Tantric Ritual Procedures

Occult author Phil Hine posted some notes on Tantric ritual procedure. His posting begins:

‘For this occasional series, I’m going to provide some short notes on various tantric ritual procedures. Tantric rituals tend to follow a fixed sequence of actions (pūjā-vidhi) as set forth in the ritual manuals (paddhati) – often distillations of much longer tantric scriptures, giving step-by-step guides for practitioners.

‘For example, in the Śaiva Siddhanta tradition, the daily worship of Śiva – nityapūjā – consisted of three phases. Firstly, the devotee had to ritually purify themselves, the place where the ritual was taking place, the mantras, and the liṅga into which Śiva would be invoked. Then the devotee would ritually invoke Śiva into a stone liṅga, and finally, the devotee would offer a series of services to Śiva, treating him as an honoured guest, as an expression of his homage to the Lord. This daily worship is said to lead to both liberation and worldly enjoyment. According to the Siddhanta doctrine, daily worship also prevents the build-up of fetters which would otherwise accrue from the karma brought about by action. Each of these broad phases is composed of numerous sub-stages. For example, there are at least 18 subsidiary rites for the full preparation of a stone liṅga to receive the presence of Śiva. Daily worship also included Sūryapūjā – a daily ritual addressed to the Sun as a form of Śiva.’

read the whole post:

https://enfolding.org/tantric-ritual-procedures-i/