Shakti’s Feminine Force: Restoring Balance in our World
by Maya Tiwari
I Am Shakti is the affirming mantra of our time.
To restore the sacred balance in ourselves, our relationships, and our world, we need to understand Shakti, the Vedic principle that refers to the primordial feminine principle that is at work at the core of all existence. Her life force has infused breath into life on Earth for billions of years. Though she graces all her citizens with the gift of consciousness, she endows her cosmic blueprint to women alone, honoring them with the blood that brings forth new life. Look closely at the skin that covers your womb. In the silent umbilicus of her creation, the Goddess stamped her procreate magical seal into the reproductive memory of all female species. This seal imbues each womb with the life-giving force that keeps Shakti’s primordial memory vibrant in the feminine cellular body. It is the origin of creation and life, of consciousness and vitality.
At this time of social and individual evolution, a rapidly growing percentage of humanity, women and men and all genders, is already experiencing a new quiet surge of awareness. At the same time, we are witnessing the breakup of old, rote, anarchical, ancestral, social, and political patterns. The reins of patriarchal control are wearing thin and taut. We are sensing the emergence of a vast sweep of consciousness affecting every being on Earth. Fresh conscientious impetus to support the awakening of awareness is being disseminated through quantum physics, yoga, holistic medicine, ancient spiritual practices rooted in indigenous cultures, teachings by spiritual luminaries, and through books and online portals. We are experiencing a vast communal synchronicity steeped in both extremes of challenge and illumination: the paradox of the deep dark cavern of Earth and, simultaneously, the brilliant sunlight of the open sky. We are awakening through evolution and revolution; and each of us has the potential to do so. As the feminine force, she expresses herself as Para-Shakti in the greater universal field therein forging the inner awakening of consciousness through a propagation of awareness that appears as consciousness-awakening behavior. In other words, our personal enlightenment spurs social enlightenment. At the same time the alignment of the planets in the rarest of configurations, the mounting unease so many of us feel, and the awakening of awareness in a significant percentage of humanity forecast a radical overhaul that supports feminine justice—a key occurrence for restoring the divine feminine largess of all beings.
At this pivotal junction in our history, women, in particular, are becoming more sensitized to their Shakti prowess. We are shifting perspective away from an outmoded and ineffective model of femininity and how it’s been misunderstood in the past, where so much has been about copying what men are doing. Instead, we are creating a new vision by redefining feminine power for the new generation through the deep exploration of the Shakti principle. As we shift awareness from the old feminist model that never truly worked for women and stop emulating the inured patriarchal model, we forge forward with a new and ancient wisdom to restore feminine power. At the same time, we light the way for women, men, and all genders to fuel and facilitate the non-binary and non-dualistic agenda in harmony with universal justice that we are seeking. Fortunately, the ground for reclaiming our sacred right of the Shakti is ripened and fertile. Standing at a major crossroad of consciousness where we feel this palpable, visceral energy awakening, women are galvanized to reclaim their primordial feminine power. It takes immense courage to peer behind the veil to find our true self in purpose and truth. Simply by emulating what we think is feminine power does not make it so. We must learn the repetitive patterns of patriarchal history to reclaim our stolen Shakti force. In so doing, we regain the balance, and the necessary alignment with source power that has been blown asunder by our masculine counterparts. We can greatly influence the present masculine-dominated spheres by bringing Shakti’s prowess to the fore. We can also inspire our men to awaken to their primordial masculine nature, referred to in Sanskrit as Shiva. We not only need their help to accomplish this palpable shift of consciousness in our world, but we need to help them find their own masculine balancing force. The primordial masculine energy is naturally protective, stoic, and well-balanced, a needed counterpart for Shakti’s mission to successfully effect the necessary shift in awareness and operating modes. Our primary task is to reincorporate Shakti’s intrinsic rights and rites into our living structure—cultural, social, economic, scientific, ecological, and spiritual.