Welcome to Kala’s Quick Five, where I chat with fascinating authors, artists, teachers and researchers and ask them five questions about their work. My guest today is Teri Degler, author/co-author of ten non-fiction books, including The Fiery Muse: Creativity and the Spiritual Quest and the topic of our discussion today – The Divine Feminine Fire; Creativity and Your Yearning to Express Your Self.

Kala: Teri, you write about the divine feminine energy and how it gives ‘creative expression to the innermost depth of our being’. What was your inspiration in writing this book and what did you most wish to express?

Teri: The inspiration for the book came from a number of sources, but at the deepest level I think it was my own personal experience with the divine feminine and how this has influenced my life.  In my life I have had what were – at least to me – very profound spiritual experiences. These experiences were for me – and I eventually learned for many others – extremely visceral. Even though they were essentially “spiritual” experiences they were very much “in the body”. Every time I had one of these experiences it triggered an outpouring of creative expression. But it also filled me with a deep yearning – a yearning to try to be a better person, to know God, to help others, to help save Mother Earth.  Because these experiences had such a physical, body-based element I got very interested in yoga. Then, I was absolutely captivated by the fact that the ancient yogis said that mystical experiences, inspired creativity, and becoming an increasingly “spiritual” person were all connected and all triggered by the divine feminine.

Kala: The book covers spiritual traditions which you describe as …” Amongst these traditions are hatha yoga and Tantra, both of which speak of the cosmic force known as Shakti – or kundalini-shakti – seen as the energy that propels evolution. As such, Shakti works not just out in the world but within each one of us, where she transforms, enlightens, and carries us along the spiritual path. Parallels to this idea can also be found in the sacred writings of Christianity on Sophia, or divine Wisdom, and in Judaism on Shekinah, the feminine face of God”.  Can you describe to our readers to concept of Shakti and how it works in each of us?

Teri: There is just not a quick answer to this! In the branch of Hinduism that yoga comes from Shakti is seen as the creatrix of the universe. God – the One, the Absolute – is seen as being beyond gender, but when God yearns to bring the universe into being the first thing it creates is masculine “principle”.  This masculine principle is pure consciousness; it absolutely still and completely unmoving. Nothing moves! Nothing happens! (Pretty boring!) So then God brings feminine principle into being; this is the active principle. This is Shakti. She is power, energy – in fact, shakti means energy in Sanskrit. She is the creative principle, the creative force of the universe. As soon as she comes into being, she begins to create the universe out of herself – in other words, out of energy.

Her job is then to propel the created universe along its evolutionary path. She also embodies herself in each and every human. In this “embodied” form she is known as kundalini-shakti or simply kundalini. Many of your readers are probably familiar the idea that kundalini is an energy that rests at the base of the spine and travels upwards through the chakras when awakened to bring about Enlightenment. But in a broader sense, kundalini is the life energy in us, and her job it to propel each one of along our evolutionary path — the path of spiritual growth.

Ultimately, this path does lead to this Realization of Oneness – but the important thing for us to realize is that for most of us it is a very gradual process. As this divine feminine energy becomes increasingly active in us, we often begin to have brief moments when we are filled with divine love, periods when we are filled with inspired creativity, and little glimpses of the oneness of all things. This realization of oneness triggers, in turn, a yearning to help those who are suffering, to right wrongs, and/or to save Mother Earth…. I believe that having this type of yearning is a sign that Shakti, in her guise as kundalini, is actively working in us. And this is happening to more and more of us because this a time of transformation and change…

Kala: Your previous book was The Fiery Muse and now we have The Divine Feminine Fire. During this progression of your writing, were you aware of the energy building and transforming, from the muses and creativity into a more active phase now with the Divine Feminine? What has surprised you the most during your journey of writing both these books?

Teri: My understanding of the divine feminine has certainly changed, but the “fiery muse” was just a way of introducing the concept of a powerful transformative force that was responsible for both inspired creativity and mystical experience.

What has surprised me most is that, although the ancient yogis may have described it in more detail, this transformative spiritual force is written about in every spiritual tradition.  For instance, in the Christianity and Judaism it is the Holy Spirit or Holy Wind, in Taoism it is jeng chi, in Tibetan Buddhism it is dumo fire. The natives of the South Sea Islands called it mana.

That these spiritual “energies” all essentially the same thing, is supported by the fact that the saints and mystics of these traditions all describe their mystical experiences in very similar, sometimes almost identical, terms. This is true, too, of ordinary people like you and me. We having similar spiritual experiences – they are not as “huge” as those the great mystics have had, but their essence is the same…

Kala: What do you believe that the Divine Feminine Presence and Fire is bringing to humanity at this time?  How can women connect more with the Divine Feminine energy to enhance their lives?

Teri: I think I answer the first part in the questions above. The answer to the second is by simply following whatever spiritual or humanitarian practice you are drawn to. My teacher, Gopi Krishna, used to say that the best way to awaken the spiritual energy in our lives was to live a simple, balance life, follow the basic tenets of your religion, and spend an hour a day in service to humankind.  Being of service is called karma yoga.

Kala: Many patriarchal religions have eliminated the Goddess/Divine Feminine from their belief systems. Do you feel that there will be a return to understanding and embracing the Goddess?

Teri: Absolutely, I think it is happening right now!

Kala: Teri, thank you for joining me here on Kala’s Quick Five. More about Teri and her book can be found at her website: www.teridegler.com

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More about Kala Ambrose: Kala Ambrose is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala Ambrose is a highly interactive teacher on a mission to educate, entertain and inspire. She lectures on the Ancient Wisdom Teachings of Egypt and the Mystery Schools, Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom.

Hoping that your days are merry and bright,
Kala

More about Kala Ambrose:
Kala is an award winning author, intuitive and talk show host of the Explore Your Spirit with Kala Show. Her thought-provoking interviews entice listeners to tune in around the globe! Described by her guests and listeners as discerning, empowering and inspiring, she speaks with world renowned authors, artists, teachers and researchers delving into metaphysical, holistic and paranormal topics. Kala’s  book, 9 Life Altering Lessons: Secrets of the Mystery Schools Unveiled delves into the mysteries of ancient Egyptian mystery schools and explains their wisdom teachings. Kala lectures on Esoteric Teachings,  Developing Business Intuition, Working with Auras, Chakras and Energy Fields, and Wise Woman Wisdom (also known as the Divine Feminine). Kala’s Guided Meditations CD’s include Spirit of Hawaii and Egyptian Mystery Temple and Tibetan Mountain Journey.  More info: www.ExploreYourSpirit.com

Enjoyed this article? Kala welcomes your comments and reads them all. For more articles by Kala Ambrose, visit her main page at National Metaphysical Spirituality Examiner.