The Duality of Shiva and Shakti

The Duality of Shiva and Shakti 

Shiva forms a duality of cosmic powers at a manifest level as the cosmic masculine force, along with his complimentary Shakti or feminine principle.

Shiva is the male, the fire, the mountain, and power ofstillness, as Shakti is the female, water, valley, and power of action.

Shiva is the central still point and Shakti is the turning of the wheel.

Shiva is the root and trunk of the tree; Shakti is the branches, leaves, flowers and fruit.

The worship of Shiva and Shakti or the dual cosmic powers represents the natural religion of all humanity and of the entire universe, which revolves around honoring these two forces in all their manifestations in both the animate and inanimate realms. We find this honoring of the dual mystery in all native and traditional cultures, and in the ancient world overall.

Shiva is the standing stone, pyramid or obelisk, while Shakti is reflected in the ring stone, the altar or the cave such as we already find worshipped in the earliest humanity long before what we call history began.

Looking back in time and history, we could say that Shiva is the deity of the shaman also, and as such perhaps the oldest formulation of the sacred in humanity He is the lord of the dance, of ecstasy, of the drum, of dream and trance which the Shaman seeks. To Shiva belongs the sacred fire and the sacred plant, the Agni and Soma of Vedic lore. In fact the Vedas are nothing but the mantric expression of Shiva, with the four main Vedic deities of Agni, Soma, Surya, and Indra or Fire, Sun, Moon and Lightning as the four aspects of his light.

He is also the great ascetic and yogi, reflecting the highest self-discipline and inner equipoise. He indicates the power that pervades the universe and allows us to ascend in consciousness to our highest potential, which is that of Self-realization.Shiva is symbolized as a bull, or his vehicle is the bull ( nandi). Yet this is not the bull as a mere symbol of virility but the bull of dharma or cosmic law. The bull represents the spirit or the Purusha, the enduring principle of awareness which holds all things together and gives significance to all.