of energy become matter become energy become matter become inspiration become forms become inspiration become artworks

become inspiration?, and, as a spark leaping from wire to wire, as a fire leaping from house to house, the effects of truly-inspired and intensely-reified sigils have transforming power of an unimaginable degree. Think of the spiral, the cross, the pentagram, the crescent moon, or go further up the ladder of complexity and think of the Mona Lisa, the melted watch, the soup-can. How many people draw energy from and give attention to these images?'vVhy? What is the rationale? There is none, consciously. In its purest form, the urge/process of sigilizing must be akin to the urge for sex, the survival instinct, and the death wish. Mankind has been described as a creature of ritual.
These bundles

BHAIRAVA - THE WRATHFT]L

If

this

is So, then sigils are the attempt the

Bhairava (The Wrathful) is one of the more terrifying aspects of Shiva. He is often depicted with frowning, angry eyes and sharp, tiger's teeth and flaming hair; stark naked except for garlands EXERCISES of skulls and a coiled snake about his neck. In his Begin by simply doodling. Wave after wave of four hands he carries a noose, trident, drum, and
verbalized. To pass these on in the form of images and symbols that need no explanation, that speak to the inner core of every human being.
squiggles should be produced, page after page. The

the keys to the inner wisdom that cannot

artist/shaman class makes to pass on the mysteries,

mind should be cut free of the hand, the drawing hand allowed ever more free rein. After several sessions of squiggle production, the hand will begin to produce forms and images unconsciously. At first you will ruin these images by imposing ego-centred 'order' on these masses of chaos. Refrain from doing so, but never struggle. The ego feeds on struggle. Instead find ways to induce trance and distract the ego from the work at hand. For a period of time your chaos images will have to be refined later with pencil, eraser and ink. Slowly you will be erasing less and less until at one point, when you can induce the sigil trance at will and enter the 'vacuity' of no-thought drawing, there wrll be little to alter from the sigils you have
produced.

skull. He is often shown accompanied by a dog. In this short essay I will examine this particular aspect of Shiva and the central legend (which has numerous variants) which concems this deity. Bhairava is Shiva at his most terrifiiing, at his most fearful. He may be understood as a particular manifestation, or emanation of Shiva" or as Shiva displaying himself at a very high level. In some myths, Shiva created Bhairava .N an extension of himself, in order to chastise Brahma. Bhairava is the embodiment of fear, and it is said that those who meet him must confront the source of their own fears. His name describes the effect he has upon those who behold him, as it derives from the word bhiru, which mezurs to become fearful, to feel great fear. In some sources, Bhairava himself is said to have eight manifestations, including Kala

When a sigil produces one or more of the pala (Skull), Rudra (storm) and Unmatta (raging). following effects in someone who unknowingly Dogs (particularly black dogs) were often considencounters it in an open and neutral situation, it is ered the most appropriate form of sacrifice to
deemed successful: extreme fear, anger, nausear disorientation, hilarity, desire, affinity, disgust,
hunger, calm, irritation, or creativity. Bhairava, and he is sometimes shown as holding a severed human head, with a dog waiting at one side, in order to catch the blood from the head.

PROOF OF SUCCESS

(black), Asitanga (with black limbs), Sanhara (destruction), Ruru (hound), Krodha (anger), Ka-

