Baptism of Shakti: Light and Dark Rivers.
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It is said that Mary Magdalene would baptize others into the faith at the confluence of two rivers. Baptizing in this way goes all the way back to pagan times.
The meeting and merging of two rivers is a symbolic representation of what baptism means — the birth of a new being, forged from the alchemical fires of two seeming opposites, melded down into one unknown but familiar expression, outside of our dualistic understanding and cultural norms.
It is this kind of imagery that holds the key if we are to really understand the greater task of merging the Light and Dark Rivers. When they meet and meld within us, we are invoking the baptism of Shakti. A fully liberated body, heart, mind saturation of serpentine euphoria and pulsating vibrant presence.
But first let’s go back a few steps and come into contact with what the Light and Dark Rivers actually are.
These rivers are meridians, nerve/light channels of subtle energy also known as nadis. They carry, transport and channel universal life-force in and out of our physical and spiritual bodies.
The Light River channels a very soft, passive, tender, loving, innocent, gentle flow of life-force, whereas the Dark River carries a richer, more voluptuous, pulsing, primordial, urgent flow of uncharted being-ness through our subtle veins.
The Light and Dark Rivers can also be personified as Lilith and Eve, the good girl and the bad girl from the creation stories in the Old Testament in the Bible. Before we go any further, we have to realize this good/bad girl understanding is a false construct dreamt up by patriarchy. This split between Lilith and Eve is what we most need to heal in both man and women.
But to get there, we will have to push past the church and their heavy doctrine, disregard and detach from the media and their ‘you have to be/look/act this way’ dogma, and quite possibly move beyond our own judgment and fear.
Shakti is a word that describes the creative divine presence of the feminine. You could say Shakti is the essence of vibrant health, feeling good in your own skin, and feeling that your life has meaning and value.
Our task as women, and especially women of the Grail, is to seek out the emergence of the Light and Dark Rivers within, and to then share that not only with our beloved partners in the realm of intimacy, but also as a representation and expression of a whole woman, out there in the world.
In the West, we often imagine that the Dark River, Lilith, is personified in pornography, prostitution, taboo sexual practices, and dark novels or movies. But this representation is not the Dark River, this is patriarchy’s idea of the Dark River. This is their love/hate relationship with the feminine. It is made up out of pure fantasy, projection, and laced with their distaste for their own creation.
We, on the other hand, under the influence of patriarchy, have denied and suppressed our true connection with her, as her. Until we have retrieved and welcomed her back into the fold, we will always know something important is missing.
The true Dark River, or dark goddess, emerges from the void. Pre-verbal, unknown, nameless, rhythmic, intelligent and forward-moving. A deep yearning that is willing to not know, willing to lose the grip of the mind and be transported into whatever is needed in the moment to serve the full glory of Creation. Her essence holds the key to ignite, catalyze, reveal, and permit gnosis (direct knowing).
This expression of the feminine is the medicine we most hunger for in this moment of our evolution. We are sick and tired of stasis, remaining the same, not getting anywhere — it is this Dark River that will demolish the false self, the inhibitions, the conditions placed upon us, and the too small and too tight little box we have lived most of our lives in.
The Dark River as she flows will open us to gnosis, revelation and wild ecstatic freedom. Many people hold back, fearing these dark waters will tip them over the edge, and they will become too wild, too ferocious and unpredictable. This is the voice of fear that will always keep you from her.
The dark goddess holds open the door to our full potential and empowerment, and urges us to take the extra step and reach for them.
The Dark River is the Fierce Feminine, sacred outrage, and most needed expression on this earth at this time. She is unapologetic, brazen, bold, vastly intelligent, initiatory and mesmerizing. But she does not harm. She does not misrepresent, endanger, misinform, manipulate, or coerce the self or others. She lives outside of rule and order.
She does not harm any aspect of life. Her outwardly action is the shattering of lies, denials, and illusion. Her inward action is initiation, revelation, and authentic gnosis.
The Light River emerges from our sacred origins. She is exquisite tenderness, the sacred heart, purity, and virgin light-power. The Light River is not passive, weak, naïve or ineffective. This again is the false understanding as taught to us by patriarchy.
Eve’s, or the Light River’s, true strength flows within her purity, her absolute irrevocable union with what sustains, sources and births at the most incandescent levels — that is her virtue, her faith and knowing-ness of her own true nobility and elegance. She is graceful, dignified, compassionate, empathic, sacredly connected with all life, at peace, and filled with devotional bliss.
Her touch, her glance, her voice, her body soothes, softens, eases, and heals. Like the sweetest honey, the most refreshing spring water, she brings us new life, faith, and a restored vigor to join with life more than ever before. The Light Goddess holds open the door to our pure vulnerability and quiet humility, and encourages us to earnestly reach for them.
So, when we imagine the authentic coming together of these two… well, I am sure you can feel already what that promises to deliver. Together, their fusion births us into an entirely whole and new reality.
Her outwardly action is the comforting of the soul, healing of all wounds, and the restoration of harmony on Earth. Her inward action is gentle guidance towards the heart, the softening of all that is rigid within and the restorer of trust, innocence, and immaculate sovereignty.
The Light River seduces our soul, as she pours us into the secret Rumi-heart, bringing us into contact with our unspeakable purity and worship as we drown in devotion at what we find there. The Dark River loosens up our mind, shakes off our mask, vivifies our sacred purpose, and makes real our soul memories and your reason for being here.
As the two rivers come into contact and merge in the psyche, the long-awaited union explodes the body, heart, mind into a third and currently unknown new being. Something the patriarchy has feared for a very long time, but the Sacred Masculine patiently longs and delights after.
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Anaiya Sophia is a mystic of an almost forgotten faith. She is mostly known as being an author of six books, including ‘Womb Wisdom’, ‘Sacred Sexual Union’ and ‘Sacred Relationships’. She is currently working on her latest book, ‘Fierce, Fierce Feminine: One Woman’s Quest to find Her Authentic Voice’. She also orchestrates worldwide gatherings where men and women can delve into the celebration of joy and love. Her themes often include sexuality, relationships, and the higher union of both. She lives in the south of France with her husband , where they run a B&B called Occitania in the Magdalene/Cathar foothills of the Pyrenees.
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