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Home , Goddess movement, Maithuna, Religion and sexuality, Sex magic, Spiritual evolution

Awakening the Feminine Force in Contemporary Amsterdam

Student: Jessica de Fauwe; Student number: 10346295; Supervisor: Marco Pasi; Second reader: Manon Hedenborg White;

Master’s thesis: ; Track: ; Date: 13-08-2019 Contents

1. Introduction ...... 3 Aim and research question ...... 4 Contribution of this study ...... 5 Outline ...... 6 A note on spelling and definitions ...... 6 2. Theoretical background...... 8 and the question of ...... 8 The of and sex ...... 10 Erotic esotericism ...... 14 Sex and the revaluation of the female ...... 16 The feminist witch ...... 20 Shakti : manifesting the divine feminine ...... 22 3. Methodology ...... 28 Feminist approach to methods ...... 30 Participant- and self-observation ...... 31 Interviews...... 32 4. Results ...... 34 Marcia Sanders and the new paradigm ...... 34 Heal the woman and the will appear ...... 36 The magic of surrendering ...... 37 The power of boundaries ...... 38 Becoming the channel: embodying Shakti ...... 40 To serve in Her name as a Priestess ...... 43 Sisterhood ...... 44 5. Analysis ...... 47 6. Conclusion ...... 52 Appendix: Interview question list ...... 54 Bibliography ...... 55 Interviews ...... 55 Online sources ...... 55 Literature ...... 56

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1. Introduction

A new woman is emerging from the darkness – strong, determined, flowing with primordial power – fearlessly facing her , the sword of 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 ” and “reclaim their female ”. 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 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, , magic and countless other esoteric traditions are suggested to serve this purpose. There is a widespread appropriation of

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 for a Woman’s , (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 of , (Sounds True Inc, 2013.) and Women’s such as Alexandra Pope, Wild Power: Discover the Magic of Your and Awaken the Feminine Path to Power, (Hay House UK Ltd, 2017).

3 symbolism such as the downward-pointing triangle which symbolizes the , 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 . The call is urgent, and politically charged. Patriarchy is perceived to be the cause for worldwide 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 , 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 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 of a female 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.

5 David Kinsley, Tantric visions of the divine feminine: the ten mahavidyas. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997.), 10.

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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 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 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 . 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 ” in Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women’s Studies, edited by Aravinda Śarmā, 25-37. (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002), 26.

5 discuss the and sexuality discourse. That way, I 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 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 , 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 and collective level. The socio- political side of this study asks for a historical and cultural context. Therefore, a brief , 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 and its revaluation of the female orgasm. I will describe magical theories and how these have been appropriated in the discourse. The second example, Witchcraft, has most clearly been transformed into a . The political purpose of this adoption in the 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

6 and these will be used interchangeably in the chapter on Shakti Tantra. Second, Crowleyan sex magic is often spelled as “”, 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, : A Nineteenth-Century Black American Spiritualist, Rosicrucian, and Sex Magician, (SUNY Press, 1997). 7

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 . 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 , . (4th impr. London: Victor Gollancz, 1971). 8

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 or . 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” 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 . 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 /, 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, 1981), 15-17.

9 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 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 , the main power structure that has influenced .

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 .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 & Business Media, 1992), 21. 20 Lynne Segal Is the Future Female? (Little Brown UK, 1994), 90.

10 repressed by Christianity and Victorianism. The hypothesis is teleological in the sense that sexuality is continuously moving towards liberation, while shedding Christian 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 impulses has been the actual driving force behind the economic, political and social development of the European continent since the . As an addition to Max Weber’s theory of how 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 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 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 of sexual and . The doctrine of sin justified the human suffering and urged for control of natural impulses, especially . 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 , 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. 25 Riane Tennenhaus Eisler. Sacred pleasure: Sex, , and the politics of the body. (HarperSan Francisco, 1995), 14. 11 duality of body and soul, one of the foundations of Christianity. The perishable 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 of rationality and control. Platonic , 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 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/ 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 anti-feminine and anti- body interpretation in Christian . 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 between men and women. Sex was only to be used for procreative purposes within the strictly confined monogamous . Every other sexual act, such as , 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 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, and Gender Identification: A Neo-Feminist-Perspective” in Religion and Gender, editied by Ursula King. (Oxford [etc: Blackwell, 1995), 205. 29 Sherry Beth Ortner, “Is Female to Male as Nature Is to Culture?” Feminist Studies, 1(2), (1972, 5-31), 28.

12 women was, according to feminists, the foundation of patriarchal society. 30 Besides that, the existence of a male 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 , 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 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 . 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 , 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. 36 Christine E. Gudorf, Body, Sex and Pleasure. (Cleveland, Ohio: Pilgrim Press, 1994), 299.

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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 . 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 movements, which share a critical perspective on the dualistic separation of science and religion. They propose a combination which would then lead to a 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 , The Cultic Milieu and Secularization” in The Cultic Milieu: Oppositional Subcultures in an Age of 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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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 and associate them with sexual and carnal desires.42 The association of with magic and sex resulted in a long history of trials in which esoteric orders were accused of sexual transgression. Such transgressions commonly included , , 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 or vaginal discharge might be collected and used in magical . 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 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 are used to outshine one’s personal

42 Pagels, Adam, Eve and the Serpent, 211. 43 Joanne Pearson “Sex and the Sacred” in and the Christian Heritage : , 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. 45 Jeffrey J. Kripal Secret Body : Erotic and Esoteric Currents in the History of Religions, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2017), 88.

15 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 . 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 , Jewish 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. 51 Hugh Urban, Magia Sexualis , 116-117. 16

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 -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 . 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 (OTO) and magician . 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 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 in

52 Deveney, Paschal Beverly Randolph, 27. 53 Sarane Alexandrian The of the Flesh: Sexual Magic East and West. (Simon and Schuster, 2015), 319. 54 Celso, “Mutuality and Pleasure”, 33. 55 Urban, Magia Sexualis, 212. 56 Pearson, Wicca and the Christian Heritage, 376-377.

17 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 .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 conceptualizes femininity as power and . 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 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 (). 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 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: , Magic, and . (Simon and Schuster, 2011), 47. 61 Urban, Magia Sexualis, 340. 62 Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 283 63 Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 400

18 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 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. 67 Andolsen, “Whose sexuality?”, 71-72.

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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 , 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 . 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. 71 Naomi Goldenberg “The return of the Goddess” in Religion & Gender edited by Ursula King, (Oxford [etc: Blackwell, 1995), 77.

