don, The} New Divine Feminine: Spiritual Evolution for a Woman’s Soul, (Llewellyn Publications U.S., 2016), Azra Bertrand, Womb Awakening:

Initiatory Wisdom from the Creatrix of All Life, (Inner Traditions Bear and Company, 2017.). In the last few years the genre of feminist

spirituality has generated an enormous amount of books on Witchcraft, such as Lisa Lister, Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic., (Hayhouse UK Ltd, 2017), Tantra, such as Sally Kempton, Awakening Shakti: The Transformative Power of the Goddesses of Yoga, (Sounds True Inc, 2013.) and Women’s Religion such as Alexandra Pope, Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your Menstrual Cycle and Awaken the

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symbolism such as the downward-pointing triangle which symbolizes the vagina, the womb and feminine energy in both Witchcraft and Tantra5_.

The focus seems to be on power, specifically feminine power, which differs from regular power as it is based on “feminine qualities” such as intuition, vulnerability and emotions. The glorification of wildness and sexuality are central themes in the “call”, since supposedly female wildness and sexuality have been oppressed by patriarchy. The call is urgent, and politically charged. Patriarchy is perceived to be the cause for worldwide human suffering and ecological disasters. To restore the energetic balance, the feminine energy must rise. Some proclaim that this rise must happen in both men and women, while others focus solely on women and the female body. Thus the awakening is not only meant for personal development, but for a collective transformation on a socio-political level. This usage of esoteric traditions for female emancipation will be the subject of this study.

Aim and research question

The aim of this research is to get a deeper insight into how esoteric traditions have been used or transformed for the purpose of female emancipation and sexual liberation. The specific tradition that will be the subject of this study is Shakti Tantra in contemporary Amsterdam. Amongst other esoteric traditions, Shakti Tantra has been used for feminist purposes even though that was not the initial purpose. The main question of the research is as follows: “How has Shakti Tantra been used as a tool for female emancipation in contemporary Amsterdam?”

To answer the question, this paper argues how the recognition and worship of a female deity results in the deification of the female body, which accordingly might be used as motivation for female emancipation. Furthermore, it argues that when the female deity possesses alternative feminine qualities, that this might serve as inspiration for a new feminine identity construction. This argument is supported by an anthropological study.

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Contribution of this study

The study of religion has been an established academic discipline since the 1860s and has developed a wide range of methods such as historical, phenomenological, psychological, anthropological and others. Since the 1960s it has been recognized that the data collected in this field of study has been mostly, if not all, androcentric.6_{Consequently, women’s studies tried to} correct the situation by collecting data pertaining to women instead of men. As a result, a reconsideration was made of the methods used within the field. For example, since religious texts were often edited by men, historical methods focussed on scriptures automatically exclude the female experience.7_{A problem for the study of women’s religious experience is the fact that such} data is unavailable as women’s religious lives were often hidden. An answer to these problems is the broadening of the scope of methods, by using for example in-depth interviews or study women directly and how they experience their religion.8

The above mentioned situation has motivated me to add a piece to the growing body of women’s study of religion. As there is a lack in scriptural sources of female religious experiences, I chose to study contemporary practices and collect data through anthropological methods. Where before women’s religious lives were hidden, we now have female scholars who have personal access into these secret worlds and can deliver detailed and intimate descriptions thereof. This way I tend to enrich the image of women’s spiritual lives and how they use their spiritual or esoteric practices as tools for empowerment on both personal and collective levels.

The subject of the current research, Shakti Tantra, has for most of its existence been practiced and described by men. Women were supposed to have played secondary roles in the practices. The opposite is true for the feminist appropriations of the tradition, which focusses on the female experience. The appropriation of the traditions creates a window into women’s psychological and emotional lives in society. To place these appropriations and experiences in a larger frame, I will

6_{Arvinda Śarmā. “Preface.” in Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women’s Studies, edited by Aravinda Śarmā. (Albany,}

NY: State University of New York Press, 2002), 5.

7_{Katherine J. Young. “From the Phenomenology of Religion to Feminism and Women’s Studies” in Methodology in Religious Studies: The} Interface with Women’s Studies, edited by Aravinda Śarmā, 2-10. (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002), 8.

8_{David Kinsley. “Women’s Studies in the History of Religions” in Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women’s Studies,}

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6 discuss the feminist theory and sexuality discourse. That way, I hope to make interesting connections between the history of sexuality, feminism and esotericism.

Besides the lack of anthropological research in the field of religious studies, this study is also novel in that it focuses on the connection between gender and Western esotericism. I will contribute to the field of Western Esotericism by studying how esoteric traditions are used and transformed in order to fit the contemporary gender and feminist discourse. This way I would like to show how an esoteric tradition such as Shakti Tantra is at present providing inspiration and socio-political meaning in the Western world, and more particularly in a large European city such as Amsterdam, which can be considered as a fertile hub of new and alternative spirituality.

Outline

This research looks at the female experience of Shakti Tantra and how this tradition has been adopted by women to empower themselves on an individual and collective level. The socio-political side of this study asks for a historical and cultural context. Therefore, a brief history of feminism, religion and sexuality will be illustrated. This will lay a foundation on which I will elaborate and describe the emergence of Shakti Tantra in Amsterdam. In the theoretical chapter I will describe other examples of esoteric traditions that have been appropriated for feminists purposes and put them in a historical context.

The first example I use is sex magic and its revaluation of the female orgasm. I will describe magical theories and how these have been appropriated in the Babalon discourse. The second example, Witchcraft, has most clearly been transformed into a feminist movement. The political purpose of this adoption in the Reclaiming movement will be described. In the third example, Shakti Tantra, I will create a context for the subsequent anthropological study of women’s contemporary practice of Shakti Tantra in Amsterdam. I will then analyze and discuss the obtained data and compare it to the other traditions. To conclude I will articulate my final arguments and answer the research question.

A note on spelling and definitions

Although the original terms are Sanskrit, I will adhere to the way of spelling the words as it is done in Neotantra, since this is the subject of my study. Shakti is often directly translated as Divine Feminine

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7 and these will be used interchangeably in the chapter on Shakti Tantra. Second, Crowleyan sex magic is often spelled as “Magick”, but I will stick to the spelling used by sex magic scholars Hugh Urban and John Patrick Deveny9_{, since I aim to discuss the tradition in a broader sense. Last, by ‘the West’} and ‘Western’ I refer here to Europe and North America. The traditions discussed are mostly practiced or popular in England and the United States.

9_{Hugh Urban, Magia Sexualis : Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism. (Berkeley, CA [etc: University of California Press,}

2006) & John Patrick Deveney, Paschal Beverly Randolph: A Nineteenth-Century Black American Spiritualist, Rosicrucian, and Sex Magician, (SUNY Press, 1997).

