Sometimes it's hard to get around all the eastern terms when first learning about tantra.
Here is my description and interpretation of the tantric terms Shiva and Shakti...
We all carry within us equal amounts of the complimentary energies of creation. There are many names for these energies in tantra they are identified as the tantric names of Shiva and Shakti.
Shiva is the aspect of God within you that is pure consciousness and potential power. It is infinite, aware and potential energy. It is omnipresent and the source of all that is. Shiva may be thought of as conceptual and intellectual. Shiva speaks through knowing - without words or feelings. Shiva is love.
Shakti is the aspect within you that is creative power in action. Shakti is the will or desire that brings Shiva’s potential into motion and manifests it. It passionately triggers the potential creativity of Shiva and actualises it. Shakti is expressive and speaks to you through your senses. It is inspiration. Shakti is the verb form of love - loving
Shiva and Shakti are not separate and work together within us as one. They are the 2 sides of the indivisible creator.
In tantric mythology Shakti’s love for Shiva makes Shakti dance passionately and bring Shiva’s creative potential into existence.
It is this dance of intimacy that creates you and allows you to know and experience love.
It is the source and the force behind everything including our relationships. It is the drive behind passionate love for yourself and others.
We are all Shiva and Shakti and exist together in eternal ecstasy.
When you are conscious of these universal forces within and acknowledge them as co-operative and co-creative aspects of love you experience ecstasy, wholeness and a love for all that is.
When you fall in love you are recognizing through the Shakti and Shiva within you the divinity of the other.
Within these two complementary forces there lies the cosmic force of attraction that opposites attrack, it is this very polarisation that magnetises us to a partner and generally leads us to respond in opposite ways sexually, which can be a source of tension if not understood.
So it is helpful to recognize the common differences in masculine and feminine responses to love and sex in order to bridge any gap in desire and responsiveness.
This has to do with understanding the way that sexual energy flows in people whose sexual essence is predominantly masculine in contrast to those with a primarily feminine sexual essence.
Masculine (or yang) sexual energy is like fire, which goes up. Sexual arousal quickly ignites the genitals, and then the energy moves up towards the heart and warms and awakens it. This movement of sexual energy actually helps a man open to his own feelings of love and be more receptive to his partner's love.
Feminine (or yin) sexual energy is more like water, slow to boil but once aroused can simmer and she can stay turned on for a long time. Her arousal often begins in the breasts and the heart and generally requires loving feelings to flow down to the heart. Once fully warmed in the heart, her desire then flows down to her genitals.