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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 that represent human nature and divine 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 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 and , but in the West the feminine has been banished by radical , or suppressed dramatically. The rediscovery of the feminine deity has been initiated by , 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 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.), , Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of (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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In Reclaiming Witches women-only circles, 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 .78 “Woman” can also be defined as “she who bleeds”. The celebration of 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 , 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 “ Versus Post-Structuralism: The Identity Crisis in Feminist Theory”, Signs 13:3 (1988), 407-408. 83 Urban, Tantra, 46.

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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 .

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 () and other ritualistic practices, one 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, .

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 : an Alternative History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 419. 86 Gordan Djurdjevic, and the , (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), 6. 87 Gavin D. Flood, The tantric body: the secret tradition of Hindu religion. (London: IB Tauris, 2005), 15. 23

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 (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 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). 91 David Kinsley, Tantric visions, 248.

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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 ”, 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.

25 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 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 such as Bhagwan Shree , also known as Osho, offered Tantra as the most direct path to freedom and instant deification of the practitioner. 99 Neotantra seems to be a mix-and-match of Crowleyan sex magic, 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”. , 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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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 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. 108 Hedenborg White, “The Eloquent Blood”. 27

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 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, , 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

109 Marcia Sanders, “Marcia Sanders.” Accessed May 20, 2019. https://schoolofshakti.org/marcia-sanders-2/

28 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 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.

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Feminist approach to methods

The feminist approach to the study of religion is similar to that of phenomenology. The phenomenological approach, also called , focuses on the direct experience of an individual person. Consequently, patterns are to be found within the collection of these direct experiences. 112 Feminists also focus on collecting data through direct experiences by individuals. They agree with phenomenologists that an experience takes place in a certain physical body and the properties of this body influence the experience. This point is especially important for feminist scholars of religion since it recognizes the fact that a woman experiences life differently than a man, simply because she is situated in a female body. Therefore they criticize the study of religion that is mostly based on the human experience from a male perspective.

Since women constitute about half of any society, knowledge about them is crucial in understanding any culture or religious phenomenon. of religion recognizes the androcentrism within the study of religion and emphasizes the urgency of data- collecting of experiences other than men.113 Rita Gross argues that male scholars simply cannot give the whole picture of a culture, since they have no access to materials on women’s religious lives. Another important characteristic of feminist is the for and personal involvement with the subjects.114

To research the SoS and how Shakti Tantra serves as a tool for female emancipation, I used a combination of auto-ethnographic and anthropological methods. I used my personal experience, participant observation and in-depth interviews. After educating myself in feminist anthropology of religion, I have realized that my personal involvement in the practices actually also offers a perspective that is worth considering. I used my personal access into the school to paint a detailed picture of the practices and the individual experiences of the women who participate in the trainings.

Since I had already been part of this tantric school before I commenced this research, it has been delicate process to shift from participant to participant-observer, while not damaging the safety of the space. I chose to communicate about my research openly and to be as transparent as

112 Young, “From the Phenomenology of Religion”, 11. 113 Rita Gross “Feminist Issues and Methods in the Antropology of Religion” in Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women’s Studies, edited by Aravinda Śarmā, 30-45. (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2002), 36. 114 Mary Jo Neitz and Karen Mccarthy Brown. “Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn.” (Contemporary Sociology, September 1992), 14. 30 possible whenever anyone asked about my pursuits. The members (all women) have been supportive and very much encouraged my research.

Participant- and self-observation

As a participant observer, I took part in the practices as a regular participant. I did not change the way I acted and stayed as emotionally and mentally involved as I had been, while maintaining an observing awareness. After each day of training I wrote down the exercises we did and described what happened in the day to keep a record of everything. This way I was able to release my researcher position when in the training, only to seize it when I was home and able to reflect and note. I will complement this data with my personal experience of the practices and describe it according to the auto-ethnographic method. 115 By sharing embodied representations of experiences, I reject the binary opposition between the researcher and the researched.116 This is in accordance with the methodological approach of feminist deconstructionism, in which the individual experience is highly valued and subjectivity is embraced.117

The position of recognizing the scholar as subject and thus the subjectivity of the work, corresponds with the feminist critique on and scientific neutrality, which Donna Haraway called the “god-trick. 118 Auto-ethnography endeavours to suggests alternative viewpoints that would traditionally have been discarded as “unhelpfully subjective”.119 I tend to agree with Rita Gross’ argument that the only way to reach some sort of objectivity is by stating one’s biases. I am aware of my young, white, female body and the fact that it influences how I perceive the world and am being perceived by the world. Also, I am educated and spiritually inclined, and have been raised in a middle class environment, which shaped my perspective.

115 A clear description of this method is given by Sally Denshire in her article "On auto-ethnography." Current Sociology 62.6 (2014) 831- 850. 116 Gerardus van der Leeuw, Religion in Essence and Manifestation: A Study in Phenomenology, 2 vols. (New York: Harper & Row, 1963), 676. 117 Heewon Chang, Autoethnography as method, (Routledge, 2016). 118 As described by Mary M Reda, “Autoethnography as research methodology?” Academic Exchange Quarterly, 2007, 177 and Katherine Young, “From the Phenomenology of Religion to Feminism”. 119 Lydia Turner, “The evocative autoethnographic ‘I’: The relational ethics of writing about oneself.” Contemporary British Autoethnography. Rotterdam: Sense, (2013), 213.

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Interviews

Besides participant-observation, I used in-depth interviewing as a ethnographic method to create a rich picture of individual experiences. Since this research is about how women feel liberated sexually by the use of spiritual practices, it was crucial to learn about their personal worldviews and emotional understanding. To gain this information, in-depth interviewing is the most suited. Since it concerned very personal matters such as sexuality, trauma and emotional processes, I wanted to create a space that felt utterly safe and private. I chose semistructured interviewing, for which I prepared a short list of general questions and subjects that I wanted to touch upon.120 During most interviews I let go of the list and went along with the conversation. My focus was on hearing about how they feel SoS practices have influenced their life as a woman, their sexuality and their worldview. Besides that I was interested in hearing how they understood concepts such as Shakti, femininity and female empowerment.

The interviews, eleven in total, took place between the twenty-third of April until the seventh of May. The duration of the interviews has been between twenty-five minutes and forty-seven minutes. In order to preserve the privacy of the women, I decided to change names, except for Marcia Sanders.

