ABOUT LAURA
Laura "Ambikā" Amazzone, M.A. is an author, teacher, priestess, and Yogini. Her book, Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power, shows how Durga and Her myriad expressions in ancient myth and contemporary ritual are a living, transformative power that is completely relevant to our daily lives—and a much-needed guide in these shifting times.
Laura has been teaching Shakta Tantra, Shakta Sadhana and Goddess traditions for over 20 years.
Laura has published numerous articles in academic journals and anthologies in the fields of Tantrism, Hinduism and Women’s Spirituality. She has also contributed entries to the Encyclopedia on Hinduism (eds. James Ryan and Connie Jones), a three volume Encyclopedia of Goddessses in World Culture (ed. Patricia Monaghan), an Encyclopedia on Women in Religion: Faith and Culture Across History (ed. de Gaia) and to the online Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion (Springer).
Laura wrote about the Ashta Matrikas and Navadurga for a Festshrift for David Kinsley, Sacred Geography of Goddesses in South Asia (ed. Rana P.B. Singh, Cambridge Press).
You can also find Laura's work on Durgā in Mandy Ingber's Yogalosophy for Inner Strength, and on "Goddess, Beading and Bleeding" (Menstruation) in She is Everywhere Volume 1 (ed. Birnbaum) and on the "Fijian Kava Ceremony: An Ancient Menarche Ritual" in She is Everywhere Volume II. She has a chapter on Matriarchy in Feminine Reformation: A Goddess Meta Narrative (ed. Jayne DeMente).
She has written articles for the Religion section of the Huffington Post, for Our Inner Lives, a microsite of Feminist.com, and articles on Yantras as well as the Goddess Annapurna for Tarka, an online and print publication with Embodied Philosophy. Her articles at the online Sutra Journal: A Curated Journal on Art, Culture and Drama, include: Yoginis: Past and Present, Akhilandeshwari: The Power of Brokenness; the Ashta Matrikas
Check out her article, Hungarian Shamanism & Shakta Tantrism in Nepal, originally published on Sutra Journal and republished at Embodied Philosophy.
Laura is excited to currently be finishing a book on the Ashta (8) Matrikas, a collective form of Goddess Durga in the Shakta Tantra and Shri Vidya traditions. This passion project has been over ten years in the making and draws from several decades of scholarship, experience, Shakta Tantric practices, and pilgrimages to the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal.
Laura has taught in the Yoga Philosophy programs at Loyola Marymount University and online at Embodied Philosophy. She offers classes, rituals, seminars and sadhanas on the Goddesses, history and ritual practices of the Kaula, Shakta and Tantra traditions for groups and individuals.
Laura received her Degriefing:Integrative Grief Therapy (I.G.T.) certification from Dr. Lyn Prashant and Yoga for Grief Relief Certification from Antonio Sausys in the fall of 2013.
Her intuitive, grief, and spiritual counseling sessions are available via Zoom, Skype, or phone.
Laura has been initiated into the Shakta Kaula, Shri Vidya and Kashmir Trika Shaivism Tantric lineages from various teachers in India, Nepal & the US. Today she studies with a Master Yogini adept of the Kaula and Samaya Shri Vidya lineages.
If you are interested in receiving information about an authentic undiluted lineage-based Sadhana within Shakta Tantra and Shri Vidya, Please contact Laura at shaktasadhanas@gmail.com
Laura enjoys sharing her depth of knowledge and decades of experience of Goddess from cultures around the world as well as sadhanas (practices) and rituals that promote spiritual empowerment and divine embodiment.
JAI MAA ~Victory and Reverence to Goddess!
