I. VAMA MARGA Foundations Of The Left-Hand Path - staticfly.net

Right-hand path rites situate the female – almost always fully clothed
– to the right of the adept. In the sinister school, the female initiatrix who
serves as the erotic incarnation of Shakti, sits in the circle to the left of the
male. As one Tantra mentions, "on his left he has the woman skilled in the
arts of love, on his right the drinking cup."
Even among the liberated ranks of left-handed Tantra, the female
participant in the maithuna is not always entirely naked; only adepts who
have reached the highest vira states of being are thought strong enough to
handle the pure shakti energy emanated by an entirely naked woman. To the
modern Western mind, inured by constant media exposure to the naked
female form, such a condition must seem ridiculous. However, this
stipulation is based on an esoteric understanding of nakedness as a symbol of
the magical power of the Goddess unveiled. The female partner is elevated to
divine status during the rite, and the male adept approaches her as the living
incarnation of awe-inspiring shakti, not simply as a human being. For many
modern practitioners, numbed to the erotic mysteries by a lifetime of
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indoctrination in secular rationalism, it is nearly impossible to make this leap
of experiencing one's sexual partner as a divine being. But without this
crucial transformation, the left-handed sex rite is bereft of its power and is
really nothing more than an empty ceremony.
The Five Senses
Color symbolism is as important to the Panchatattva as it is in some Western
magical practices. Scarlet, in particular, a shade long associated with the vital
force of Eros, and the power of blood that animates living beings, is
practically the official color of the Vama Marga. We have already seen that
the shri-yantra symbol is painted in red. The scarlet hibiscus flower, or Java,
is often found in the chamber in which the rite of the five M's is performed.
The mudra, or female initiatrix, is sometimes adorned with the scarlet flower,
or she may wear a scarlet robe. When the Panchatattva is deliberately
performed with a menstruating partner, as it often is, scarlet may represent
the mudra's menstrual blood, thought to be potent with her ovular energy,
counterpart to the male semen. The "blood of the female in blossom" is
regarded as especially rich with pure shakti power, physically radiating in the
form of estrogenic substances possessing magical properties in their own
right.
All of the five senses are engaged in the sinister rite of the five
things. The taboo foods and wine stimulate the sense of taste, and are
consumed in a formal, ritualized manner; this is not the everyday meal some
Westerners have imagined. Each of the foods are consecrated with
declaration of specific mantras before being shared by the shakta and shakti,
and subsequently washed down with small amounts of the wine. It is within
the circle that the taboo food and wine, said to feed the subtle body of the
hidden goddess Kundalini within the physical organisms of the male shakta
and his shakti, is ingested.
The optic sense is made more vivid by the use of appropriate visuals
like the shri-yantra, and the striking color scarlet utilized throughout the rite.
Modem Tantrikas also make subtle use of colored lights to softly illuminate
the rite, which is often carried out in near darkness. One tradition of the lefthand
path insists that the sexual rite should not be held in complete darkness,
since this prevents the total stimulation of the senses considered necessary.
The mantras being chanted and droned by the adept are directed to the sonic
realm of creation. Finally, the senses of touch and scent are fully activated as
prelude to the sexual union that consummates the Panchatattva.
From Woman To Goddess
The body of the human shakti, as part of the act of transforming herself into
a divine being, is ritually washed and cleansed. These sacred ablutions, as
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