TANTRA

            Pancharatra Philosophy

THE AGÀMAS

INDIAN philosophy is nothing but a versatile compcndium of

Dhanna in all ìts ramifieations and possìble proliferations. To an

Indian, whatever be the assumptiQtis about ihe ultimate reaiity,

whoever be the preeeptor and whatsoever be the ultimate source

oí ìnspiration and knowledge, Dharma is essentially a way of

liíe, a logieat way of thinking, a genial way of feeling and a

eongenial way of willing not only for one's ov^n individual wellbeing,

but also for the summum bomtm of his family, elan and

soeiety, for the weal and welfaie of Lhe whole of mankind at

large, nay for the general welTbeing of the IJniverse as a whole

wiQi all its living and non-living beings. This well-known tenn

Dharma is derived from the dhalu 'DHR' - whìch has three

eonnotatìons.

a) DHARANA

b) POS AN A

e) AVASTHÀNA

DHARMA is thaL which holds Logether the entire ereation

(the whole IJnìverse), nurtures and sustains 'it and helps it to

continue to be and perpetuate itself. Whatever be the system of

thooght, whcthcr in eonformity to the Vedas or in noneonformity,

whcther Vaidiki or Avaidikì, every Indian sehoohof

philosophy has emphasised Dharma one way or the olher. It is

Lbis prìneiple of Dharma that is the rendezvous of all the

difíerent sehools of Indian thought. Philosophers may differ in

lheirconclusions and eonvielions about the ulLimaie realily, they

may say n is one or more than one or none at all, some may say

the ultimatc reality is a.person, others may say it is.an

ìmpersonal pnneiple, they may have different ontologies and

divergent epistemologies, they may employ or underline

2 Philosophy of Panearatras

dif'ierent means of approaeh for the iiltimate realisaiion whcther

Jífana, Bhaktí or Kaima, they make lalk through their hats

whatever they like, but none of them have ever ignored Dhaima.

Dhanna is the runníng eord in and through every philosophieal

systein, on whìch ail the beads of the different sehools are stning

and by which the entire neeklaee of indian philosophy is held

together and presented to the world as an invaluable jewel,

immemorial, ineormptible, unfading, undying and rare . It is ihis

Dharma that has given every sehool of Indian thought an

undying fame and an amhentie note. Philosophy in India

whatever be its tinge or tone or tune, has never been a pure

aeademie pursuit, an item of ami-ehair thinking or ìntcllectual

pursuit for its own sake. Philosophies are bom in India by the

eonfrontation of dedieated men with evil, with the ills of life,

philosophies ate made to mlíeve mankind of their sorrows and

sufferings, to show them a path of self-realisation, to lead ihem

Lo permanent happiness unsullicd even by temporary relapses.

VVith this salutary end ìn view every one of the founders of

the varying sehools has in his iepertoire a seheme of praetiee, a

pieseiibed way oí' living, a dharma to put it in one word. Preeepi

and praetiee have never been divoreed. Eaeh illustrious

preeeptor was ìn himself an ìllustration of his philosophieal

eoneepts and imellectual eonvietions. He was hìmself the

cxemplar of his teaehings and the rest wouId fo!low siiil. VVhen

onee the desiination was detennined, the road of Dharma was

immediately paved to reaeh the destination. It was smooth going

for the foIlowers as they were eonfidenl of their destinations and

had absoiute trust in the paih-layers. Henee the walch word of

Indian Culturc and Phìlosophy is DHARMA vvhieh it has not

been possible for any westemer to translate it into a single word

of hís language. This is exactly the distinetion and cynosuro of

Indian thought.

' Dharmàt param nàsti ' - says the Bthadìranyaka Upanishad

<

1 4 - 14 )

,

There is nothìng beyond Dhamia.

' Dharmo viávasya jagatah pratishlhà' - The entire líniverse

is.sustaìned on the foundation of Dhamia. (Mahanarayana 2 - 6)

The Agamas 3

'* Dharmànnapramaditavyam ‘ -Taitiiriya- (1 - 11 - 1 ). Let

ihere be no negíeet of Dharma.

1 Dharma eva hato hanti - Dharmo rakshati rakshitah

(Manu - 8 - 15 ) Dharma is killed by the transgressor * The

iransgressor is ruined by himself in the proeess. He vvho proteets

Dharma, preserves himself therein.

The orthodox Hindu sineere to his heritage is of the

eonvietion that the Vedas are the ultimate source and the mie

neasurc-house of all Dharmas.

Vedokhilo Dharmamà lam ' - ( Manu - 2-6 ).

1 Vedo Dharmamiáam 1 - (Gautama Dharma Sitra - 1)

.

' (Jpadishio Dharmah prativedam 1 - (Bodhayana Dharma

Sutra - 1). Dharma is the means (Karana, Sadhana) to acquirc

truc knowledge.

Harita Maharshi has pronounced

Athàto Dhannam Vyàkhyàsyàmah I § ruti pramanako Dharmah I

ámtisea dvividhà

Vaidikì tantrikí ea -

Srutí the revealed tmlhs are two-fold in eharaeter -Vaidikí and

Tantrikf . As Yaksa the well-known eommentator on the Vedas

says

1 Mantra drashtaro risayah ' - The sages are those who have

seen the revealed tmtíis. That is why the original preeeptors are ealled Seers. Honest Hindus believe that the Srutis are Apt^vaeana ’ - trnths revealed, the tesiimony of God Himself

than whom a better well-wisher (apta ) eannot be even surmised.

The rcnowncd eommentator on Manus Dharma Sastra says

'Vaidikf tamrikf eaiva dvividhà smtih kíniià

1 - So God's

primeval revelations to mankind (^RUT1 ) are lwo-fold, namely

Vedie and Tantrie. Just as the vedas aie eonsidered to beThe

Simis, ihe Tantras are also taken to be the Srutis ihemselves.

4 Philosophy of PenearatrGS

1 VedaSástram ’ - ( Manu- 12-99).

' femtism Vedo vijnema ( Manu - 2-10 ).

Jnst as the pulses reveal a binary fission when broken, so

also the Srutis when probed into and nnderstood reyeal the two

pails of tlie Vedas and tlie Tantras, - it is presumed, Sometimes

the Vedas and the Tantras, the Nigamas and the Agamas are

eompared to that legendaty bird, Gandabhemnda which has two

neeks with faees eontained in one and the same body.

Often in aneíent Indian lore wc meet with the tenns, Smti,

Veda, Ágama and Amnàya almost as synonyms with an

interehangeable import (As paryàyavSeakas). In the contcxt of

cxplaining Vedie terms wc fínd referenees made as

-

' Ityàgítinát

Similarly in ihe coursc of cxplaining Tantrìe doetrines, we eome

aeross tefeienees made as

-

' Iti Smreh '

,

It is unfortunatc to find that sometimes some people look

down on the very word ' Tantra

1 as though it means somelhing

erooked, something undcsirablc, as though it is unbecoming of

honest beings and somelhing of a subterfugc and resorting to

eheap if nol reprehensible means of gaining one's end. This kind

of vicw is uncalicd for. Before delvíng into the meaning and

signifieanee of the Tanlra Sastras, it is neeessary lo knovv the

cxact meaning of the very term Tantra' itself. The Medìníkosa

kára says

' Tantram kutumbakrtye sýit sìddhínte ea ausadhottamc -

Pradhòne tantuvaye ea sastrabhede parieehade.