Et,eryth ing i s Pernitted

27

THE PRIMAL FOREST MYTH

relate to ** The cycle of legenJs which particularly u.i*"." this primordial god tells of the encounr., if" Bhairava and a group of forest-dw"fftng 'ug"' be- briefly is events which lead up to rt can . ttt"-C""i"i, Vishnu'";;;;t hi: as follows: Brahm4 summarised lusted after his mind-bome daughter,'J';; tt"gqitt tl't-y*n*ate see !.ftuiiuuu usinq a trident (the weapon four heads in order that he might continually -*tol*ttO . Br"rr-J ai'*J.a slairi by Bhairava wth Shiva)' Vishnu then her. In creating these four heads, due-to his desire in an the world into the four directions, caused'irooa-io spurt from his forehead' i, 'o--o'nty "i"no longer was within n-rJi. it Bhairava for that which nri th; skull-bowl which rti, daughter attepP.t of said by some that u"r"f;*";rT"rir.'i", ;" carried. Bhairava dances o-n, carrying the corpsethe (desire) *ho .*l;ffi blood of was caused by Kama Visvakse"na*;J skuil full of the " and delude people, a task ?or" *rr,.rr p""t*i*'il city of Varanasi madden he.reaches'the holy which he Brahma gave him magical arrows, *rri.n he is liberated from the skuil upon the c1e1or himself. (e*u.Jj,lt.r immediately tested comprex as it is' is woven ur*d ."#', regend, killing of a Brah**ir,:T?1"',i trtt timJ heavenwards. ftrls prorroked il;t#;,; "it'unn'inioide--the ascended i^rtuJv oi ttt. vedic law books wll show the quintessence of the other -in. manifest a fifth head, for the killing of a i" .cohabiti *h- r",i, that the prescribed. penance living alone in the four, and ,.urh.d-, ; the criminal cut off ri-,* nm, eruh.ni-,r l;;;i".r he daughter. Upon seeing this, sh1va. ii.ri"g on. aims, confessing his deed as uersions fo.est,Brahma with his sword (i' som" and a skull' head of begs' *J Zu"ying always a staff his individual Bhairava merely uses the nail of '.ft^t^h#t' Oclasiln"ffv?it" Jpecified that such an In this act of murder, Shiva-Bhairu"u Ut"u*e tr'ourJ u" * an alms bowl the skull of the .Kapalin' o, ,n'-"JrrIJr, u *. -n,i'i'o *ft" brahmrn he has killed. Such a penance could last iurn to to a particutu, tuniri" sect which I ;ri- became ro, t**rr* years such penances sound very similar fifth heai shortly. The skull oi-gruhn.,u,, forest-dwelling sadhus' ; *"a' to the to*i "r ascetic' those paradoxical fig-ures of and althougl-, stuck to his hand of 'i'o'lif hi'- 'in Bht;;;; is on' has broken all fetters' He has .;;;; Shiva-Bhairava had to someho* ;;n' r ,rr" hdi; and, in order to do So, Bhairava'u."u-. of the heads of the Creator' killed the Kapalika, of the ,fr. Supreme n.ggur, '"*"a^o'"t of Vishnu' the preserver; he dances aoo'Gpt' "*t.r'pe who is dir,rne, yet debased. Bhairava-t""rt"p"ti turtli' Lttompanied women (attd in some *i i;^;t:i;' .',e,sions -bv as a himsetf the Kapalika vow, which of the.myth, Vishnu), and he appears from begging alms, turtil the.skull fell the world, figure of horror and ecstasy'

which in tum too instantaenously by another linsalinga ,u.r*a,-*a"ro ol._In an"otirer, after the version' Bhairava feil, ghuiru"a vanished' In a third by the frenzied leaves the forest' accompanied the house of women'oi tn. sages. He appears at p*tugt barred by who does not visvaksena, visirnu's doorkeeper, doorkeeper is

-ffifiT::r"i,,?:;1,T*:

his hand.
ascetic

lt

was

*-nilrlrr"

was wandering through

great rorest that Bhairava

encounte,"I?;1il;";
urd tended

or tv the fi"::i'i".t;;'; ir,** nJ,Liu.., their wrves and, manifest railing earth' on the ,Ji., T:;: *.f,'lffl ;;nJicant, li"g;;, ;;;ses hory places to

sages'

*;:ll"J:1Ji:il1[,ttJKJl: #;*:Tj rorrrt, who are practising.austerities;

his

Bhairava, who appeared as " 11k;; o;"';;;-;,;rntaii there is a wonderfttl 'forest onty tt'.'-skull-bowr. u.'to*i.a u,'i jorest of Daru' v'here nnny sages lit'e carrying as a madman with ; bl";k f*t came danced, appeanng 'on'a"ti' Shiva hinise$ aisumi^ng a strange 'fo'^' startling uppu'tlo'i Ji'tu'U tnt Not only did this to put lheir faith to the test' He u'as attracted ,n.t *o-tn to th'n rites of the sages, he also his only ornament supreme o*[rrqrnit, coytyl.etytl naked' The sages cursed the lingam of this him. his v'hole body was snteared it fell, transformed into;;;il";;ifir" '1"'oii";tlt 'altich his hand' he beggar" and w.riiin,g oi.", holding his penis in the legend ,uy tlul iroirr", tingu Some variants of depraved tricks' ft"a f"ff*, tiO 'hon,'i off tuith the ntost ras-cit'iousry; sometines he appeared to replace th-at which ,rir"J,'*a iar s"rrrri'irt ie danced around the hermitages when the sages saw it, it too ** replaced utteied cries. He wandered to earth rn a braze of fire, onty to u.
l ( j

