Kiss of the Yogini, 6

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6

Consort of the Yogini : Siddha Cults

160 to 187

6.1 pp. 160-3 Siddha Demi-gods & Their Human Emulators

6.1 p. 162 a declaration by Siddha-s

[quoted from the 49th chapter of the S`ankara-vijaya by Ananda-giri] “the Siddha-practitioners Cirakirti, Nityananda, Pararjuna, etc., … said …,

... at [S`ri-s`aila-m {'revered rock'}] [“a sacred mountain located in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh …, the site of one of S`iva's jyotirlingas (“lingas of {caelestial} light”), over which stands the Mallikarjuna temple” (p. 312, n. 6:9)] and other lofty sites where divine beings make themselves invisible, Satyananda and others became Siddhas … . We are of the same sort … . The entire expanding {in the way of consciousness-expansion} universe is fully known to us. Through our special knowledge … [we effect] the removal of accidental or untimely death. By means of special [acts of] sorcery (kriya) … through special S`aktis … Yaks.inis … [and] Mohinis, by means of … magic and great magic, we can strike people {tyrants} blind {temporarily, until those offenders have abandoned their means of oppression} and bind {i.e., compell them to cease from harming any humans} lions, s`arabhas, and tigers. ...””

6.2 pp. 163-7 Siddha-s & Yogini-s in the Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya

6.2 pp. 164 & 313 categories of Siddha-s; size of each Kaula

p. 164

[quoted from Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 9:6a-10a] “Siddhas are well known … as … Mr.s.n.ipadas {'forgiving, pardoning'}, Avatarapadas, Suryapadas, Dyutipadas, Omapadas {'helper,s protectors'}, Vyaghrapadas, Harin.ipadas, Pan~cas`ikhapadas, Komalapadas {'tendre, soft'}, and Lambodarapadas. [p. 313, n. 6:20 : “On names ending in -pada …, see Dyczkowski [1988], p. 62.”] These are the first great Siddhas, those who brought the Kula and the Kaula down [to earth]. …


This Kaula has an extension of ten kot.is beyond the world of existence.”

[p. 313, n. 6:21 “The measurement appears to be {in surplus to} that of the cosmic egg, which is a hundred kot.is of yojanas, according to the Svacchanda Tantra; the Kaula … {extendeth to a distance one-tenth} greater than the brahman.d.a – perhaps after the fashion of Purus.a in RV 10.90.1?”]

{This 1/10th ascititious distance would be the scope of the Mahat, perhaps plus the A-vyakta.}

6.2 p. 165 the 3 categories of mortal women; Kaula sexual worship-service

KJn~N … chapter [8] … opens with an account of … types of S`aktis, known as … “Innately-born,” and “Clan-born.” The Kaula practitioner is instructed to practice, together with … these – along with another type of S`akti, the “Lowest-born” – in an isolated, uninhabited spot … . [Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:2ab, 4-5. cf. Manasa-ullasa 5:18:963b-964a; and Ks.ema-raja's commentary to Netra Tantra 19:71]

Here, the term “Lowest-born” refers to an outcaste woman;

a married woman is called “Innately-born,” and

a prostitute is called “Clan-born.” [Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:6-7] …

a sexual ritual involving the Kaula practitioner and a “Lowest-born” woman … : their conjoined sexual fluids … are offered to the sixty-four Yoginis and the fifty-eight Viras”. [Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:10b-15a]

6.2 pp. 165-6 & 314 sacred sites

p. 165

Next the text [Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:16b-17b. cf. Hevajra Tantra 1:7:13-16; Manasa-ullasa 5:18:958b-60b; S`ri-matta-uttara Tantra 27:121-2] evokes the worship of the great Field-born Yoginis … at the eight great … shrines of Karavira (Karnataka …), Mahakala (Ujjain), Devikot.a (Bengal), [Varanasi], [Prayaga], Caritra-Ekamraka (Bhubanes[`]var), At.t.ahasa (Bengal?), and Jayanti. …

Associated with these because they were born at and preside over these sites are the sixteen “Field-born” male Siddhas. … Hereafter, the KJn~N enumerates the four Mounds (pit.has) – Kamakhya, Purn.agiri, Ud.d.iyana, and Arvuda”.

p. 314, n. 6:32

Kamakhya is … in the Gauhati District of Assam;