My interviewees are:

• Marcia Sanders, owner of SoS • Noëlle, assistant of Marcia • Sofie, assistant of Marcia • Anna, former assistant, current support of SoS by organizing family constellations • Brianna, former participant of SoS trainings • Anita, former participant of SoS trainings • Jennifer, current participant of SoS trainings • Lena, current participant of SoS Teacher training • Petra, current participant of SoS Teacher training • Lara, current participant of SoS Teacher Training • Sara, current participant of SoS Teacher training

120 For the interview question list, see appendix. 32

My interviewees are all female. The age spanned between 21 and 50 at the time of the interviews. Most women, except for two, are active members or participants of the SoS at the time of the interviews. Noëlle and Sofie assist Sanders during the trainings and are also part of the management team. Anna, who was also part of the SoS management team, left this position during the time I was conducting interviews and distanced herself from the school. Despite this she was still willing to participate as an interviewee.

All of the women have full- or part-time jobs in completely different fields and are generally well- educated, middle-class people. There is for example a project manager, a scientist, a professional dancer, a teacher and human resource manager. The majority had a previous affinity with spirituality and practices such as hatha yoga or Buddhist meditation. Most were skeptical about Tantra as they associated it with “sleazy” places, bad teachers and sexual activities. Multiple women told me that the reason they decided to join is because they felt an “authenticity” with Sanders. What convinced women to join besides the above mentioned reasons, was a, as they called it, “inner wisdom” or “surrendering to something bigger”. In the process of choosing this school, most refer to their intuition, or “inner knowing”.

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4. Results

In this chapter I will provide the collected data and will categorize it according to certain themes that crystalized during the research. One thing that became clear quickly as I studied SoS, was the deep social and political message behind Sanders and her teachings. She proclaims that we are entering into a new “paradigm” in which the collective energetic balance between masculine and feminine energy will be restored. This is to be accomplished by women realizing and using their feminine power, which for Sanders means the ability to connect, to be empathetic, to listen, to play and to be soft amongst others. According to Sanders, women have the inherent capability to connect and empower each other, which is needed to “heal the earth”.121

Marcia Sanders and the new paradigm

So we have to step out of the old paradigm, when we as women kept each other small, which served a purpose, because our heads did not get chopped off, but that time is not there anymore, there is no danger anymore. And we really have to believe in that now. Otherwise change is not going to happen in the planet and things like #MeToo will repeat itself again if we do not as women feel that this is the feminine force that has to be awakened within us. We have to step into that new paradigm.122

Sanders, the founder of School of Shakti, has a mission. She is determined to help women understand that to be safe and to be confident, they have to realize their divine feminine nature. This divine nature contains all different ways of being feminine, instead of the limited perspective that has been taught by societal structures. If women were to “embrace all the different colours of the feminine nature, also including the darker colours”, they would realize the true power of their life force and life energy. The acceptance of the dark and fierce side will inspire women to value their

121 Marcia Sanders, “Introductie.” Accessed May 21, 2019. https://schoolofshakti.org/marcia-sanders-2/ 122 Interview with Marcia Sanders (Founder, School of Shakti), 23/04/2019. 34 feminine nature, instead of adjusting to the societal role that women should play. This adjusting and dimming of the feminine nature is what, according to Sanders, leads to depression, health problems or conflict. Sanders came to realize this once she learned about Shakti Tantra and Mahavidyas. She describes:

I felt since I was young that I could not really fit into the feminine world because I felt I had such a fierce side, such a raw and unadapted part or something and I could not understand this until I learned about the Mahavidyas and it was such a relief and such a homecoming.123

She argues that through the experience and expression of emotions, one can detach from them. This, for her, is the “Shakti practice” and the core method of her school. During her stay in India she was guided into experiencing every Mahavidya by the use of different yantras, mantras and puja rituals. This familiarized her with the wild and untamed parts of herself and of the feminine nature in general. She now wants to help other women realize this part of themselves in order to broaden their spectrum of femininity.

What is important to mention is that Sanders emphasizes the fact that men also contain feminine energy and women also contain masculine energy. According to her, the balance of these two polarities must also happen within each individual body, in order to balance the collective energy. This agrees with the tantric idea of a bisexual energetic system within each individual human being. Even though she supports women’s liberation movements, she disagrees with the hierarchical understanding of gender that she sees in them:

The women’s movement understands feminine energy to be better than masculine energy because it’s more inclusive, which is also bullshit.. because every part has a very beautiful side. So it’s nice to not think about negative and positive and feminine and masculine energy but to see that all these energies are within ourselves and how we work with them. That they work for us, not against us. Also as a tribe, as .124

This is what she refers to as the “New Paradigm”; a time in which masculine and feminine qualities are valued equally and everyone realizes that each human being contains both. If this is realized, then the victim-perpetrator dynamic would not be able to exist anymore. She perceives this as an unnecessary division that keeps both men and women captive. When women stay in the victim role

123 Interview with Sanders, 2019. 124 Interview with Sanders, 2019. 35 and perceive men as perpetrators, they stay in a vacuum that consequently spirals downwards. This is what to her is very clearly illustrated by the case of the #MeToo movement, as mentioned in the opening quote.125

In short, for women to realize their divine feminine nature, or Shakti nature, they will embrace all their different feminine aspects and feel empowered as human beings. Consequently they will be able to communicate clear boundaries and from that space look at men and respect the masculine energy. By honoring the masculine energy in the outer man, women simultaneously honor their inner man or masculine energy. An understanding will occur of the different energies and energetic dynamics, which will make it easier for women to anticipate them and create clarity and safety.

Heal the woman and the Goddess will appear

The purpose of the school is for women to realize they have a divine feminine nature and to use this as a tool for serving others. To be able to serve as a manifestation of the Goddess, the woman must first be healed. This way, she will be able to open her mind and body to the emergence of Shakti energy and fulfill the ultimate goal: restoring the collective energetic balance and heal the planet. I have been interested in seeing how this is experienced by the women who participate in the trainings. I will stick to the order of the evolving process that Sanders uses to heal each woman’s personal issues in order to be able to serve humanity as a whole. One can find the following sequence in the training:

1. Surrender to and trust in life and oneself 2. Creating boundaries and safety 3. Becoming the Channel: Embodying Shakti 4. To serve in Her name as Priestess

Besides this sequence, an underlying aspect of the school is the experience of being part of a sisterhood. This has been mentioned by most women, so I felt it necessary to add a section about it.

