Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies | Prof. McDaniel: Śāktism and Ethnography: Some Major Styles of Worship and Belief among Practitioners @HinduStudies | Uploaded February 2022 | Updated October 2024, 19 minutes ago.
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"Śāktism and Ethnography: Some Major Styles of Worship and Belief among Practitioners"
Prof. June McDaniel
The study of Śāktism is a relatively new field, and its primary methodologies have been historical and textual study. In this lecture, we shall examine some modern approaches to Śāktism, from the perspectives of practitioners and devotees. The regional focus will be West Bengal, India. Among practitioners today, there tend to be three strands or styles of Śākta understanding and practice. The first is the folk or tribal strand, which involves possession trance, dream commands, and animism; its focus is a goddess immanent within nature. The second approach is the tantric or
yogic strand, which involves meditation and spiritual disciplines. The goddess is understood as highest wisdom, brahmajnana; she is encountered in initiations, visualizations, spiritual travel, and practice of the three Śākta bhavas. The third type is the devotional or bhakti strand, which involves the intense love of a particular form of the goddess. Śākti/Devi is willing to descend from her paradise to bless her human devotees, and her presence can be felt in religious worship. These types are often found in combined form, like strands of a rope braided together. However, there are tensions which exist within and between these strands. The folk/tribal strand often
emphasizes regionalism and competition between local forms of the goddess. The tantric/ yogic strand opposes those goddesses who represent infinite consciousness with those magical goddesses who move through inner worlds and grant supernatural powers. The devotional strand has tensions between goddesses understood as individual living deities and goddesses who exist as symbols of universal principles. We shall also briefly note how traditional Shakta ideas have been incorporated into nationalism by politicians, and into hedonism by modern entrepreneurs.
Want to support our work? Make a donation here: ko-fi.com/ochsoxford
"Śāktism and Ethnography: Some Major Styles of Worship and Belief among Practitioners"
Prof. June McDaniel
The study of Śāktism is a relatively new field, and its primary methodologies have been historical and textual study. In this lecture, we shall examine some modern approaches to Śāktism, from the perspectives of practitioners and devotees. The regional focus will be West Bengal, India. Among practitioners today, there tend to be three strands or styles of Śākta understanding and practice. The first is the folk or tribal strand, which involves possession trance, dream commands, and animism; its focus is a goddess immanent within nature. The second approach is the tantric or
yogic strand, which involves meditation and spiritual disciplines. The goddess is understood as highest wisdom, brahmajnana; she is encountered in initiations, visualizations, spiritual travel, and practice of the three Śākta bhavas. The third type is the devotional or bhakti strand, which involves the intense love of a particular form of the goddess. Śākti/Devi is willing to descend from her paradise to bless her human devotees, and her presence can be felt in religious worship. These types are often found in combined form, like strands of a rope braided together. However, there are tensions which exist within and between these strands. The folk/tribal strand often
emphasizes regionalism and competition between local forms of the goddess. The tantric/ yogic strand opposes those goddesses who represent infinite consciousness with those magical goddesses who move through inner worlds and grant supernatural powers. The devotional strand has tensions between goddesses understood as individual living deities and goddesses who exist as symbols of universal principles. We shall also briefly note how traditional Shakta ideas have been incorporated into nationalism by politicians, and into hedonism by modern entrepreneurs.
