Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine by David Kinsley

University of California Press, 1997; trade paperback; 318 pages; appoximately 6" x 9".

What is one to make of a group of goddesses that includes a goddess who cuts her own head off, a goddess who sits on a corpse while pulling the tongue of a demon, or a goddess who prefers sex with corpses? Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine deals with a group of ten Hindu tantric goddesses, the Mahavidyas, who embody habits, attributes, or identities usually considered repulsive or socially subversive. It is within the context of tantric worship that devotees seek to identify themselves with these forbidding goddesses. The Mahavidyas seem to function as "awakeners" - symbols that help to project one's consciousness beyond the socially acceptable or predictable.

Kinsley not only describes the eccentric qualities of each of these goddesses, but seeks to interpret the Mahavidyas as a group and to explain their importance for understanding Tantra and the Hindu tradition.

"This is a far-ranging and impressively comprehensive book .... Kinsley's book will set a new standard for the kind of thorough scholarship that can and ideally should be brought to bear upon the interpretation of Hindu goddesses and Tantric deities." - Miranda Shaw, author of Passionate Enlightenment

DAVID KINSLEY is Professor of Religion at MacMaster University, Canada. He is the author of Hindu Goddesses: Visions of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Tradition (UC Press, 1986), and The Sword and the Flute: Kali and Kegna, Dark Visions of the Terrible and Sublime in Hindu Mythology (UC Press, 1975).

Contents:
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Introduction
- PART I. THE MAHAVIDYÃS AS A GROUP
The Ten Mahavidyas; Typical Literary and Iconographic Contexts; The Mahavidyas as Forms of the Mahadevi; Mahavidya Origin Myths; Interrelationships among the Mahavidyas; Worship of the Mahavidyas; The Mahavidyas and Magical Powers; The Significance of the Term Mahavidya; Concluding Observations
- PART II. THE INDIVIDUAL MAHAVIDYAS
Kali: The Black Goddess
Tara: The Goddess Who Guides through Troubles
Tripura-sundari: She Who Is Lovely in the Three Worlds
Bhuvanesvari: She Whose Body Is the World
Chinnamasta: The Self-Decapitated Goddess
Bhairavi: The Fierce One
Dhumavati: The Widow Goddess
Bagalamukhi: The Paralyzer
Matangi: The Outcaste Goddess
Kamala: The Lotus Goddess
- PART III. CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS
Corpses and Cremation Grounds; Skulls and Severed Heads; Sexuality and Awakened Consciousness; The Conjunction of Death and Sexual Imagery; The Roles of Women and Reverence for Women; The Potentially Liberating Nature of Social Antimodels
- NOTES
- GLOSSARY
- BIBLIOGRAPHY
- INDEX

Cover illustration: Chinnamasta, by Bhatuk Ramprasad, early twentieth century.
Cover design by: Barbara Jellow.

Book in excellent condition. Spine is intact, unbent and uncracked. No missing pages; price written in pencil on the upper right corner of the title page; otherwise, no handwriting on pages. Check the photos. Feel free to contact me with any questions regarding this listing.

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