In this rich and wide-ranging episode, Derek welcomes Cynthia Abulafia, author of Embodying the Goddess, advocate for goddess lineages, and longtime student of yoga, tantra, non-duality, Sanskrit, and sacred texts. Together, they explore the living presence of the Divine Feminine, the transformational force of Kundalini awakening, and the deeper meaning of Kali as both void and pulsation. Cynthia shares how a powerful Kundalini awakening in her twenties opened her into a long mystical process—one she later came to understand as the movement of the Goddess herself. She describes how Kali entered her life not as an abstract symbol, but as a specific, living doorway into both destruction and liberation. The conversation moves beyond simplified ideas of “the Goddess” and into the paradox of the particular and the universal: how a deity can be both one face of reality and the whole of reality itself.A central theme of the episode is non-duality through a Tantric lens. Cynthia challenges the idea that spiritual realization ends in the void, stillness, or transcendence. Drawing on Tantric Shaivism, Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta, and the Kali traditions, she offers a profound reframing: true non-duality is not only the dissolution of self into emptiness but also the return into life, body, sensation, relationship, and sacred pulsation. Rather than rejecting the body or the world as illusion, Tantra invites us to see embodiment itself as divine.Derek and Cynthia also discuss the limits of modern spirituality’s “transcendence bias”—the tendency to worship stillness while mistrusting the body, emotion, and life-force. Cynthia speaks beautifully about the importance of completing the circle: moving from personal identity into liberation, and then back into the body with reverence. The episode also explores Cynthia’s devotional and ritual life. She shares her framework of being encoded, embodied, and embedded: encoded through ancestry, embodied through soul and karmic memory, and embedded in the land, culture, and time in which we live. This becomes a powerful invitation to practice ritual with curiosity, ethics, reverence, and relationship.This episode is a deep dive into Kali, Kundalini, Tantra, non-duality, sacred texts, ritual, spiritual crisis, and the return of the Divine Feminine—not as an idea, but as a living, pulsing reality moving through the body, the world, and the heart.Connect with Cynthiahttps://www.cynthiaabulafia.com/https://www.instagram.com/cynthiaabulafiayoga/00:00 Introduction to the Divine Feminine Journey04:10 Personal Awakening and the Goddess Connection06:57 The Shift from Analytical to Spiritual Perspectives09:56 Exploring Non-Duality and the Goddess12:52 Faith, Curiosity, and the Nature of Reality15:43 Understanding Kali and Her Many Forms18:31 Non-Duality: Perspectives and Philosophies21:12 The Intersection of Pulsation and Stillness23:47 Tantra and the Dynamic Nature of Existence33:37 The Power of Naming and Perception34:31 The Journey of Spiritual Traditions35:40 Death and Dying in Spiritual Practices38:29 The Concept of Mahasamadhi41:00 The Spiral of Existence43:21 Kundalini Awakening Experiences51:33 The Role of Sacred Texts57:17 Devotional Practices and Rituals01:06:32 End Clip Youtube.mp4Connect with Derek:curamedicina.cominstagram.com/cura_medicina_podcastderek {@} curamedicina.comDerek's Books on Amazon:Ayahuasca: A Beginner's GuideSacred Geometry and Patterns of Divine DesignHapé Sacred Tobacco: Plant Medicine Ally From The Amazon RainforestSubscribe & Review Please take a moment to subscribe to the podcast and leave us a review on your favorite platform. See all platforms.My Vision & PrayerMay all beings be happy.May all beings be free.May all beings find their way home.~ Om Mani Padme Hum
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