125 The #MeToo movement, which emerged in 2017, is a protest movement against gender-based violence. Women have been sharing testimonials on various media platforms to share their personal experience with under the hashstag #MeToo. Angela Hattery and Earl Smith. Gender, Power and Violence : Responding to Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence in Society Today. (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2018), 183. 36

The magic of surrendering

An answer that is most common when asking the informants what they learned at the SoS, is “surrendering”. Some describe the act of surrendering as experiencing the body more clearly, connecting to the pelvic floor126, not thinking, while others describe it more as a psychological act of trusting, being soft, surrendering to life.127 The act of surrendering seems to many as a process intertwined with trust. The trust of life, the trust of men, the trust of oneself; these are examples that women have given of how they experienced a growing sense of trust. This state of surrender and trust is described by several women as the natural state of the feminine. Lena describes this as “the path of least resistance” for women. This “feminine approach” to life in which one surrenders and trusts, is the opposite of the masculine approach in which one controls and strives to attain goals. Whenever one is acting according to the masculine approach, there would be a lot of planning, managing and directing involved. Even though this is an effective and necessary approach, especially in the workplace, most women in the trainings are trying to let go of these qualities. Anita describes this difference as follows:

I think what the training brought me was this other way, the more feminine way. This other way of working with things, so instead of always being structured, also having space for creativity and , and instead thinking that I need to lead by being dominant, leading by being of service.128

Anita, Sofie, Lena, Jennifer and Sara all describe a situation in which they had to teach a class or a workshop and decided to use the feminine approach in which they stopped thinking and let it “come through” them. For Lena, Sara, and Jennifer this recently happened for the first time and all three were voicing their astonishment of this experience. Sara describes this experience as “just going blank and just follow my flow.” She and others describe the act of surrender as an experience in which they find safety.

There is a wide variety of practices to cultivate the capacity to surrender. For example, women are asked to literally surrender to the guiding movements of a partner in a dance exercise or they are asked to lay down and surrender to the touch of fellow participants. The focus in these exercises is

126 Interview with Noëlle & Anna, 2019. 127 Interview with Lena, Petra & Anna, 2019. 128 Interview with Anita, 2019. 37 to trust the partner and to open fully to what is to come next, instead of already estimating a next move. This is supposed to bring women into the present moment and to surrender to following events. She is consequently more aware of her body and her senses, which Sanders identifies as “sensuality”. Accordingly, because a woman is now more able to feel her body, she is also more able to feel her needs and desires. The actual “magic of surrender” seems to happen in contact with other people, especially intimate partners. As Anna describes:

I was relating to men like I was standing on my own, taking care of myself and someone takes care of his self and if we do that, then we are both okay, but I didn’t know about the magic of surrendering. The polarities. It was empowering but in a different way because I learned about my feminine core and that it’s nourished by surrendering to the masculine energy.129

As a consequence, a woman feeling her needs and desires is able to communicate this and to set boundaries, which is the next step in the process.

The power of boundaries

Boundaries have been emphasized by every single woman I have interviewed. It seems to touch upon a theme that is infinitely bigger than just the ability to say “no” to a person. Whenever this subject was touched upon, the informants would relate this issue to the societal scale on which women are expected to please or to adjust. Noëlle explains this by the fact that women are filled with guilt and shame for their bodies and therefore do not know what their needs are. According to her, “we (women) are so used to please other people, to do what other people expect from us” which keeps women from speaking their boundaries. The attainment of boundaries gives a sense of safety for Noëlle and Lara, while for Brianna and Petra it gives a sense of control. For Brianna this means setting boundaries “not only in a physical or sexual context but also in a daily context, at work or even with the children”.130 Petra describes it as a realization that she would always let men cross her boundaries because she did not want to be “a horrible person”. According to her, she learned that “boundaries are okay and not something to be ashamed of”.131

The process of learning to feel and to communicate boundaries, has given most women a new way to relate to men. Whereas previously Brianna would not be open to connect with men and think

129 Interview with Anna, 2019. 130 Interview with Brianna, 2019. 131 Interview with Petra, 2019. 38

“who knows what is going to happen, I don’t know where are my boundaries so I just put them there” and would consequently “miss out on all the fun”. This is similar to what Noëlle describes when saying that “I used to be so scared to go on a date with men, like that they don’t like me or that they cross my boundaries.” Whereas now, in a relationship with a man:

Instead of judging him, I can still see him for a human being. And not rejecting him because he’s doing something that I don’t like or that I perceive as unsafe. And I found more the safety in myself, now. Knowing what I want and what I don’t want makes me feel so much more safe.132

This is directly connected to the case of the #MeToo movement, that Noëlle, just like Sanders, feels strongly about. She describes this as “this wave of like ‘men are bad’” and “you-me feminism”. She considers this to be very dangerous and untrue. She believes that whenever a woman is able to define her boundaries, situations like the ones the #MeToo movement is about, will not happen anymore. It seems to result in a new perspective on men and their desire to approach a woman. Petra illustrates this in the experience of dancing with a male partner, in which she could clearly say no and set boundaries, which the man could follow. She describes how he did not cross her boundaries, because she “knew the power of Shakti” and allowed him close to her within her boundaries. When I asked her how she felt about men trying to cross boundaries, she said she forgives both them and herself: “Myself for not being open and like right now, being so protective against men, with a wall, and also that the men are so attracted to the Shakti that they want to climb that wall.” She experienced this as a healing event, for both of them.

Most women in the training are dealing with a sexual trauma of some sort. This resulted for Sara in a deep fear for men, that surfaced in the SoS trainings. She describes how the training taught her to own her own sexuality, which “had been owned by other people for many years”. Once she took back the control over her own sexuality, she realized that sexuality was something that had always “happened” to her, something she felt as unsafe, dangerous and unpleasant. In order to be able to enjoy it she used to completely dissociate. By the use of awareness and embodiment, she was able to enjoy sex again without “triggering the trauma”. This way she learned to divide the trauma and her sexuality, which used to be completely entangled. She continues:

132 Interview with Noëlle, 2019. 39

This resulted very basically also in learning to enjoy orgasm again. So what the training did for me was to give me back the power of my orgasm and leave aside the shame part, leave aside the trauma and just be fine with feeling pleasurable emotions.133

As might be clear from the descriptions of experiences, the focus has been mainly on the personal development or the trauma healing of the individual women who partake in the trainings. This marks a distinction between the part of the training that is focused on personal development and the part that is focused on the embodiment of Shakti. During the interviews, this distinction became clear between the women that have been participating in the trainings for a longer time and the women that recently joined. Whereas new members were mostly focussing on their personal development and emotional wellbeing, the more experienced members were more concerned with serving and letting go of their individual self. This was also made clear by how they related to the concept of Shakti or the “Divine Feminine”. For the new members, these concepts were distant, something they could not connect with personally. They translated these concepts in personal experiences in daily life, for example by Jennifer as the feeling of “fire, that is very feminine, very strong”,134 while for Brianna it simply means feeling free. Older members have more intimate experiences of Shakti. They seem to be more aware of the motivation of the school, which is the channeling.

