Get our free newsletter with mantras, meditations, event updates & more...
Sha'can: The Tradition
With roots deep in ancient consciousness, and a lineage of worship that has lived for millennia in the hearts of humanity, we at SHARANYA honor Goddess, She who facilitates our fullest spiritual journey by taking us to the root of our yearning. Ours is truly the path of the bhakta (devotee) of the Divine, who treasures the temple of this world as vehicle for spiritual healing and ultimate bliss. Sha'can brings together authentic ancient traditions manifest in both East and West, sanctifying embodied spirituality and bringing it to life today. We believe an integral approach to spirituality will best help us to achieve our mission and vision.
Sha'can is a tradition based on the tenets of the Craft (commonly referred to as Wicca) and the Shakta path (Goddess-worshipping path of Hindu Tantra). Because we weave together the path of the Shakta and the Witch, we call the tradition Sha'can. This groundbreaking tradition deeply honors its lineages in the East and West, and embraces old and new wisdom. For some of our history, click here. To see more on Shakta Tantra and its emergence in the West, as well as the relevance of Sha'can, click here.
"As we neared the end of that day, I attended some of the most memorable events of the weekend. Kali Maa: Tradition, Devotion and Puja...rocked my world. We chanted [S]anskrit syllables together, learned some new devotions and met the Great Mother Kali Maa with a priestess that is so devoted that she glows with it. What a gift! What an experience! We left that rite fairly buzzing..." - Carrie, speaking about SHARANYA at PantheaCon2007
We at SHARANYA are dedicated to promoting a vision of the world as global community, wherein all individuals exist as part of the divine matrix, each person necessary for the fulfillment of some viable goal. We share our work with you and hope that regardless of your personal spiritual path, you will join us in our efforts to celebrate life, create peace and to bridge the worlds of East and West.
The way into the Sha'can tradition is participation in our monthly pujas (click here for our calendar), or through our Daughters of Kali program, which accepts new members each summer. To learn more about the Daughters of Kali program, visit our Daughters of Kali page.
We are also currently working on a book and distance learning program to enable those outside the San Francisco Bay Area to join the Sha'can path in an authentic and guided way. We look forward to welcoming you to our community soon!
If you are in the Bay Area, come join us! All are welcome to attend monthly pujas and celebrate the divine Mother, Goddess Kali. For an introduction to Kali Puja, click here and learn more about what we do. You can also listen to some of the puja celebration and join us in chanting...
Certainly, whether you live inside or outside the Bay Area, you are welcome to join us for one of our special events, sit in on classes, and join us on sacred pilgrimage. Especially significant is our work each year taking spiritual seekers to India. Since 2001, those looking to explore the sacred sites of goddess and Tantrick India have joined us.
Pilgrimage offers those open to Goddess an opportunity to discover Her mysteries more deeply and sweetly. Each voyage invites the devotee to delve deeper into her or his spiritual path, expand horizons, learn first-hand about living Goddess traditions, and experience the history and culture of the birthplace of Tantra. If you join us, you will access and visit temples and spiritual sites otherwise hard to reach, gaining entrance to a world often off-limits to foreign visitors. Come with us to meet priests, tantricks, women adepts, and spiritual seekers devoted to Devi and the Divine Mother. For more information on our pilgrimages, see our schedule of pilgrimages.
OUR COVENANT...
I. Sa'ham (She I am): I am the Goddess manifest; I recognize Her in all of Creation.
II. I remember all that is, was and ever will be. Live the present moment, honor the ancestors, respect the future generations; time is not linear, but travels in a sacred spiral that spans all of existence.
III. I provoke, invoke and live the Divine Will. Commit to transforming yourself, your community and the planet by doing the work of spirituality; make your practice that of the awakened mystic in our time.
Evam Astu! So mote it be!
\
Structure in the Tradition
The Sha'can tradition offers many opportunities for the neophyte as well as the initiate on the path to practice, worship, learn, deepen, and cultivate spiritual leadership. At SHARANYA, those seeking an understanding of and way into Sha'can begin with Daughters of Kali. Those who receive initiation are welcomed into the Kaula, or family of initiates. Initiates in the tradition are then able to work in two main chakras or spiritual circles: Yogini Chakra, and Matrika Chakra. You may visit this page to find out more detailed information and requirements for each level of engagement.
For those who wish to delve deeper upon completing a year-and-a-day with Daughters of Kali, initiation is possible. This is a decision come to only after deep personal reflection, commitment, and dedicated work on the path. After initiation, many choose to further deepen study and practice in our ongoing circle of initiates, the Yogini Chakra. Many in our community stay in this circle, becoming mentors and elders in community.
From this place, it is also possible to continue the journey, working toward ordination and recognition as full clergy: the Rashani and Rashana of Sha'can. This path is available to any committed seeker. Visit our ordination information to find out more detailed information and requirements for each level of engagement and commitment in Sha'can.
An overview of Daughters of Kali and the initiate circles follows:
Daughters of Kali
Objective: To develop personal practice within Sha'can and deepen worship of the Dark Goddess; to gain basic techniques and understandings through learning of cosmology, practice, language, and ritual in the tradition that help guide spiritual development.
Some of what you will learn:
The history and foundation of Sha'can
Cosmology and cosmogony of the tradition
Principles of Tantra and Shakta Tantra
History and context for worship of Kali and other Hindu goddesses
Mantras to ground material and work with deities
Foundations of ritual work (purification, invocations, etc.)
Components of the Kali Puja - I
Foundations of individual practice (grounding and centering, spell work, divination, energy work, creating sacred space, meditation, etc.)
Examples of some Tantrick techniques, concepts, and practices taught:
Pranayama
Akshara nyasa
Japa
Mudra
Chakras
Koshas
Yogini Chakra
Objective: Deepened personal practice and greater breadth of spiritual technologies in pursuit of personal spiritual goals.
Some of what you will learn (in addition to deepening work with material presented in DoK):
Mantras appropriate to this level of practice
Integration of western and eastern ritual techniques
Components of Kali Puja - II
Yantras - I (creation, worship as deity, protection)
Introduction to panchatattva chakra puja
Kundalini yoga practices
Advanced pranayama
Examples of some Tantrick techniques, concepts, and practices taught:
Prana pratishtha
Kara nyasa and other nyasa practices
Introduction to yoga nidra
NOTE: Initiates may remain in Yogini Chakra for as long as they wish. Initiates are considered elders in community once they have participated in Yogini Chakra for two years.
Matrika Chakra
Objective: Engagement of spirituality in the larger community/world. Learning and mastery of more intricate spiritual technologies for realization of S/self, facilitation of relationships, personal growth, and deepened connection with the Divine.
What you will learn (in addition to deepening work and teaching of material offered in Yogini):
Increased engagement with the Sacred Male / Divine Masculine
Mantras appropriate to this level of practice
Sanskrit (for those wishing to do so)
Advanced yoga nidra
Deepened practice incorporating Tantrick ritual techniques and some of the more shamanic practices of the tradition (this means working toward deeper understandings of the divine through: i) structured and guided meditations that promote individual awakening; and ii) practical techniques for navigating spiritual territory when in altered states of consciousness induced through breathwork, chanting, and other methods)
Examples of some Tantrick techniques, concepts, and practices taught:
Sha'can: The Tradition
Sha'can is a tradition based on the tenets of the Craft (commonly referred to as Wicca) and the Shakta path (Goddess-worshipping path of Hindu Tantra). Because we weave together the path of the Shakta and the Witch, we call the tradition Sha'can. This groundbreaking tradition deeply honors its lineages in the East and West, and embraces old and new wisdom. For some of our history, click 