Snitisàkhàntare hetávubhayàrtha prayojake -

Iti kartavyafiyam ea

1

. The word ’Tantra’ has different meanìngs. It may mean any

of the following: Family-proteetion, an established system, the

best medieine, the most important or the outstanding, a spíder,

the eorollaries of any system of thought, a braneh.of vedie

knovvledge, a thing that may serve doubIe purposes, or that

which preseribes a paiticular way of doing a thing. In popiilar

The Àgamas 5

parlanee Tantra may mean a knoW“how; Often Tantra Sastra is

eharaeterised as a 'Prayoga Sastra' - a spirimal tcchniquc, a

religious teehnology, a

1 Do-it-yoursclf ' Sastra for the aspirants.

Often Tnatriki áruti is ealled a Siddhanta Agama, a Sàdhana

Sastra. Amarasimha says

' Tantriko jfíatasiddhantah

1 -

He means thereby that Tantra is Siddhanta - an established

system of knowledge and praetiees. He who*is wcll-veised in the

Siddhanta is ealled a Tantrika. The different established systems

of thought such as the Mimamsa, Nyaya, Vaiseshika usually

delineated as Darsanas are also often referred to as Taniras. For

instanee Sankara inhis Brahma Sutra Bhashya (3. 3. 53 ), while

eommenting on Purvamimamsa Darsana refers to it in the style -

Prathama-tantre - thereby implying that Darsana and Tantra are

interehangeable terms. Often great seholars are eonferred with

the title ’Sarvatantra Svatantra’ extolling their erudition and

mastery of the Sastras. If Manu could eall the Vedas ’Veda

Sastra, - Veda Sastram sanàtanam ( 12-99 ), the Tantras ean

be ealled 'Siddhanta Sastra’ with equal foree. For instanee

Sankara ealls Samkhya, a Tantra. Why , the Sàmkhya Karika

does so iiself, by ealling its own Darsana a Tantra in Karika - 70.

There is of course the long-standing eontroversy whether

the Vedas are really ’ Apaurusheya - Authorless' - While the

orthodox Hindus believe so, indologists both eastem and

westem are of the opinion that the authors of Lhe Vedas may be

assigned various dates upto 1500 B.C, Reeent excavations at

Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and also Tìlak’s researehes have

pushed baek the orìgin of the Vedas by many thousands of

years. I do not wish to enter into the eontroversy whether the

Vedas are Apàurusheya or Pàurusheya. The point relevant here is

that the Smtis lose their elaim as revealed literatme. If the Vedas *

have theìr authors, then the Tantras will have to have their

aulhors. These very same indologists are of the opinion that

the Agamas and Tantras are of later origin than the Vedas and

that they are definitely later than the Purànas. They are of the

6 Phllosophy of Penearatros

farther opinion that the Parànas themselves are ncwly ereated

Post-Buddhístic litcrature speeially formulatc

to offset Buddhìsiì^ìnriuences and boost Hindiiism If that is so

Tantrie Literature is 10 be eonsidered as of veiy laie origin and

eannot be deemed as pari passu with the Vedas as elaimed

earlìer ìn terms of the aeeredited eonvietions of ìhe ortliodox

sehools.

The above argument of the Indologists that the Tantras aie of

reeent origin later to the Pates, ean be easily refutcd by

pointing out that Ìn the various Purànas themselves we find

mention made bolh of the Vaidiki and Tantriki foims of worehip,

So also the allegation that the Tantras are of Post-Buddistic

origin ean be easily rcfutcd. Lord Buddha liimself eondemned

the Tantrie worships of Brahma, Indra, Vìsnii, Kàtyàyìnì,

OinapaEi and others. Lalitavislàra, a gieat Biiddhistie work,

makes mentíon of Buddha's denounccmcnt of Tantne culls in its

I 7th ehapter, After Buddha, vve find Buddhists ihemselves

began to have theìr own innumcrable Tantras. Tliey veritably

began to worship innamerable deilìes sneh as Àdibiiddha,

Prajnapàramita, Manjusií( Tàrá,Árya-T'aràand so on , In other

words Baddhists eoald not resist tlie temptations of having iheir

ownTantras on the lìnes sìmìlar lo those of the IIindus.

Thus if Buddha could denigrate Tantrie worship, Ihe Tantras

shoaid have existed earlier to Buddhism.

Quile in eontrast with the eonsidered opinion of ihe

Indologists, one of tlie Tantras themselves, namely the

Naràyàníya Tantra poìnts out that íhe Vedas themselves have

originated from the YAMALAS, a elass of Tantras of

eonsiderable importanee and also magnUude, The prineipal

Yamalas are eight in number namely:

Rudra Yàmala

Kanda (skanda) Yìmala

Brahma Yàmala

The Agamas 7

Visnu Yamala

Yama Yàmala

Vayu Yàmala

Kubcra Yàmala

Indra Yamala.

Just as the original Siva Tantras or Agamas represent Ltie

Rudra or Sadasiva tradition, the Yàmalas represent the

BHAIRAVA tradition and it is further narrated that the

Yamalas vvere fìrst communicated to mankind by the follovving

eight Bhairavas:

Svaeehanda,

Krodha,

Unmatta,

Ugra and Kapalin

Jhankàra,

Sekhara,

Vijaya.

The Yàmala tradition believes ìn a huge pantheon of gods

and goddesses. Tantrie Sadhana is open to all eastes.

It is believed that the Rigveda has originated from Rudra

ìíimala, Sama Veda from the Brahma Yàmala, Yajur V,eda

from Vishnu Yàmala and Ahtarva Veda from the Sakti Yàniala.

Siddha Sarvánanda in his compendium ealled Sarvollàsa

Tantra means to eonvey the idea that the Yàmalas are so aneient

that they preeede even the Tàntras. All these of course are highly

eontroversial issues. Aeeording to Brahma Yamala it is

believed Isvara communicated the seeret knowIedge to

Srikantha. This Srikantha reineamated himself near Prayag and

communicated the Tantra in 1,25,000 anushtubh slokas to

various diseiples and that one of those diseiples was a Bhairava

and that that v 'as how many Bhairavas eame to know of it.

8 Philosophy of Panearatras

Aeeording to Mahà-Siddhasàra Tantra, Bharatavarsha is

divided into three KRÁNTAS or sub-dÌvisions and eaeh Kr ánia

is said to possess 64 Tantras. The three KRANTAS are :

Vishnu Kràita

Ratha Krànta

Asva Krànta.

Saktimangala Tantra defines the Krantas.

i) The land east of the Vindhya hills extending upto JAVA

eomprises Vishnu Krànta.

ii) The country north of Vindhya hiils including mainland

OHINA forms Ratha Krlnta.

iii) Rest of India westwards is Asva Krànta.

Hindu temples could be found in Indo China, Indonesia, Bali

and many other islands. Images of Kàli, Tára, Rudra could be

found all over the far east and south -east Asia,

Even Egypt eame under Asva Krànta and worship of the

Indían phallus was very popular there, In the Brihannila Tantra it

is said worship of Paramananda was in voguc in Persia. In

Rhodesia phallie emblems made of gold have been diseovered.

