A woman has her legs slung over the shoulders of a man, bent backwards like a stone comma. Not your typical Tuesday. My guide tells me that the statue is 11th century, possibly from the Elephanta cave temples near Mumbai , and came to the museum in It venerates the vulva, or the source of creation, she explains, even though oral sex was considered transgressive at the time. It promises to be the first exhibition to look at the whole history of tantra, from ancient inception to impact on global modern culture. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.

The first time I ever heard the word Shakti used, it was in relation to sex and sexual energy. I was inspired to write this essay because I was disturbed by the definition for Shakti on UrbanDictionary. As in, When I look at you with your dreadlocks and smell your patchouli I feel Shakti energy. So, what is Shakti? First, I would like to speak from my experience and then from classical Indian definitions and descriptions. I know when I am shaktified — as the feeling of being Shaktified is a decidedly different state than that of regular, daily life — the life of the mundane; being filled with Shakti is the most prized, most special state to be in.

In the beginning was the One. The One was all and everything, and for eons it reveled in being One, millennia of magnificent unitary bliss. Over the course of unimaginable time, however, the One grew bored. Even the Divine gets bored with itself eventually.

In the Tantric cosmogony, the term Shakti defines an unbelievable complex aspect of the universe, which bears numerous nuances. Some of these are: cosmic creative force, mother who gave birth to everything, cosmic energy, seductive woman, devoted sister, terrible power who destroys all limitations, Goddess who grants divine gifts, feminine force residing especially in beautiful, vital and spiritual women, fundamental energy Kundalini Shakti, etc. The Tantrics assert that in order to define Shakti one has to know Her. The problem arises once one gets to truly know what Shakti is because then any attempt of classifying it, any concept disappear as these cannot comprise the sublime of Shakti, regardless of its potential degree of philosophical value. She is the famous energy Kundalini or the snake coiled at the base of the spine, immense energy that yogis awaken and contemplate with fascination and fear equally, totally charmed by it.