Keyline Design Institute
Research and Education in Keyline Design Practices and Concepts
Keyline design is similiar to Permaculture Design yet with specific to broad-acre scale and water and soil restoration. We are undergoing the new formation of a Keyline Design Institute for North America, This group is for all those who have in their hearts and minds the need for Keyline Design Techniques. We are hoping to engage and instigate this conversa ...learn more
GROUP DETAILS
Created: Sep 26, 2007
Updated: Nov 27, 2009
Membership: Open
Semi-Private
Chandra Alexandre
chandramaa
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About
Chandra Alexandre is an Inner Council member and the Founder of SHARANYA, serving as the President of the corporation and its Executive Director. She is Rashani (clergy) and a spiritual leader of the community.
A long-time practitioner and Priestess of The Craft, Chandra received her initial initiation into women's mysteries from her grandmother, a lineage carrier in the Old Tradition. A native of New York, Chandra was also a founding member of New Moon-New York and the first Editor of Our Pagan Times. She has built on these beginnings and learnings in the vibrant New York community for her work in SHARANYA.
Chandra received diksha (initiation) on August 2, 1998 into the Shakta tradition (dakshinacara marga) at the Maa Batakali Cultural Mission (a Kali mandir) in Puri (Orissa) from Shyam Sundar Dash, a Priest of Kali and founder of the temple. She first accepted the Sanātana Dharma and was then brought before Maa Kali to make her commitment and receive formal initiation. Chandra continues to work with both East and West in her practice and facilitates community evolution of the syncretism of faith called Sha'can...A Western Shakta Tantra.
Her second diksha and connection to her spiritual ancestors occurred in Assam at Kamakhya Mandir on June 26, 2003 during the festival of the goddess' menstruation, called Ambubachi. There, her initiation was into non-dualistic Tantra (vamacara marga) by an Aghori adept affectionately called "Babaji" (respected father). With these formal initiations, Chandra therefore carries two Tantrick lineages as well as the pre-Christian lineage of her grandmother into her work at SHARANYA.
Chandra is a graduate of the Women's Spirituality Master's Program and a doctorate holder in Philosophy & Religion from The California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) with a concentration in Asian & Comparative Studies (Hinduism). She also holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Wisdom University in Oakland, focusing on bringing Spirit to the workplace. In alignment with her commitment to future generations and the importance of spiritual capital, Chandra additionally holds an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio School of Management.
Since 2002, she has taught courses on the Dark Goddess and Divine Female through the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto. Chandra is also adjunct faculty at Wisdom University in Oakland (teaching Pathways of the Priestess there this summer), and has offered workshops through the CIIS Lifelong Learning Program in San Francisco. She is also an annual lecturer at The Cultural Integration Fellowship offering talks on the Dasa Mahavidyas (2007) and Yoga Nidra (2009) and has spoken at the United Religions Initiative Gathering of Blessings at the Presidio Interfaith Chapel.
In India, Chandra is an active voice in Women's Sahayog in Kolkata (Calcutta), and since 1998, a yearly visitor to the Indian states of Assam, Orissa and West Bengal, the heartland of Tantra, where she participates in worship, offers lectures and project work, explores the inner landscapes with her teachers, and deepens scholarly research. She is committed to the work of alliance building among spiritual communities, development of Shakta Tantra, the evolution of Sha'can, and education to eradicate erroneous beliefs about South Asia and its religious faiths.
In addition to guiding the community, Chandra conducts spiritual counseling sessions for those interested in furthering their own personal growth and development, with all contributions going directly to SHARANYA's temple fund. She leads annual pilgrimage tours to India and performs rites and other life-event ceremonies for community in the Bay Area. In addition to other publications, lectures, and articles available here, her dissertation from CIIS, titled Through Vulture's Eye-With Peacock's Tail: A Western (Eco)Feminist Engagement with Kali and The Black Madonna as Antinomian Agents of Transformation in a Patriarchal World, may be explored online.
we were once the priests and priestesses of a peasant Pagan religion.
Members of this secret sect met at night beneath the full moon,
for these were the "misfits" and "outcasts" who did not fit into mainstream society.
Little has changed over the centuries and the Witchcraft community still embraces
individuals frequently rejected in mainstream society.
These include gays, lesbians, transgendered individuals,
and other people with the courage to live their lives authentically
in accord with who they are inside their hearts, minds, and spirits.
Raven Grimassi