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2. Theoretical background

The research question for this study is “How has Shakti Tantra been used as a tool for female emancipation in contemporary Amsterdam?”. To be able to answer this question, we will first have to look at the basic concepts. The central theme in this thesis is the relationship between esotericism and female emancipation. In other words, the question is whether and how esoteric traditions have inspired women to feel empowered. To elaborate on female emancipation, a summary will be made of feminist history. The main focus will be on sexual emancipation of women. I will be expanding on this theme by involving the influence of an important power structure, namely religion. I will investigate the influence of religion on sexuality in general and on female sexuality specifically. A description will be given of how esotericism relates to religion and how the two interact. Afterwards follow the three examples of the esoteric traditions.

Feminism and the question of femininity

The central theme throughout the history of feminism is the struggle against patriarchy. Patriarchy has been defined as “the power relations in which women’s interests are subordinated to the interests of men” and the social meaning that has been given to biological sexual difference.10_In first-wave feminism, which occured during the nineteenth and early twentieth century, this manifested in the fight for women’s equal rights. The second wave, beginning in the 1960s, was claimed to be more radical and revolutionary. Instead of fighting for equality, the goal was now women’s liberation.11_{By fighting for contraceptives and abortion, women were trying to create sexual} autonomy for each individual female body.

10_{Chris Weedon’s definition of patriachy in Feminist practice and Poststructuralist Theory, (Basil Blackwell: Oxford, 1987), 54.} 11_{Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique. (4th impr. London: Victor Gollancz, 1971).}

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9 Another important theme in feminist theory, that will play a important role in this study, is the victimization of women. It is often debated whether a woman is responsible for having experienced sexual harassment or rape. This subject has caused many emotional discussions which are very much alive today. On the one side, feminists argue that women are victims and should be protected by society. According to this argument, the perpetrator, in most cases men, should be held responsible.12_{On the other side, feminists argue for a sense of responsibility amongst women. Not} to say that they “ask for it”, but to say that they have the power to say no and fight. This stance emphasizes that whenever a woman is victimized, she is transformed back into the image of the vulnerable, helpless little woman, an image that feminists have been fighting from the beginning.13 The critique of reaffirming suppressing gender roles is also manifested in the debate around the construction of “femininity”. 14_{Redefining the categories of “femininity”, “woman” and “female” might} reinforce the sexual polarity which feminism originally aimed to change, as it was striving for equality. The thinking in unified and opposing “male” and “female” natures can result in essentialism. Gender and feminist theory scholars argue that the concepts of gender and sexuality are cultural constructions and the roles assigned to each gender are products of social processes. This is in opposition to the theoretical model of biological determinism, in which gender and sexuality are attributed specific characteristics as naturalistic facts.15

As the construct of gender and sexuality was being questioned, the essential and universal image of both woman and man started to be challenged. This development is especially of interest in the postmodern wave of feminism, called postfeminism. Postfeminists argue that generalizing masculinity and femininity creates limited categories in which there is no space for subjectivity and individuality. They also critique the dichotomy between sex and gender, since this dichotomy would replicate or reinforce the dichotomies of nature/culture, emotion/reason and female/male. For gender theorist Judith Butler, there exists no essential masculine or essential feminine subject. She

12_{Sue Thornham “Second wave feminism” in The Roudledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism, edited by Sarah Gamble, 23-34.}

(Routledge, Londeon ; New York, 2001), 27.

13_{Sarah Gamble “Postfeminism” in The Roudledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism, edited by Sarah Gamble, 67-89. (Routledge,}

Londeon ; New York, 2001), 67-71.

14_{Valerie Sanders “First wave feminism” in The Roudledge Companion to Feminism and Postfeminism, edited by Sarah Gamble, 8-22.}

(Routledge, Londeon ; New York, 2001), 17.

15_{Sherry B. Ortner & Harriet Whitehead “Introduction” in Sexual meanings: The cultural construction of gender and sexuality. (CUP Archive,}

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10 argues that all sex or gender configurations are performed and based on mimesis. Therefore, each person, no matter the biological sex, can take both a masculine or a feminine identity.16

Once the concept of gender dichotomy or binary is deconstructed, the notion of intersectionality grows in importance. This means that one recognizes the fact that the subjective experience of gender is simultaneously entangled with other social relations such as class, race or religion.17_When realizing this, one can only admit that there is no such thing as an objective category of gender. In other words, where before the hierarchy of the socially constructed categories of female and male was being questioned and critiqued, the notion of the actual existence of these two categories is now being destabilized. As a consequence, dichotomy becomes replaced by diversity and variety.18

The politics of spirit and sex

In this thesis, I ask how Shakti Tantra has been used as a tool for female emancipation. This question presupposes that esoteric traditions such as Shakti Tantra can be used as a political tool and requires a look at power structures and dynamics within society. In the above mentioned process of feminism we are confronted with multiple kinds of power dynamics. Centuries of religious teachings have created norms and attitudes that lie deeply beneath the surface of a person’s sexual awareness.19_In this section a description will be made of Christianity, the main power structure that has influenced Western culture.

When describing the relationship between religion and sexuality, one is bound to mention Michel Foucault. When describing the history of sexuality, Foucault argues how the Christian church saw sex as a dangerous act that should be controlled and investigated. According to Foucault, the obsession with confessing and compulsive self-reporting about sex has resulted in a growth in social control and a decrease in freedom. He argues that by this new control, which started in the eighteenth century, sex became the “truth of our lives” and the definition of us as individuals.20_{He does not} agree with “the repressive hypothesis”, according to which sex, which was once free, has been 16_{N.Wakeford writes in an essay how women can now access a space where they can connect in order to promote women’s equality on}

a global scale. In "Networking women and grrrls with information/communication." Processed lives: Gender and technology in everyday

life, 51.

17_{Micheline R. Malson, Jean F. O’Barr, Sarah Westphal-Whil & Mary Wyer}_{Feminist theory in practice and process. (Chicago: University of}

Chicago Press, 1989), 55-56.

18_{Ann Brooks in Postfeminisms: Feminism, cultural theory and cultural forms. (London: Routledge, 2002) 122.}

19_{Vern Bullough, “Christianity and Sexuality” in Religion and Sexual Health: Ethical, Theological, and Clinical Perspectives 1 edited by Ronald}

Green. (Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media, 1992), 21.