The worship of ASHTAROTH, ASTARTE, ISHTAR referred to

in.the Oìd Testament of ihe Bible is interpreted to be none other

than the Bljàksara - ‘STRÌM' - thé bíja of TARA. Thus it is

evident that Tantrie worship was widely prevalent in aneient

times in many parts of the world other than India even and thaL

Indian influence was all over Asia, Afriea and the middle éast

too, The Shat-Sambhava-Rahasya mentions 4 famous

Sampradàyas of Bharata - 4 fánious sehools very popular all

over Gauda in the east > Kelara in the middle Kàshmíra in the west The Agemas 9 Vilasa - all over ( an eeleede Sampradaya ). V/hether we agree with the vìew or not ihat ihe Vedas Lhemselves have iheir source ìn the Yamalas, we ean atleast be eonvineed that the Tantras are of very aneient orígín and that they are not postpuranic or post-buddhistic lìteramre. There is then another insinuatìon against the Tantras namely that the Agamas and Tantras represent a revolt against the Vedas. The objeetioners quote the Bhagavadgita sometimes, stanzas 45 and 46 in Canto IL In the same Bhagavadgila Canto X, stanza 22 Krishna says - " Of the Four Vedas, I am the Smaveda " - Again in Oanto XV Stanza No. 15 Krìshna says - " I am Lhe Tmth which all the Vedas seek to know. The author of the Vedànta ( the Upanishads) am I ; And I too am the real Knower of the Vedas " - Sometimes it is argued that the Tantras eannot be on a par wìth the Vedas for the simple reason that ìn many plaees blaek magie is deserìbed ìn the Tantras, that in some parts ihey eontain obseenities and that therefore they are not of good taste. In reply we may raise the qucstion - what about the Vedas themselves? Manu says -(11-33) Smtiratharvàngirasih kury adityavieárayan 1 Vak sastram Vai Bràhmamsya tena hanyàdarin dvijah II- On eertain oeeasìons a brahmin ean undoubtcdiy make use of the Atharvaveda. A brahmin's strength lies in his tongue (Vak) meaning thereby Mantra, To overeome an enemy a brahmin is permìtted to resort to the praetiees enjoìned in ihe Alharvaveda. The followìng Suktas diieetly deal willi blaek Arts ríagie in the Athaivaveda. . First Khanda Suktas - 14-17 Seeond n ii 17-31 Third it 11 25-30 Fomth it tt 12-16-36 10 Phllosophy of Panearatras Fifíh Khanda Snktas 14-23-27 Sixth “ " 37-105-130 Even in Rigvgela atul Yajurvcda there are referenees to 'AbhieSra Kftya ' Blaek Arts and Magie. Referenee : JjtGVEDA - Eìghth Astaka - " - Tenth Mandala 14th Síikta. " - 11 16thSíikta, " - " 163rd Sukta. ” - " 58-60 Sukta. YAJURYEDA - Taittirya Brahmana Kt$a - 2 Pra - 4 Anu - 2 To make a svveeping remark that all 7’antras teaeh Blaek Àrt and tiothing else is wrong and smaeks of an \mwammted hasty generaljsatìon and |>ad faith. Thore may be separate Tantras exclusively moant for Blaek arts and they are cjídusively known by theìr dìstlnPtìve apppdattons such as Gàruda, Daksìna, Vana, Bhpta ote. " Athábhietrah satriinám vedadharmadmham sm.tà h " If the Vedas themselves could advoeate and enuneiate a few items of blaek arts to bring couple$ together or punìsh fhe enemies of the Vedie brahmìns, why shonld any ope denounce an assemblage of Tantras most of which do not ovon toneh upon thp blaek arts or magìe or any sneh thing. When we take ìnto eonsideration any diseonrse on ereation in the Vedas, we ean easlly obsprvp Simiiarity of vìews between the Vaidiki and Tmtriki smtis. Rigveda ; 10 - 90 , * ? " Tasmàdyajhatsarvahuta!h teah sàmmì jajhire " - Atharveda ; 10.7.14 “Yatra tsayah prathamajà reah Samayajumiahì ekarshi yasmi - The Agomae 1 1 Unapiiah skambham lam brghi Kathamassmi devasah " ( Every one is avvare of tho Panea J3rahmu Mantras beginning wiih 'Sadyojfltam prapadyami ' and ending wìlh 'IsDnali sarva vidyàmm ' - To iinderstand the Panea Braiima mantras, wc have lo know elearly about the Paneasadakhyas. So also about the mantias as 'Adhvanimadhvapate 1 ete. - To nnderstand the signifteanep Qf ífiese mantras it is absointely neeessary to have rccourse into the Agamg$. Othcj*wisc it is impossible. The Brahmft Svoiàpfl fls ^Hggesfed ífl fh? Vaidiki snjtìs is elearly cxplained and illustratod in the Tintríki snitis, 5o also there is elose assoeialion and muuial substantiation between the Bràlimanas of the Vaidiki srntis and ihe Tfmtrjki srulis, For inatflnpp in Arsheya Brálimara ; (Arsheya - 1 ) ,r Yo-hava avìdÌums;eyacc)]ítndQ daivatabrahmanena niantiena yajayati va adhyapayati va Sthfti.ium Vàreehaii-gartan và pratìpadyate " - The same Ìdea that not knovving the Risi, Chandas and Daivata viniyoga of any Mantm if a person instmets or praeiises a Yantra worsliip he is surc to be a sinner only - ís cxprcsscd in the Agamas also- " Avidilvà Rsìm Chando Daivatam Yogamevaea Yo adhyàpayedjapedvàpi papfyan jàyate tiisíih" - Thflt is why it is often said about the Tantras, 1 Sruti - sàkhàvlsesati r a distinetive braneh of the SruUs. Rooted in the Smtis, it is elassed with the Vedas. In the Kasikavrtti, the word Tantra is derived from the root 'TAN 1 - whieh means ' to spread'- some later seholars have derived it from the rooi 1 TATRI 1 or 1 Tantri ’ meaning 'Orígination' or knowlcdgc. In a speeial sense Tantra is defined 12 Phílosophy of Panearatras " Tanyate Vistáryate Jnanam anena ili " -that which amplifies and nurtures knowJedgc, Tantra ìs that braneh of knowlcdgc that notonly enlarges and iUustratcs, but also sustains Smtijmna. In Kaníkagama il is stated about the Taniras : " Tanoti vipulíinarthm tattvamanlra samanvitfm, Trananea kurutc yasm at tantram iLyabhìdliíyate ", Not only does Tantra promulgatc profound knowlcdgc eoneeming Tattva (Cosmic prineiples) and Mantra (the seienee of mystie sounds), it breathes life into tliem so to say and makes them praetieable, It helps ín true praetieal realisation the greatness of ttie Tantras and Maniras, ít helps in self-realisation through self-elevation so to say, One of ihe oldesi Tantias, the Nisvasa tanlra Samhita ìs of the view that Tantra is jusL a culmination of the esoieiie aspeets of Vedanta and Samkhya for the reason that it upho!ds the ullimacy of Sìva with the validity of the world as an expicssion of His Sakti. Siva, the supremc Lord is saíd to have taught his eonsort íìrst the Vedanta, then the twcntyfive Samkhya tattvas and finally Siva tantra. Pingalamata, another tantrie tcxt says that Tantra was fir.^L communicaied by Siva to Parvati. It ìs Agama with the eharaeteristies of Chandas (Vedas). Knlamava Tantra (II 140-41 ) says ihat kiiladhamia is based on and inspired by Lhe trmh of the Vedas. This Tantra says that there is- no knowledge (vidya) higher than that of the Vedas and no doetrine (Darsana ) equal to Kaula - ' Na hi Vedadhika vidya ’ - III - 113. Prapaneasara eites Vaidikì mahavakyas and mantras. Meru Tamra says, as mantras are part of the Vedas, Tantra is also a part of the vedas (Pranatoshini - 70). NimtLara Tantra ealls Tantra the fifth Veda and Kulacara the fifth Ásrama (Pranatoshini ), Kulamava tantra reiterates that the Sastras have as theìr heart both the Veda and the Kaula tantra - ,l Tasmadvedatmakansastran Viddhi Kaulatmakan , priye - (II 140-141). Matsyamukha mahstantra says that the Tantrie díseiple must be pure of soul (Suddhatma ) and a knower of the The Agamas 13 Vedas. Knowledge of Ihe Vedas is an essential preliminary lo initiation into the Tantrie cult. Maharudra Yamala says that a person berefi of Vedie Kriya - ‘Vedakriya Vivarjita' is disqualificd for Hhe study and praetiee of Tantrie Sadhana (Mahamdra Yamala - Khanda I , Chap. 15. Khanda II, Ohapt. 2; Pranatosiiini - 108). Gandharva Tantra (Chapt. 2; Pranatoshini - 6) says that the Tanirie sadhaka must be an asiìka, a believer in the Vedas, ever attaehed to Brahman, ever speaking of Brahman, living in Brahman and taking shelter in Brahman. Tliat Hinduìsm is revealed in ihe six darshanas is a well-known faet. The sìx darshanas are the six stages lhrough which the mind progressess in its quest for Brahman. The six darshanas aie the six limbs. These six systems are not to be trealed separately, They must be taken together as darsana is not a philosophy as such, but oniy a vicw point. Tantra is preeisely a darsana and a sadhana sastra. In general it lays down differeni forms of praeiiee for the aitainment of the highest aim of hiiman cxistcnce by one lìving the ordinary iife of a housc-holdcr. In this respeet Tantra eorresponds to the Upasana Khanda of-ihe Sruti. The Tantras aie elassified undcr five heads namely: Saiva Sakta Vaishnava Saura and Gìnapatya. These five elasses of worshippers are eolleetively ealled PANCOPASAKAS. Eaeh elass of worshippcrs has iis own tantras. In Mahanirvana lantra, I. 18, 19, II.8 - 15, III. 72, the Mantra 1 Aum Saeeidekam Brahma' is stated and Tantra is aeelaìmed as a darsana. As already staied the teim ‘Tantra' is derived from the root ‘TAN' lo spread. Il means a system, a melhod a dìseipline. It helps in aehieving two ends, namely I 4 Phìlosophy o f Panearatras i. Abíiyiidaya - General progress or iiplift, ii. Nihartíyflsa- Attaining liie suprcme god nflitiely Salvation oi liberátion Tflhtra inay aptly be deserìbed as Sadhana rcduccd to a seienee, The Síddhi aehieved is a demonstrable faeL, cxpcrìtncntally verìfied. Tantra noL only helps in aehieving the suprcme end of self-realìsation and liberation but also helps to aehieve the ordinary ends of living cxistence such as Dharma, Artha and Kaína. The Tantra Sastra is based on the firm eonvietions that f Mamra ' is efficacious, ihat 'Yantra ' is potent and tiiat uitimatc siddhi at the level of Saeeidananda - ' Being - consciousness - bliss ' - is a eertaínty. It helps ìn the eoordination of Karma, Yoga, Jnana and Bhakti. Although il emphasises will and effon on the part of the individual sadhaka, it glorifies self-stirrender to ihe Alinìghty and seeking His merey and graee. It demands Bhakti and Prapatti, yeaming love of the votary, the upasaka. The Tantrie sadhana einploys both the cxoteric rituals of the Vedie type and the esoterie riluals of the Yogie type, The'Tantras just simpiify the Vedie rimaís and make greater use of esoterie symbols. We know the esoterie symbolism was evident even in the Brahmanas and Upanishads , Ex: Satapaiha Brahmana I. 3. 2-3. The same account ìs repeated in the opening verses of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad also. The Tantras plaee greaier emphasis on the esoterie saerifiee. So we need not hesitate to say that the Tantras have emerged from the Vedie religion and saerifiees. In ihe vast reservoir of aneie/it ‘Hi

