To understand the value of the healing that Tantra offers us, we must understand the difference between the pure principles of the divine feminine (and sacred masculine) found in Ultimate Reality, and the corrupted principles of the masculine and feminine that we encounter within humanity. We might call it being human, and we might be deluded by it, as is often the case in human relationships. Yet, we intuit the pure principles, as well. In fact, we long for it. And this is what the healing rituals of Tantra offer us, the rediscovery of the pure principles. In this program, we focus on the healing of the divine feminine. And, in the process, there is also the discovery and rediscovery of the pure feminine principle.

In Tantra, Ultimate Reality contains absolute aspects of the feminine and masculine principles in their purest, unmanifest essences. They are referred to as the Shiva and Shakti, but they are different from the Shiva and Shakti we know in the manifest world of time, space, matter, energy, and consciousness. The Shiva and Shakti we know through forms, shapes, concepts, and qualities, are always, to a degree, corrupted. The pure essence is obscured by the limitations of our own mind and the way we construct and project our reality, which is not the same as Ultimate Reality. The healing rituals of Tantra built around the divine feminine and sacred masculine, are ways into the nature of Ultimate Reality through healing the disfigurement that is naturally a part of our human condition.

Our parents, teachers, and caregivers are meant to embody and reveal the divine feminine and sacred masculine to us in childhood. However, they all fall short of it as they cannot be expected to maintain healthy egos without lapse. Our parents, teachers, and caregivers are generally preoccupied with this world, earning a livelihood, and dealing with the stresses of life. Unless they have been taught otherwise, can we expect them to know the pure essences of the divine feminine and sacred masculine? As a result, we construct a sense of the masculine and feminine around corrupted sensitivities of the pure principles. Once we can face the truth that our own feminine and masculine principles fall short of their inherent purity, we can begin our quest for the pure principles, much like the search for the Holy Grail. It is this sense of spiritual adventure that motivates us on the Tantric Path. In adulthood or late adulthood, we can seek the pure and rebuild ourselves around the knowledge of the divine feminine. That is what Tantra is offering us, at least how we teach it in our Yogic Mystery School.

The premise of my work and what we do in our Yogic Mystery School has been deeply affected by revelations of complex trauma in very early childhood that broke through into my conscious awareness in late 2017. Before this, sacred sound dominated everything I practiced and taught. Tantra, through yogic practices and healing rituals, was also part of my vocabulary. However, since 2018, I have needed to resort to both The Yoga of Sound and Tantric Healing Practices to heal myself from rather severe anxiety and depression. My understanding, practice, and teaching of esoteric spirituality has now necessarily evolved to integrate western psychology and its understanding of trauma. At the heart of this healing is the rediscovery of the divine feminine and sacred masculine. Shodasha Upacara is one of the central practices of this process that focuses exclusively on the divine feminine.

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Beyond the pronunciation of mantras is the Shodasha Upacara, an expression of a profound Tantric practice. For those who have not done the Mastery of Mantra, there is no need to chant the mantras to tap into the healing power of this practice and the empowerment it offers. You can simply speak the mantras as you do the mudras and ritual actions.

The hallmark of this program is the ancient mantras from the Rig Veda. This scripture is the oldest scripture on the planet. When you learn to speak these words, there is a magical quality to them. If you have not studied mantra chanting, you can still speak these words and feel their power. It will be a bit like being Hermione or Harry going to Hogwarts to learn spells. The Sri Vidya tradition is rooted in this sense of magic and mystery.

Mantras are a form of sacred speech. In Tantra, mantras can be uttered or muttered under the breath, much like a magical spell. The degree to which mantras can penetrate our everyday world of matter and energy, however, depends upon how much we can dissolve the boundaries that separate the invisible world of spirit from our visible world. A Tantric ritual is designed to help us learn how to thin out this boundary and make it more porous and permeable.

Many Tantra practitioners are deeply attuned to non-dualism. However, an interesting point of convergence is that Adi Shankara, the most influential non-dualistic teacher of India, practiced and endorsed pūjā (ritual worship). As a matter of fact, Shankaracharya, who actually developed Advaita philosophy (non-dualism) in the 8th century, was a Sri Vidya practitioner and used pūjā in his practice. In fact, he passionately advocated pūjā when he was alive.

Our intention to incorporate ritual into our spiritual practice is not inspired by institutional religion, the desire to engage in collective religious worship, or devotion to some entity outside of ourselves. We study and practice this healing ritual to sense the tremendous power of pūjā to facilitate first-hand changes and openings in our ordinary human consciousness.

The primary purpose of pūjā is twofold. First, it is to open the five senses of those who do the Puja and bring him or her to a higher level of consciousness. Second, it is based on the Indian traditions of honoring a guest, with each upacārā serving the deity present in the image for the Puja's duration. Evidently, this is not about the worship of an object outside of ourselves, but to recognize ourselves as a manifestation of the qualities that we see reflected in the deity's image.

