“If such a consciousness truly is set loose in the world, nothing will be the same. It will free us to be in a sacred body, on a sacred planet, in sacred communion with all of it. It will infect the universe with holiness. We will discover the Divine deep within the earth and the cells of our bodies, and we will love her there with all our hearts and all our souls and all our minds.”

Sue Monk Kidd, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter

Let me tell you something else: to witness a total, fully conscious, completely authentic woman at her most magnificent best is one of the most numinous, most dynamic, most awe-inspiring spectacles one can ever hope to behold. I saw it again and again and again during our long-weekend together. And each time I was humbled to the core. These were women with the ovarios to stand, dance, and strut from the centre of their womanhood.

Our culture has a lot to say about femininity, about women. And, however well educated we think we are, however conscious and spiritually enlightened, many of us unquestioningly accept culture’s definition of the ‘slut’ without ever stepping into the actual energy and trying it out for ourselves. Once you’re given permission to ‘behave badly’, though, you discover a vital, dynamic wellspring of strength that’s always been in you but has languished under millennia of scorn, judgement, loathing, fear, and control. You see, above all else, what I discovered during this weekend was, a woman in possession of her slut energy is a woman who is one-in-herself. She is who she is, because that is who she is. Her back is straight and she looks the world in the eye. She’s the one-woman party where all the fun’s at. Put another way, her cup runneth over.

Our patriarchal society knows the immense power of slut energy and so, to keep it under control, has labelled and loaded the term itself with judgement, shame, and scorn. But the myopic, parochial label and the actual, physical reality couldn’t be any more different if they tried.

So, during my weekend on the Women Behaving Badly workshop with Shakti Tantra, I got the fragile bird that is my slut back out of the bag. I told her I was sorry for ignoring her, for being ashamed of her, for listening to other’s opinions first and misunderstanding her. And, despite being repressed, shunned, and ignored for fifteen years, she told me she loved me and kissed me on the lips. Then, she took the steering wheel and drove me home.

 We’ve not stopped dancing since.

Thea Euryphaessa, Founder, Urban Deva

To buy a copy of Running into Myself, visit Amazon UK, Amazon US or, better still, order a limited edition signed copy direct from her publisher here (also ships worldwide). Also available to download on Kindle.

“Thea’s personal journey is utterly compelling. I couldn’t put her book down. Thea manages to make Greek mythology not only understandable, interesting, and relevant to our lives today, but shows how it can be utilised as a tool for self development. She introduces ideas and ways of thinking that broaden your mind, and lights the way for others to follow.”

— Melinda Messenger (TV Presenter)

“This is a story that truly reveals its author. You’ll discover her beliefs, her flaws, her loves, her fears, her mistakes, her drive and her compassion.

And you’ll like her.”

— Rowena Roberts (Journalist)

Procreation of the species might seem to be the main function of sex but it would be a shame to limit sexual activity just to this. Sex has many purposes. It can be a form of pleasure or fun, an expression of deep love or lust, great exercise, allowing couples or singles to vent energy and diminish frustration. Sex has the rare attribute of being something that one can do together, on one’s own, that is still free. Quite amazing in this day and age but don’t tell the government as they will probably start planning an orgasm tax.

But sex, or at least sexual energy is also a route to personal enlightenment and there is a whole heap of fun and pleasure to be had on this journey. I started my tantric journey about 9 years ago as a single person and I have been in a monogamous relationship for 4 years now – sharing my journey with a partner. Now I can’t tell you what tantra is, it seems to be many things to many people. It is indefinable on one level because it is a journey based almost entirely in personal experience – it combines body and mind, emotion and spirit, it is learning on a level far more profound than anything I ever got through formal education.

On my journey I have met quite a few people who tell you ‘you must go through the pain’, ‘need to swim the moat to reach the castle, or ‘have to climb the mountain to get to the top’. Ignore these people, they are simply trying to pre-empt your experience by imposing their own – in short, a power trip. Although tantra has highlighted ‘areas for adjustment’ in our relationship we have found it to be primarily an experience of pleasure, fun and joy.

So when the hot fire of your sex energy rises from your root chakra and the icy calm of the stars descends from your crown to meet in the crucible of your heart – you are as likely to laugh as to cry – maybe even both!

Sex for its own sake was great fun when I was young, but even then I yearned for something else I couldn’t see and didn’t know – a deeper connection. In middle age I am so happy to find an energy dimension to sexual activity with my partner which enhances not just my relationship but my whole being. Major religions just don’t seem to touch on this area and seem in complete denial about our physicality let alone sexuality as beings. Tantra has integrated my being in so many ways I couldn’t imagine life without it now. Although it is certainly not a religion it is a way of life that seems to open many doors, not least the one marked ‘Sex is for…’

Simon Mitchell

An Introduction to Tantra

The earliest record of Tantra was around 6 thousand years ago in India…..It is documented in the book “The Vijanabhairava” or Divine Consciousness, which is the story of Shakti [female quality or principle, sometimes called yin] inviting Shiva[ male quality or principle, sometimes called yang] to tell her the way of the world……….Of course she already knew all this, but Shiva was lying around lazily complete in himself.

For the benefit of us poor mortals she invited him to speak and share his wisdom creating the “The Vijanabhairava”, but not only that ……the two together created a whole, Shiva being consciousness, Shakti being energy, meaning the marriage of male and female within, which in turn allows the sacred experience to manifest…….the book “Zen Flesh Zen Bones” is a precis of the aforementioned scripture.

Tantra is a difficult concept for the highly trained intellectual mind because it’s more to do with feeling than doing. We are taught to be clever, think a lot about life, what it means and how to obtain and perform. What this approach doesn’t do, is to teach us to really live life, to feel,to make our choices from our own inner knowing of what is good for us.

Tantra invites vibrant aliveness from inside, not from our heads but from a totality in the body, emotionally rich and authentic in our expression. Tantra came into being as a spiritual discipline for the lay people, householders [married people]……who became increasingly fed up with the concept that the only ones able to celebrate the sacred path were the celibates……..the nuns or monks etc.

Although it was a strong spiritual discipline in the east, and now in the west, it is still a discipline but a lot of the emphasis is on the healing aspect of our sexual energy, the many issues around abuse, shame, sexual health and all the violence that is born of ignorance. Tantra is ‘The Tao’ [the way] that honors the body as sacred, celebrates the senses and allows pleasure and nurture as a way of life……..It teaches us how to relax, to choose to live totally and as intensely as we wish to. Tantra teaches us to trust ourselves, trust our inner guidance and judgments in our way of living, choosing and creating our lives with awareness.

Much has been written about Tantra and sex, it is most commonly thought that this is all…….in actual fact the Tantric path is about consciousness, sex is only one manifestation of our unique expression of life……love is another…..we have many expressions of living and at each point of meeting we can choose to be total in consciousness and awareness…….it is a skill, a discipline, invited by the model of Tantra ……The byproduct of all this, is that we can live a life with more intensity, more sustainable sexual pleasure and much deeper connected relationships.

Tantra is a non dualistic, a non prescriptive model, not making any demands on sexual orientation……..you can be with one partner or many, the choice is yours, it is leading a life of transcending all differences. Living life in awe, wonder, love and with the innocence of a child with the adult perspective, the miracle of our bodies and senses, being participants of our lives rather than spectators.

Hilly Spenceley