After eons of warring, the Devas and Asuras joined forces to churn the Ocean of Milk. As the churning rod, they used Mount Meru, with the Serpent wrapped around it. When the mountain began to sink, Vishnu took the form of a tortoise and swam beneath it, lifting and holding it steady on his back. The churning resumed. The tortoise was tickled by the mountain’s scraping against his shell.

Shakti is the flow of energy that surrounds us everywhere and within. Kali is a specific deified form of Shakti. Our ability to channel this flow lies coiled at the base of the spine, appearing as the Serpent. To churn the body and reveal the gifts of the universe, Light and Dark must join forces around a spine strong as a mountain yet flexible enough to be churned. You and I have seen this body-churning again and again through many forms of hip- and belly-based dances.

If the Serpent tries to rise up without a stable, steady, weighty Tortoise at the base of the belly—holding our center of gravity down and anchoring us in reality—we float into a fantastical, delusional, hallucinatory space, experienced as “insanity” or by other Western psychiatric labels. Traumatic experiences channel more flow of energy into the base and the body than the body is ready to handle. Yet they give a glimpse. Through a steady, stable churning, the Serpent rises to channel all Shakti into Nothingness.

The tickled experience of the Tortoise hints at the inherent pleasant nature of the spiritual journey. At times it may not seem so, but that’s the work—to orient toward the pleasantness and the joy.