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11 repressed by Christianity and Victorianism. The hypothesis is teleological in the sense that sexuality is continuously moving towards liberation, while shedding Christian morality and Victorian prudishness.21

Contrary to the theory by Foucault, Robert Muchembled argues that sexuality has been indeed repressed.22_{This oppression only started to lose power in the 1960s. Muchembled argues that the} oppression of the erotic impulses has been the actual driving force behind the economic, political and social development of the European continent since the Renaissance. As an addition to Max Weber’s theory of how Calvinism created the current work ethic, Muchembled argues how the entire collective “fabric” of Europe is fundamentally the result of controlling and redirecting carnal desires. How did this control and oppression arise? Multiple scholars have argued that Christians used sexual control and chastity as a way to distinguish themselves from the dominant culture in which they first emerged. By the use of moral rigor and self-discipline, they asserted their superiority over pagan contemporaries.23_{Ironically, the abstinence and control of the sexual impulses was supposed to} result in freedom and liberation, as it created a way for people to not be dependent on economic and social responsibilities that came with family life. To establish their position and attack rivals, Christians would accuse virtually every other sect of sexual immorality and promiscuity. The doctrine of sin justified the human suffering and urged for control of natural impulses, especially sexual desire. Pain, oppression and death were punishments to make up for the mistake made by Adam and Eve.24 Riane Eisler parallels this to the “cultural transformation theory”, according to which, the partnership model, where human relationships are based on pleasure, transforms into the domination model, where relationships are based on pain. She links this to the sacralization of oppression by Christianity and the disconnection from the body as a place of sin.25

A common theme in the theories on Christianity and sex is the representation of the body and the individual. Singular expression or speaking for oneself were taboo in Christian culture, as independence and individualism were opposing the dominating norms. The emergence of individualism in the nineteenth century resulted in an exploration into the inner world and the body, which used to be dangerous places of sin and carnal desire. This is connected to the dogma of the

21_{Chloe Taylor, The Routledge Guide to Foucault’s History of Sexuality. (London, New York: Routledge, 2017), 231.} 22_{Robert Muchembled, Orgasm and the West, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008), 15.}

23_{Hugh Urban, Tantra: Sex, Secrecy, Politics and Power in the Study of Religion. (Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2004), 28.} 24_{Elaine Pagels Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. (New York: Vintage Books, 1988), 201.}

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12 duality of body and soul, one of the foundations of Christianity. The perishable flesh is the soul’s prison and the human’s connection to animality – two things that one should transcend. The dualistic understanding of a human being by splitting it into body and soul has its roots in platonic and stoic idealist virtues of rationality and control. Platonic philosophy, which saw corporality and sexuality as inferior to spirit and soul, had a big influence on early Christianity.26_{Only when Christianity started} losing its grip during the 1850s, did the focus on the physical body grew. The process of secularization resulted in a new and positive way for people to relate to their bodies.27

The Christian duality of body and soul is of great importance for the current thesis as it has especially been applied to women and female sexuality. The body/mind dualism became associated with the existing female/male dualism in which woman was associated with the corporeal, emotional and material and man was associated with the spirit, mind and purity. The body, or the feminine, was seen as dragging down the spirit and its liberation28_{, which resulted in an feminine and} anti-body interpretation in Christian theology. This perspective of feminine inferiority became engrained in culture and resulted in an accepted norm in the West.

But why are women perceived to be more closely related to physicality? Sherry Beth Ortner argues that this is caused by a woman’s bodily involvement with nature and her natural functions surrounding reproduction. Because of this, she is considered to be closer to nature and is not able to participate in culture as much as men.29_{Since the process of culture in general exists of becoming} conscious of nature and controlling it, Ortner sees this is the reason why women are universally suppressed by men and why the patriarchal society is the most common societal structure.

The thought of masculinity as superior to femininity has also influenced sexual intercourse between men and women. Sex was only to be used for procreative purposes within the strictly confined monogamous marriage. Every other sexual act, such as masturbation, was perceived sinful since it was for the mere purpose of pleasure, which was egocentric and narcissistic. Sexual pleasure and especially female sexual pleasure were repressed or ignored subjects, as the sexual ethic of male superiority was seen as rooted in biological natural law. This control over and the objectifying of 26_{Charles E. Curran “Seuxal Ethics in the Roman Catholic Tradition” in Religion and Sexual Health:: Ethical, Theological, and Clinical} Perspectives 1 edited by Ronald Green. (Dordrecht: Springer Science & Business Media, 1992), 110.

27_{Marco Pasi “But what does esotericism have to do with sex?”, in: Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Peter J. Forshaw, and Marco Pasi (eds.), Hermes} Explains: Thirty Questions about Western Esotericism, (Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2019, pp. 207-215), 211.

28_{Felicity Edwards “Spirituality, Consciousness and Gender Identification: A Neo-Feminist-Perspective” in Religion and Gender, editied by}

Ursula King. (Oxford [etc: Blackwell, 1995), 205.

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13 women was, according to feminists, the foundation of patriarchal society.30_{Besides that, the} existence of a male God supposedly resulted in the deification of the male sex and his symbol of power, the phallus. According to Luce Irigaray, this inheritance of the phallic identity is inherently linked to the oppression of the mother, thus, woman.31

The oppression only started to be challenged within first-wave feminism and the growing interest in sexuality and female sexual pleasure around the fin-de-siècle. An enormous rise in scientific research about female pleasure such as orgasms shows us that this was now taken seriously as a human experience.32_{Feminist theologians and religious scholars such as Barbara H. Andolsen have been} trying to re-articulate a Christian tradition that includes women and sexual pleasure. Andolsen uses Lorde’s theory that sexual energy is a connective power and a more inclusive spiritual force, to offer an alternative way for Christians to relate to human life.33

The notion of female orgasm is a clear illustration of the Christian sexual ethics. The fact that many women need additional stimulation to reach an orgasm and that female orgasm does not serve any reproductive goals, make the female orgasm inherently hedonistic. Both reproduction and lack of pleasure are the two main values for Christian sexual ethics.34_{This problem has been addressed by} feminist theologians who want to find a way to include female sexuality in the Christian sexual ethics, even though it contradicts the core values. Mary Pellauer, for example, has argued that female orgasm can actually stimulate spiritual dedication, as it can create a mystical experience in which one realizes unity with the universe.35_{Theologian Christine Gudorf argues that since the female body} is made with a clitoris, it must be divine will that a woman can enjoy sex.36_{This revaluation of female} orgasm asks for embracing bodily pleasure and embodiment, thus ending the Christian dualism of body and soul. This new perspective on sexual pleasure and orgasm as means for spiritual development is central to erotic esotericism, to which we will turn now.

30_{Hedenborg White, “The Eloquent Blood”, 70.}

31_{Luce Irigaray “Divine Women.” In Luce Irigaray, Sexes and Genealogies, 55-72. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993).} 32_{Elisabeth E. Lloyd The case of the female orgasm: Bias in the science of evolution. (Harvard University Press, 2009), 178.}

33_{Barbara H Andolsen "Whose sexuality? Whose tradition? Women, experience, and Roman Catholic sexual ethics." Religion and Sexual} Health edited by Ronald Green. (Dordrecht: Springer. 1992. 55-77), 60.

34_{Javier Perez Celso. “Mutuality and Pleasure: A Discussion of the Female Orgasm in Contemporary Catholic Sexual Ethics”. Elements. 3,}

(2007), 98.