Purn.agiri is possibly in the Punjab {or else at Pus.pagiri in Od.ivis`a (“IPT”, pp. 49-50), if not in “central India” (Maharas.t.ra)}; …

Ud.d.iyana in the … Swat Valley (… Tibetan author Taranatha identifies Od.iyana with Ghazni and states that “a great number of ks.etra-yoginis dwell there” …);

Arvuda is Mount Abu, in the Sirohi District of western Rajasthan.”

p. 166

sixteen Mound-born Siddhas … were born at these sites.” (Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:19-22a)

IPT” = Mark S. G. Dyczkowski : “Inner Pilgrimage of the Tantras : the Sacred Geography of the Kubjika Tantras … .” J OF THE NEPAL RESEARCH CENTRE, vol. 12 (2001), pp. 43 sq. http://www.scribd.com/doc/79089262/Dyczkowski-Mark-S-G-Inner-Pilgrimage-of-the-Tantras

6.2 p. 166 categories of Siddha-s

The Siddhas who became perfected (siddha) through the practice of yoga are called “Yoga-born”;

those who propitiate [with] mantras are “Mantra-born.” [Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:24]

Next, referring to a … myth of the Goddess's defeat of the demon Ruru at Blue Mountain (usually identified with {a mountain in} Kamakhya), the text explains the origins of the “Innately-born” Siddhas.” (Kaula-jn~ana-nirn.aya 8:25-6)

6.2 p. 166 levels of initiation

Chapter 11 of the KJn~N gives … the

kulasamay[in] (“pledge”),

kulaputra (“son of the clan”), and

sadhaka (“master”) levels of initiation.

These appear … in … the S`aivasiddhanta, … as

samayin,

putra, and

sadhaka.”

6.3 pp. 167-73 Siddha-s as Mountain-Gods

6.3 p. 169 Bhanwar Gupha, a S`ikh sacred site

Jalandharnath left the yellow mark of his footprints on the living rock of the mountain stronghold in which … his army were beseiged. This name of this mountain … is

Kalashacal (“Water-Pot Mountain”) … .

{/kalas`a/ 'water-pitcher' + /A-cala/ 'unmovable' (the name of the first of the Jaina “white Bala-s”)}

Below that summit … a cave … is still identified with Jaladharnath, known as Bhanwar Gupha, “Black Bee Cave,”

{bhanu-vara/bhanu-dina 'Sunday' + guha 'secret place'} {/Bhanu/ 'lustre, splendor' is a Jaina masculine name. /Guph/ is 'to string together as a garland'.} {'[black] bee' is instead /bhramara/.}

whose name is a clear reference to the uppermost cakra of the yogic body.”

p. 315, n. 6:57 “the Naths are a respectable order within the Kanphat-Jogis {Karn.a-phat.a Yogin-s} … . They are disciples of Jallundur Nath {Jalandhara Natha}.” (Singh : Castes of Marwar. 1894. p. 106)

6.3 p. 170 Malli

Mallinath … has a name that may be construed as “lord of the mountain” (male in Kannada; mallai in Tamil). …

{Malli 'wrestling' is a Jaina masculine name.}

The entire mountainous region of western Marwar, called Malani, is named after him.”

6.3 p. 171 Yodha-pur {'Weapon City'} & its blazon

at Jodhpur … the imposing royal fort standing atop the towering promontory … was built … [overlooking] a hermit's lair. That site, called Cid.iyanath ki Dhuni, the “Fireplace of the Lord of the Birds,” is located at the base of a cliff … . Atop the cliff … is the great royal temple Camun.d.a; and constantly rising and falling on the winds that blow constantly at that place are dozens of kites, … dark, massive birds that are emblazoned on the coat of arms of the house of Marwar.”

6.3 pp. 171, 173 legend of Siddha-ramayya & Mallayya

p. 171

At S`ri-s`ailam, “a mute Lingayat herder child named Siddharamayya is taking care of his father's cattle when … a wandering Jangama (Lingayat) ascetic asks him for some hurd.a (immature kernels of millet or barley). Siddharamayya gives him these, at which point the ascetic, whose name is Mallayya, asks the child for some rice mixed with yogurt. Siddharamayya … [now] can speak.” (Sontheimer 1989, p. 94)

p. 173

Khan.d.oba, a widely worshipped deity … is also known by the name Mallayya in Karnataka.” (ibid., pp. 91-2)


Siddhes`vara of Sholapur … is variously … S`id, S`idoba, Mhasvad.-S`id, Siddhanath ... [ibid., p. 93]. … . … Siddhanath is a “sannyasi” sent to the underworld by S`ankara … to confront Joges`vari, one of the “Seven Sisters” of Dhangar tradition, whom he wins and makes his wife.” (ibid., pp. 27-9, 40)

Sontheimer 1989 = Gu:nther-Dietz Sontheimer (transl. by Anne Feldhaus) : Pastoral Deities in Western India. Oxford U Pr.