Tantrik Economics

on the social level, the Kartābhajās bring together members of all classes and social factions, rejecting caste distinctions and proclaiming the divinity of all human beings; and third, on the gender level, the Kartābhajās offered a new social space in which men and women could mix freely, even providing new opportunities for women in roles of spiritual authority. The result is a rather ingenious religious fusion – or “subversive bricolage,” which skilfully adapts and reconfigures elements from a wide range of sources – a kind of poaching or pilfering by poor lower-class consumers in a dominated religious market that demanded the subtle use of secrecy, both, as a tactic of appropriation, and as a key social strategy or way of life.
The Economics of Ecstasy - Tantra, Secrecy and Power in Colonial Bengal

Much like the early Agape Feasts of the Christians and their predecesors in the Mithras Cult. Religions of the Ancient Lowly are democratic in nature in their earliest forms, since they exist outside and against the dominantant Religious State. They offer a safe place for a declasse melange of participants, and women are notably amongst them.

These 'Love Feasts' offered the participants the free exchange of goods; potlach, a sharing of communal supper, and after that convivality, socializing, and all that could be found scandalous by the salacious.

In ancient Greece the Bacchanae were a rebellion against the rigid State Religion (see Themis by Jane Harrison) embracing the life affirming spontaniety of nature, in the form of a dead and ressurected god; Bacchus/Dionysous/Pan.

Once Christianity lost its spontaneous inclusiveness it became a State religion of Constantinople the Byzantine seat of power of the former Hellenic world. The State declared Jesus the one and only dead and ressurected god, no others need apply.

Thus the myth of the death of Pan was created by neccisities of the State. The peoples religion of ancient Rome was now the State religion of Rome, Byzantium and the Holy Roman Empire.


Also see

Wikipedia: Tantra

Sacred Tantrik Texts



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Women's Solidarity Through Witchcraft

The concept of the ‘witch’ draws from the European Wicca traditions. Wicca is a Neo-pagan religion that was introduced to the world in a codified form in 1945 by former British civil servant Gerald Gardner.

Witches through the ages Shutterstock


Outlook Web Desk
UPDATED: 13 APR 2022 

We have all grown up with images of the scraggly witch on a broomstick in a pointy witch’s hat. Or the Indian witch or ‘dayan’ with bulging eyes, reversed foot and knotted unruly hair. The myth of witches has existed in India ever since time immemorial. Be it the ‘chudail’ or ‘Pichal Pairi’ of North India, Pishachini or Petni of West Bengal, or simply ‘Dayan’, the idea of the witch in either a demonic form or in the form of an evil priestess has been popularised in countless folk tales, films and pulp fiction horror stories. But much of the representation of witches in Indian films and literature is largely inaccurate. This is due to reasons — one is the misunderstanding of witches and witchcraft, and the second is patriarchy. Nevertheless, witches have usually been the demon of choice when it came to feminists representing themselves through the horror metaphor.

The concept of the ‘witch’ draws from the European Wicca traditions. Wicca is a Neo-pagan religion that was introduced to the world in a codified form in 1945 by former British civil servant Gerald Gardner. However, its origins can be traced to pre-Christian times. It encompasses various denominations and sects that are based on witchcraft and the duo theistic worship of the Supreme Gods and God. The religion is characterised by various rituals and was the first to formally acknowledge the pagan community of witches (men and women) that existed and practised for ‘Witchcraft’. While the community represented more than just witches, later representation in pop culture associating Wicca with cauldron swilling pagan witches further solidified the idea of Wiccan witches. Many followers of Wicca claim to believe in “magic” as a science. As performative magician and occultist Alistair Crowley had put it, magic is “the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with will”.

