Igniting the Dark Goddess: Tantric Power and Passion to Root the Self and Transform the World

Igniting the Dark Goddess: Tantric Power and Passion to Root the Self and Transform the World

“If there are supernormal powers, it is through the cracked and fragmented self that they enter.”
– William James, Lowell Lectures

New this cycle, SHARANYA offers an intensive immersion called “Igniting the Dark Goddess” to guide individuals to the process of personal transformation in ways informed deeply by ancient wisdoms, social justice concerns, and practices that foster open-hearted exploration into the soul. Recognizing the difficulty of the quest, together we learn how to tap into wisdoms rooted in the body, and we will ignite a crucible for change and instigation of our deeper spiritual knowing.

One doesn’t need to be a practitioner of any religious or spiritual tradition to participate. This work is aligned with the larger issues of healing from personal woundings and trauma (social, cultural, religious, ancestral) and with what it means to be activated in one’s embodied life journey toward wholeness. The focus of the workshop will be on the transformational qualities of the Dark Goddess because understanding these can unleash potentials for the liberation of our Divine energy and substance. We all know the New Age aligning of Tantra with sex. But what if your journey brought you into erotic awakening in its truest sense and form–both of and beyond the body? What if you finally were able to unleash your potential for love?

With profound roots in antiquity, the symbols, icons, and manifestations of Dark Goddesses today provide inspiration and authority as challengers of the status quo. As Kali or as called from across continents and time–whether as Sekhmet, Asherah, Santa Muerte, Hecate, Isis, Lilith, Oya or known by other names–Dark Goddesses fortify our resistance as much as provoke our healing. They are our torch bearers and transformers, instigating transgression in service to truth and inspiring difficult conversations in service to deeper relationships. They solidify our faith and hope.

During this workshop, we will invite them into dialogue as guides and witnesses, teachers, and if we wish, Divine Ones to be honored, explored, and brought into our hearts anew. Seeking to know ourselves in a world filled with beauty as well as crisis, dark goddesses as literal or figurative representations of our human and divine natures offer a way to articulate and become our fullest selves. As guides on the psycho-spiritual journey, they are with us from experiences of joy and pain to moments of both discord and peace. In the end, they take us home.

Throughout the weekend, you will discover various spiritual methods for experiencing and continuing the work through lecture, journeying, meditation, visualization, breathwork, and ritual…among others. While this workshop is not intended to replace therapy, it can serve to support individual healing and personal transformation. It also provides instruction in the spiritual technologies of Tantra and offers participants with a set of concrete ‘take-aways’ to support daily practice and ongoing personal healing and growth.

Some key questions will guide our work together:

Who is the Dark Goddess and what does She potentiate in us? Why now?
Through work with Her, how can we realize and solidify a commitment to increasingly aware relationships with self and world?
What tools do we have to coax out and nurture our own healing process (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual)?
What support and anchors can we create and fortify to support us in our quest for wholeness, happiness, and meaning?
How can we enliven our activism from a place of soulful purpose and personal integrity all the while filling the wellspring of our yearning again and again?

Chandra Alexandre is the lead acharya (teacher), and SHARANYA community elders will support you throughout.

DATES in 2018 (in San Francisco or Bay Area Location):

January 26-28 – REGISTRATION OPEN NOW! – Workshop will be held in Berkeley ($50 deposit via PayPal to info@sharanya.org to reserve your spot)
March 16-18
June 8-10

TIMES: All workshops are Friday 7-9pm / Saturday 10-5pm / Sunday 10-4pm

COST: $451 – Includes all workshop fees and access to a year-long online learning forum and cohort, Kali Vidya, SHARANYA’s online mystery school. To enroll, simply pay online ($50 to reserve your spot). Once we have received your registration, we will email you with additional information and logistic details. Questions or want to make a payment plan? Email us at info@sharanya.org.

Discounts available for individuals wishing to do multiple weekend workshops (workshops stand alone but participants can attend more than one to build on learnings and deepen experiential knowing). No refunds available.