Reclaiming the Divine Feminine: The Hindu Goddess and Jungian Psychology for a Postmodern Western Cultur

This dissertation examines the deep-seated recognition of a Goddess in Hindu culture and iconography. It describes the history of Hindu traditions giving special attention to anthropomorphic images of divinity and the reemergence of the feminine principle. Reflections extend from the most ancient source of Hindu mythology, the Indus Valley civilization, into contemporary interpretations of Tantrik myth and symbol.;A focus on the recovery of the feminine principle and the implications of this retrieval in the modern and postmodern world continues with an examination of masculine and feminine archetypes in the depth psychology of C. G. Jung and his successors. Particular attention is given to the work of influential women analysts such as Anne Baring and Marion Woodman to discuss their contributions to the recovery of the feminine principle in relation to Jung's vision of psychological wholeness.;A comparative inquiry engages ways in which the masculine and feminine principles may be integrated through the symbolic motif of the sacred marriage in both Hindu traditions and Jungian psychology. It parallels the aims of Tantrik yoga with Jung's vision of individuation as expressed through the symbolism of esoteric alchemy. Both perspectives entail the reconciliation or integration of opposites.;The preceding analysis is then applied to present practices that facilitate a recovery of the Goddess through the development of mythic consciousness, sacred relationship, and embodied ritual. These practices conjoin Tantra Yoga and Jungian conceptions to birth a new tradition for Western practitioners. Personal testimony approaches postmodern questions of gender identity and relationships. Forms of green yoga are discussed to show how yoga contributes to innovative ways of healing our relationship to nature, and for fostering a sense of stewardship regarding the earth and its resources. Dream images provide an outline for imagining a new level of consciousness---one that embraces the individual and cultural wounding and recover of the feminine principle and realizes a sacred marriage of opposites.