The Shakti Cluster

A Tantric Tree of Life

What is the Shakti Cluster?

It is a model of an anomalous vortex in the bioelectromagnetic field of the earth, comprising a console of eighteen channels represented symbolically and visually by supernatural women or devatas, dynamic expressions of the Divine Feminine.

The composition of the Cluster is simple: a circle of ten devatas enclosing a pentagram star of five others which in turn encloses one central devata, the focal point of the entire Cluster. Above and below the pentagram star are two devatas that unite the ten and the six, making a total of eighteen power-points.

Here, in a crude hand-drafted diagram, is a schematic model of the Shakti Cluster:

Composition: a circle of ten devatas (1 - 10) around a pentagram star of five others (11, 12, 13, 14, 15) which encloses one central devata, the focal point of the Cluster (18). Aligned vertically with both the circle and pentagram star are two devatas (16 above, 17 below) who connect and integrate the ten and the six, making a total of 18.

DISLAIMER

The above geometrical design is a provisional sketch of the Shakti Cluster, just one of several ways to represent it in a formal design. The choice of the design is entirely mine. I have another design, more evolved and more accurate, in the works. I will post it early in 2010 on this site. Meanwhile, I want to assert that the inverted pentagram at the center of this design has nothing whatsoever to do with a Satanic agenda or hidden message of Satanic intent. I realize that the inverted pentragram is widely associated with Satanism, the goat of Mendes, Pan, Baphomet, and other occult themes which, to many minds, suggest negative and evil intentions and practices.

Planetary Tantra does share some elements with the Pagan or Wiccan outlook, including reverence for and celebration of life in all its forms, and regarding nature as divine. But such views have nothing do with Satanism or sacrifice, human or animal, or any other harmful and manipulative practices wrongly and stupidly equated with Paganism in its ancient and modern forms.

- JLL the Maine terton

This diagram presents what may be called The Tantric Tree of Life, comparable to the Kabalistic Tree of Life and other models of cosmic order. but the Shakti Cluster is more than just a model: it is a complete tool kit for interactive magic with Gaia, the living presence of planet earth.

NOTE: Since uploading this page in August 2009 I have played with various ways of representing the Shakti Cluster as a visual schematic or mandala. Above is a provisional version. I have changed nothing of the essential compostion, the dynamics of 18 points in a 10/8:5/3 breakdown. The changes reflect experimental knowledge of the SC acquired since 2009. I would guess that the above design is almost definitive and can stand, for some years, at least, as the working mandala suitable for interactive magic, cognitive exploration, and ritual guidance.

An essay on the structure and dynamics of the above design, explaining such features as the ovoid or ellipse, is due to be posted shortly as a separate exposition. The remainder of this essay treats the Kabalistic Tree of Life by way of comparison to the SC, considering parallels and differences that may be instructive.

 

Kabalistic Magic

Truth be told, the Kabalistic Tree of Life (TOL) is also a kit for magic. Anyone who delves even superficially into Western esotericism knows this, of course. The TOL is undeniably the most well-known tool for visionary initiation and practical magic in the world. No other esoteric item comes close it. Since the Renaissance, it has been the focus and foundation of ceremonial magic in Western esotericism.

The Kabalistic TOL consists of ten or sometimes eleven power-points called sephiroth (singular, sephira), and twenty-eight paths connecting them. Each one of these "enumerations" is a source of power and wisdom, and the pathways between them represent courses of spiritual attainment. The TOL is an entire curriculum for learning about the cosmos and interacting with it, as well as an instrument for performing rites of ceremonial magic to manifest your personal will, fulfill desires, manifest intentions in the world, etc. Kabalistic "pathworking" is a big deal.

This version of the TOL, one of literally hundreds to be found on the Internet, includes the eleventh or hidden sepiroth, Daath, considered to be a gateway to secret or initiatory knowledge. The names of the sephira are Hebrew, deriving from a tradition written down by Moses de Leon, a Jewish mystic living in Andalucia, Spain around 1250 CE. You can learn about him and the classic Kabalistic work he wrote, the Zohar, on dozens of sites on the Net. Today you can learn and practice magic based on the TOL as easily as you can order a pizza from Dominos.

At the risk of a slight digression, let me explain a little about the stucture and origin of the Kabalistic Tree of Life. What I will say in this respect will be relevant to the Shakti Cluster and may assist in making clear its nature and use.

In structure, the TOL has a superior triad of three sephiroth: Kether "The Crown," Chokmah "Mother Wisdom," and Binah "Father Understanding." (These epithets are the most common among dozens of other names.) These three power-points are of course typical of the cosmic triad found in all religions and esoteric and metaphysical systems. Kabalistic teachings suggest a parallel of the serphirotic triad to AIN SOPH AUR, the godhead or divine source. The terms are Greek-Latin-Hebrew hybirds in shorthand, typical of arcane word play such as one finds among alchemists like Paracelsus. In short, this is Kabalistic slang, the argot of the trade, insider shoptalk.

AIN is similar to the Sanskrit adya/adi/ati, "supreme, beyond space and time." SOPH is short for SOPHIA, "divine wisdom." AUR, related to the English word aura and the Latin aurum, gold, means "radiant, luminous, emanating." So AIN SOPH AUR means "primordial wisdom radiance." It is code for the divine living light of intelligence that stands beyond time and space that radiates into nature and into the human mind, and speaks. Its voice is Daath, the "throat center" of the TOL. The primordial wisdom radiance emanates from the three superior sephiroth and floods the Tree, pouring into the lower sepiroth and configuring them. So does divine intelligence inform and sustain the cosmos.

August 2009:

In development...