l{othittg is

True

j 1 I

il

like a beggar. Despite his strange appearance and

his tanned colottr, the most chaste women were atlracted to him. They let their hair fall loose. Some rolled on the ground. They clung to each other and, barring [Rudra'sJ path, they made wanton gestures al him, even in the presence of
their husbands. The sages cried, this Shiva who carries a trident has a body of ill omen. He has no modesty. He is naked and ill-made, He lives in the company of evil spirits and wicked goblins. (Shiva Purana, quoted in Dani6lou p55-56).

yourself and protect the world. tests the forest sages by appearing with a beautiful courtesan, Mohini, by his side. This courtesan, Dani6lou explains, is actually the God Vishnu, whom Shiva has commanded to take this form (Shiva had commanded Vishnu to take on this form on an earlier occasion, in order that Shiva might seduce Vishnu). In this form of the legend, the sages abandon their austerities to follow the disguised Vishnu everywhere, whilst Shiva" as the divine Beggar, seduced the women of the sages. In this version, the sages and their wives are brought together in the forest and realise that they have been tricked by Shiva and Vishnu. The sages summon a tiger which springs forth to attack Shiva. He kills the tiger and seizes it's skin to use as a garment. There then came a fire, which the god made into a trident; an antelope, which he took with his left hand, and snakes, which he used to adom his head-dress. Demons then sprang at Shiva. He calmed them with a hand-gesture, and they agreed to serve him. All the magics of the sages could not prevail against Shiv4 and they finally agreed to practise the rites of Shiva's cult. The forest sages have lost sight of the goal of their austerities and rites: release from bondage. They have become bound up by conventions. The sages, interrupted by Shiv4 are outraged by his behaviour. They are performing their rites and austerities out of a sense of lust for the power and

In the Tamil Kqnda Puranum, Shiva

THE BLAZING LINGA One of the key elements of the forest myth is the sages' curse against Shiva's phallus, which in
and is then regenerated by the god. The sages curse again, and another flaming pillar strikes the earth whilst Shiva's phallus is 'rebom', which again, in tum, is cursed. In another popular version, the cursed phallus becomes an immense pillar which pierces and fills all of the Three Worlds. (The three worlds again recalls the importance of triplicities in Tantric magic. The 'piercing' of the three worlds or cities is a theme which recurs time and time again in tantric magical texts and
practices.) some versions, strikes the earth as a blazing pillar,

According to the Shiva Purana, the sages, once they had recognised Shiva, approached him reverently. Shiva replied that: The v,orld shall not find peace until a receptacle is -found for nry sexual organ. No other being except the Lady of the Mountain may seize hold of my senral organ. If she takes hold of it, it will
imrnediately beconte calnr.

'merit' they will gain from doing so, not as

means to liberation They do not see that Bhairava-

Shiva breaks all boundaries and conventions precisely because he is beyond them.

(op cit, p63) In The Linga Purana, Brahma himself instructs the sages in the reverence of Shiva's phallus: As long as this phalfus is not in a.fixed position, no good can conTe to any o.f the three v,orlds. In order lo calm its wrath, yott fttust sprinkle this divine sexual organ v,ith hol1, v,qlsr", build a pedestal in the.forn of a vagina and shaft (syntbol of the goddess) and install it with prayers. oferings, prostrations. hymns and chants accotltpanied by nusical instnntents. Then you shall invoke the God, saying 'You are the source of the Universe, the origin of the (Jniverse. You are present in everything that exists. The (Jniverse is but the form of yourself, O Benevolent One! Calnt

same way. By turns, Shiva baffles, enrages, seduces, sows confusion, and illuminates. He
reveals to his devotee, his bhakta, in the shape and extent to which they are 'ready' to experience him.