The ritual you will learn to approach the healing of the divine feminine within you is through the channel of Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, learning, and music. If you are someone who senses the beauty and eloquence present in Indian music, art and architecture depicting the sacred, you now have a method to tap into higher states of consciousness related to the Shakti. You will have the opportunity to learn this ritual to practice in your home, or even at a spiritual center that you teach or serve at, offering new and exquisite experiences to groups and communities that you intersect with.

The process of the ritual can be broken down into many parts. First, we learn specific ways of purifying the body and mind. We also learn to create the protection of our space. Once we have learned to do this, we start to do the ritual. The ritual begins by inviting something that is not typically part of our self-consciousness to enter into our self-awareness so that we can experience it. At first, we treat this quality of consciousness as a guest visiting our everyday awareness by arriving from some other realm or dimension.

And so we invite this "guest" presence to be seated in our awareness, and we make various offerings that intensify our sensitivities. The process keeps building to the point of climax that can be compared to human lovemaking. This climax is followed by a deep meditation we call absorption that can be compared to the intimacy shared after human lovemaking. The idea with ritual is to introduce a quality of relationship within the formlessness of the non-dual experience. At its core, there is a sense of intimacy with the sacred.

There is a mythical quality to the process. It is the equivalent of the heroine and hero journeying into the unknown, to discover a magical power. You need to be inspired by the spirit of quest and discovery. You cannot know what this is or how it will be. You should be open to discovering it for yourself and in your own consciousness.

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This upacāra is about coming close to Shakti, about developing a closer relationship with feminine energy in ways that supersede how we usually experience it. We learn more advanced mantras, but we couple these mantras with a healing ritual, visualizations, and powerful spiritual practices.

This healing ritual is primarily for anyone who needs healing around the feminine. It is also for those who wish to tap into a sacred portal at home or spiritual center. Finally, it is for those who desire to create a healing container for students or clients. The process is designed to empower you. It is you who becomes the priestess or priest. At the very least, you get to feel what it feels like to be a channel for the pure Shakti.

Practitioners and teachers of spiritual disciplines such as yoga, mantra, meditation, as well as therapists of any kind, may derive personal and professional value from this type of specialistic knowledge. Spiritual seekers, in general, and busy professionals who are turned off by institutional religion but desire the atmosphere of sacred spaces, can learn how to create this for themselves at home or anywhere.

You are now entering what we call the "Power Level" in our Yogic Mystery School. At this level, our practice includes the study and performance of healing rituals, such as the śoḍaṣa upacāra, that can heal deep wounds in the psyche, transform our living environments into sacred spaces, and create powerful portals in consciousness that we can access directly.

If you have taken the course "Shakti: Sacred Visions of the Divine Feminine" previously, know that this mastery level is based on it. However, we take the program to an entirely new level with revised and upgraded modules that train you in the pronunciation of the mantras and other components of Sri Vidya, depending on how far and how deep you wish to pursue this process. This is a quest, an adventure in the sacred dimensions of consciousness.

This Upacara can optionally be combined with an immersion in the Sri Vidya Tantric tradition for those who have an interest in Sri Vidya. There is a sensuousness to this practice, which is characteristic of Tantra, although, it must be clear that ours is a gnostic school, which means, we do not teach explicit sexual practices.

Even so, śoḍaṣa upacāra profoundly affects our sexual energies, transforming, healing, and directing it towards higher consciousness. śoḍaṣa upacāraa helps draw a powerful sense of blessing into many areas of our life. For this practice to bear continued fruit in our inner and outer life, we keep it alive lifelong. 

The śoḍaṣa upacāra is a 16-part ritual that you will learn to invoke the Shakti and draw close to the Shakti, through Saraswati, who is the purest embodiment of Sri Vidya (auspicious knowledge). We, in our Yogic Mystery School, use the container of the śoḍaṣa upacāra to "heal all things feminine."

In this process, we learn to create a safe space to heal and then use a combination of mantras, sacred gestures, and various other elements that activate our spiritual senses to bring about profound changes in consciousness. The process is thousands of years old and still works! 

The degree to which mantras can penetrate our everyday world of matter and energy depends upon how much we can dissolve the boundaries that separate the invisible world of spirit from our visible world. This healing ritual helps dissolve the boundaries between the visible and hidden in a safe manner that facilitates our healing and enlightenment.

 Each of the sixteen parts is a separate practice. There are numerous forms of 'paying homage' among the Hindus, of which Puja is one of the most popular. While Puja is the traditional "worship" of a god or goddess, Puja is central to Tantric practice in the Sri Vidya Tantric tradition that Russill teaches.

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