Shakti - Why is Active Energy depicted as female?

Shiva represents consciousness, the divine consciousness or the Self and Shakthi represents vibrant energy, vitality, the creative power. Shiva and Shakti represent the masculine and feminine aspects on all levels of existence.The self-complementary Ardhanareeswara (half man, half woman) concept. When this androgynous, self-complementary energy  is divided into two, they turn into the latent or passive consciousness and the pure, vibrant energy without any consciousness. OR we can say that, Shiva is the passive or latent Shakthi and Shakthi is the active Shiva. Shakthi or the active Shiva can unleash untold miseries. We have heard the story of Kali (MahaKali) and her unbridled fury which was tamed by stepping on Shiva. This is a symbolic representation of how the divine consciousness neutralizes the violent, mindless, raging energy. 
Let us come back to the topic of discussion - Why is the active energy of the Universe depicted as female? So far nobody knows who did or when this division and naming occurred. The only guess one can make is that highly intelligent and developed creatures have walked this planet, at times beyond our imagination. So let us try to explain this from our level of understanding. 
Let us look at it from the cellular level. Our cells contain free floating organelles called mitochondria. They are known as the powerhouses of the cell. They function like a digestive system of the cell. They take nutrients, breaks it down and create energy rich molecules for the cell. This bio-chemical process is known as cellular respiration. Mitochondria contains their own genomes. The human zygote contains only the mitochondrial DNA from the egg cell, the sperm mitochondrial DNA do not contribute genetic information to the embryo.So the powerhouse of the cell or the mitochondria is inherited from Mothers. At a cellular level itself energy source is contributed by the females. This might be a reason why energy is considered female. 

In each person, the Shiva and the Shakthi are there, but are set apart. Shiva or the divine consciousness resides in the Sahasrara Chakra and Shakthi or the divine creative energy is coiled up in the Mooladhara Chakra. So each person is incomplete as such. So, to attain perfection or moksha, in each life, a little effort and time should be spend in bringing the Kundalini energy coiled up in the mooladhara to the Sahasrara. Otherwise one will be tied up in samsara endlessly.

Ganesha - The Story of His Birth

One day in Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. Parvathi, Shiva's consort was alone and she wanted to take bath. So she asked Nandi, the bull to guard the entrance. Nandi was the vehicle of Shiva. She instructed him not to allow anyone inside without her consent. When Shiva came home, Nandi allowed him to go inside, being more loyal to Shiva. Parvathi was so angry. Next time when she was alone, she created a boy out of her sweat,who would be a very loyal son to her and named him Ganesha. ( There is another version that says the boy was created out of the turmeric paste which Parvathi used to apply on her body before taking bath.) She asked the boy to guard the door. When Shiva came the boy did not allow Shiva to go inside. In the ensuing fight the boy defeated all of Shiva's army. Shiva was so enraged that he beheaded the boy.

When Parvathi came to know this, she became so angry that she promised to destroy all Creation. Many ferocious multi-armed forms emerged from her body. Lord Brahma, the Creator pleaded with her to maintain her calm. Finally she agreed on two conditions : First, the boy should be brought back to life. Second one was, she wanted him to be worshiped before all Gods, forever.

Shiva agreed to these conditions and asked Brahma to bring the head of the first creature he saw, who is lying with his head in the north direction. Lord Brahma brought the head of an elephant. Shiva placed the head on Ganesha's body and brought him back to life. Shiva also accepted him as his son. He declared that from henceforth Ganesha would be worshiped before all Gods and he was made the leader of all *Ganas, So Ganesha is also known as Ganapathi. This version of the story is from Shiva Purana. There are many other versions too.

There is a symbolic aspect to this story. Ganesha created by Parvathi represents the ordinary person.Shiva is the spiritual aspect and Parvathi is Shakti. Ganesha did not have the spiritual essence of Shiva. The fight between Shiva and Ganesha is the fight between the higher soul and lower nature and finally the higher soul prevails. The slaying of original Ganesha symbolizes the slaying of one's lower nature and accepting /becoming one with the higher soul, Shiva. Thus becoming the real son of Shiva.



*different classes of beings

Spirituality

Spirituality leads to the union of the Individual consciousness with the divine consciousness, the state of oneness. This dissolution of the duality is Yoga. 

The yogi who pursues spirituality has to free himself from the clutches of illusion / Maya and should be able to see the reality. With total faith and patience he must follow the spiritual path. He should practice meditation daily. And, thus achieve his life purpose - Nirvana. 

Spirituality is reaching out to  the inner divine.

Spirituality is not something that you can buy over the counter. Spirituality is not something you can snatch from another person. Spirituality is not a paid or unpaid service. It is not a legacy. Each soul has to earn its own Moksha.


Spirituality is a conscious and difficult walk-back to the Source, which is the  Divine Consciousness/ Shiva.