Stella Kramrisch notes that not all who behold Shiva as the Supreme Beggar see him in quite the

Having severed the head of the Creator and killed the guardian of of the house of the Sustainer of creation, Bhairava had cut through all feners. Horrendous, abject, naked, or in rags that emphasized his nakedness, self-contradictory and consistent with his unspeakable being, with an entrancing smile on his lips he bared his fangs. The images of the Lord show him young and in glory as Bhiksatanamurti, the Supreme Beggar. They show him as Kankalamurti, carrying the

Evervth i rtg i s Perm i ttecl

29

impaled body of Visvaksena; or entiacated and deathlike in his image as Bhairava; or stern, bloated, his matted hair surrounded by flames, fiercely ponderous, and black as Kala or Ma-

R.N. Saltore recounts a legend that Bhairava once took up residence in the mouth of Goraknath hakala. Stella Kramrisch, The Presence of Siva (co-founder of the Natha Sect of Tantrikas and In his display of contradictions, his suffering of credited with laying the foundations of Hatha and the curse of the sages and their subsequent Kundalini Yoga) and performed 'religious austeriiilumination, Shiva-Bhairava is expiating his Kapalika vow: that of carrying the head of Brahma. When Bhairava reaches the holy city of Varanasi, the skull falls from the hand of Shiva, and shatters into a thousand pieces. The ecstatic pilgrimage over, Bhairava is released from the fetters of his own making. Bhairava is also said by some to be a gambler's deity. R.N Saletore (1981) recounts the following prayer addressed to Bhairava, by a gambler: 1 adore thee that sittest naked v'ith thy head resting on thy lcnee; thy nloon, thy bull and thy elephanry*-skin having been von at play by Devi. When the gods give all pov'ers at thy mere desire and when thou art free fron longings, having for thy only possession the matted locks, the ashes and the skull, hov, canst thou suddenly have become avaricious tuith regard to hapless me in that thou desirest to disappoint me ft, a small gain? Of a truth, the wishing tree no longer grotifes the hopes of the poor, as thou dost not st,tpport me, Lord Bhairava, though thou supportest lhe world ? Thou hast lhree eyes, I have three dice, so I ant like thee in one respect; lhou hast ashes on thy body, so have I; thou eatest front a skull, so do I; shov ne ntercy.

aspect thereof), the Kapalikas held Bhairava to be the creator-preserver-destroyer of the Universe, and chief of all the gods.

ties' there. Goraknath was almost choked, and only managed to expel Bhairava by extolling his glory. Saletore takes this legend as an indication of a possible connection between the Nathas and Kapalikas, which is also noted in passing by M. Magee (author of Tanlra Magick, Tantric Astrolog,t, and numerous translations of tantric texts) in his Natha FAQ fsee MikeMagee@magee. demon. co' uk]' It seems that yogis of the Kapalika sect were feared, having a reputation for possessing awesome magical powers, but reputed to carry off women and ensnare victims for huma-n sacrifice. In the Prabodha Chandrodaya, the following words are attributed to a tizard of the Kapalikas: My necklace and ornamenls are of huntan bones; I dv,ell anrcng the ashes of the dead and eat nly food in hunnn skulls. I look tvith eyes brightened v,ith the antinomy of Yoga, and believe lhat the parts of this vorld are reciprocally different, but that the whole is not dffirent from God. ...After

brains and lungs of nten mixed up tt'ith their Jlesh, and human beings covered with the fresh blood gushing fron the dreadfitl wound in their lhroats, are the ffirings by which we appease the terrible god (Arflaha Bhairava). In classical literature, Kapalikas are occasionally . SKULL-CARRIERS mocked, appearing as drunkards or evil sorcerors. THE KAPALIKAS The Kapalikas were a sub-sect of the Pasupatas. This view of the Kapalikas as drunkards is, at least They went naked, used a human skull as a on the surface, reinforced by the following quote food-bowl, bathed in the ashes from cremations, from the Kulanarva Tantra: and were believed to commit human sacrifice. The adept should drink, drink and drink again Naturally, they inspired fear and distaste in the until he falls to the ground. If he gets up and rebirth' His orthodox. The term 'Kapalika' can be translated as drinks again, he vill be freed from "bearer of the Skull-Bowl", and these sadhus happiness enchants the goddess, Lord Bhairava all worshipped Bhairava, as the Supreme Beggar and detights in his sttooning, his t'onriting pleases emulated his kapala vow. Perhaps, like other Indian the gods. The skull carried by the Kapalika devotee was Sects, the Kapalikas believed that great magical power could be transferred by taking on the identified with that of Brahma, and used for eating p.nan"es of Bhairava. Through this identification and drinking from. David Lorenzen, in The with the god, the Kapalikas took on his powers. Kapalikas and Kalanntkhas (1972), feels that it Like other sects who focus upon one deity (or was unlikely that the Kapalika devotee would

fasting we drink licluor out of the skulls of Brahnnns; our sacred fires are fed with the