6.3 p. 173 Revan.a

Revan.a, a founder of the Lingayat order, [quoted from Sontheimer 1989, p. 107 :] “killed the goddess Mayi [“in Kolhapur”], who held captive by her valor nine hundred thousand Siddhas or Lingayat saints.”

Ritual specialists at temples of the deified Revan.a and others are themselves called “S`ids” … : these are possessed by the god when they beat their own bodies with swords or sticks.”

{This beating of one's own body with swords or rods is likewise the case in certain Taoist spirit-possession caerimonies.}

6.4 pp. 174-7 Locations of the Siddha-s in Cosmologies

6.4 p. 174 mythic mountains of demigods in the Katha-sarit-sagara

The KSS [3:4:348a] calls the Mountain of Sunrise the “field of the Siddhas” (siddhaks.etra),

and … describes [Katha-sarit-sagara 8:5:42-64] thirteen Vidyadhara … kings, each in terms of the mountain of which he is the master.”

6.4 p. 174 Jaina mythic mountains of the Siddha-s

the easternmost {cf. “of Sunrise” in KSS 3:4:348a} peak of each of the six parallel east-to-west mountain ranges … of Jambudvipa … is crowned by a Siddha sanctuary, and therefore named either Siddhayatana (“Abode of the Siddhas”) or Siddhakut.a (“Peak of the Siddhas”).” (Kirfel 1920, pp. 215 & 218)

four elephant-tusk-shaped mountain ranges radiate outward from Meru … . The first peak of each of these ranges in named “Siddha.” (ibid., p. 233)

[p. 316, n. 6:79 : “This configuration is repeated on a reduced scale, with each of the four quarters … Purvavideha, … Pas`cimavideha, Uttarakuru, and Devakuru”.]

As for “Nandis`varadvipa, the eighth continent …, … this mountain system features a Siddha temple sanctuary on every one of its peaks. [ibid., p. 23] As such, Nandis`varadvipa is a veritable Siddha preserve, a continent reserved for the festive gatherings of these demigods.” (Harley & Woodard 1992, p. 296)

There, “four Mountains of Black Antimony (An~janagiris) … are crowned by Siddha shrines.” (Caillat & Kumar 1981, pp. 111, 114)

Kirfel 1920 = Willibald Kirfel : Der Kosmographie der Inder … . Bonn.

Harley & Woodard 1992 = J. B. Harley & David Woodard (edd.) : Cartography in the Traditional Islamic and South Asian Societies. HISTORY OF CARTOGRAPHY, vol. 2, bk. 1. U of Chicago Pr.

Caillat & Kumar 1981 = Colette Caillat & Ravi Kumar (transl. By R. Norman) : The Jain Cosmology. Basel.

pp. 315-6, n. 6:77 : mythic geography texts of the Jaina-s

Jiva-jiva-abhigama Sutra;

Tattva-artha Sutra by Umasvati;

Digambar Tiloya-pannati by Yati-vr.s.abha;

Triloka-sara by Nemi-candra;

Br.hat-sangrahan.i by Candra-suri

6.4 pp. 174-5 & 316 mythic mountains of the Siddha-s, according to Itihasa & Puran.a

p. 174

According to certain recensions of the Mbh … the paradise “Land of the Northern Kurus” (Uttarakuru) … lies on the far shore of the S`ailoda (“Rock Water”) River, whose touch turns humans to stone. On either shore of this river grow reeds that carry Siddhas to the opposite bank and back. This is a country where the Siddhas live together with divine nymphs in forests whose trees and flowers, composed of precious stones, exude a miraculous resin that is … the nectar of immortality itself.” (Jacobi 1908)

p. 175

[Vayu Puran.a 33:51-4, 58; as quoted in Ali 1966, p. 77 :] “To the south of Uttarakuru, there is a moon-shaped island known as Candradvipa … . It is one thousand yojanas in area {extent, not area} … . … In its center there is a mountain, in shape and lustre like the moon … frequented by Siddhas and Caran.as. … Therefore, that mountain and land are named Moon Island and Moon Mountain after the moon.”