35_{Mary Pellauer “The Moral Significance of Female Orgasm: Toward Sexual Ethics That Celebrates Women’s Sexuality.” Journal of Feminist} Studies in Religion 9, no. 1/2 (April 1, 1993), 161.

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Erotic esotericism

Before proceeding, it is important to give a clear definition of esotericism. Esotericism can be defined as a cultic milieu, which is a collection of materials that is rejected by both positivistic science or the Christian church. The cultic milieu is a manifestation of how religion is continuously being reinvented in ever changing social contexts.37_{In other words, the cultic milieu is a collection} of separate cultic groups that share a alternative and heterodox position in relation to the common cultural orthodoxies. The common goal for leaders of cultic groups is attacking the dominant culture and defending individual choice in belief. The cultic milieu is unified by shared “seekership”38_{, which is the personal quest for belief systems other than those offered by} conventional religious institutions and dominant ideas.

Another definition of esotericism is developed by Antoine Faivre. He describes it in terms of six characteristics, namely correspondence, living nature, imagination and mediation, experience of transmutation, concordance and transmission. The first four are described by Faivre as the intrinsic characteristics which must be present in order for a tradition to be “esoteric”.39_{These six} characteristics are of importance for the current research and will be used later when studying the subject.

For the current conceptualization of esotericism it is important to note that it is only after the eighteenth century that esotericism or occultism emerged as a social phenomenon that begin to compete with established religion.40_{Whereas previous esoteric traditions focused on the glorious} past, the modern and contemporary esoteric groups focus on the dimension of the here and now, looking towards the future instead of the past. This is especially true for New Age movements, which share a critical perspective on the dualistic separation of science and religion. They propose a combination which would then lead to a spiritual evolution of mankind into the New Age. Hanegraaff argued how the New Age movement adopted esoteric traditions and concepts to focus on the subjective experience and inner learning.41

37_{Wouter J. Hanegraaff New Age Religion and Western Culture : Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. (New York: State University}

of New York Press, 1998), 13.

38_{Colin Campbell, “The Cult, The Cultic Milieu and Secularization” in The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of Globalization}

edited by Jeffrey S. Kaplan and Heléne Lööw. (New York: Altamira Press, 2002), 121-122.

39_{Hanegraaff, New Age Religion, 400.}

40_{Wouter J. Hanegraaff Western Esotericism : a Guide for the Perplexed, (London: Bloomsbury, 2013), 199.} 41_{Hanegraaff, New Age Religion, 386.}

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15 In the previous chapter I have described how, when emerging, Christianity associated superiority with sexual oppression and chastity. Christians emphasized this notion by attacking other contemporary pagan groups and sects and associate them with sexual and carnal desires.42_The association of cults with magic and sex resulted in a long history of heresy trials in which esoteric orders were accused of sexual transgression. Such transgressions commonly included orgies, incest, nudity or devil worship, amongst others. There is no proof that the heretical sects actually practiced the things of which they were accused. Alternative approaches to sexuality or the body are condemned, whether real or imagined. Joanne Pearson describes this process as the projection of Christian oppression onto esoteric cults.43_{Besides the association of sex, magic and secrecy with} heretical and esoteric groups, the Christian attitudes towards sex, the body and the divine are engrained in Western religious imagination.

Why has the combination of sexuality and esotericism always been present in the human imagination? Hanegraaff and Kripal argue in their book Hidden intercourse how they are both object of suppression, censorship, concealment and silence.44_{They illustrate this oppression by the Greek} fertility god Pan, who has been transformed into the devil by repressive Christian imagination. Things that are repressed, will resurface as something “dark” or “dirty”, they argue, which has happened to both esotericism and sexuality.

Kripal offers three kinds of models in which the erotic and the mystical have been linked or associated, of which two are of importance for the current study.45_{First, there are the “hydraulic”} models, which assume that a flow or fluid exists in the genital and brain area, energetic or physical, that can be used for magical purposes through orgasm. The sexual bodily fluids, such as semen or vaginal discharge might be collected and used in magical rituals. Energetic fluid can be used to send messages into the spiritual realms to use as manifesting power. Magic, therefore, has been especially connected to sexuality. In this particular kind of magic, sexual energy is directed to obtain enlightenment or increase their psychic powers to influence the world around them.

Second, there are “resonance” models, in which sexuality is used to transcend by temporarily shutting down the mind or the ego. Extreme states of sexual arousal are used to outshine one’s personal 42_{Pagels, Adam, Eve and the Serpent, 211.}

43_{Joanne Pearson “Sex and the Sacred” in Wicca and the Christian Heritage : Ritual, Sex and Magic. (London [etc: Routledge, 2007), 56.} 44_{Wouter J. Hanegraaff & Jeffrey J. Kripal Hidden Intercourse : Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism. (Leiden [etc: Brill,}

2008), 22.

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16 filter or identity.46_{Especially orgasm has been perceived as a natural way to reach an altered state} of consciousness, in which one can reach mystical states.47_{Orgasm is, in its mystical interpretation,} often associated with ecstasy. This can be read as “standing outside of oneself”, or as a complete union with existence.48_{In an ecstatic state, or an altered state of consciousness, one realizes their} unity with the divine and can thus result in direct enlightening insights.

Third, esoteric currents use the sexual act as symbolizing the unity of for example the individual with god, or two individual bodies symbolizing or embodying deities. Besides this usage of symbolism, eroticism has also served as symbolism for chemical processes in alchemy. The sacred marriage of the masculine and the feminine principle symbolized the chemical process of sulphur and mercury merging. Thus, a divide is to be made between esoteric currents that use the actual act of sex for magical purposes or use it as a source for symbolism.

Another argument to be made here is that the field of esotericism offered a space in which people could discuss subjects that were considered taboo in other social context of that time. This is especially true for sex and its magical purposes, which was a highly censored and repressed subject during the social predominance of Christian Churches.49_{Nineteenth century spiritualists such as} Victoria Claflin Woodhull and Lady Caithness would discuss the value of female pleasure and sexual intercourse as a magical experience, even though this was unheard of in other social domains. This dynamic is what Marco Pasi has defined as the “heterogenesis of ends”, meaning how esotericism can offer progressive thought that might anticipate later developments in mainstream culture, whether it was meant for this purpose or not. The usage of sexuality for personal and social liberation is especially of interest for esoteric currents that rose after the 1850s, based on the idea of self-realization.50

Sex magic and the revaluation of the female orgasm

The association of sex and magic is consistent throughout the history of Western esotericism. Currents and traditions such as Gnosticism, Jewish Kabbalah and Martinism associated sexuality with spirituality.51_{It was not until the 1850s that a sophisticated system was created by an} 46_{Kripal, Secret Body, 89.}

47_{Eisler. Sacred pleasure, 187.}

48_{Pellauer, Moral significance of female orgasm, 111-112.} 49_{Pasi, “But what does esotericism have to do with sex?”, 213.} 50_{Hanegraaff, Western Esotericism, 106.}

