Learning of left-hand path exaltation of the Feminine Daemonic might lead those of our readers indoctrinated by the omnipresent feminist cant and dogma that slants much modern esoteric thinking to falsely assume that the left-hand path's alternate definition as the Way of Woman allows it to be interpreted as some sort of feminist movement with spiritual trappings. It must be made clear that these mysteries have nothing to do with the politically correct vision of Woman promulgated by most feminist ideologues, nor can ancient magical and initiatory principles be credibly forced to serve any modern political creeds.
The awe-inspiring dark goddess who flows through the sinister current is far removed from the idealized image of the gentle, nurturing pacifist beloved of modern day feminists. The Woman of the Vama Marga does not fit comfortably into the imagined utopia of a wondrous prehistoric matriarchy ruled by wise, peaceful women posited in the wishful thinking of feminist pseudo-historians.
Nor is the left-hand path exaltation of Shakti a mystical argument for the complete equality of men and women – the left-hand path is actually based on a deep recognition of the essential differences between male and female which are central to every aspect of Vama Marga practice. This is in no way a question of inferiority and superiority. It's simply a recognition that the masculine and feminine principles are unique phenomena in their own right. The left-hand path act of sexual alchemy that creates the spiritual androgyne is based on a deliberate conjunction of opposites; such an alchemy would be impossible to achieve if it were conducted between forces that were basically identical, as modern gender politics insists.
One need only behold the manifold Shakti in her form of Kali, blood dripping from her lips, wearing a necklace of decapitated human heads and brandishing a formidable array of death-dealing devices, to understand that the Feminine Daemonic informing the left-hand path is not a poster girl for feminism. Even less is She a suitable role model for the woman who accepts the submissive domesticated roles of traditional wife/mother/daughter. Immensely powerful though Shakti in her many forms may be, it would be a mistake to confuse this feminine strength with feminist jargon of "empowerment"; the left-hand path cannot be politicized so crudely.
The left-hand path principally honors the nightside of femininepower, even in its most extreme bharaivi force of creative destruction.
Shakti is often said, for example, to possess the force unleashed in hurricanes, which are traditionally given women's names. This violent quality can be understood in an archaic sense as the savage she-huntress red of tooth and claw, or in the more up-to-date cosmic energies of devastation witnessed in an atomic explosion. Kali, in one Tantra, is described as "shining with the light of ten million suns, although black in color like a fresh cloud." The Black Light sought by some Islamic heretic sects in Iran, or the Black Flame revered by some modern left-hand path cults in the West can be compared to the dark side of Kali-shakti – she is often described as an all-devouring black flame.