Olympic Tantra

     Central to tantra is the use of ritual and the most ancient rituals are fire rituals.  It seems from reports, that the Olympic torch being carried around the UK has been very moving for many who saw it; the power of it taking them by surprise. Lingam which literally means "mark" or "sign" is often translated as "wand of light" as well as its meaning as phallus or penis. It is both phallic and has all the symbolism of fire within it. 


     In the original myth connected to the Olympics it commemorates the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus. In modern times for each Olympics it is lit from the sun in Greece by eleven women representing the Vestal virgins.


     In Britain, after a trip around the country it is brought to the site in a boat driven by David Beckham and a woman at the front guarding the flame; the divine couple. It is then used to light seven flames, which could represent the seven chakras. The seven young athletes then light petals; the end of a spiral and the flame then travels around this spiral; (sadly more than the three and a half turns that traditionally the serpent as the Kundalini is coiled in the base of the spine). The petals then rise up to create the magnificent cauldron of flames.


     The divine couple activate the seven chakras which awakens the kundalini dormant in the base chakra. It rises up and transforms the whole body with the fire in the belly and the chalice of the pelvis being reflected in the fire of transformation in the crown chakra - a many petalled lotus of flames. 
    
 Truly the ancient archetypes are alive and well in the human psyche. In tantra we learn to use ritual and the fires of the body in a conscious  way for transformation. Have a great summer. Namaste.