The Witch’s Tale: Women In Indian Horror Films


In 1968, a manifesto by a women's group called WITCH read, "Witches have always been women who dared to be: groovy, courageous, aggressive, intelligent, nonconformist, explorative, curious, independent, sexually liberated, revolutionary...You are a witch by being female, untamed, angry, joyous and immortal". Thus witches have been a socio-political statement for women as much as a horror staple.

There is a thriving Wiccan witch community in India. The country’s first noted openly Wiccan witch was Ipsita Ray Chakravarty, daughter of a diplomat who grew up in Canada. According to interviews, she felt her first supernatural experience at the age of 10. In the late 80s, Chakravarty started speaking about the ancient tradition of witchcraft in India and has often spoken sternly against the representation of witches in Indian films as monstrous ‘dayans’.

The Wiccan tradition is what gives us the witch on a broomstick with a pointy hat trope. Today, many women in India claim Ito follow witchcraft. A thriving community of Wiccan witches on social media exists in which women not only talk about their experiences with witchcraft but also sell ‘magical’ items like totems, spells, incantations, even wands. The Harry Potter series of books also brought a new perspective on witches for urban Indian audiences who came face to face with anthropomorphised teen witches and wizards.

Nevertheless, the myth of the ‘Daayan’, the desi and monstrous version of the witch has remained popular in Indian horror films. Recent retellings o the witch’s tale have seen writers and directors experiment with themes of sexual violence and patriarchy to subvert the horror plots creating ‘daayans’ out of victims of patriarchy.

But the witch’s influence in Indian films and literature goes further back than just fiction or folk tales. In India, witchcraft is deeply rooted in Vedic Hindu religion. Witchcraft - or tantra Sadhna, is a pre-Vedic tradition part of the Tantra sect of Hinduism. Its followers, called Tantriks and Tantrikas, as often associated with witchcraft. While the men have been termed ‘sadhu’ or ascetic, however, women have often been dubbed as ‘witches’.

In fact, Daakinis and tantrikas were among the original healers before organised religion. According to Anubhuti Dalal, a practising Tantrik, daakinis have the ability to use magic, concoct potions and use their knowledge of herbs and poisons to heal people of both physical, and mental and metaphysical afflictions. They could make women stay young forever and make men fall in love. They could fix a broken heart or heal an infected body. This kind of manifestation of women’s power to manipulate energy has been recorded across the world including in Europe where a community of pagan witches have long existed under the Wiccan tradition. Witch societies are today studied through a feminist lens in that they have historically provided a safe space for women that organised religion could not provide.

In that way, the Indian Tantrik tradition has been similar to Wicca in providing a safe space and sisterhood to women within the community. Witches or practitioners of witchcraft often have their own language and ways of communication.

“A village daakini, before anything, is a friend of the persecuted women. She was supposed to be the custodian of women’s rights at a time when women had no representation. She could punish men for their wrong-doings, set things right for the woman at her household and empower them with justice,” adds Dalal. Dakinis, like Wiccan witches, are also known to be great doctors. Researchers of Wiccan witch rituals found that the ‘spells’ and recipes used by witches often use scary code names for herbs and plants. Newt’s eyes and dogs’ tongue - the famous ingredients used by Macbeth’s witches, for instance, actually refer to mustard seeds and the highly toxic plant houdstounge.

The Modern Witch Trials era in the West during which scores of women were burnt at the stake across England and other Anglo-Saxon countries vilified witches as sorceresses worshipping the Horned God. Later, Gardern's reiteration of Wicca brought forth evidence of the worship of the Mother Goddess - representing life and fertility - thus helping pagan witches destigmatise their image and move away from the Shakespearean representation of evil witches to a more free-spirited, pagan witch who used magic for good rather than evil.

Both Dalal and Wiccan witches like Ipsita have objected to the representation of witches in India. The skewed narratives of women in Indian (as well as Western) horror films and literature is an expression of the internalised cultural beliefs, mythology and pop culture. But today, women writers and filmmakers have tried to take over the genre and write stories that depict the witch not as a monster but as an avenger and vigilante. The change in tonality can be seen as a reflection of the growing empowerment of women and acknowledgement of culture and mythology as important building blocks of gender roles.

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Fear Of The Known: Socio-political Themes In Marathi Horror Cinema

Black History Month; P.B. Randolph

Paschal Beverly Randolph (P.B. Randolph) was a 19th Century magickian, a spiritualist and founder of the Rosicrucian movement in the United Sates.

Like Paul Lafargue he was a mulatto but one who initially denied his Negro roots.

( 8 Oct. 1825 - 29 July 1875 ), physician, philosopher, and author, was born in New York City , the son of William Beverly Randolph, a plantation owner, and Flora Beverly, a barmaid. At the age of five or seven Randolph lost his mother to smallpox, and with her the only love he had known. Randolph later stated, "I was born in love, of a loving mother, and what she felt, that I lived." His father's devotion is questionable. In 1873 Randolph hinted at his own illegitimacy, stating that his parents "did not stop to pay fees to the justice or to the priest."

Randolph 's mother possessed a strong temperament, unusual physical beauty, and intense passions, characteristics that Randolph inherited. Later many, especially his enemies, perceived Randolph as being of "Negro descent," which he denied. Sent to live with his half-sister, Randolph was ignored, unloved, and abused and eventually turned to begging on the streets.

Being born in New York to a 'free black' woman, his reluctance to be considered a Negro at the time is understandable. And since his upbringing was in the time and area of the Gangs of New York, plagued by nativism as it was, it is also understandable.

But by the time of the Civil War he was an outspoken advocate of Negro Rights.

Born poor and of mixed race in 1825 and raised (more or less) by prostitutes in the Five Points slum of New York, Randolph was self-educated and prickly proud. Creating himself, he picked and chose just how "black " to be. He could de-emphasize his African heritage in the face of prejudice--after his suicide, a newspaper said he was "part Spaniard, and inherited all the suspicious distrusting qualities of the people of that nationality. " At other times, he emphasized it, as during his Civil War Black Nationalist phase, when he worked briefly as a teacher for the short-lived Freedman 's Bureau, an agency designed to educate freed slaves but only halfheartedly supported by the federal government.

Yet when some Northerners advocated a scheme to ship freed slaves to Africa, Randolph, speaking for the slaves, emphasized "American: " "We men of color were born here; so were our fathers and mothers down a long line of ancestry....Are all our sufferings to be rewarded by our removal to African deserts and barbaric climes and places?...No! Never! Here is our home, and here we mean to stay, and on this soil will die, and in it be buried. "

And like Lafargue he was an internationalist, traveling and training as well as lecturing in Europe. As with many in the occult movement of the 19th Century he was a social reformer. And like his contemporary Virginia Woodhull, Mrs. Satan, he was an advocate of womens rights and Free Love.

Randolph is to be remembered for his philosophical works on love, marriage, and womanhood. He provided new and unique insight into the then taboo world of sexual love. He aided the education, rights, and equality of both women and blacks. He foresaw the evils of tobacco and drug abuse. Finally, Randolph, through his position as the Americas' first Supreme Grand Master of the Fraternitas Rosæ Crucis, directly or indirectly touched the lives of more than 200,000 neophytes (students) comprising the Fraternitas and other Rosicrucian orders.

P.B. Randolph 's life story demonstrates also how reform-minded American Spiritualism turned into "occultism. " Spiritualism was well-intentioned, "scientific " but also passive, linked to social reform (early feminism, the abolition of slavery) but also to faddishness, most notably "free love, " which could, depending on who was talking, mean anything from a partnership of equals to mere spouse-swapping. ( "You and I were meant to be soul mates. ") Occultism, on the other hand, is individualistic, rooted in personal development and self-improvement, and generally not connected to any social or political philosophy.