Becoming the channel: embodying Shakti

The female body plays an important role in the practices of School of Shakti. The order of these practices also contain the element of progress. Themes such as body shame and confidence are widely discussed or practiced in the first modules. Once the “spiritual” modules start, this focus completely shifts from the body to actually letting go of any attachment to the physical form and to use one’s body as a vessel or a channel for the Shakti energy. Practices such as uncontrolled dancing, shouting, transcendental meditation or observing each other’s nudity are meant to break through the perception of the physical body and to directly address the energetic body. This is also the moment when the female body is not perceived as a female body anymore, but as a manifestation of Shakti.

133 Interview with Sofie, 2019. 134 Interview with Jennifer, 2019. 40

This energy is most clearly felt in the female sexual organs. The breasts are the centre of feminine love and care, vulnerability and power, as they are the extensions of the heart chakra. The breasts are the giving part of the giving-receiving dichotomy. The uterus, or mostly called womb, is believed to store the creative power of both new life and energy. The uterus is associated with inner wisdom or feminine intuition, another sense of knowing. The vagina, or yoni, is where the feminine energy is most strongly concentrated. This is the place of sexual energy, creative power, life energy. By the activation of her vagina and her uterus, a woman is activating her feminine force, or sexual energy. The awareness of the pelvic floor is seen as the gateway to awakening Kundalini or Shakti energy. The body is to become an empty vessel to be filled with Shakti energy. Once her body is cleared of stored trauma and negative energy, her channel is able to open.

The moment one realizes their body is a manifestation of the Goddess, physical is of no importance anymore. This is what Sanders describes as the “feminine radiance” that simply shines through the human form and what she perceives as actual beauty. Practices such as yoni gazing (where the partner, either male or female, stares at a woman’s vagina to connect to the divine aspect of the sexual organ) and meditation (where one feels her breasts as an extension of the heart chakra that radiate divine love) are used to see the woman’s body as a manifestation of the divine feminine energy.

The process of channeling Shakti energy and showing this to male partners is what Sanders refers to as the “initiation” of men by women. When women show men this creative and powerful energy centre that is their vagina or breasts, a man can realize this too and consequently embody his divine nature. Lara describes the experience of showing her vagina as “unabling the Shakti force to be seen”.135 Her vagina did not longer feel as hers, but simply as a vessel for Shakti force. According to her, the vagina is the place where Shakti energy, or “life essence” as she describes it, is most directly experienced. Anita agrees by saying that it is easy to feel when a woman embodies her feminine energy, since the vagina or the female body becomes “very magnetic. Like, it pulls in, almost hypnotizing sometimes. But something that really sucks you in with your awareness, like wow”.136 The vagina is the receptive centre, whereas the penis is the giving one. By the “circle of light” exercise, an energetic circle is created between the genitals and the hearts of a couple, where the female heart is the giving centre.

135 Interview with Lara, 2019. 136 Interview with Anita, 2019. 41

The channeling or embodying of Shakti can also be a very intense experience. This is especially true for the women with multiple years of Shakti Tantra experience, such as Anna and Sofie. Anna for example describes the channeling as follows:

I was completely open it was not like.. an orgasm but more like total bliss and Shakti energy just moving through my body and I was shaking and twirling and bending like a snake and it was not me who was in control. It was like Shakti was just flowing freely through me.137

Shakti energy is also perceived to be dangerous, because it is believed to be so incredibly intense that women are sometimes physically incapable of containing the energy. They might faint, or lose control of their bodies, or experience burning sensations all through their bodies. Sofie described it to me as a roaring fire throughout her whole physical system that scared her deeply. This realization of the “huge Shakti potential” in her system was part of the reason why she felt that sexuality is dangerous. Once she learned to let the power arise and connect to it in a controlled way, she connected to the “spiritual level of sexuality”.138

I have experienced the physical sensation of Shakti myself when the group was guided into a “temple” meditation in which the sacred temple of Shiva and Shakti was channeled into the room. I was chosen to embody or channel Shakti directly, and one other woman was chosen to channel Shiva. I remember my body shaking as if I was freezing cold. The other women were surrounding me and touching me as I lay on the floor shaking. At one point an impulse rushed me to stand up and collapse onto my hands and knees. I felt an incredibly sexual urge to touch the women, who shivered as I came close. I made my way through the group and ended in front of the woman channeling Shiva. She was sitting silently and looked at me directly. This was where my intense physical sensations transformed into stillness. Sanders afterwards told me she was afraid I was not going to be able to contain the Shakti energy. She continuously speaks about the amount of strength and focus that is needed to “hold” the surging life force.

137 Interview with Anna, 2019. 138 Interview with Sofie, 2019. 42

To serve in Her name as a Priestess

Once a woman is able to channel Shakti, she is ready to become a “Priestess”. Priestesses are perceived as women who are capable of completely emptying themselves in order to surrender their bodies to Shakti energy. Their physical form then serves as a vehicle through which Shakti can manifest and communicate in the physical world. In this state, a woman is the embodiment of the Goddess and thus is able to do “Her” work.

There is a multitude of ways in which a woman can use her body to transmit or share the divine feminine energies with other human beings. A common practice that Sanders relies on is dance. According to Sanders, when a woman is able to channel Shakti, she can pass on divine messages through her physical movements. These movements are not supposed to be visually appealing or controlled, rather completely unconventional and wild. Sanders believes that when someone watches a woman dance who is embodying Shakti energy, they might get instantly enlightened. The same goes for showing the female body, especially breasts and vagina. Shakti priestesses can serve in one on one sessions with individual men or women, to “initiate” them by using their bodies.

Sanders relies for a great part of the concept of the sacred prostitute. Her dream would be to have a brothel, with sacred prostitutes or temple priestesses who can initiate people into sacred sexuality and the “feminine mysteries”. Sanders herself offers sessions to men in which she teaches them about the female body and female sexual pleasure. The notion of helping or initiating others seems to be a source of meaning for the practitioners. They perceive their acquired skills as a tool for improvement of the current state of affairs in society. The women who are experienced in channeling and who are using this to help others, speak of feeling meaningful. Other women integrate the teachings into their own personal mission. For example, some are using it to be better yoga teachers or workshop facilitators, while others use it to become better lovers or friends. None of the women who have been trained to be a priestess are using these skills professionally, but Lara and Noëlle hope to do so one day.

