Theion Publishing is notable for producing scholarly works on what we might think of as “darker” religious subjects—the underworld, necromancy, Tantra, and Voodoo to name a few. In addition to being scholarly, they are also practical; they are designed for practitioners, though someone with a general interest in the subject will still learn a great deal from these works.
Given my interest in the Tantric goddesses, it may not surprise you that I was very excited for the publication last Fall of Ferocious: a Folk Tantric Manual on the Sapta Matrika Cult by the Sepulcher Society. It has taken me some time to get through it, as I have been taking my time with each chapter. There is a lot of good material for reflection.
The Sapta (Seven) Matrikas (sometimes the Ashta (Eight) Matrikas with Narasimhi) will the be the next focus of the Chthonia podcast, after the Mahavidyas series is complete. “Matrika” comes from “Matri”, the term for Mother; however, the Matrikas in no way fit the “typical” mother image. They are in many ways the prototypical “Dark Feminine”; they can remove obstacles, destroy enemies, protect their supplicants and devotees, and bring liberation from moksha. But they are extremely fierce, and the person with a casual interest in their cult would do well to be cautious about involving themselves without some thought.
The Matrikas may have been local goddesses from an early date that were incorporated into Tantra by the fifth century. Like the Mahavidyas, they tend to be associated with Shiva, though not always (e.g., Brahmi is associated with Brahma, and Vaishnavi is associated with Vishnu). The matrikas tend to be associated with certain vices or perils, and thus rituals may be performed to appease these goddesses and avoid their ill effects. For the Tantric practitioner, these Mothers aid in giving knowledge, removing an obstacle, or destroying an enemy. They are mentioned in the Mahbarata epic, and play a role in the Devi Mahatmayam as demon slayers. However, as the authors point out, these goddesses have their own elements that can be viewed as “demonic”. That said—“demonic” attributes don’t imply ultimate evil, at least not in Eastern thinking. They are more connected to what we might think of as elemental or earth forces, though meditations on them can rip away the veil of material reality.
“Good” and “evil” are often used subjectively, and the Western habit of making a definite line between the two leads to a psychological break that leaves us feeling torn in half. The great mystery of Tantra deals with engaging in forbidden acts; in particular, eating forbidden foods, drinking alcohol, and having sex. The realization that comes from Tantra is that there is no “auspicious” or “inauspicious”—everything is sacred, everything is part of Maya (illusion), and everything is part of the divine. Illusions have reality and non-reality. We may practice discrimination in our daily lives, and in our interactions with others, but the real truth behind it is beyond such distinctions. This must be understood if you want to put the perceived world into its proper context.
The Sepulcher Society is described on the Theion Publishing website as “a hydra with many heads. A closed metaphysical working group, the Sepulcher Society is dedicated to serious esoteric and academic research as well as magical practice”. They produced another fine work entitled Underworld: a Practical Guide to Necromancy, which deserves its own review, and is written in a similar style to Ferocious. Both works follow the same format—they give an overview of the topic at hand, and then delve into the details about individual gods—their history, iconography, and means of worship for modern devotees and practitioners. Ferocious also includes the japa mantras, gayatri mantras, and dhyanam slokas of each of the matrikas.
The first thing that impressed me about Ferocious was the viewpoint of the authors on Tantra. They talk about SriVidya initiations and injunctions against practicing Tantra if one is not formally initiated by one of these groups. However, they suggest (and I fully agree) that ANYONE with the right intention can practice Tantra, and these initiations are not necessary. Those drawn to this practice in modern times and in the Western world may have been intiated in another lifetime. They also make a distinction between the bhakta (devotee) and the magical practitioner—there are different relationships to these deities with different requirements. One does not have to make regular sacrifices or request things from these deities; in many cases, unless one is serious about maintaining the practice—they shouldn’t. Ferocious is quite specific about which deities are tolerant of what you might call “casual” practice and which ones are not. No one is discouraged from practice, but is cautioned nonetheless. I compare it to the average person’s approach to fire—fire can warm you, heat your house, cook your food—but neglected or poorly tended, it will destroy everything in its path. Fires can be difficult to start, and difficult to control once they are started. Fire can destroy; it can also purify. In the case of the Matrikas, the purification may be of malignant influences in your life, as these goddesses are “polluted” by nature. This can actually benefit practitioners and devotees, who do not have to be overly concerned about Vedic injunctions about proper ritual purifications normally associated with puja. That said, those performing rituals should not be too casual or careless.
I have already mentioned in my Introductions to the Tantric Goddesses in the Chthonia podcasts that my own relationship to Kali (who is not a Matrika) and other Dark Feminine figures seems to come out of another lifetime. I performed dedicated pujas for years, during my Ketu Mahadasha (a period in Vedic Astrology dominated by Ketu, the South Node of the Moon in Western Astrology, and the Ketu influence is generally associated with a focus on liberation from moksha). Now, I am in a different phase (Shukra/Venus), and it seems that the intense pujas needed to be relaxed, as the focus is different. But I still have a relationship to Kali, and to Chamunda in particular, though I have also performed rituals to Brahmi. The goddesses appear, they are visceral, they make themselves known in very physical way that is unmistakeable. But I’ve never had any fear of their frightful appearances—I find them beautiful in their own way, more beautiful than what we traditionally think of as “beauty”. Thus, I approach this subject with this view of the Matrikas. They can remove our enslavement to our worst qualities, and can remove external obstacles as well.
From this context, I read Ferocious with an intense fascination, and even though I know quite a bit about these deities, I found that I learned even more. The format makes it easy to understand the essence of the deity, and provides very detailed advice on invoking their aid. For those interested in the Dark Feminine, particularly in the Tantric side, I urge you to get a copy of Ferocious for an introduction into the worship of these deities without formal initiation by a teacher or guru. There are too many misleading, false, or otherwise confusing texts on the topic, especially with regard to the Western practitioner. I am grateful to Theion Publishing and the Sepulcher Society for making this accessible to the Westerner searching for the deeper truth.