With the democratic decline in Europe after the revolutions of 1848 and the Paris Commune secret societies were formed for the purposes of pursuing democratic as well as socialist revolution. In England and the Commonwealth they were formed for the purposes of pursuing trade unionism which had been banned as an illegal combination.

That secret societies should form for finding and revealing secret knowledge, was thus a natural outgrowth of this period and was coincidental with the growth and popularity of fraternal orders after the Civil War in America and across Europe.

His patron both in Spiritualism as well as getting him work with Lincoln was Colonel Ethan A. Hitchcock, a noted military officer as well as practicing alchemist. Like other occultists, John Dee comes to mind, he too was also a spy. The secrecy of the occult overlaps with the secret society of intelligence gathering. They share a similar cosmological outlook that is the search for hidden or secret knowledge.

As happens in the Occult community, as in the political one, sectarian differences are frequent and lead to rivalries and mutual denunciations. Such was the case with P. B. Randolph, who is credited with founding the Rosicrucian movement in the United States.

He faced attack by rivals for hegemony over the occult movement in America denouncing him for his Luciferian ideas from the likes of Madam Blavatsky and her Theosophists and from the white supremacist founder of the American Scottish Right of Freemasonry; Albert Pike. Ironic because both of them are also accused of being Luciferians.

Such is the case of 19th Century occult wars not only in America but in Europe where again competing orders of Rosicrucian's charged and counter charged each other as being in league with Lucifer.

The Luciferian charge comes about from Randolph's advocacy of free love, which was also embraced by American Anarchists at the time. His theories were outlined in his book Eulis and in his other famous treatise; Magia Sexualis

Today we would call his practices sex therapy, where he discussed sexual dysfunction with his patients, and as a Doctor he practiced mesermism, the passing of hands over the body to affect the magnetic energies. He also advocated the tantra practice of heightened sensuality by controlling the male orgasm and ejaculation.

 In 1870 he founded the Order of Eulis, which kept its teachings
secret because of the sex and drugs.  Some people must've talked,
though: H. P. Blavatsky denounced Randolph as immoral, a charge also
leveled at the Luciferian Freemason Sir Albert Pike.  An occult war
followed.  In 1872 his "Rosicrucian Rooms" were raided by police and
he was jailed for distributing "Free Love" literature.  Fires,
robberies, and disease followed, and on July 29, 1975, he shot
himself.  His friends and followers claimed that Blavatsky's curses
had nailed him.  Blavatsky founded the philosophical society the same
year.

By the 1870s many of Randolph's writings dealt with 
occult aspects of  love and sexuality.

Randolph, as a physician, also counseled many of his patients on matters of
family relations, marital bliss and the art of love. These acts of kindness and
concern were sometimes taken as conduct condoning "free love."

In February 1872, he was arrested and imprisoned for promoting
"free love" or immorality. Although acquitted of all charges, as it was discovered in
court that the indictment was merely a clever attempt by former
business partners (now enemies) to obtain his book copyrights, Randolph
never recovered from the humiliation of the proceeding.

Although dying at age 49, Randolph was a prolific writer, producing many books
and pamphlets on love, health, mysticism and the occult.

And further confusion was sown with his initiation into a mystical Gnostic cult from Syria/Iraq which mistakenly has been associated with the Yezedi.

The Yezedi created a sensation amongst some 19th Century scholars who had finally discovered a genuine devil worshiping cult. And the devil they worshiped was Lucifer.

Despite my best googling efforts the only references I could find to Ansaireh is that referred back to the region in Syria/Iraq which is named after a Mountain.

Gertrude Bell in her diary refers to visiting the region and the Yezedi who dwelled there. Which may have been the reason the author of the introduction to Magica Sexualis thought Randolph had been initiated into their religious teachings.

During his journeys to Paris, Pascal became aware of several works which were being published in France and Germany dealing with the Ansaireth or Nusairis of Syria. 25 There was much discussion, in the Rosicrucian circles that Randolph traveled in, of the purity and sublimity of the teachings of the Ansaireh. Books by Niebuhr, M. Catafago, Victor Langlois and others told of these mysterious hill dwellers in Northern Syria who were neither Jews, Christians or Muslims. They may well have been the people that modern anthropology has identified as the Yezidi, the devotees of the Peucock god, Melek Ta'aus.

PBR tells how the chief of the Ansaireth, Narek El Gebel, arrived at the Rosicrucian Third Dome in Paris with letters of introduction and then, recognizing Randolph's abilities and character, invited him to come to Syria and to study with the Ansaireth. Randolph went to Syria and was initiated into the Ansairetic Brotherhood. Upon his return to America, he established the Priesthood of Aeth based on the Ansairetic Mysteries

There were a variety of Christian and Islamic sects in the region. Including the Druze and Nusairis and one of the last surviving gnostic sects the Mandaens. As well as Kurds and Yezedi, Sabians all of whom faced persecution from the Turks for being dhimmis.

In another part of this Consular District there seems to have been little change from the old times of rapine and bloodshed in Turkey. I allude to the Ansaireh mountains, stretching from the valley of the Orontes to Mount Lebanon. On a late occasion a member of the Medjlis of Tripoli, passing through a Christian village in pursuit of the revolted Ansaireh, set fire to it, and, when the inhabitants conveyed their moveable property of value into their Church (…), it was broken open and plundered. This case, with many others equally abominable, of simultaneous occurrence, was laid before Her Majesty’s Consul General for Syria, the perpetrators of the outrages being under the jurisdiction of the Pasha of Beyrouth, and will thus have already come under Your Excellency’s notice. (Aleppo, 31st March, 1859; FO 78/1452 (No. 11), Skene to Bulwer, Constantinople)

The author of the introduction to Magica Sexualis is mistaken in associating the Ansairth with the Yezedi. As I said the Yezedi at the time had become somewhat of a sensation amongst certain Christian religious and historical scholars. And the Nusairis refer to an Islamic Shi'a Sunni sect.

Randolphs Rosicrucian Order and his fellow occultists of the time were fascinated with the recent discoveries of Gnosticism and the Gnostic's. Finding a living Gnostic religion which offered initiation would have been more in keeping with their occult traditions.

I suspect Randolph had been initiated into the the mystery religion of the Mandaens. Whose followers were in the same region of Syria at the time.

Within the Middle East, but outside of their community, the Mandaeans are more commonly known as the Ṣubba (singular Ṣubbī). Likewise, their Muslim neighbors will refer to them collectively as the Sabians (Arabic al-Ṣābiʾūn), in reference to the Ṣabians of the Qur'an. Occasionally, the Mandaeans are also called the "Christians of St. John" (a misnomer, since they are not Christians by any standard), based upon preliminary reports made by members of the Barefoot Carmelite mission in Basra during the 16th century.

Other groups which have been identified with the Mandaeans include the "Nasoraeans" described by Epiphanius and the Dositheans mentioned by Theodore Bar Kōnī in his Scholion. Ibn al-Nadim also mentions a group called the Mughtasila, "the self-ablutionists," who may be identified with one or the other of these groups. The members of this sect, like the Mandaeans, wore white and performed baptisms.

The similarity of beliefs about healthy living, not eating meat, avoiding tobacco, reincarnation and sexuality strike me as Mandaean rather than Yezedi.