In the final weekend of the training, which was a three-day ritualized retreat with fourteen women and seven men, the main focus was on awakening men by working as a priestess. Women were now asked to use all acquired techniques, that they learned throughout the year, to reach the men and connect them to the divine masculine. In other words, the women were asked to connect the man “to his inner king”. Women danced, cried, screamed or uncovered their bodies in order to reach the

43 man and to bring him into his “Shiva presence”. The ultimate ritual of the weekend consisted of a constellation in which one woman was to embody Shakti and one man was to embody Shiva. I was chosen to embody Shakti and was placed on a seat, after being covered in flowers, jewels and henna. Women were asked what was suppressing their free expression of Shakti. Their different answers (“Shame”, “Patriarchy”, “Anger”, “Fear”) were symbolized by objects that were placed on top of me. All women and men besides me and the man embodying Shiva, were asked to embody a feminine or masculine archetype. Once Shakti and Shiva were unified, a ceremonial bowing down took place in which both the men and women bowed down for us. Some men cried as they bowed down, others laughed hysterically, others just stared. The women smiled and cried, and I remember feeling a sense of power and love that I have not experienced before. After the ceremony, Sandra, one of the assistants, looked at me in the eye and said “You are a great, great priestess.” To conclude, the ability to embody the divine energy and to stir or awaken emotions in others, is what seems to make one a successful priestess.

Sisterhood

What I have found multiple times, is that in the end of an interview, women add the value of sisterhood. This is perceived as the very powerful and precious connection that grows between women when they are fellow practitioners. Sofie describes it the following way:

There is a very empowering component in the sisterhood. Which is of course the basis in all the trainings. I think that is also a huge achievement, to disarm women amongst each other. I don’t know any other context where it is possible to meet in this way. 139

Sofie adds how this sense of sisterhood has enabled her to open up in a way that she never has before. The fact that the SoS is women-only, is for her a crucial condition in order to develop. At the end of each module there is one ritualized day where male “practice partners” are invited for the women to practice with. Normally women are practicing together, where one woman embodies the feminine energy and the other the masculine. During the ritualized days, this masculine energy is completely embodied by the male partners in order for the women to practice their feminine qualities in the presence of actual men. This is a big day for all participants, since many of the women

139 Interview with Sofie, 2019. 44 have some sort of distorted relationship with the male sex and get “triggered” in various ways. In these moments, sisterhood is experienced as even more powerful than during regular training days.

There is a growing sense that we women are in this together and doing this together. I still have sometimes that I feel like competition, but there is a growing sense of no we are in this together. We all, we want to help all women to stand up, and be who you are. That’s really growing, that we live in a sisterhood, in a big sisterhood.140

Quotes like these were common in the conversations that I have had with the women. There is a common pride in the ability to connect in such a way that contradicts most stereotypical behavior in female interaction, such as jealousy or “rivalry”. Jennifer and Lena have shared how this rivalry is still very present in the dance community that they are part of. Lena believes that when women genuinely support each other, they can live their full potential more. For women to communicate with each other honestly and help each other when they can, is, according to Lena, an important part of a woman’s development, since:

Women process better when they are supported by other feminine energy, whereas the masculine energy, the masculine processes things better in isolation, when they can be alone for a while and you know, like that meditate by themselves all day.141

Even though both men and women can use masculine and feminine practices, she believes there is a practice that fits best with whatever essence the person has. Since most women have a feminine essence, the sisterhood aspect appears to be a powerful tool for female empowerment.

Central to the concept of sisterhood is the spiritual idea that every woman is a unique manifestation of the same Shakti force. This means that all women are equally divine, but still have their unique qualities that make them individuals. This way, each woman has her own unique “gift” to bring into the world and therefore there exists no competition. Since all women are made up of the same energy they are all inherently connected. Therefore when one experiences something, the other is equally effected. This is especially tangible during the ritualized days when women are practicing with men. Whatever each individual woman is experiencing during her individual exercise, it is deeply felt with enormous sympathy amongst the women who are watching. This creates the sense of a collective “field” and brings a sense of shared processing. Whenever one woman heals a part of

140 Interview with Petra, 2019. 141 Interview with Lena, 2019. 45 herself, she automatically heals this part in other women. This is a crucial aspect of the teachings. The same goes for each woman’s bloodline. Whenever she heals a collective feminine wound, she is perceived to have healed both her mother’s line in the past, but also her daughters line in the future. Especially healing with the purpose of creating a better situation for the next generations plays an important role. The connectedness is thus horizontal amongst sisters but also vertical amongst and daughters.

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5. Analysis

I will now turn to the analysis of the acquired data in the interviews, participant observations and auto-ethnography. The most common process that has appeared in the case of SoS, is the personal development on an emotional level that broadens the woman’s perspective of her identity and her potential. She might feel a new sense of power, since she has learned to create boundaries and surrender in situations that she cannot control. With this newly acquired power and self-confidence, she is able to open to new experiences, or energies. Consequently, in this open state, she is able to channel or embody the female deity, Shakti or one of Shakti’s representations. By experience, the woman might realize the enormous power that she is capable of feeling and perceive her body as a divine manifestation thereof. Femaleness, or being in a female body, is thus deified. The breasts and vagina become sacred centres of energy and are worshipped by other female practitioners or male partners. Especially when a woman learns to channel or embody Shakti, just like incarnation in Witchcraft, the body becomes the direct emanation of divine power. As a result, the woman might start seeing this divinity in other women too and connect to the collective layer of divine femininity. This recalls the theory of Irigaray in which she argues that a female deity is needed for a feminine identity construction. 142

The fact that the groups are women-only asks for an explanation, since why would this be necessary of both men and women contain feminine energy? As mentioned above, Sanders defends this by arguing that most women have a “feminine essence”. SoS argues that Western patriarchal society created oppressive gender roles from which women should be liberated in order to create new sexual identities. The liberation is reached once a woman realizes her own spiritual identity and divinity. This resembles the vision of Reclaiming witches, who wanted to make every woman see the sacredness of her own body, including her breasts, vagina and menstrual flow. 143 Sanders also recognizes femaleness as something absolute and sacred,

142 Irigaray, “Divine Woman”, 56. 143 Salomsen, Enchanted Feminism, 214. 47 understanding it as the manifestation of the androgynous deity. The majority of the women I spoke with voiced their preference of women-only groups, as it gives them a sense of safety and deep connection amongst sisters. This reminds us of the feminine qualities of interdependence and connectedness, described by feminist witches.144 Since every woman is a manifestation of the Goddess, or Shakti, they automatically share this experience.