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17 American man called Paschal Beverley Randolph. As the founder of modern sex magic, he systemized the sexual act as a sacred act in which intercourse and orgasm was used to summon magical powers. When male and female sexual fluids are mixed and combined during the sex act, the couple creates an aura with enormous power of attraction on the invisible world. The sexual fluids are to be produced in sexual union and depended on mutual sexual fulfilment and excitement for both the man and the woman.52

Randolph perceived God as an androgynous being, containing both a She and a He. These two magnetic poles become unified in love-making between a man and a woman.53_This understanding created an important status for the female practitioner, as she could embody the female side of God. Accordingly, her sexual pleasure and orgasm mattered as it was the half of a whole. The man and woman were to reach an orgasm simultaneously, at which moment “the mystic doors are opened” and magical power descends into their souls. This was an revolutionary idea in a historical context where Christian sexual ethics were still heavily focused on procreation and abstinence from pleasure. As described above, the female orgasm is hedonistic in nature as it often requires additional stimulation and lacks procreative purposes.54_{But since mutual orgasm} and sexual pleasure was necessary for successful sex magic, the female orgasm did serve a purpose and became valued in ways previously unknown.

The sexual magic teachings of Randolph were especially influential for the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor, through which the teachings reached Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO) and magician Aleister Crowley. Both Randolph and Crowley identified sexual orgasm as the most powerful and central aspect of the human being and the key to magical power.55_{In these powerful moments of sexual} liberation, lies true freedom.56_{This focus on freedom was for Crowley heavily related to breaking} the boundaries of Christianity and its morality. Crowley adopted new rules in the OTO system that approved masturbation and homosexuality as a clear example of aversion against the Victorian and Christian culture of his time. Like Randolph, Crowley also perceived the divine as existing in two polarities. The feminine principle, named Babalon, was the “Great Whore” who could manifest in a woman as the “Scarlet Woman”. The sex act is used as a form of prayer in 52_{Deveney, Paschal Beverly Randolph, 27.}

53_{Sarane Alexandrian The Great Work of the Flesh: Sexual Magic East and West. (Simon and Schuster, 2015), 319.} 54_{Celso, “Mutuality and Pleasure”, 33.}

55_{Urban, Magia Sexualis, 212.}

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18 which each partner embodies the God or Goddess. Like Randolph, Crowley perceived the mixture of sperm and vaginal fluid as a sacred medicine that must be offered to the Gods.57_{An important} difference is the androcentric perspective of Crowley, who did not value the female orgasm as crucial for successful sex magic. Whereas Randolph considers mutual sexual fulfilment and production of sexual fluids as fundamental58_{, Crowley has often been described as using his} female partners simply as passive objects.

Maria de Naglowska, a Russian mystic, constructed a sexual magic system based on that of Randolph, but took it one step further. She created the idea of three stages, which were linked to the trinity of Father, Son and Mother.59_{The age of the Mother, of which she was the herald,} was the age of female sexuality and the recognition of the Holy Spirit as feminine. The feminine Holy Spirit represented the New Era and the rise of sex.60_{She, just like Randolph and Crowley,} sought for the union of the feminine and masculine opposites and also had a larger goal of social transformation in mind. “Feminine power”, which would emanate from spiritually and sexually advanced women, could serve as a world-changing force.61

Crowley’s former secretary Kenneth Grant conceptualizes femininity as power and creativity. The woman links to cosmic power and possesses the reproductive organs that contain magical powers. Her body and the bodily functions are described as sacred, resulting in, for example, the worship of menstrual blood. Grant identifies Thelema and Crowley’s sex magic with Tantra. For example, he equates Babalon with the tantric goddess Kali and the Scarlet Woman as a tantric priestess embodying sexual life force (kundalini). These conceptions of femininity challenge the dominant construction of femininity as passive and nurturing.62

Manon Hedenborg White has shown how the Whore of Babalon has actually proven to symbolize alternative femininities to contemporary Thelemites.63_{The Whoredom described and glorified by} Crowley has been interpreted as feminine sexual sovereignty and the revaluation of the desiring female subject. Words such as slut and whore are therefore used as proud designations for this 57_{Alexandrian, The Great work of the flesh, 100.}

58_{Deveney, Paschal Beverly Randolph, 6.}

59_{Hans Thomas Hakl, “The Theory and Practice of Sexual Magic, Exemplified by Four Magical Groups in the Early Twentieth Century” in} Hidden Intercourse : Eros and Sexuality in the History of Western Esotericism, ed. Wouter Hanegraaff and Jeffrey Kripal, (Leiden [etc: Brill,

2008), 554.

60_{Maria de Naglowska, The Light of Sex: Initiation, Magic, and Sacrament. (Simon and Schuster, 2011), 47.} 61_{Urban, Magia Sexualis, 340.}

62_{Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 283} 63_{Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 400}

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19 sexual female. Babalon embodied the characteristics that are usually described to the hegemonic male, for example being assertive, sexual and dominant. Sexually assertive femininity inverts the conventional gender dichotomy and serves to destabilize the hegemonic masculine-feminine relationships.64_{The Goddess is seen as representing liberated feminine sexuality and free expression} thereof. This deification of feminine sexuality is according to feminist Thelemites a phenomenon that dates back from pre-Christian times when cults revered Goddesses.

Hugh Urban argues that sex magic is the perfect example of how sexuality entered the public domain in the nineteenth century. With the growing scientific interest in sex, the loss of Christian morale, the focus on the individual and the focus on social liberation, it is a logical current to grow in size. According to Pasi, this growing interest could be seen as a form of antinomianism, the result of the anti-sex attitude of society. 65_{He and Urban both emphasize the changing role of the body. Whereas} before the body was a place of sin and guilt, it now became an object of focus and study which was also visible in the growing interest in the field of sexology and sexual health. The crucial mental shift in the development of sex magic is the idea that spiritual development does actually not require oppression or denial of bodily matters such as sexual pleasure. Even more, the realization grew that sexual pleasure can even be used for spiritual development. This is a fundamental change in how people relate to their bodies and the spiritual value of their physical form. From this perspective, the orgasm came to symbolize a gateway to altered states of consciousness and is a tool to reach these mystical states.66

Sex magic offered mutually satisfying heterosexual intercourse, which linked to the growing need for social and sexual equality between men and women. The new perspective on sexuality and sexual energy served as an empowering idea especially for women. This recalls Lorde, who describes the erotic as a fuel that challenges women to strive for their full potential.67_{The revaluation of the female} body and sexuality created a situation ready for spiritual feminist adaptations. The female orgasm could now be seen as power that was completely different from the cultural norms of that time.

