On any spiritual path, you encounter the power and purification of the distortion of the life force. This life force is one of the trinity of the source, allowing the impermanent world to manifest and enabling the soul to take shape in form. Let’s examine the qualities of this power and how it influences your perception and experiences.
In Hinduism, Shakti (Sanskrit for “power, energy, ability”) is the primordial cosmic energy and the personification of the divine feminine creative power that underlies and sustains all existence. She is considered the dynamic force that moves through the entire universe and is responsible for creation, preservation, and dissolution.
In the Shaktism tradition, she is worshipped as the supreme being (Mahadevi or Adi Parashakti), of whom all other goddesses are considered manifestations.
When we discuss the embodiment of the alchemy attribute, we refer to the will of creation to survive, reproduce, and assert its existence in various forms. It is love and wisdom in action. The divine will manifest as power, a sense of vitality, abundance, and connectivity.
The personal and divine will is represented by courage, protection, enthusiasm, valor, and justice. The representatives of these attributes can be seen as protectors of life, soldiers of the divine, who are interested in maintaining the higher frequency of life in action.
The will to live, the pursuit of experiences as opportunities for growth, and the myriad ways this energy expresses itself give rise to diverse personifications. Two primary archetypes embody the moods and character of the divine will: one is gentle and nurturing, while the other is fierce and transformative. Both are the characters of the divine alchemy.
Liberation through the divine will involves surrendering the personal will and aligning oneself fully with the divine intention. This path invites the aspirant to relinquish control, allowing the creative center to become a channel for manifesting the power and energy of the divine in action.
The divine will holds alchemy, and the alchemy has two powers that are simultaneously present in the female force of creation: nurturing and destruction. The understanding and balance of these two forces pose a challenge for the seeker, who must apply balance and discernment.
The womb holds the power of gestating Shakti, the breath carries its movement, the voice serves as its manifestation, and action consolidates its form. The primal life force operates primarily on a subconscious level; yet, all that we manifest as its projections reveals two truths: that we are the creators, and that our creations reflect what we are truly interested in exploring.
Shakty is naturally elevated in the feminine body; every woman must learn the management, meaning, and divine utilization of power, alchemy, and life.
Types of Shakti
Shakti manifests in countless forms and can be broadly categorized into philosophical aspects and personified goddesses:
* Iccha Shakti (Will Power): The power of divine will, desire, and aspiration that drives creation and action. It is associated with the goddess Lakshmi.
* Jnana Shakti (Knowledge Power): The energy of awareness, knowledge, and wisdom. It is associated with the goddess Saraswati.
* Kriya Shakti (Action Power): The power of action, manifestation, and activity that brings desires into reality. It is associated with the goddess Parvati/Durga.
* Chit Shakti (Consciousness Power): The power of pure consciousness that illuminates and gives life to the universe.
* Ananda Shakti (Bliss Power): The power of divine bliss and joy that infuses life with happiness.
* Kundalini Shakti is the biological energy in all humans that facilitates transmutation. As one awakens and travels through the chakra system, it allows the divine primal power to restructure the biology and attain union with the universal will.
Archetypes of Shakty (Goddesses)
Shakti manifests as numerous goddesses, generally categorized into two aspects: benign and fierce.
* Benign Forms: These goddesses are typically consorts of male deities and personify nurturing, creative, and benevolent aspects.
* Parvati: The wife of Shiva and a gentle mother goddess representing devotion, fertility, and marital happiness.
* Lakshmi: The goddess of wealth, prosperity, good fortune, and abundance; the consort of Vishnu.
* Saraswati: The goddess of knowledge, arts, music, and wisdom; the consort of Brahma.
* Radha & Sita: Goddesses embodying devotional love and ideal wifely virtues.
* Fierce Forms: These goddesses are independent and personify powerful, protective, and destructive aspects, which they use to restore cosmic order and vanquish evil.
* Durga: A fierce warrior goddess created from the combined energies of the male gods to defeat demons. She represents strength, courage, and protection. Her alchemy energy destroys rage, greed, and arrogance. It also sharpens the mind, wisdom of the earth, and strength in body, mind, and spirit. It controls the 10 directions, and its reach is universal. Her power of detachment towards the mundane and desires is also present.
* Kali: The dark, powerful goddess of time, destruction, and radical change, who destroys the ego and grants liberation. It relates to linear time, detachment, death of the obsolete, rage towards injustice. It directly addresses the balance of ego as well as the balance of destructive forces in the universe.
