4/22/2021 0 Comments 64 Yogini Tantra Pdf
At a humans birth, the stellar positions of these Yogini-governed planets give specific details about the fate of the individual.She appears as Devi, the Great Shining One in Her infinite manifestations and as collectives of numerous goddesses.Collectives of female deities have a long-standing place in South Asian history, mythology, legend and the natural landscape.In previous essays for Sutra Journal I have written about one of Devis collectives, the Asta Matrikas, eight forms of the Goddess Durga, who have both elemental and protective natures.
There are other collectives of Durga: the Nava (nine) Durgas and the 42, 64, and 81 Yoginis. Sometimes Durga is even referred to as the Queen of the Yoginis. An entire spiritual tradition within various non-dual Tantric lineages (Naths, Siddhas, Kapalikas, Kaulas, et.al) has been formed around these groups of Yoginis and many of them include the Asta Matrikas and Nava Durgas in their fold. These goddesses have individual and collective powers and together they also represent aspects of Devi. In this essay I present different categories of Yoginis and discuss the significance of their unique temples. I also look at the contemporary Yogini as an alternative path for female practitioners. In fact, many of the qualities of the Yoginis can be found with the Yakshis and Yakshinis, the tree and nature spirits of early Buddhism and Hinduism. Like the Yakshis, the Yoginis are said to be lavishly adorned, have captivating appearances that can be both terrifying and mesmerizing, and offer life-enhancing energies that bring about fertility, growth, longevity, abundance and material and spiritual well-being. The 64 and 81 Yogini circles we find in both the medieval temple iconography as well as lists in Tantric and Puranic texts ii comprise of groups of goddesses based on multiples of the number eight and nine. It seems that both groups, the Sapta (seven) or Asta (eight) Matrikas and the Nava (nine) Durgas, who each have a different plant or tree associated with them and share powers around fertility with the Yakshis, later evolved into the collectives of 64 and 81 Yoginis that are known today. The Yogini is Goddess Herself as well as practitioner, devotee and attendant of Goddess. As we see from the varied listings in Tantric and Puranic texts as well as the multifold depictions of them in the temple iconography, Yoginis cannot be pinned to one particular quality, rather, their natures are fluid. They express the full-embodied expression of human experience. Yoginis are wrathful and sensual, ferocious and seductive, furious and graceful. They hold all sorts of tools and weapons, symbolic of what the initiated practitioner needs on their patha knife to sever attachments, a goad to nudge us along when we are stuck, a bell to clear negativity, a spear for penetrating insight, a bow and arrow for focus, etc. Their mounts are animals, vegetation, and different potent symbols such as a pot, flames, corpse, or drum that lend their powers and mythological significance to the Yoginis. Perhaps the Yoginis attributes, names, and iconography have been modeled after living women practitioners from the different lineages in which they were worshiped. Several such stories speak of a magic thread that is tied around the Yoginis lovers neck. He is then turned into a parrot or monkey and is forced to remain in that form until she sexually desires him and breaks the spell to make love to his human form. This category of Yoginis always meets in circles to perform their rituals, which include transgressive acts that are said to give them supernatural powers.
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