Creating A Tantric Ritual
By Dawn Cartwright
Infuse your lovemaking with erotic effervescence.
Aarti is a beautiful ritual of waving lights. Composed of the prefix ‘aa’ and the word ‘rati’, aarti is the expression of one’s complete unwavering love for the divine. ‘Aa’ means complete. ‘Rait’, means love.
During the ritual, lamps are lit, songs of devotion are sung – and the five mahabhutas, the first five tattvas, are offered. The five mahabhutas are the components of the physical world. They represent the final point of manifestation, where light is condensed into matter. “The Pratyabhijñ Philosophy”, G.V.Tagare
- Prithvi: Earth (Flowers)
- Jala: Water (Water)
- Tejas: Fire (Lamps)
- Vayu: Air (Peacock Tail Fan)
- Akasa: Ether (Yak Tail Fan)
Aarti lights the face of the divine so we may see it more clearly. The five mahabhutas compose the body of the divine and our body as well – igniting the tangible matrix we share. We become immersed in the beloved’s divine form. Light condenses into matter.
Love is made.
All rituals are lovemaking rituals expressing the erotic effervescence between the devotee and the divine, the body and the soul. They entice the senses, ignite the passions and open the heart in ancient and mysterious ways.
Puja, ‘adoration’, is another such ritual and in fact, puja often contains aarti within it. It is complete unwavering love for the divine floating in a sea of adoration. Puja is the inspiration for the ritual we’ll be creating detailed below. The names for each of the offerings below are based in Tantric puja tradition.
I invite you to explore this ritual on your own at first, as a self-love ritual. Once you’ve had a chance to engage in it fully a few times alone, you’ll feel familiar with the practices and ready to invite a lover to share in it with you.
Creating a Tantric Lovemaking Ritual
Give yourself 2-3 hours and before you begin, spend some time creating the space and making preparations.
Dhyana – Meditation
Begin with a heart meditation. Place your hands on your heart. Feel your heart beating. Invite the beloved to join you there in your heart.
Avahana – Invitation
Desire is the invitation and the bridge – between love as it is and love as we know it can be. Feel your desire.
Asana – Take Your Seat
Consciously choose to enter into the ritual as a lover, rather than wait for the lovemaking to wake up the lover in you. Feel the difference?
Padya – Anoint
Fill a basin with warm water, peppermint bath salts, rose petals and sweet almond oil. Bathe and massage the feet. Have a stack of thick fluffy towels nearby.
Acamanya – Milk & Tea
Offer a cup of tea. Milk and water are symbols of fertility and life. Chai is a natural aphrodisiac. (I’ve heard the same said of Barry’s.)
Abhishekha – Bathe
This time fill up the tub and add a few drops of jasmine, rosewood, almond, or blood orange essential oils. While bathing offer a sensual massage, sing a love song or ballad dedicated to the one most beloved.
Pushpa – Flowers
Say the beloved’s name again and again, 108 times, as you shower one another with flower petals. 108 represents the ultimate reality of existence which is simultaneously one, emptiness, and infinite. 1 = one. 0 = emptiness. 8 = infinity.
Aarti – Waving lights
Complete unwavering love. Let go of any goal, dissolve in the loving. Surround yourself with candlelight. Merge together as one.
In our next issue Dawn will introduce the ‘Secrets of the Tantric Lover’.
Pick up a copy in your local health food store or holistic centre or subscribe here to have it delivered.
Dawn Cartwright is a Tantric visionary, sacred writer, and innovator in bio-energetic Tantra fusion. www.dawncartwright.com
