LEADER 03314nam 2200589 a 450 001 9910955540003321 005 20251116153446.0 010 0 $a9780195347135 010 0 $a0195347137 010 $a0-19-516791-0 010 $a9786610560356 010 $a1-4237-5659-2 010 $a0-19-029056-0 010 $a1-280-56035-5 010 $a0-19-534713-7 010 $a0-19-984997-8 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC7036436 035 $a(CKB)24235110900041 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC281074 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL281074 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10263672 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL56035 035 $a(OCoLC)64685459 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL7036436 035 $a(EXLCZ)9924235110900041 100 $a20030425d2004 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aOffering flowers, feeding skulls $epopular goddess worship in West Bengal /$fJune McDaniel 210 $aNew York $cOxford University Press$d2004 215 $ax, 356 p 311 08$a9780195167900 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [341]-352) and index. 327 $aIntro -- Contents -- Notes on Transliteration -- Introduction -- 1. Folk Shaktism: Life with the Goddess -- 2. Tantric and Yogic Shaktism: Knowledge of the Goddess's Ways -- 3. Shakta Bhakti: Devotion to the Goddess -- 4. The Great Bhakti Goddesses of West Bengal: Durga and Kali -- 5. Shaktism and the Modern West: Kundalini Vacations and Tantric Honeymoons -- 6. Conclusions -- Notes -- Diacritical List -- Bibliography -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y. 330 $aIn Offering Flowers, Feeding Skulls, June McDaniel provides an exhaustive, accessibly written overview of Bengali goddess worship or Shakti. McDaniel identifies three major forms of goddess worship, and examines each through its myths, folklore, songs, rituals, sacred texts, and practitioners.She traces these strands through Bengali culture and explores how they are interwoven with each other as well as with other forms of Hinduism and other forms of religion. McDaniel also discusses how Shakti practices have been reinterpreted in the West, where goddess worship has gained the values ofsexual freedom and psychological healing, but lost its emphases on devotion and asceticism. She takes the reader inside the lives of practicing Shaktas, including religious professionals, hymn singers, philosophers, visionaries, gurus, and even a businessman, and offers vivid descriptions of theirrituals, practices, and daily lives. Drawing on years of fieldwork and extensive research, McDaniel paints a rich, expansive portrait of this fascinating religious tradition. 606 $aKali (Hindu deity)$xCult$zIndia$zWest Bengal 606 $aShaktism$zIndia$zWest Bengal 607 $aWest Bengal (India)$xReligious life and customs 615 0$aKali (Hindu deity)$xCult 615 0$aShaktism 676 $a294.5/514/095414 700 $aMcDaniel$b June$0859255 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910955540003321 996 $aOffering flowers, feeding skulls$94399327 997 $aUNINA