The Varaha Puran.a locates Siddhas in mountain valleys immediately to the west of Mount Meru. According to this source, there lies between the Kumuda and An~jana mountain a wide plain called Matulunga {'sweetlime'}. No living creature walks there, save the Siddhas, who come to visit a holy pool. This … mountain called An~jana (“Black Antimony”) reminds us of the Jain toponym; while the “moon-shaped” mountains of Candradvipa appear to replicate the “elephant-tusk-shaped” mountain ranges of Jain cosmology”.

316, n. 6:83

Dharmas`astra literature locates the Siddhas … on the slopes of Mount Nila {'Blue'}, the ... mountain pillar flanking Meru to the north” (Kirfel 1920, p. 50).

Jacobi 1908 = Hermann Jacobi : “Abode of the Blest (Hindu)”. In :- ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS. pp. 698-700.

Ali 1966 = S. M. Ali : Geography of the Puranas. New Delhi : People's Publ House.

6.4 pp. 175-7 Siddha-loka

p. 175

In the Jain sources, in which the term Brahmaloka is employed to designate the entire world system, the name for this highest level of the universe is Siddhaloka”.

p. 176

The Jain Siddhaloka is located at the summit of the “middle world,” on the border between the world (loka) and the nonworld (a-loka). … According to Jain soteriology, the soul … will leave its mortal remains behind and leap upward, in a single bound, to the summit of the universe, where it will alight beneath the umbrella-shaped canopy that shelters the assembly of the Siddhas.” (Caillat & Kumar 1981, p. 35)

p. 177

The Brahman.d.a Puran.a [3:4:2:74-5; 3:4:33:68] locates “Siddha practitioners of yoga who have achieved immortality” in Brahmaloka; and places Goraks.a – … founder of the Nath Siddhas and hat.ha yoga – there : “There dwell the Siddhas, divine sages, … and other Yogins the chief of whom is Goraks.a. They have gaseous bodies. ...””

6.5 pp. 177-84 Exiting the Subtle Body

6.5 p. 180 how higher worlds are attained by the living & by the dead

[quoting Bhagavata Puran.a 2:2:3:23ab] “the realm (gati) of the Masters of Yoga, whose souls are [contained] within their [yaugik] breaths, is [both] inside and outside of the triple-world. They do not reach this realm through acts. They partake [of it] through vidya (occult knowledge …), tapas (heat-producing austerities), yoga, and samadhi.”

the Epic Valakhilyas constituted a class of Siddhas that “include saints of both worlds,” who “have attained the Siddha realm (siddhagati) through asceticism.”” (Rama-ayana 3:1:23 & 2:70:30; Maha-bharata 3:145:9 & 3:146:93 & 3:158:84)

6.5 pp. 180 & 317 the single route to brahman

p. 317, n. 6:106

[quoting Maitri Upanis.ad 6:30] “Unending are the rays of him … . They're white and black and brown and blue; they're tawny and of pale red hue.

{The totality of such rays is known as >ja>-lus (Bodish for 'rainbow body').}

Aloft arises one of these, which piercing through the sun's round disk, on to the Brahma-world extends. There men go to the highest course.”

[quoting Chandogya Upanis.ad 8:6:6] “There are a hundred and one channels of the heart. One of these passes up to the crown of the head. Going by it, one goes to immortality. The others are for departing in various directions.”

p. 180

In BhP, the practitioner of yoga is described as “rising, via “the resplendent medial channel that is the path of brahman,” to a series of higher and higher worlds,” until [quoting Bhagavata Puran.a 2:2:24-6] “wheeling over the top … of the universe …, he ascends alone, with a soul that has been purified and reduced to the size of an atom … . Here, beholding the universe … from the mouth of Ananta, he proceeds to … where the Lords of the Siddhas are wont to dwell”.