30

Nothing is True

)e

d
,a

h
d d
v a
t-

d g
p
p
rr

resort first to brahminicide in order to obtain the result of his visit to the forest, Shiva,s cult 'right sort' of skull, although he does say that the strengthened and holy places exist upon the eartl skull carried had to be that of a man of noble caste. Deliberately acting so as to draw upon oneself th However, bearing in mind the Kapalikas' reputa- disfavour of others, as an aid tion for conducting human sacrihce, and their liberation (and that of others), to one's ow is an ancier occasional martial ardour, we might draw our own technique in Indian magic, as practised, fc conclusions as to the possible role of ritual murder example, by the Pasupati Sect of Shaivites, t in the cult's rituals. whom the Kapalikas have been historically related. The basis of Kapalika devotion appears to have been bhakti in the form of p.r.onul devotion to SUGGESTIONS FOR MAGICAL WORK Bhairava. If the critics of the cult are to be In considering the question of magical work wit believed, then the foremost method of ritual Bhairava, we might take a bone from the corpse o propitiation of Bhairava was through animal or Kapalika sadhan4 as it were. Intoxicated identifica human sacrifice. It was (and probibly remains) tion with the god through dance, perhaps whils widely believed that a human sacrifice, being visualizing oneself undergoing the forest encounte extremely gratifying to primordial deities such as with the sages and their women would seem to br Bhairava or Candika, removes all transgressions an obvious basis for Bhairava devotion, ending ir from him who makes the offering. Self-sacrifice exhaustion. As in all forms of bhakti, all acts o through austerities, practice of menial and physical will and gnosis may be offered to the god disciplines and occasional self-mutilations, also particularly sexual gnosis. Whilst one may deduct appear to have been practised within the Kapalika from the above that Bhairava devotion requires i cult. Since Bhairava, in the legends, appears to be healthy attitude to sensual hedonism, very much of an ecstatic figure, one might terms of drinking and screwing, itesp"iially i, should be conclude that his worship also inciuded dionysiac rernembered that such elements are not withour revelry. There are also numerous allusions made to their 'initiated' levels of interpretation. The Kapali. the effect that puja employing corpses was part of kas were often characterised as licentious hedonthe cult's practice. Whilst many of these reports are ists, but like many other tantric sects, there was doubtless biased, such practices are well wrthin the much more to them than met the eye. corpus of legends relating to Shiva-Bhairava's love I would_ also suggest that offering oneself (i.e., of corpse-grounds, and the legions of ghouls, ego-complex or core identifications), as sacrifice to spirits, ghosts and demons who attend him therein. Bhairava could become the basis for a monasticism In addition, it is clear that Kapalins practiced based around the deliberate transgression of perSex-magical rites and sought the siddhis (achieve_ sonal taboos and boundaries. In general though, m-ents, i.e., magical powers), through the practices one should avoid too literal an emulation -of of Hatha yoga, and, as already noted, were known Kapalika practices and vows; for one thing, you as sorcerors of much (though often ill-) repute. just can't get the parts these days!

would suggest that the forest myth is central to unravelling the mysteries of Shiva-Bhairava. Danidlou uses this my.th-cycle to draw our attention to the similarity of Shiva's primordial cult and the Dionysian mysteries of ancient Greece. It should also be noted that some Tantric sects have always mocked the practice of extreme austerities br conventional rituals for their own sake, and this is again reflected in Bhairava's testing of the forest sages. Also, like many divine dramas, the conse_ quences of the Lord's acts have wide ramifications. By severing the head of Brahma, Shiva must, in order to expiate his sin, manifest in the world. As a

FINAL THOUGHTS
SOURCES: Indian Mytholog - Jan Knappert The Presence of Siva - Stella Kramrisch Gods of Love and Ecstasy - Alain Dani6lou Gorakhnath and the Kanphata yogis - George Weston Briggs The fopoii"tot and Kala:nrukhas David N. Lorenzen Shiva - Paul Fouce & David Tomecko Tantra - Indra Sinha Indian lYitchcraft - R.N Saletore Narha trAQ - M. Magee

Ever.vthing i s Perni

tte