According to E.S. Drower in the introduction to The Secret Adam, Mandaeans believe in marriage and procreation, and in the importance of leading an ethical and moral lifestyle in this world, placing a high priority upon family life. Consequently, Mandaeans do not practice celibacy or asceticism. Mandaeans will, however, abstain from strong drink and red meat. While they agree with other gnostic sects that the world is a prison governed by the planetary archons, they do not view it as a cruel and inhospitable one.

The Rosicrucian movement he founded still exists today publishing his works;

SEERSHIP; Guide to Soul Sight


The importance of Randolph cannot be underestimated. His works influenced later magickal and occult practitioners including Eliphas Levi as well as the Ordo Templi Orientis in particular Theodore Reuss and Aleister Crowley.




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FEMINISM
The Witch’s Tale: Women In Indian Horror Films

The ghost as the empowered woman is a new theme in Hindi horror movies

Photograph: Shutterstock

Rakhi Bose
UPDATED: 08 APR 2022 

Chutni Mahato lived to tell her tale—branded a witch in her in-laws’ village in Jharkhand’s Seraikela-Kharsawan district, stripped and paraded naked and forced to drink urine. Once a woman is branded a witch—a superstition rife in many states in India—her chance of survival is very low; lynching of women over suspicion of witchcraft is widely prevalent in many parts. But Mahato managed to escape. That was 1995. She is now an activist battling such social evils. In 2019, Mahato won the Padma Shri—India’s fourth-highest civilian honour—for helping nearly 150 women, all victims of witch-hunting and persecution.

A few years before she was honoured, a film purportedly inspired by her life was released. But Kaala Sach: The Black Truth turned out to be the typical Bollywood horror fare—instead of depicting her empowerment, the film is full of scenes of sexual violence, its dialogues replete with expletives and innuendos. Mahato does not know about the film but says they can’t do justice to the struggle faced by women branded witches and hunted down by an unforgiving society. “They (films) show witches with bulging eyes, with feet turned backward and matted hair. She is in search of men to seduce and children whose blood she can d­rink,” Mahato tells Outlook over the phone. “In real life, though, ‘witches’ are not demons but women just like you and me,” she adds.

ALSO READ: Horror As The Theme Of Our Lives

For decades, Hindi horror films stuck to a hackneyed characterisation of women—sexist and mis­ogynistic. Be it as the ‘ghost’ or a living character, women have only pandered to the voyeuristic desires of the male audience. And one of the most common and often misrepresented sub-genres within the horror universe in India has been the daayan film and the rape-revenge genre where a pious or pure woman becomes impure due to the wrongs done to her by men and turns into an all-powerful, bloodthirsty demon. Popular films like Chudail (1991), Khoon Ki Pyaasi, (1996) and Khoon Ki Pyaasi Daayan (1998)—with their exp­loitative storylines and focus on women’s bodies as objects of lust—nevertheless laid the groundwork for later films like Raagini MMS (2011), Ek Thi Dayan (2013), Pari (2018) and Bulbbul (2020) which strived to subvert the trope of the witch to depict powerful, feminist women and themes of violence against women. While many films followed the ‘sexploitation’ sub-genre, some of them, in their own right, paved the way for more layered women characters in horror films.
Another Aspect That Outlined The Narrative Of Women In Indian Horror Films Is An Exp­ression Of Internalised Cultural Beliefs, Mythology And Pop Culture.

Horror film buff and author Aditi Sen, however, has an interesting take on the Hindi films of the ’80s, when the Ramsay brothers’ sex-horror films had acquired cult status. Sen, a history professor at Queen’s University and a researcher on South Asian horror cinema, argues that while the films were definitely exploitative and objectifying women for eyeballs, they were also giving glimpses of women with more agency and independence. “In Purana Mandir (1984), for instance, a group of men and women go to an abandoned place for a weekend of casual sex with their partners. That’s unthinkable in a mainstream Hindi film of the time, for women to have that kind of freedom,” says Sen.

ALSO READ: How OTT Turned Into A Game-changer For Horror Movies

In 2002, the film Raaz was one of the biggest runaway hits of the year. Though the film did not have the traditional witch, it developed a different kind of woman fiend—the lonely woman spirit who is just looking for love. It was a more boisterous, sexualised reincarnation of the ‘lonely, lovelorn woman ghost’ of the sixties who wore a white saree and sought men who reminded her of her estranged lover. Sen, who has written a chapter on the film in the 2020 book Bollywood Horrors, says Raaz was a turning point. “It reinforced beliefs about women being tasked with the job of ‘fixing’ men and accepting their follies, but also opened a starting point for more films that showed wom­en not just as accessories but movers of the plot.”

Another aspect, Sen says, that outlined the narrative of women in Indian horror films is an exp­ression of the country’s internalised cultural beliefs, mythology and pop culture. In Raaz, for instance, Bipasha Basu—the wife—is the Devi while the ghost—the other woman—is a wronged woman or chudail. The ‘Devi’ can only obliterate the evil spi­rit by giving her a proper funeral. In later dep­ic­tions of the daayan or chudail, filmmakers have used the daayan as a twisted allegory for the div­ine. “It is because filmmakers (and all men) know the power of Shakti and that no man can actually stand up to it. None of the films, of course, have shown a near accurate representation of witches, even though in India, witches are as old as gods,” says Anubhuti Dalal, 42, who lives in Delhi and claims to be a tantrika. “I am what they sometimes call a dakini. I belong to the Aghori clan of tantriks,” she says. A practitioner of tantra, an ancient sect of Hinduism that predates the age of “organised religion”, as Dalal puts it, she and other dakinis like her worship the Dasha Maha Vidya—a pantheon of 10 feminine energies, each representing a form of the supreme goddess. In ancient texts, the dakini is defined as a ‘fiendish’ spirit who worships Kali.

ALSO READ: The Horror Of The Haunted House And Lonely People

In India, Dalal explains, the reason why women are repeatedly depicted as horrible, monstrous entities in the form of a chudail or daayan can be traced to the fear and patriarchy of Bra­hmins. Accepting the power of the woman as a divine healer meant accepting the power of her wrath. “When it comes to the battle between Mahakaal and Mahakali, the goddess will always win. Brah­mins and all men know that. Perhaps that is why they have always picked up their pitchforks and torches to behead and burn the ‘witch’. Bec­ause deep down they know they can’t kill the wit­ch just as they can’t kill the goddess,” she says. A slew of recent Bollywood filmmakers seem to have picked up on that trend.

In 2018, Amar Kaushik’s film Stree stumped aud­iences with its feminist horror-comedy approach to the witch. The film retold an old folk story abo­ut a witch who roamed the streets hunting young men with not-so-subtle subversions in gender roles. The witch in Stree, for instance, sought consent from her male victims before seducing them. In 2020, debut filmmaker Anvita Dutt’s horror film Bulbbul won two Filmfare OTT awards and accolades for retelling the story of the vigilante daayan who employs her own brand of justice system to punish those who hurt her, and the drivers of patriarchy. In both films, the witch in the end becomes a metaphor for power.

ALSO READ: Fatal Attraction: In Horror, Our Lives Are Redeemed

Film writer Amborish Roychowdhury feels that while sexual violence has been an ill-used trope in Bollywood horror films in the past, it continues to be a popular theme in horror films as it is a living reality for most women. “Horror is one of the mo­st expressive genres of film. I think filmmakers today are realising the potential of the platform to tell powerful stories about women and violence is a big part of many women’s lives,” he says. “Here lies the credit and intent of the filmmakers—are they using it as a bit to draw in audiences or are they using it to make audiences uncomfortable and ask questions about the society they live in?”