6.5 p. 181 Dan.d.a-pan.i

So, too, the Svacchanda Tantra [p. 317, n. 6:109 : “The Svacchanda Tantra reference is parapharased in TA 8.159b-60”.] enjoins the practitioner to travel through his own body simultaneous to his peregrinations through the cosmic egg : when he reaches the top

he will find Dan.d.apan.i (the “Staff-Bearer”), who with his staff cracks open the egg/his skull for him to ascend beyond it.” (cf. “IPT”, p. 70)

{This cracking of the egg is slightly similar to the Chinese splitting of divine egg Hun-dun (mentioned in the Tai-pin Yu-lan – “IC”, n. 4).}

IC” = Stephen Field : “In a Calabash” http://web.archive.org/web/20100216094651/http://www.fengshuigate.com/calabash/introduction.html

6.5 p. 181 Kaula localization of Siddha-loka

Kubjika traditions locate the Siddhas inside the yoni of the goddess, which itself is located …

at a site known as “Beyond the Twelve” (dvadas`anta {'at the end of the 12'})

{In Taoist subtle physiology, above the “12-storyed pagoda” (neck) are the “9 heavens” (ventricles of the brain).}

that is both “inside” the yogic body and “outside” the physical body.”

6.5 pp. 181-3 the 14 kalpa-s, according to the Rasa-ayana sytem

p. 181

[according to (the 11th-century Chr.E.) Rasa-arn.ava 12:252-8] Concerning “ “revivifying water” (sanjivanijalam), … the alchemist who has drunk three measures of this elixir swoons, and then awakens to find himself transformed {in an aitheric double, i.e. lower (visible to unprojected persons) astral body?} and possessed of supernatural powers.

{This transfiguration is similar to that produced by the Taoist elixirs.}


After further treatment, “he suddenly disappears from human sight {by decreasing the astral body's density, raising it to a higher vibration?} and becomes the lord of the Wizards (Vidyadharas) surrounded by a circle of Siddha-maidens


for a period of fourteen kalpas.”

{Each such kalpa would perhaps consist of 14 manu-antara-s; if so, the product for 14 kalpa-s would be 14^2 = 196 manu-antara-s.}


Later it concludes [Rasa-arn.ava 11:10b-6; 12:337] a description of khecari jaran.a (“calcination of mercury that is possessed of the power of flight”) by stating that the alchemist who ingests said mercury is uplifted immediately

{Is this of Hellenistic provenience, related to (deduced from?) the psychopomp Hermes' having quicksilver as his metal?}

p. 182

into the presence of the gods, Siddhas, and Vidyadharas, with whom he flies through the air at will.”


How is it possible for Siddhas to remain … through fourteen mahapralayas in the course of which the entire … “egg” … is itself destroyed …?

{It might have been assumed that they might then be located beyond this particular Brahma[n]-an.d.a, in its enveloping Mahat and/or its A-vyakta; if not in others of the various Brahma[n]-an.d.a-s. “The plurality of Brahman.d.as is emphasized in several Samhitas.” (IP&AS, p. 81). That they could remain “through fourteen mahapralayas” might have been suggested by the Brahma[n]-an.d.a-s' being “invariably described as consisting of fourteen spheres (loka)” (IP&AS, p. 82). There are likewise 14 worlds according to (“AO”) the “Akilam” (the 1st of the 17 chapters of the Akilattirattu Ammanai expounding the Ayyavaz^i system).}

p. 183

Where are they when they sport with the Siddha maidens and Wizards for fourteen kalpas?”

IP&AS = F. Otto Schrader : Introduction to the Pan~caratra and the Ahirbudhnya Samhita. Adyar Library (Madras), 1916. http://www.scribd.com/doc/103193482/INTRODUCTION-to-the-PANCARATRA-and-the-AHIRBUDHNYA-SAMHITA

AO” = “Akilam one” http://www.en.efactory.pl/Akilam_one

6.5 pp. 183-4 mt.s Raivata & Go-manta

p. 183

Tantra-aloka 8:119-39, “re-working … Svacchanda Tantra [10:424-51] … states :

lowest level Wizards (Vidyadharas) … are … stationed in the midst of the “Lightning-Streak” wind. …

[p. 317, n. 6:116 : “Vajranka in TA 8.128, but vajranga (“Lightning-Limbed”) in SvT 10.446, which adds that the “lowest level Vidyadharas are travelers on the winds of the mind (manah.pavanagaminah.).””]


Five hundred yojanas higher … there at Raivata itself are … Yellow Orpiment, Black Antimony, and Mercury-Ash.”