A difference with Reclaiming is that female witches tend not to personify themselves ever as males, whereas in SoS, women are often asked to embody “the masculine”. Thus, Sanders acknowledges, besides the fact that women have a feminine essence, they have an androgynous nature that also contains masculinity. This opens the possibility for women to embody characteristics that are usually associated with masculinity, thus becoming a “phallic woman”.145 The fluidity in gender suggests the challenging of gender norms. The ritualized settings that are created in the training are a way to experiment and play. It recalls Judith Butler’s theory on how each human despite their biological sex, can take both a masculine and feminine identity. 146

The embodiment of more masculine or alternative feminine qualities can inspire women to broaden their spectrum of femininity. A central element of this process is embracing the violent and sexual side of oneself. Women are asked to become “Shakti”, who is perceived as a wild, violent and sexual being. This is especially true when practicing with the Mahavidyas, who specifically symbolize alternative femininity. Accordingly, women are invited to be ugly, scary and to break free from their socialized feminine identity. The Mahavidyas symbolize the dark shades of femininity and therefore, when embodied, create an experience of femininity that is more complete. This is similar to the process in which the Whore of Babalon provides women with the opportunity to engage with alternative femininities.147 When women internalize characteristics that are ascribed to the hegemonic male, for example by being sexually assertive, they invert and destabilize the conventional gender dichotomy.148

In SoS, there seems to be a dualistic understanding of reality. Shakti is both a spiritual being and at the same time the manifestation of everything. This reminds us of the witches’ Goddess, who is the earth and everything on it, but at the same time can be channeled by magical possession.

144 Salomonsen, Enchanted Feminism, 219. 145 Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 79. 146 Butler, Undoing Gender, 12. 147 Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 53. 148 Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 366.

48

By means of rituals, the High Priestess is to invoke and incarnate the Goddess.149 SoS uses meditation, body exercises such as pelvic floor movements and controlled breath to bring the women in a receptive state to “open” to Shakti. To fully embody Shakti, one needs the presence of Shiva. The body becomes the microcosmos of the divine duality of the universe by embracing its bisexual spiritual nature. The unification on an individual level will ultimately lead to the unification between masculine and feminine energy on a collective level. This collective unification is believed to result in the equality between sexes, since the individual unification creates respect and love for both energies.

To be able to channel, one needs to be receptive. This recalls the dichotomies of receptivity versus activity and of the active subject versus passive object. In Crowleyan sex magic, the woman is receptive and passive. In SoS teachings, the woman is receptive and active. Shakti is perceived as the active force, while Shiva is the passive space in which this force moves. This offers an interesting alternative to the conventional gender roles. The receptivity that is central in tantric devotional meditation and channeling, is not passive, but asks for engagement in the experience.

The concept of sacred is of great importance in the SoS. The woman becomes a manifestation of the Goddess and enables others, especially men, to experience communion with Her. In Babalon discourse, the Sacred Prostitute emphasizes the spiritual meaning that women find in sex work and use this as a devotional practice to Babalon.150 The sacred prostitute has also been taken up by Jungian scholars such as Nancy Qualls-Corbets as a the missing link in our consciousness between religion and sex, which must be restored.151 Sanders connects the Sacred Prostitute to the Tantric priestess or Temple dancers in South Asian tradition. She refers to the devadasis, literally meaning “servant of god”152 or “female servants of the deity”153, which most commonly are women who perform rituals, such as offerings and dance in Hindu temples. This reminds us of Grant’s association of the Tantric Priestess with the Scarlet Woman, she who embodies

149 Tanya H. Luhrmann, Persuasions of the Witch’s Craft: Ritual Magic and Witchcraft in Present-Day England. (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988), 51-52. 150 Hedenbrog White, “Eloquent Blood”, 396. 151 Nancy Qualls-Corbet, The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the Feminine. (Toronto: Inner City Books, 1998). 152 Lucinda Ramberg, Given to the Goddess: South Indian Devadasis and the Sexuality of Religion. (Durham: Duke University Press Books, 2014). 153 Frederique Apffel Marglin, "Wives of the god-king: The rituals of courtesans." (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981).

49 the powerful feminine energy. The purpose of or priestess work is to enlighten others and to teach them about the “feminine mysteries”.154

A common theme that has surfaced in this study is the focus on nudity. In Witchcraft, nudity supposedly represents freedom and equality. 155 In SoS, nudity serves the purpose of breaking through body shame and emanating the divine feminine energy through the female body. This energy is most clearly sensible when watching a naked body, as the most powerful energy centres, the breasts and vagina, are exposed. This agrees with the esoteric understanding of nudity as the “Goddess unveiled”.156 The woman is elevated to a divine status by the use of ritual and thus emanates through her physical form. This is in strong contrast with dominant culture that places heavy emphasis on female beauty standards and the suppression of female sexuality.

The “reclaiming” of the female body for spiritual reasons instead of for male pleasure and procreation, is central to all three traditions that have been discussed in this study. When the vagina is elevated to a sacred symbol of power, it challenges the deification of the phallus and the power of the male sex in patriarchal . Irigaray has described the power and deification of the phallus, or “phallic identity”, 157 as a cause for the oppression of women. The deification of the vagina might offer a opposing idea that is both symbolic and operative. The respect and love that is cultivated in SoS teachings when working with the naked female body translated in general respect for women and feminine energy. Since the vagina is especially affected by societal norms concerning female sexuality and reproduction, the shift in perspective can fundamentally destabilize these ideas. This has been the experience of women in SoS who relate to their bodies and sexual organs in completely new ways.

