Fierce and feminine

Many versions of the female principle in goddess form are found in all cultures. The Dakini, the female energy that is ‘sky-born’, is part of Tibetan, Buddhist, Japanese, Mongolian, Nepalese and Chinese philosophy and mythology, referring to the same ‘female embodiments of enlightened energy’ that is all-pervasive and is sometimes portrayed as being fierce and wrathful. She is a symbol of liberation.

In Vajrayana Buddhism, the Dakini as Prajnaparamita represents the emptiness in reality; she is Mandala in meditation; as Yogini, she teaches her disciples and protects the transmission of teachings. The fierce Dakini is often portrayed wielding a sharp knife, as she cuts through reality.

The Japanese depict Dakini, called Dakini-ten, as riding a white fox, regarded as her messenger. In certain references in Hindu texts, the Dakini are flesh-eating demonesses, and are feared as well as venerated. Hindu Puranic texts indicate that the Dakini is associated with the six energy chakras and the seven fundamental elements in the human body.

Feminine Energy, often viewed as Divine Energy, is associated with Shakti in Hindu tradition, Tara in Buddhism, and with Mother Earth in indigenous cultures that invoke nature. The Sacred Feminine is metaphor for not only powerful energy, courage and strength, it also embodies the nurturing qualities of compassion, kindness, care, intuitive intelligence, forgiving nature and heartfelt love. Dakini can be both gentle and fierce, loving and wrathful – as all mothers are wont to be. Hence the close identification with motherhood.