Raivata was … a medieval name for the ring of mountains known today as Girnar, in the Junagadh District of Gujarat. ... A Jain source entitled the “Raivatacala Mahatmya” calls it the fifth of the twenty-one Jain siddhadris (Siddha mountains) and states that “... Here divine nymphs and … Gandharvas, Siddhas, and Vidyadharas … always worship Neminath.”” [p. 317, n. 6:119 : “The “Raivatacala Mahatmya” constitutes chapters 10 through 13 of the Jain S`atrun~jaya Mahatmya (translated in Burgess … [1876; reprint 1971], p. 157 n.).”]

p. 184

[quoting Hari-vams`a, appen. 17, ll. 381-2, 386] “The mountain Gomanta … is difficult to scale, even by the Sky-goers. … its two highest horns have the form of two shining gods.”

[p. 318, n. 6:123 : “Girnar is a cluster of peaks, of which twin crags, today identified … as Gorakh and Dattatreya, are by far the highest.”]


[quoting Hari-vams`a, appen. 18, pp. 448-9] “The interior of this mountain is frequented by Siddhas, Caran.as, and Raks.asas, and the surface of the peak is ever thronged with hosts of Vidyadharas.”

Burgess 1876 = James Burgess : Report on the Antiquities of Ka^thia^wa^d. and Kacch. London :India Museum.

6.6 pp. 184-7 Upside-Down, Inside-Out

6.6 p. 184 intramontane tunnel of Tri-s`iras

Mount Kailasa, as described in the [Katha-Sarit-Sagara] (15.1.61-75) : one may pass through this mountain via a cave called “Tris`irs.a,” a name that” otherwise is given as Tris`iras.

{In the “Taittiriya Samhita of the Krs.n.a Yajus Veda, god Tri-s`iras is associated with earth-crevices.}

6.6 p. 185 universal vision by Siddha-s; vision of Siddha-s (according to the bhas.ya, attributed to Vyasa, on the Yoga Sutra of Patan~jali)

[bhas.ya to Yoga Sutra 3:26 :] “the yogin, by concentrating on the “solar door” of the subtle body, obtains a clear vision of the universe in its entirety.”

[quoting bhas.ya to Yoga Sutra 3:32 :] “There is an opening within … through which there emanates effulgent light. By concentrating on that light, one obtains a vision of the Siddhas who move in space between heaven and earth.”

6.6 p. 186 the mythic ring-continents are homologous with the world-ages

Noting that the spatial projections of the [Pauran.ik] dvipas … present … divisions reminiscent of the divisions of time known as yugas … [Kloetzli 1985, p. 132],

{Because the dvipa-s are commonly 7 in number, they would more likely correspond to the the 7 pairs of Manu-antara-s (so paired in Theosophical Society literature).}

Kloetzli demonstrates [1985, p. 135] that Mount Meru … is an “upside-down” mountain, having the form of an inverted cone”.

Kloetzli 1985 = W. Randolph Kloetzli : “Maps of Time”. HISTORY OF RELIGIONS 25, pp. 120-45.

6.6 p. 186 toe at caelestial pole

It is at this [“southern celestial”] pole that the eye of Vis.n.u is located, and

the toe of whose upraised foot (uttana-padam …) is located at the north celestial pole.” (Kloetzli 1985, p. 142)

{Other instances of a deity whose toe or foot may be at the caelestial pole are Inuus (in the Saturnalia of Macrobius) and O,rvandil (in the Edda).}

6.6 p. 187 Hellenic soul-travel

the spinal column as a channel for … seminal thoughts (logoi spermatikoi) was … a mystical notion dear to the Stoics. … Pythagorean doctrine … was formulated …, of cyclic rebirth and recovery of lost knowledge as “recollection,” anamnesis. This doctrine identified the female soul (psyche) … that was flung upward through the head … to travel to higher worlds. The female psyche … was to link individual destinies to the cosmic order. Whereas in most people the female psyche did not leave the body to travel to higher worlds until their death, the case was a different one for persons initiated into the esoteric practices … . These persons … would undertake “practice in dying” (melete thanatou), by which they would fling their female psyche into the higher worlds to rememorate all the wisdom they had lost in the process of rebirth. The psyche would be made to rise along the same channel as the seminal thoughts, but they would continue beyond the cranium to the higher worlds where wisdom resided.” (Vernant 1981, vol. 1, pp. 95-114)

Vernant 1981 = Jean-Pierre Vernant : Mythe et pense'e chez les Grecs. 2 voll. Paris : Maspero.

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David Gordon White : Kiss of the Yogini : "tantric sex" in its south Asian contexts. U of Chicago Pr, 2003.