64_{Ibid, 366.}

65_{Pasi, “But what does sexuality have to do with esotericism?”, 210.} 66_{Eisler, Sacred pleasure, 332.}

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20

The feminist witch

Christianity perceived human beings as separated from nature and preferably from their bodies. This attitude was criticized not only by sex magicians, but also by Gerald Gardner, who inspired the revival of modern Witchcraft, which he called Wicca.68_{According to him, Christian churches} had taken all pleasure out of life and turned love into something shameful. As an antidote he offered another way, in which sex was sacred and nudity was healthy and natural. Gardnerian Witches therefore practiced nudity in their rituals and rites, to challenge dominant cultural norms but also appropriate the overly sexual, sensational and violent image of the witch. Wiccans in general conceive of the cosmos as polarized between female and male forces. Women symbolized the Goddess and men the God. As in sex magic, sex was used as a symbolic act in which the two divine forces reconcile into one. 69

The above mentioned qualities of Witchcraft made it a suitable addition to the women’s spirituality movement that has been happening in the United States since the 1960s. Feminist Witchcraft groups developed, such as Reclaiming Witchcraft, on which I will focus here. These witches worship the Goddess as their deity, deny hierarchical organization and engage in political activism. Although they understand the cosmos as the polarizing male and female forces, the focus is more on the Goddess. She is to be embodied by women as means of empowerment and liberation. The female force is thus used as power for women in their struggle against patriarchy. The witches’ identity is for a large part build on the idea of a shared matriarchal past. Joanne Pearson has argued how this notion of a shared ancient past offers validity and authenticity to emerging traditions, as it claims to hold the “original” wisdom and truth.70_{The stories and images} of the Goddess offer women a tool to get familiar with their psychological lives and the rituals offer a tool of connection to nature’s recurring patterns. According to the psychoanalytical interpretation, it is in the redefining of the past, that women actually connect with memories of themselves. By reflecting on the past, present life is hoped to be improved.71

68_{Pearson, Wicca and the Christian Heritage, 81.}

69_{Vivianne Crowley, Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Millennium, (London: Thorsons, 1996), 121.} 70_{Pearson, Wicca and the Christian Heritage, 81.}

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21 In the 1970s, feminists witches appropriated the Wiccan magic circle as a space in which sexual morals of Christianity and patriarchy were being shattered and overthrown.72_{Becoming a witch} and consciously embracing the stereotypical image had been lifted to a political level. In the Reclaiming movement, the Witch is seen as a modern magician whose work is to release society from patriarchal rule and to heal the collective wounds it has caused. Consequently, the witch is to initiate a new age, by retrieving ancient myths that represent human nature and divine reality more accurately.73

The witch was seen as a liberated and powerful woman, who owns her sexuality. Her sexuality is seen as a weapon against men and patriarchy. Instead of seeing the witch as a negative stereotype, it was now inverted and adopted as a positive quality. Feminist writers such a Mary Dale and Merlin Stone argued that this male fear for female sexuality is the original cause for the Great Witch Hunt. According to them, the witch hunt has now been transformed in different constructions to keep women repressed.74

Another reason for the emergence of the Goddess was the Western need for a female deity. According to Luce Irigaray, the fact that there exists no female deity in Christianity results in the lack of subjectivity for women. Women need a gender specific role model to realize their own feminine nature.75_{Female deities are still widespread in Hinduism and Taoism, but in the West} the feminine has been banished by radical monotheism, or suppressed dramatically. The rediscovery of the feminine deity has been initiated by Carl Jung, who perceived the Goddess as an archetype that lay at the root of the human psyche. Jungian psychologists have been studying psychological wholeness by integrating the Goddess. Feminists have also adopted this concept as a both therapeutic and liberating tool.76_{In Reclaiming, by the use of “Sacred Possession”, one} experiences “becoming” the Goddess in an ecstatic state. It is believed to be an invocation of a realm of archetypes, magic and esoteric symbols of the female deity.77

72_{Jone Salomonson Enchanted Feminism : Ritual, Gender and Divinity Among the Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco. (London [etc:}

Routledge, 2002), 6.

73_{Salomonson, Enchanted feminism, 3.}

74_{Merlin Stone. When God was a woman. (Harcourt: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.}_{), Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism}

(Beacon Press: 1990).

75_{Luce Irigaray, “Divine Women”, 60.}

76_{Amico, Eleanor B. Reader’s Guide to Women’s Studies. (Chicago [etc: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998), 9-10.} 77_{Salomonsen, Enchanted Feminism, 150.}

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22 In Reclaiming Witches women-only circles, pregnancy and birth are seen as ultimate representations of connectedness and interdependence, which is only accessible for women. According to this thought, women and men experience reality fundamentally different because of their biology.78 “Woman” can also be defined as “she who bleeds”. The celebration of menstruation by Reclaiming women serves as resistance against the common shame and taboo that dominates the female reproductive systems. Instead of deconstructing traditional feminine qualities, the Reclaiming movement actually tried to revalue these qualities. According to them, it is not the nature of the feminine qualities that is suppressing women and causes male supremacy, but the fact that these qualities are not valued in society. They argue for the revaluation and appreciation of traditional female characteristics such as nurturing, feeling and receptivity.

What is important to note is the ongoing tension between the different construction of femininity. Whereas neopagans movements such as Reclaiming find power in perceiving the feminine as nurturing and connected to nature, this can also be interpreted as a reaffirmation of very stereotyped gender roles and essentialist.79_{Besides, the glorification of femaleness in} gender-segregated rituals can be seen as the creation of a new system of discrimination based on sex.80 The sexual and powerful witch can also be used as a critical way to counterpose the general gender norms, like in the case of the Whore of Babalon.81_{The tension between the different} approaches to construct femininity is also what is referred to as the “identity crisis”82_{in feminist} theory.

Shakti Woman: manifesting the divine feminine

Shakti Tantra, or Shaktism, is a set of traditions within the incredibly various body of tantric traditions. Tantra itself is a category within the even larger body of Hindu traditions. “Hinduism” as a category is a modern invention, created by Western imagination.83_{The concept emerged in} the colonial period, when British authorities needed to categorize Indian culture for bureaucratic reasons. Therefore, Hinduism as a religion, is a simplistic category that does not exist in reality. 78_{Salomonsen quotes an informant who describes this phenomenon. She describes how being born alone and dying alone are universal,}

basic aspect of human experience. But the experience of birth and pregnancy can only be experienced by female human beings and thus create a fundamentally different reality and human experience. Enchanted feminism, 219.

79_{Urban, Magia Sexualis, 162.}

80_{Salomonsen, Enchanted Feminism, 245.} 81_{Hedenborg White, The Eloquent Blood, 366.}

82_{Linda Alcoff “Cultural feminism Versus Post-Structuralism: The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory”, Signs 13:3 (1988), 407-408.} 83_{Urban, Tantra, 46.}

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23 Hinduism serves as a blanket term that covers an immense variety of traditions and sects, and merges them into one system.84_{Most traditions and sects that are identified as Hindu,} presuppose the Veda’s as their scriptural authority, even though there are innumerable other scriptures that serve as a source of inspiration. One of these set of scriptures is called the Tantras. The Tantras are a class of literature contained within the Agama scriptures. What makes the Tantras different from most Hindu scriptures is that they challenge the conventional Hindu practices and beliefs. Traditional Hindu practices and images are being replaced and imagery is turned upside down. This way the Tantras actually rivalled with the conventional Hindu doctrine, which was Brahmanism.