The embracing of the body also challenges the general oppression and denial of the body and physicality by . The body as a vessel and the sacralization of pleasure reminds us of the theory by Eisler of the partnership model, in which relationships are built on pleasure, instead of on domination by pain.158 The deification of pleasure and sexual energy is a central theme in SoS and is also central to sex magic. In both these traditions, practitioners try to reach mystical states through sexual bliss. Sanders perceives sexual energy as the Shakti force that can be used for magical

154 Hedenborg White, “Eloquent Blood”, 283. 155 Luhrmann, Witch’s Craft, 248. 156 Schreck, Demons of the Flesh, 100. 157 Luce Irigaray “Divine Women.” In Luce Irigaray, Sexes and Genealogies, 55-72. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1993). 158 Eisler, Sacred Pleasure, 14. 50 purposes. By the stimulation of the genitals by touch, movement, breath or sound, women in SoS are cultivating sexual pleasure in their body. The connection to the vagina and sexual energy in SoS is supposed to create a connection to the body and its spiritual source of energy and inspiration. This reminds us of the hydraulic model of sex magic by Kripal.159 According to this model, sexual fluid can be imagined as a magical power to alter reality.

In SoS, sexual pleasure is also used to reach an altered state of consciousness, or the state of channeling. When a woman is filled with sexual energy, or Shakti force, she is open to receive messages. The rising of sexual energy up the body from the genitals to create a “channel” is a common warming up exercise in SoS. This reminds us of the resonance model of Kripal, where sexual energy is used to outshine one’s personality and reach mystical states.160 The underlying conception is that sexual pleasure is powerful and a tool for female empowerment. The concept of female pleasure as a powerful force has also been described by Andolsen to challenge societal norms concerning female sexuality.161

In the theoretical chapter of this research, it has been described how esoteric groups offered a space where people could discuss things that were completely taboo in other social domains. Esotericism can offer progressive thought and might anticipate developments in mainstream culture.162 This dynamic is clearly visible in the philosophy of SoS. By creating a ritualized space where women and men can practice relating to each other in ways unknown to mainstream society, Sanders to create this reality in everyday life. By creating the experience of the “new paradigm” in a ritualized and private space, she is trying to generate it as a future reality. Just like Maria de Naglowska, Sanders believes that women who embody and emanate the “Feminine power”, could serve as a world- changing force.163 These women will then cause the social transformation that the world needs.

159 Kripal, Secret Body , 88. 160 Ibid, 88. 161 Andolsen, “Whose sexuality?”, 71-72. 162 Pasi, “But what does esotericism have to do with sex?”, 213. 163 Urban, Magia Sexualis, 340. 51

6. Conclusion

I will now recapitulate the findings of the study and come to a conclusion. The research question “How is Shakti Tantra used as a tool for female emancipation in contemporary Amsterdam?” can be answered the following way: SoS offers a revaluation of both femaleness and femininity. Sanders uses Shakti Tantra as a practice to deify the female body. A woman’s physical appearance is of significantly less importance than her ability to “radiate” feminine energy which is her true beauty. The female body and sexual organs are an extension of the divine feminine energy and a manifestation of the Goddess. The deification of the female body offers a perspective that challenges the common patriarchal beauty ideals and empowers women. More importantly, the female body is perceived as a tool to channel Shakti in order to enlighten other human beings.

SoS deifies the female body as it represents the female deity. The worshipping of the female body as something sacred is in many ways a powerful way of challenging patriarchal culture. The Crowleyan, Gardnerian or traditional Shakti Tantric perspective on a female body is progressive in that it perceives it as something sacred, but fails in the empowerment of women since the female body serves mostly as a passive object. Feminist appropriation takes it a step further by perceiving the female body as an active subject who channels, communicates and experiences. The deification of the female body shatters the Christian dichotomy of body/soul and the patriarchal dichotomy of culture/nature as it increases the symbolic and social value of something that was associated with impurity and the animalistic side of human beings. Sexual pleasure and bliss are sacred in SoS as offer gateways to altered states of consciousness and serve as a magical power. A state of complete surrender and pleasure, is what Sanders perceives as the magical state for women to be in. This is in contrast to Christian sexual ethic that downplays female sexual pleasure as unnecessary and sinful.

SoS revalues femininity as it offers female deities that challenge traditional gender roles. Kali and the other Mahavidyas symbolize alternative kinds of femininity that should help construct a feminine identity that is liberating or empowering. They represent the sexual, assertive and powerful kind of

52 femininity that counterposes the traditional gender norms. Women are motivated to connected to sides of themselves and broaden their view on what femininity means. The feminist appropriation of sex magic and Witchcraft offer alternatives such as the Whore and the Witch, who challenge gender norms in similar ways. The deification of alternative femininity shatters the masculine/feminine dichotomy as it ascribes masculine qualities to women and thereby inverts the hegemonic relationship between the two. Besides that, the existence of an androgynous godhead, as is the case in SoS, Randolph’s sex magic and Reclaiming witchcraft, shows the equality between feminine and masculine deities. When this is embodied by human beings, it offers a that might not yet exist. Therefore, esoteric traditions can be used as inspiration to create or promote this equality. This idea is suitable for the purpose of emancipation and connects to the debate on gender construction. In other words, the feminist appropriation of esoteric traditions does not only challenge the value of the female body, but also of femininity in general.

This research has tried to show how SoS offers a spiritual system that is used as a tool for female emancipation in contemporary Amsterdam. SoS has adopted the Shakti Tantric perspective on the divine as both male and female. The existence of a female deity inspires and suggests the deification of the female body as it is a representation of the Goddess. The existence of a female deity who symbolizes alternative femininity suggests the appreciation and embodiment of alternative femininity. Women are thus elevated to a state in which both their bodies and their femininity is meaningful and powerful. This newly acquired power can then be used to generate social transformation and create the “new paradigm”.

53

Appendix: Interview question list

How did you first hear about Shakti?

What is Shakti to you? What does Shakti mean to you?

How do you feel about/relate to the idea of the Goddess?

What does women’s sexual empowerment mean to you?

What does women’s sexual emancipation mean to you?

Why do you think women’s sexual empowerment is important?

Why are there only women in your trainings?

Is there something in it for men as well?

Do you consider yourself a feminist?

Why do you think an Indian tradition is also adaptable for Western women?

What is special about Shakti Tantra?

How do you think Shakti Tantra helps women feel empowered?

Why did you choose an Indian tradition instead of Western tradition?

Why do you think Shakti Tantra is the right tool for female empowerment?

What is the purposes of the Mahavidyas?

What does your connection to Kali look like?

How is Kali present in your life?

54

Bibliography

Interviews

• Marcia Sanders, april 23, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Noëlle, april 25, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Sofie, may 9, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Anna, may 6, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Brianna, april 26, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Anita, april 28, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Jennifer, april 25, 2019. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Lena, april 27. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Petra, april 29. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Lara, april 28. Interview by author. Tape recording. • Sara, april 28. Interview by author. Tape recording.

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