Away from the world of films, Aloka Kujur lives in the land of so-called witches. “In Jharkhand, daayan pratha is still a relevant practice and every year, hundreds of women are persecuted and even killed in the name of being a witch,” Kujur, who works for the rights of such women under the Adivasi Jan Adhikar Manch, tells Outlook. In Jharkhand, most of these cases are rel­ated to property disputes. “Women who have property and are single or elderly are often the target of such tactics, often by relatives and neighbours who want to usurp her property.” Kujur, however, says that films like Bulbbul that romanticise the daayan are equally bad as the B-grade films. She explains that in states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, tales of the witch are much more believable as they are deeply woven into the social fabric. “These films reinforce the idea of daayan and chudail.”

(This appeared in the print edition as "The Witch’s Tale")

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At an exclusive Manhattan sex party, members can smoke weed, eat Haribo gummies, and have sex until 3 a.m.

IT'S REALLY ALL ABOUT SMOKING WEED AND BEING NAKED WITH STRANGERS

Julia Naftulin Jan 8, 2020

NSFW members can find everything they need for a safe and fun sex-party experience at the club when they arrive. Crystal Cox/Business Insider

On any given Friday and Saturday night, 60 or so New Yorkers descend upon NSFW, a members-only sex club in Manhattan.
Consensual sexual experiences are the club's hallmark, but some people who attend NSFW's weekend "play parties" may not even have sex. They may mingle, smoke weed, or sip a cocktail.
During play parties, members called "nymphs" keep the space clean and make sure everyone feels safe.
Snacks, drinks, and condoms are provided for party attendees, and each party has live performances and a curated playlist.
On any given Friday and Saturday night, 60 or so New Yorkers descend upon NSFW, a members-only sex club located in lower Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood.

NSFW's clubhouse doesn't look like much from the outside, since it's nestled in an average-looking apartment building and up a long and steep stairwell.

But once through the nondescript apartment door, members see the large studio has been transformed with dim lighting, lounge areas decorated with pillows and string lights, electronic DJ mixes, clouds of marijuana smoke, and warm faces.

At NSFW, which stands for the New Society for Wellness, members pride themselves on being part of an LGBT-friendly sex club that offers a safe space for people to explore self-pleasure regardless of income. Consensual sexual experiences are the club's hallmark, but some people who attend NSFW's weekend play parties may not even have sex.

Here's what it's like to attend an exclusive play party at NSFW, according to its founder, Daniel Saynt; a member; and Insider's on-the-ground experience.

NSFW's clubhouse (not pictured) is in New York's SoHo neighborhood. Aimee Groth, Business Insider
People nicknamed 'nymphs' keep the party safe and clean

NSFW has 2,000 members, and memberships range from $200 to $2,690 for an annual membership. The more you pay, the more perks you get, including discounted or free tickets to NSFW workshops on topics like improving your relationship or tantra basics.

To become a member, everyone goes through an application process, including an online form, social-media vetting, and sometimes a phone or video interview to ensure they'll mesh well with the entire group, Saynt previously told Insider.

Saynt said his team always asked prospective members what they could contribute to NSFW. "Some people say, 'Oh, positive energy,' and other people, it's like, 'I'm a lawyer, so I can help with this.'" Both are great answers, he said.

About 20% of applicants are accepted.

Members are free to attend any NSFW party or workshop and can also be considered for other designations, like "nymph."

Nymphs, along with a clubhouse manager, play an important role at all NSFW play parties because they stay out of the action and hang out on the outskirts of the clubhouse.

Saynt says for every party, three nymphs walk the floor wearing glow-in-the-dark wristbands to signal their role and to make it easier for members to locate and approach them if they're feeling unsafe, have a question, or need assistance.

Nymphs also spend time getting other members water to keep them hydrated if they've smoked too much weed or had too much to drink, Jen, a 35-year-old member who acts as a nymph and asked to omit her last name for privacy reasons, previously told Insider.
Music and lighting are used as cues throughout the evening

Like any party, play parties at NSFW have a natural cadence.

According to Saynt, parties start between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. depending on the type. Some nights, NSFW hosts parties that start and end on the early end called "Send Noobs," which are geared toward new members who may have never been to sex parties before.

"The focus is on introductions and teaching people about the behavior that's expected at NSFW," Saynt said. Parties for more experienced members start closer to 10 p.m., with the action really picking up at about midnight.

The parties typically kick off with live performances like erotic shows or BDSM demonstrations starring local talents like Marie Sauvage, a shibari or Japanese-style bondage artist, and King Noire, a rapper and adult-film actor. Other nights, members can see top adult-film actors like Christiana Cinn, Abella Danger, or Skye Blue perform.

"The idea is to create an experience, to entice, surprise, and titillate," Saynt said.
Like any party, play parties at NSFW have a natural cadence. mediaphotos/Getty Images

At about midnight, NSFW lights dim to signal it's playtime.


A floor-to-ceiling velvet curtain is also drawn to split the room and offer semiprivacy to members who want to get busy. The back section of the open-concept clubhouse has California-king-size mattresses pushed together, plush heaps of pillows, and large vintage couches scattered throughout where people can get together.

Members can approach one another and ask for sex, which must be met with enthusiastic consent, meaning all people should say "yes" to the experience and also feel positive about it throughout.

People who aren't partaking in sex play can spend time on the other side of the velvet curtain smoking marijuana joints or sipping cocktails while chatting with other members.

Then, 30 minutes before closing at 3 a.m., Saynt said, the lights would start to brighter again so people could more easily retrieve any discarded articles of clothing. Music by Frank Sinatra plays for the last 15 minutes of the party too. "We want people to think of us whenever they hear these popular songs" out in the world, Saynt said.

According to NSFW's founder, Daniel Saynt, decriminalization has made it easier and safer for the club to allow its users to light up. AP Photo/Richard Vogel
You can smoke weed during the sex party

According to Saynt, decriminalization has made it easier and safer for the club to allow its users to light up during play parties.

Marijuana is decriminalized in New York state, meaning it's considered a noncriminal violation of the law, rather than a criminal offense, if the police catch a person carrying less than 2 ounces of marijuana.

As a rule, NSFW doesn't directly sell weed to its members, and since the club is exclusive and relatively private, it's not "at risk for the same legal issues that a traditional nightclub might deal with," Saynt said, acknowledging that NSFW once got in trouble with the police for cannabis use.
Amenities include fresh fruit, gummy bears, lube, and condoms

Though the NSFW team doesn't ask prospective members about their STD statuses during the application process (Saynt said doing so wasn't allowed both ethically and legally), the club is stocked with complimentary condoms and lube as well as wipes for cleaning up after the fun.

Saynt said NSFW also partnered with the STD-testing app Safe to give members access to low-cost STD tests.

NSFW also keeps the clubhouse stocked with snacks, including Haribo gummies, dark-chocolate bark, and fresh fruit bought in bulk, as well as some cocktails. Saynt said the club also had plenty of soda and water available to members at designated "hydration stations."

Also, NSFW provides mints that Saynt said were "great for oral sex and helpful if members experiencing dry mouth due to smoking cannabis."

According to Saynt, it's taken five years of trial and error to craft the perfect experience.

"Nights at NSFW are like an orchestra with various triggers used to ensure people are comfortable, mingling, and remembering the experience," Saynt said. "That requires a lot of knowledge that can only come from hosting over 500 sex parties over the past five years and being really, really good at getting strangers to get naked together."

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