Shakti: Realm of the Divine Mother

I purchased this book because I have an interest in the worship of Shakti/Devi. It's really hard to find good information on Devi and her various manifestations. I had high hopes for Shakti: Realm of the Divine Mother. It did not disappoint.This is an *excellent* book. It's filled with terrific information that's written with obvious care and love. Vanamali details some of the major stories and themes with each goddess. She treats each manifestation as fully as space will allow and doesn't flinch when talking about the more fearsome goddesses such as Kaali and Chinnamasta. (Other goddesses featured include Durga, Lalitha, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Sri Chakra, and more.)Vanamali pulls from scriptural sources such as the Devi Gita and the Chandi. She offers the esoteric explanations behind various myths that otherwise seem obtuse and bizarre to the outsider. She touches on Tantra quite a bit--both the Left and Right Hand Path, including Aghora. Shiva is mentioned throughout, since he is inseparable from Shakti.Each chapter begins with a relevant mantra along with an excerpt from scripture or song. At the end of the book, you'll find all the mantras listed just in case you want to use them yourself.Overall a terrific book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Shakti from a practitioner's point of view.

Wonderful introductory book to The Divine Mother. I am forever grateful to the author Vanamali and Amazon for making it accessible. This book really breaks down a lot of deep information regarding The Divine Mother/Shaktism/Hinduism/Chakras for the beginner and is responsible for being a guiding light on my journey back to Her. Honestly this might be the most important book I have ever read. This book is essential in general and a must read! ❤️❤️

This knowledgeable and discerning author has put together a voluminous and extremely interesting discourse regarding the feminine goddesses of India. Her insight and carefully crafted writing is enthralling and captivating. A wonderful read!

The author penned this work nicely. It is gentle and inspirational so as to attend to the reader's personal devotion. Equally, the book provides important contextual knowledge for further learning of Maha Devi. The book contains a much needed balance between the masculine (i.e. Shiva) and the feminine (i.e. Shakti) dance of the divine, something that is sometimes squeezed out from other texts on the subject.

This book helped to remind me how powerful my Devi Maa is. It has helped to reinforce my faith in Her.

I absolutely love this book! It is so well written and has deepened my understanding tremendously. I truly appreciate Vanamali's depth, insight, wisdom & ability to beautifully expound upon that which is unspeakably vast in nature.

this is a book that everyone should read has a lot of information and knowlege

I haven't finished reading this book as yet, but do appreciate and enjoy what I've read so far.

Book is good. Great knowledge about Shakti the mother goddess... The feminine aspect of The supreme formless entity.

Sometimes I find the myths and legends of India can be a bit cumbersome to read. In this book the author has gone to great effort to make them accessible and written them in a way that tells the story without too many distracting additional details. Chapters can be read individually as a complete story or as a series of stories. I've already bought copies of this book for a lot of my yoga friends and it really does give some wonderful information on the various forms of the Hindu Goddess.

Good book of various forms of goddess. Well described.

A most nourishing and informative narrative of Shakti energy. Nothing New Age here. A book to keep by one's bedside for those ready to experience deep explanations and Rishi's wisdom.

Nice Book