Grounding Desire

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The month of October ushers us into the second Full and New Moons of the darkening half of the year (31 of October and 14 of November respectively). Two is the number of dualities upon the physical and psychic plane.
The number two is the number of the polarity of Love. This Lunar phase explores the dualities and their meeting in great detail. These dualities are expressed as Kumari and Kumar, they are the inner archetypes of the princess (Kumari) and the prince (Kumar). In this dualist world, Kama (desire) becomes the mysterious urge of Nature to unite between dualities.

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The Yogi seeks
the secret of nature’s unification
by stopping to oppose her,
and Tantra is the subtle study
of all the places where we oppose nature
within and without ourselves.

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Kamala is the Goddess of Love to whom this Lunar cycle is dedicated. It is Kamala who presides over this lunar month. Kama is the God of Desire, the raw principle of desire. Kama is known for shooting his 7 arrows into the seven chakras and cause infatuation and longing.

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Tantric wisdom shows us that
grounded desire is nothing but Love.
This is the secret implicit
in the name of the a Goddess of Love:
Kamala.
To whom this lunar month belongs.

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The last Bija mantra ‘La’, in the name of Kamala brings grounding to the desire principle. The La grounds desire – La being the Bija (seed) syllable for the Kunda, that is the pot that houses Kundalini Shakti at the root of our body. It is the very base of our being.

Addiction. Obsession.

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Ungrounded desire, on the other hand, becomes restless ambition.
It is represented by the archetypal figure of  The Sick King, full of hot air and hope but no Pyar Shakti (Love Power).
We will come to the king very soon in our narrative here.

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Ungrounded Desire/Love turns into
addiction, obsession, co-dependence
born of an inner unfulfilled neediness.

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Ungrounded Desire plays out in spending our energies in things that have nothing to do with our immediate situation in life and love. Tantric practice concerns itself with the most immediate feelings of the heart, and the nearest matter at hand, that is the best focus for our resources.

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If we are to be truly effective
in the meeting of the sacred heart,
immediate concerns
must be addressed & not avoided
by going into extraneous involvements.
This is the grounding of desire.

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To ground our desire becomes a fortifying and nourishing way towards the fulfilment of Love.

Princess & Prince

The need of the inner neediness’ is to ground desire. The unfulfilled hunger at its root seeks ‘the grounding of longing’. This is the concentration of spiritual focus. Tantric science is built upon this concentration of our inner force. By grounding the desire within ourselves, the vessel of the self becomes full and rich with life power. This is known in Tantra as Pyar Shakti which, as stated above, translates as ‘the power of Love’.

Chandra Purnima (Full Moon) arrives on the last day of October. She is also known as Kumar Purnima to Tantrics. Purnima translates as full and total.
So this is the Full Moon of Kumar. Kumar means prince, lover, and also bridegroom. In the orthodox celebration of this day many thousands of maidens in India perform worship, fasting and rituals in the hope of welcoming a beautiful lover into their lives.

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The Tantric rite upon this full Moon
has been kept since ancient times
as the secret work with the inner prince.

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Remember that Tantrics have very detailed rituals for every Moon phase. By making every Moon a sacred day of honour we open our life to magic.
Our time here on earth is but a few steps between life and death, we might involve our heart and mind in many things at the expense of magic.
The Tantrics adhere strictly to the currency of magic.
The Tantrics take the seat of femininity at the Shaktistan chakra in this full Moon ritual of Love.
Shaktistan, as this chakra is known to the Tantrics, translates as the place of the Goddess. It is the second chakra of creation, the seat of Kama (desire).

Kama is grounded in the chakras within this ritual.

The Tantrics on this ritual night identify with the inner Kumari (princess) and rise to meet the Kumar energy of the prince who dwells in the chakras above.
Like a battery circuitry, Shakti is one pole and Shiva is the other pole.
Kumari is the princess Shakti, and Kumar is the princely Shiva.

Queen & King

Rani and Raja are well known designations of royalty.
A Queen or a King, in the mundane sense, have been given this title in India since time immemorial.
The marriage of the inner Kumar (prince) with the inner Kumari (princess) is the inner yogic unification of the battery-like energies of plus and minus in the circuitry of our inner universe.

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The inner marriage results in a circuitry
that unites and heals divisions
between our feminine and masculine parts.
This is then reflected in our outer lives.
Resolving things inside resolves issues without.
This is the wisdom at the heart of Tantra.

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The meeting of the inner Kumari (princess) and the inner Kumar (prince) gives birth to the Queen and King.