* Chandi: An aggressive and impetuous form of the goddess, often identified with Durga. Her primary role is to destroy evil and protect dharma (righteousness). She becomes terribly angry at evil-doers and slays them without mercy. It destroys black magic and obstacles in the path. She is described as abiding in all beings as intelligence, order, forgiveness, peace, and consciousness itself.
* Mahavidyas: A group of ten tantric goddesses (including Kali, Tara, and Tripura Sundari) representing various forms of great earth wisdom.
In essence, while Shakti has myriad names and forms, they are all seen as diverse expressions of the single, supreme Divine Mother (Mahadevi).
The diversity of frequencies and attributes of the primal life force is accompanied by the attributes of fractal reproduction, where a never-ending pattern is created by repeating a simple process over and over, resulting in a shape that is self-similar to the structure of the source. It is born in accordance with sacred geometry, and it is of infinite complexity. Mathematically, fractals have an infinite amount of detail. In reality, natural fractals are limited by physical constraints, but they can be very close to true fractals.
They are often generated through simple iterative processes, or feedback loops, where a process is repeated on a shape to create a new one.
This makes life force impossible to navigate through logic; it is always fluctuating accordingly to the choices of the individuals, and it is an ocean of powerful energy with no beginning and no end.
To transcend Shakty, we must undergo karma purification ( understanding right action), as well as detachment from experiences, power, and control. The candidate must overcome the fear of humiliation, the desire for perfection, and the proper use of alchemy.
The primary task of shakty is to provide a holographic representation of the form for the soul to learn. It is the school and university of the source to see itself and its capacities. It creates Maya, or the illusion of the phenomenal world. The energy that Maya is paradoxical. It is both eternal and impermanent.
Distortions in the alchemy Center
Distortions in life attributes are often associated with the overextension of power, personal will, and the adoption of beliefs as “The Perfect One”. Individuals under this distortion initially formed their first judgment about invincibility, invulnerability, and control. Whatever the circumstances, that first judgment upon their life force leads to powerlessness, helplessness, and separation from the primal life.
This distortion adopts the idea of personal omnipresence and power, translating it into a belief in one’s own invincibility, invulnerability, and control. The individual feels compelled to hide these tendencies as a means of covering a deep-seated sense of helplessness: “If only I can assert myself and my power, my omnipotence, my invulnerability, nothing can happen to me. I will be safe and secure.”
Such a belief system limits the true expression of the self within the alchemy center. The underlying pain stems from not being seen, heard, or understood. To cope, these individuals may perceive the world and others as inherently threatening or bad, which justifies their aggressive attitudes and resistance to vulnerability.
This belief creates an idealized self-image, which manifests in the following behaviors:
• Never showing vulnerability
• Always being independent
• Never showing your dependence
• Never showing your helplessness
• Never showing your true feelings
• Always having a fighting spirit and being
competitive
• Always being aggressive.
This limited belief creates pride in:
• Never failing at anything
• Not being helpless
• Not being gullible
• Not being dependent on others to take care of
him her
• Ambition
• Toughness
• Aggression
In the eyes of others, they feel shame in:
• Warmth
• Having any affection
• Their style of communication
• Unselfishness
• Needing the help of others
• The core feeling is helplessness, which covers:
– A collapsed, helpless inner child looking for love and protection,
– Craving to be seen. The child is submissive, insecure, and dependent.
– Reacts to defeat as extreme humiliation that must be hidden at all costs.
– Tendency toward blame.
Key points to take home:
* Shakti manifests as different types of energy (will, knowledge, action, consciousness, bliss) and is central to spiritual growth, transformation, and the experience of reality.
* The divine will encompasses both nurturing (benign) and destructive (fierce) aspects, personified in goddesses such as Parvati, Lakshmi, Saraswati (nurturing), and Durga, Kali, and Chandi (fierce).
* The process of spiritual evolution involves surrendering personal will to the divine, seeking balance between creation and destruction, and recognizing one’s own role as both creator and explorer of existence.
* The primal life force operates subconsciously, shaping our desires and creations; it is reflected in the fractal, ever-replicating patterns of life and sacred geometry.
* Distortions in the healthy expression of this energy lead to belief systems centered on invincibility, invulnerability, and control, often masking deep feelings of helplessness and shame. This can result in pride in independence and aggression, and shame in vulnerability and dependence, ultimately covering a helpless inner child seeking love and acceptance.
* Transcending these distortions requires purification, detachment, and a willingness to embrace vulnerability, right action, and true balance between power and surrender.
This text ultimately presents Shakti as an infinite, ever-changing energy that is the foundation of all spiritual growth, creative manifestation, and the journey toward self-knowledge and unity with the divine.