Tantrism can be defined as a scriptural tradition, based on the different scriptures of the Tantras, which are devoted to different tantric gods. There are Shaiva, Vaishnava, Shakta Tantras and separate Tantras dedicated to other gods.85_{Central to most of the tantric texts are descriptions of} ritual activities, often to transform the worshippers into deities. With the usage of mystical designs (yantras), hand gestures (mudras), repeated formulas (mantras) and other ritualistic practices, one worships the central god or goddess. What is important about Tantra and what makes it different from other Hindu traditions is its main focus on the material world and the physical experience. Whereas Brahmanic tradition focusses more on ascending and transcending the physical world, the tantrika (male practitioner of Tantra) seeks to engage in it and accordingly master it.86_{Therefore the} body is of great importance. This is the place where the practice happens and where unity with the divine is achieved. This is the unity of the feminine principle, Shakti, and the masculine principle, Shiva.

Shakti is perceived as the raw and primordial energy which constitutes the universe and everything in it. This powerful energy is to be awakened in the body, rising through the spine as a serpent (Kundalini) to meet its masculine counterpart in an energy center above the head, to attain spiritual unity with the universe. This way, the body serves as a microcosmos of the divine macrocosmos, where the two polarizing energies can merge.87_{In that sense, tantric realization is the realization of} bipolar or bisexual divinity within one’s body.

84_{Frederique Apffel-Marglin, Rhythms of Life: Enacting the World with the Goddesses of Orissa, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2008),}

60.

85_{Wendy Doniger, The Hindus : an Alternative History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 419.} 86_{Gordan Djurdjevic, India and the Occult, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), 6.}

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24 Shaktism, as the name suggests, puts emphasis on the worship of the Goddess Shakti. This Tantric tradition is based primarily on the Shakta Tantras. A theme that is common within these scriptures is the concept of the Mother Goddess (Mahadevi) as manifested in various goddesses. All of these Goddesses symbolize a different aspect of the Goddess.88_{Just as within most Tantric traditions,} Shaktas (practitioners of Shakti Tantra) pursue liberation through experience, thus the main focus is on physical practices instead of following dogma.

With the rise of Goddess worship, a new kind of practice seemed to enter the field of Hindu tradition. Since now that the deity was a female figure, the male practitioners could worship her in a sexual relationship. A sexual act, called maithuna, is performed in order to make man and woman counterparts of masculine and feminine principles. The male practitioner commonly chooses the woman who will embody the Goddess. There is a multitude of rituals being performed in order to transform the woman into the Goddess.89_{As she becomes deified, her} body and bodily fluids will be worshipped as sacred material. Practices and things that would normally be conceived as disgusting were used as divine, precisely because Shakti is everything.90 This was in strong contrast with the hierarchical system of purity common in Hindu traditions. The Mahavidyas, a group of tantric goddess including Kali, exist in tantric currents that centralize female imagery. Revering women as manifestations of the Great Goddess is mentioned and emphasized in the Mahavidya and related texts. The practitioner (or sadhaka) worships the woman, who is his personal Shakti, and her body by the use of mantras, as he deifies her breasts and vagina. Especially the vagina is where the Goddess is residing. He then worships his own penis as representing the god Shiva. Sexual intercourse thus becomes a cosmic event in which Shiva and Shakti unite. These rituals are described by males and take a male point of view, in which women are commonly described as objects. Miranda Shaw has shown that many tantric sources written by females have simply been ignored, but David Kinsley said not to have find any on the Mahavidyas. So whether this description of the tantric currents have any significance in portraying female spirituality is uncertain.91

88_{John Woodroffe, Shakti: Or, The world as power. (Women's Printing Society, 1920).}

89_{Sarana Alexandrian The Great Work of the Flesh: Sexual Magic East and West. (Simon and Schuster, 2015), 12.}

90_{Thomas Ellis, “Disgusting Bodies, Disgusting Religion: The Biology of Tantra.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion,79(4),}

879-927, (2011).

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25 Nevertheless, the Mahavidya imagery is strikingly deviant from most Hindu Goddesses and portrays the Goddesses as sexually active, independent and powerful. The goddesses Kali, Chinnamasta and Tara are often portrayed while having sexual intercourse and almost all others are shown as equal or even superior to male deities. The symbols for these Goddesses, such as the downward-pointing triangles and a lotus, have strong sexual connotations.92_{In other words,} many Tantric texts challenge the construction of femininity, by linking it to transgression and power.93

The tradition underwent dramatic changes as it travelled to the West. Some scholars such as David Gordon White94_{argue that the Western Tantra, also referred to as Neotantra, has nothing} to do with the original tradition. I tend to agree more with the other perspective, offered by Hugh Urban95_{, in which we see the transformation and appropriation without diminishing the newly} formed manifestations. This new form actually gives information about the cultural context in which it emerged and offers a window into the historical context.

The same goes for the whole historical process that is normally referred to as Orientalism. In this process, an essentialist distinction is made between the Orient and the Occident, of which the latter has the (self-imagined) dominating position and claims expertise on Orient traditions.96_In the colonialist dynamic, the “other” is created and used as a projection screen. The Orient served as a “sensual” and “feminine” other, which became interwoven with unconscious fantasies and sexual imageries.97

The Western projection of sexuality and sensuality on the East was affirmed by the identification of Tantra with sexual magic and sexual liberation as it entered the West. American yogi Pierre Bernard was the first to transmit Tantra to the West and infused (or confused) it primarily with sex and physical pleasure. He and Crowley were highly influential in the transformational process of Tantra in the West, as they sensationalized Tantra into an object of scandal and media attention.98_{On the one side, Tantra became scrutinized as it triggered the Christian fearful}

92_{Ibid. 246.}

93_{Hugh Urban, The Power of Tantra: Religion, Sexuality and the Politics of South Asian Studies. (London; New York: I.B. Tauris, 2010), 130.} 94_{David Gordon White, Tantra in Practice, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000), 4.}

95_{Urban, Tantra, 6.}

96_{Richard King, “Orientalism and Indian Religions”, in Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India and ‘The Mystic East’, (London,}

Routledge, 1999, 82-95), 88.