The innocence of the prince and princess within ourselves, when brought together, create the power of Queen and King.
Princess and Prince are the potentialities that are yet to unite.
The Princess and Prince are not yet united in their power as Queen and King.

VULNERABILITY
The unbirthed potential

We must not necessarily think in fairy-tale terms of man and woman, although this is also implied.
The princess and prince archetype spans across designations of gender.
The macho man has a princess within him. He may reject her, he may oppress her, or then again he may honour her with dignity and grace – whatever his inner contact to his inner princess may be, it will be translated to his dealings with princesses in the outside world.

The sentimental flamboyant one, might praise the princess in his thought and action, he may affirm to himself that he curtseys gracefully at her court, when in actuality, he might be drowning her in stifling garments… too rich and weighty to allow her to move in an innocence of being.

The dealings with princesses in ourselves and others may well be in the romantic sphere, whether in a woman or a man.
Both woman and man may also meet the princess in their dealings with the princesses in their children, associates and animals.

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A princess is a subtle energy of maidenhood,
she holds a yet un-birthed potential.
One cannot jump over the princess to the Queen.
To meet the princess takes gentleness and grace.

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Many might jump to address the Queen, or princesses may prematurely pose as Queens.
This is the path of pretence and disempowerment, it reflects the deep inner impatience that casts the Kumari into the cold before she has the warming mantle of the Queen.
This has disastrous consequences for all.
The self-care and honesty to face oneself as one is, creates nurturing and growing power.
Time and again, the practices of Tantra, show us how impatience, ambition and force do not serve us.

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The woman touches her innocence and youth
by taking the seat of Kumari,
the vulnerable place is the place
or rebirth that her seat presents.
Indeed it is the place of power and healing.

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By stepping over the magic of vulnerability, we banish love from our lives and move into the energy of the vain Queen that folk tales the world over mention.
The man humbling himself to take the hand of the princess within his own heart becomes gentle.
Rigidities melt aside in a psychic and physical melting of the wax that we are made of.
Melting in the flame of Love, which Tantra whispers of.
Whether we are man or woman in gender, we are both in the spiritual sense.

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The study of this Moon phase
is about looking at the state
of our inner princess & our inner prince.
Kumari and Kumar.

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THE SEAT OF POWER

The prince within us all is the grand Kumar.
If he assumes the throne of a king prematurely, he will have dominance made of empty power.
The prince who assumes too early the seat of the king rules in sickness and impotence.
His seat may cause others to tremble but this position drinks from him as he uses power that he has not earned.
He will be impatient and violent, bullying the Kumari within into submission.
Of course, she may obey but the prince who’s not won the heart of his inner princess and earned the king’s boots will lose everything and dry up bitterly without Love.

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The Tantric studies such things
and inner constellations of energy,
and brings healing salve
to the wounded princess and prince.

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The Tantric codes have much wisdom to impart in regard to the multi-faceted connections and interrelated links between princess & prince, queen & king.
The science of Tantric mudras that pertain the these subjects and positions reveals the inner world of our psychic royal court.

The Indian folk tales and written epics, deal greatly with royal archetypes and their connections, sometimes having very intricate plots that span across different lifetimes and parallel universes.
Romantic love goes through the princess and prince.

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This work on the Kumar Purnima ritual
is profoundly healing
for our past, present and future encounters
between the princess and prince,
both in an inner sense, and an outer tangible sense
manifest in our relationships.

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On Saturday night we shall gather to practice in the age old Tantric ritual. We will work with and honour the spirit of Love on the October’s Full Moon.

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We will practice the royal gestures,
both in an inner and outer sense.
to one’s countenance
They bring grace
comprised of physical & psychic gestures.
These are royal mudras
which lead onto the Raj & Rani Mudras.
the Kumar & Kumari Mudras.

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The antar (inner mudras) that we shall work with at this time comprise of what is known in Tantric science as Gupt Mani Karana mudras. This translates as the work with the inner jewels, or the secret of the seven jewels (Saptmani).
Gupt means secret, mani is a jewel, and Karana means to do.

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On this sacred ritual night
the tantrics do the doings
of the seven secret inner jewels.

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The different jewels relate to different planetary energies, as they vibrate in accordance with planetary vibrations. The jewels have relation to the chakras and we will explore this relation as part of this new four-part series rituals dedicated to Kamala…

To find out more about this current Moon Phase, read also our posts about Diwali, the festival of lights, and Shaadee Ardha Chandra Puja…