Tales of the Feminine Divine from India and Beyond
Introduction, by Michael Slouber

Central to early Tantras is the power of mantras and vidyas (gendered masculine and feminine respectively). Tantric practitioners repeat these sacred utterances both to accomplish spiritual salvation and to gain worldly powers such as rainmaking or the attainment of godlike longevity and power. In practice, such sacred sounds were regarded as ways of ritually evoking a deity’s presence or even causing divine possession. A Tantric vidya is not only a sacred sound or spell but is considered to be the deity herself embodied as sound. It is thus perceived as a powerful living force, a link between the human and the divine.

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Originally published in A Garland of Forgotten Goddesses: Tales of the Feminine Divine from India and Beyond, University of California Press, 2020. Republished here with thanks.