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Comment by Wes Hansen on March 16, 2012 at 10:52am

The Tantric Path of VamaMarga, followed by all of the heroes in mythology (Buddha, Christ, Krishna, Wotan, the Crow, etc.)is, to me, an interesting subject for inquiry. Joseph Campbell gives a broad account of this path in his seminal book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Incidentally, Campbell was a follower of VamaMarga himself; he just completed a shortened version with his wife Jean filling the role of Spiritual Mother or Virgin Mother . . . On The Left Hand Path of VamaMarga the hero meets his mother (the call to adventure); after this the mother disappears and the journey begins. At the end of a nine month (one gestation cycle) period the hero is given a choice: accept the boon offered and leave the mythological round; continue the journey. Most heroes, like Campbell, accept the boon offered and leave the round. A few continue the journey and few complete. This is the quest demonstrated by the Arthurian Grail stories; the Holy Grail, the cup which brings knowledge of everlasting life, is a metaphor for the Virgin Mother. Consider the font of baptism, the yoni of linga/yoni fame, the bowl of the sacred pipe in Native American ceremony, the chalice of Wicca . . . The goal of The Left Hand Path of VamaMarga is Kundalini Awakening resulting in harmonization of opposites. Consider the world tree, the Tree of Life in all myths, This tree is a metaphor for man - the hero. It represents the male nervous system. Only in the male does the chasm between latent masculine and latent feminine exist. The Mother, the female, is harmony made manifest; both the river of life (ovulation) and the river of death (menstruation) flow from the feminine body. Approach her with lust, as the stories tell, and She will destroy; approach her with love and She is the "ferry across the ocean of existence," the harbringer of the knowledge of everlasting, the Holy Grail . . .