The Roar of the Feminine

by Tova Olsson

The Tantric tradition says that the feminine, Śakti (energy) is pure power while the masculine, Śiva (consciousness) is the capacity for awe and wonder. If wonder is Śiva's cool, expansive state, holding its own self-sufficient bliss, then Śakti's response is delight— an intoxicated effervescence of creative ability, eternal change, and absolute independence.

But it is also in the nature of the feminine to roar, as the mythology surrounding the Goddesses Durgā and Kālī demonstrates. And what the Goddess directs her deafening roar at is always the ones who are power-mad, self-centered, greedy and scornful. 

In the myths, they take the form of powerful demons, quick to change shape and quick to resort to violence, sure of their invincibility. Devastatingly often, the Demon in question tries to persuade the Goddess to marry him, arguing that games of love suit her beauty far better than games of war. By no means is he unmoved by her loveliness but since his is a desire that never ever matures into reverence (which would have led him to lay down all weapons and offer her his life) he quickly hardens in the face of her power and indomitability and seeks to dominate her. 

Since no one can dominate the Mother of the Universe, the source of all power, the demon always loses. In that loss, the surrender he previously refused inevitably takes place as he is absorbed in her, relieved by the power of her grace.

The mythological theme is regrettably current in our reality. Of course, we can choose to only look to the interpretation of the myth that is the inner one (the one where we ourselves, so to speak, play all the roles) but it is neither more nor less true than the rough world that meets us. The truth is pervasive, it extends through the subtle and into the physical, touchable. Violence is a form of masculine impotence, while potency is found in the already mentioned capacity for wonder. Now, as for so long already, our common world is in need of this knowledge and experience. And as long as we don't see the shift from misguided desire, scorn, domination and violence to reverence, we will hear the Goddess roar.

Om Durgāye Svāhā