sivasakti.net - Dance, Music and Astrology in Tantra

D A N C E M U S I C A N D A S T R O L O G Y I N T A N T R A

Tantric views and principles are applied to a large variety of human activities. Whether these activities regard the cultural, religious, social or artistic fields, the universality of the principles they express (such as, for example, the omnipresence of the Divine energy and its influence on even the most insignificant structures of creation, the ontological identity between the Macrocosm and the human microcosm, etc.) manifests harmoniously everywhere.

For instance, (mystic) dance is a wonderful and pleasant manner to obtain both a healthy and flexible body and a calm and controlled mind.

The dancer has to perform different types of movements that maintain the body in excellent shape. However, mystic dance does not involve just movements of the body. For an explicit presentation of the different stares of spirit the dancer wishes to express, the dancer needs a profound inner calm and control of the mind.

More over, the specific hand gestures he/she performs during the dance (named by the Hindu mudra) bring out a series of notable effects.

The dance represents the expression of the inner creative power, also known in the Tantric tradition as Kundalini. It is said here that the energetic activity in the universe is in fact the cosmic dance of the Creator Himself.

Like dance, music represents a divine manifestation of the divine energy. Refined music is famous to calm down the mind of the listener, as well as the mind of the player. Its therapeutic effects are obvious.

In the case of astrology, things are a little different, because in astrology the starting point is that every being and object is submitted to the subtle influences coming from the planets and stars in the universe.

This conception is in fact a reflection of the Tantric principle which identifies the microcosm of the human being and the Macrocosm. That is, everything that is in the infinite universe of the creation may be easily found in a perfect ontological correspondence at the human level as well.

Owing to this identity, Tantra considers the human body, in its totality, a universe in miniature, while the universe of creation is the divine body of God, named Shiva in the Tantric tradition, the Creator of all things.

The planets are heavenly bodies situated at huge distances from Earth. These planets behave as magnets, the sun is, so to speak "the heart" of our planetary system, around which all other planets revolve. Consequently, our solar system has its own direction and speed, distributing his magnetic influences in the cosmic ether.

The Earth, in its turn, as well as our bodies, has the same magnetic behavior, emanating their characteristic magnetic influences.

The harmony between the two kinds of magnetic waves (those coming from the Sun, planets from our planetary system or even more remote stars - as the Polar Star and those emanated by our own bodies) reflects in the chances and successes of a certain human being in different fields of activity.

On the contrary, if the interaction between the two magnetic influences is lacking harmony, the human being will be confronted with trouble, suffering, failure, and even death.

In the tantric system, all these aspects mentioned above - dance, music and astrology - play an important part as they provide the seeker the instruments for a better understanding of the phenomena that influence him/her, as well as the inner processes deriving from them.

The articles in this section will bring more details on each of these topics, in an attempt to enlarge the horizon of perception.