Spear-wielding mothers and yoginīs from afar – the revealers of the Śākteya traditions of Kerala.

This paper examines the role of mother goddesses and yoginīs in the so-called Śākteya Tantra of Kerala. The traditions of the Śākteya communities in Kerala were profoundly influenced by Kashmiri Śaivism, yogic traditions and local magical cults (mantravāda). The term Śākteya refers to a constellation of interconnected traditions in Kerala centred on the worship of divine female beings and involving rituals of possession and transgressive ceremonies that have their roots in early Krama and Śrīvidyā ritualism. The paper shows the roles of the female divine beings invoked in the Śākteya traditions in Kerala and how they represent the various concepts of the power of the divine. Based on anthropological data from fieldwork in Kerala and my reading of the Śākteya paddhati manuscripts belonging to one of the tantric families from Kozhikode, the paper aims to shed more light on this complex ritual system of goddess worship.