India became dominated by the Vedic priestly theology which emphasizes Undifferentiated Oneness and worship of a pantheon of male deities who displaced the earlier female Goddesses. Tantrism reintroduced the Goddess and re-popularized her worship. This revived some ancient neolithic beliefs. Tantrism represents an earthy, indigenous tradition of Mother Goddess worship as in the great pre-Vedic Indus Valley civilization.

Goddess is at once a nurturing, protective mother, a spiritual change agent, and a destroyer of ego. God-dess, the archetypal male and female principles, govern desire, manifestation, and change, which cause the manifestation and dissolution of the cosmos. All is God-dess’ play.

God-dess, Shiva-Shakti, or Radha-Krishna are ultimately one unitive whole. Their eternal union is the ultimate bliss. They exist within us as anima and animus, and when we mystically unite both sides of ourselves, we also attain wholeness and bliss. This is the goal of the Tantric practitioner. Krishna Chaitanya is considered the perfect union of Radha-Krishna in one body.

Different tantric schools advocate different means of attaining this goal. It is a spiritual path which may or may not involve sexual practices, but it is not to be confused with material sense gratification. Transmutation of sexual energy from the mundane to the divine is an alchemical process of the highest order.

Tantric sexual union is an emotional and spiritual experience. Lust strives for orgasm. Tantra heightens sexual energy and uses it to break through to the spiritual dimension and experience mystical union with the divine. This is often described as raising the feminine kundlini, Shakti, or serpent energy from the base of the spine to the top of the head where it unites with the masculine Shiva, pure consciousness. This process invigorates the whole body with increased conscious energy, strength, and vitality.

As above so below. What exists in the macrocosm also exists in the microcosm. God-dess, Shiva-Shakti, Radha-Krishna, and their union exist within us. We are intimately related to them.