Shaktism
शाक्तसम्प्रदाय śāktaThe stream of Hinduism that worships the Goddess, Shakti, as the supreme reality rather than a consort, articulated in the Devi Mahatmya and the Shakta tantras.
Explained in depth in What is Shaktism?Where this term appears
- Āgama and Veda: two revelations Lineages
The Veda and the Āgama are the two revelations of Hinduism. The Veda is śruti, "heard," held to be authorless and eternal; the Āgama or Tantra is the revealed word…
- Bhuta Shuddhi: The Rite That Burns the Body to Ash Lineages
Bhuta shuddhi ('purification of the elements') is the preliminary tantric rite in which the worshipper mentally dissolves their own body, element by element, back…
- Eighty-five titles and no text: the Saura tantras and how a tradition disappears Lineages
Saura was the tradition of the Sun: a priesthood, a canon of scriptures, and royal devotees, recognised as a peer by its rivals. A Śaiva text preserved in a…
- The 28 Śaiva Āgamas Lineages
The 28 Śaiva Āgamas are the revealed scriptural canon of the Śaiva Siddhānta, the dualist, ritual-centred mainstream of tantric Śaivism. They are counted as ten…
- The 64 Śākta Tantras Lineages
The 64 Śākta Tantras are the Goddess-centred tantric scriptures, named in a famous verse of the Saundaryalaharī. The number 64 is a traditional and symbolic…
- The Kularnava Tantra: The Kaula Path and the True Guru Lineages
The Kularnava Tantra ('the ocean of the Kula') is one of the most important and most quoted scriptures of the Kaula school of Tantra, a comprehensive manual of the…
- The Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās Lineages
The Pāñcarātra Saṃhitās are the Vaiṣṇava Āgama, the revealed scriptures governing much of Vishnu temple worship. The tradition counts 108 Saṃhitās, though more than…
- The Shatkarma: The Six Acts of Tantric Magic Lineages
The shatkarma, the "six acts," are the ritual operations of tantric magic: shanti (pacification and healing), vashya or vashikaran (subjugation), stambhana…