97_{Meyda Yegenoglu, Colonial fantasies: Towards a feminist reading of Orientalism, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, (1998), 44.} 98_{Urban, Tantra.}

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26 association of black magic and sex. On the other side, Bernard’s and Crowley’s emphasis on sexual liberation fitted well with the counterculture and sexual revolution that emerged in the 1960s, even though both had already died by then. The liberation from prudery and oppression by Christian society that was proclaimed in Tantra, was received with open arms by revolting youths. Neotantric gurus such as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho, offered Tantra as the most direct path to absolute freedom and instant deification of the practitioner.99 Neotantra seems to be a mix-and-match of Crowleyan sex magic, Kama Sutra, and Taoism mingled into self-help techniques.

The Western appropriation of Tantra has also manifested in the adoption of Hindu Goddesses for feminist purposes.100_{Tantric Goddesses such as Shakti and Kali have been appropriated by} feminists as a symbol for radical female empowerment. Especially the goddess Kali has been a favorite of Western women, since she represents the dark, sexual and angry sides of women that have been repressed in the West. She offers an empowering example for women since she is powerful, active and assertive101_{and uses her individual power and free will. The appropriation of} Shakti and Kali as a radical symbol of empowerment has resulted in the Western rise of “Shakti Woman”. The aggressive and assertive power of the Tantric goddesses served as the perfect tool for feminist purposes.102_{The practitioner seeks to identify with the goddess, to become her and} this way obtain what she possesses, be it power or knowledge.103

Besides offering symbols for feminine empowerment, Shakti Tantra ideology also considers each female body as a manifestation of the Goddess. The female body is therefore worshipped in Shakta rituals, which was unheard of in Western Christian theology.104_{Accordingly, it has been} argued that Shaktism has the inherent quality of social liberation and the feminine principle Shakti has been used often in the past as a tool for social change.105_{The Goddess’ power is independent} that can be used to destroy or reach any goal.106

99_{Ibid., 240.}

100_{Rachel Fell McDermott}_{“New Age Hinduism, New Age Orientalism, and the Second-Generation South Asian.” Journal of the American}

Academy of Religion 68, 4 (December 1, 2000), 729.

101_{Shahrukh Husain, The Goddess: Power, Sexuality, and the Feminine Divine. (Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2003), 20.} 102_{Urban, Tantra, 19.}

103_{Kinsley, Tantric Visions, 3.}

104_{Kartikeya C. Patel “Women, Earth, and the Goddess: A Shākta-Hindu Interpretation of Embodied Religion”. Hypatia, 9(4), (1994).} 105_{Narendra N. Bhattacharya, History of the Sakta Religion, (New Dehli: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1996), 66.}

106_{Goudriaan & Gupta and Doniger describe how Tantra is deeply related to power in Goudriaan, T. & Gupta, S. Hindu Tantric and Sakta} Literature. A history of Indian Literature 1(2), (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1981) and Doniger, The Hindus.

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27 The existence and recognition of a female God results in the deifying of the female sex and her body. As a consequence, the female genitalia and its functions are also perceived as divine symbols. The vagina or yoni is described in the Yoni Tantra as a manifestation of the Great Goddess, which resulted in an endless variety of vagina imagery and temples dedicated to its worship.107

In short, an important aspect of the construction of a feminine identity has been the imagination of a female deity. Irigaray has argued that this is integral for constructing an independent feminine subjectivity, which has been confirmed by Hedenborg White in her research on Babalon.108_{The same idea has been defended by scholars such as Carol P. Christ who argue for} the importance of the recognition of a female god and the pre-Christian goddess worship. In the Goddess movement archeological findings and myths about female deities serve as examples and inspiration for women and their identity construction. By discovering traditions that deify femaleness or femininity, women are confronted with other ways to relate to themselves as women.

107_{Kinsley, Tantric Visions, 243.}

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28

3. Methodology

To answer the research question, an anthropological research has been conducted of a tantric school in contemporary Amsterdam. This school is named School of Shakti, which from now on will be referred to as SoS. SoS, which opened in 2010, is focused on the combination of Shakti Tantra and personal development practices for the purpose of female sexual empowerment. The teacher and owner of the school, Marcia Sanders, has a background in Raja Yoga and Hindu Shakti Tantra. She has been trained and initiated by an Indian man and Tantrika named Sri Param, who is a Kali devotee. Sanders studied the Mahavidyas and this became a central part of her present teachings.109

In September 2018, a training called “Feminine Glow” started. Each module, with a duration of either two or three weekends, is linked to a specific chakra and element. The four basic elements of earth, water, fire and air are dedicated to personal development and healing. The ethereal fifth element focuses on channeling. The focus shifts from individual to collective growth and grows in political significance as it seeks cultural change. The ultimate goal is to balance and unite the masculine and feminine energy, first within one’s self, then in society.

The type of practices Sanders uses are for example dance, meditation, psychological inquiry methods and communication practices. In short, it is a combination of diverse practices that are brought together as a system of self-development and spiritual practices designed especially for women. There are multiple yogic elements in Sanders’ teachings, such as “Sensual Shakti Yoga”, where by the use of yoga postures (asanas), the woman is bringing awareness to the pelvic floor, womb and vagina (yoni). There are kundalini yoga elements in the practices which focus on rising the sexual energy up through the spine by use of breath, sound and movements. Devotional

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29 practices are used for filling one’s body with Shakti energy. In the Shakti Tantra modules, channeling becomes a central part of the practice.

The description above reminds us of several characteristics of esotericism as described by Faivre.110_{Firstly, transmutation, meaning an inner process to purification, is symbolized by the} development from basic elements to spiritual elements. Correspondence is clearly shown in the notion that the universal dual masculine and feminine energy, or Shiva and Shakti, is also to be found within one’s individual body or energetic system. Living nature is apparent in the general concept in Shakti Tantra that Shakti is the all-pervasive power out of which reality consists, an idea that Sanders also considers fundamental. Mediation, the idea that one can use rituals and symbols to mediate between lower and higher worlds, is evident in dance and yogic practices where one opens themselves up to connect with Shakti or divine feminine energy. Finally, transmission is a characteristic of esotericism that is found in SoS. As will become clear in the next chapter, Sanders does not belief in the traditional teacher-student dynamic where one passes on ideas on a mental level. Instead, she beliefs in transmission. Only by experiences and individually uncovered knowledge, she believes one can learn. Therefore she does not consider herself as a teacher, but more as a “facilitator”.

Besides these distinct esoteric characteristics, SoS also possesses clear New Age characteristics. Firstly, it is mainly focussed on healing and personal growth. Another central New Age characteristic is channeling.111_{As mentioned above, this is a central theme in the ethereal modules} taught in SoS. Lastly, all New Age movements share a criticism of the dualistic and reductionist western culture and seek “evolution”. The concept of a current world-crisis is prominent in SoS. Sanders argues how the current domination of masculine energy is the cause and how awakening feminine energy is the cure. The New Age is what she calls the “New Paradigm”. Various characteristics of esotericism as described by Faivre are also easy to discern from the school’s philosophy and will be made clear throughout the study below.

110_{Hanegraaff, New Age Religion, 397.} 111_{Ibid., 23.}

Awakening the Feminine Force