Goddess of Courage and Discernment
By Sondra Tudor
RedJadeHummingbird
“She who is the sacrifice, the sacrificer and the recipient of the sacrifice.”
As Elisabeth Anne Benard says, “In researching about Tantra, one realizes the importance of the human body as the principle instrument of liberation rather than an impediment as propounded by other traditions.” Tantra itself is a topic far beyond the scope of this project and its author, but it clearly emphasizes the body as sacred and essential to spiritual growth. In this aspect, tantric traditions clearly align themselves with the Feminine.
Within the four primary sects of Hinduism is Shaktism, literally the worship of the Divine Feminine. Shaktism has deep roots; ones reaching perhaps back to the thousands of female figurines discovered in Mehrgarh, India dated as early as 5500 BCE. Shaktas worship Shakti as Supreme Being exclusively, as the female dynamic aspect of Divinity, while Siva (male principle) is considered transcendent. Shakti or Devi is worshiped in many forms, including Chinnamasta.
The Ten Great Wisdoms
In order to understand Chinnamasta it is helpful to see her in the context of the Hindu Ten Mahavidyas or Great Wisdoms. All ten of these wisdoms are represented as goddesses and all are manifestations of one Divine Female. The ten different goddesses of the Dasa Mahavidyas show themselves in both their “peaceful” and “fierce” forms, but according to David Kinsley, “The Mahavidyas are almost always frightening, terrible and fierce…with only Kamala consistently presented as benign.” Of these ten, perhaps the best known to us is “fierce” Kali who dances with the necklace of skulls. She and Chinnamasta share this and other remarkable decorations, but all the Wisdom Goddesses have, ready to impart, profound knowledge that we humans need for liberation.
The Mahavidyas: Kali: The Black Goddess; Tara: the Goddess Who Guides Through Troubles; Tipura-sundari: She Who is Lovely in Three Worlds; Bhuvanesvari: She Whose Body Is the World; Chinnamasta: The Self-Decapitated Goddess; Bhairavi: The Fierce One; Dhumavati: The Widow Goddess; Bagalamukhi: The Paralyzer; Matangi: The Outcast Goddess; Kamala: The Lotus Goddess.
A Story of the Origin of Mayavidyas
“Once during their numerous love games, things got out of hand between Shiva and Parvati. What had started in jest turned into a serious matter with an incensed Shiva threatening to walk out on Parvati. No amount of coaxing or cajoling by Parvati could reverse matters. Left with no choice, Parvati multiplied herself into ten different forms for each of the ten directions. Thus however hard Shiva might try to escape from his beloved Parvati, he would find her standing as a guardian, guarding all escape routes.
Each of the Devi's manifested forms made Shiva realize essential truths, made him aware of the eternal nature of their mutual love and most significantly established for always in the cannons of Indian thought the Goddess's superiority over her male counterpart. Not that Shiva in any way felt belittled by this awareness, only spiritually awakened. This is true as much for this Great Lord as for us ordinary mortals. Befittingly thus they are referred to as the Great Goddess's of Wisdom, known in Sanskrit as the Mahavidyas (Maha - great; vidya - knowledge). Indeed in the process of spiritual learning the Goddess is the muse who guides and inspires us. She is the high priestess who unfolds the inner truths.” (Story quoted from online source: exoticarts.com)
Chinnamasta is also seen as an image of awakened Kundalini and some interpretations suggest the blood is freed Kundalini energy surging up unrestricted through all the chakras of her body, this yogic process is facilitated by the sexual energy of Kama and Rati.
In the several accounts of the stories of the origins of Chinnamasta, all of them emphasize that her self-decapitation was in response to the cries of her attendants to feed them. “We are overpowered with hunger, O Mother of the Universe. Give us food so we may be satisfied, Bestower of Boons and Fulfiller of Desires!”
One of the best descriptions of the messages embedded in this image was articulated by Miranda Shaw.
“It seems fitting that a female deity would reveal herself in her severed-headed form
to a female mystic, for who but a woman would immediately
appreciate this viscerally direct symbol of spiritual nourishment,
in which streams of life-giving liquid flow from a woman's body.
Although the image refers on one level to biological
nourishment, on another level it locates the source of spiritual
life and sustenance in a woman's body. It affirms that a woman
can tap a never-ending stream of energy within herself and
choose to direct that energy to her own liberation and the
liberation of her disciples. Severed-Headed Vajrayogini locates
the power to rejuvenate, replenish, and restore herself in a
woman's own body, as well as her ability to nourish others
without sacrificing her own needs or spiritual development."
(All emphasis mine)
Many of the Chinnamasta depicted in image show her, and her attendants, with cobras around their necks, another symbol of regeneration and transformation in addition to a garland of skulls. Detached heads is a theme in the Mayavidyas. With Kali and Tara they are associated with the bonds that prevent spiritual success. When the number of skulls is fifty or fifty-two they represent the sounds of the alphabet and are called mothers or matrakas, bringing in creation in the form of sound.
In all of this it is clear that Chinnamasta shocks us into an awareness of the connectedness of sexuality, death and sustenance. In the Chinnamasta icon, “life feeds on death, is nourished by death and necessitates death.” Such is the world we live in where the cycle of life is not removed from us, but is us. In Chinnamasta the possibility of spiritual rejuvenation and magnanimity beyond most of our imaginations is presented along side the organic cycle of eating and being eaten.
By the way, in the Pranatosintantra, translated by Elizabeth Benard, of Chinnamasta it is said, “After playing this way, she placed her head on her body and assumed her original form.”
Items: 3 lighted Red Candles to represent your life blood,
and its gift to others.
Dark of Moon
Outside if possible
An altar cloth with colors representing the cycle of life:
Suggest green, red and black.
A symbol for the sexual act
Suggest an intimate photo or object
A symbol for death or winter
Suggest a seed pod or crystal skull
A symbol for rebirth and regeneration
Suggest a snake emblem
Music of a joyful nature
A mirror to look into as you sing this and dance.
Deep deep Chinnamasta to you I call
As you feed your sisters with the very blood of enlightenment
I need your warrior wisdom!
You who understand the deepest generosity
And the necessity for action
With your scimitar cut open my heart!
Help me dance in joy on the remains of all who have gone before me—
I am but a moment on whose body life feasts
Let me rejoice in this cycle
Free from the illusion of Death
O Chinnamasta like Shiva show me our
Eternal Love!
Then allow a few minutes of meditation or journeying to remember all those before you and ask if they have a message for you.
Thank the universe for your life and close.
Pictures from: http://www.exoticindiaart.com
Wikipedia, Chinnamasta
Elizabeth Anne Benard, Chinnamasta: The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Goddess (Buddhist Tradition Series, Delhi, India, Motilal Banardsisass, 2000)
Website: yoniversum.nl
Benard, vii
David Kingsley, Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine (University of California Press, 1997)
Website: sonic.net
Kingsley, Contents
Website: Exoticindiaarts.com, all text and images used with permission
Miranda Shaw, Passionate Enlightenment: Women In Tantric Buddhism (Princeton University Press, 1994)
Website: Rudnasharatna.com
Website: Vedanet.com
Website: Matrifocus.com
Rachel Fell Dermot, The Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 116 (April-June 1996), 357-58
For a end noted version contact the author