Shiva Lingam

Shiva Lingam

The stones called Shiva lingam are found exclusively in the bed of the Narmada River, (Madhya Pradesh - one of the seven sacred places) in India, and due to water erosion and their continuous rolling in the riverbed, they take on this particular shape. They are collected during the dry season.

The Lingam is the symbol of Creation, its shape is the representation of the power of Shiva (God of the Birth of the Universe in the Hindu religion). The striations of the Stone called “ Yoni” symbolize feminine energy.

The Lingam represents Harmony and Balance of the Soul.

Placed on the 4th Chakra (heart), it helps resolve couple problems as it brings calm, relaxation, joy, peace and love. It removes nervousness.

Dimensions: variable

Characteristics

What it is: The Shiva Lingam is a mixture of Agate, Basalt and Jasper in Quartz, with striations of iron oxides that are thought to be of meteoric origin.

Color: Brown with striations or Black

Use in Crystal Therapy: Fertility, Vitality, Energy

Dreaming of the Shiva Lingam or being attracted to it: Repressed sexual desires, great energy to be expressed in physical activities, desire for fatherhood/motherhood

Where it is found

These stones with a curious appearance are found in the Narmada River (in the central-western region), one of its seven sacred places in India.

The river becomes accessible only in the dry season, during which the Lingam are collected from the riverbed by the few families that have passed down the tradition for centuries. Identifying the finest pieces, they polish them by hand and seal them with a mixture of waxes and oils, according to formulas passed down from generation to generation.

Properties of the Shiva Lingam

The Shiva Lingam contains one of the highest vibrations of all the stones on Earth: it emanates a vibration that purifies all the surrounding space.

The energetic effect of the stone as a whole is the activation of the sacred Kundalini energy that rises along the spine activating the chakras and bringing health and enlightenment, strength and vitality.

The Shiva Lingam is useful for balancing all the energies of the physical body and is highly indicated for problems of infertility and impotence. And it is also a powerful symbol of love: it opens our path towards true love that leads to unity.

It is also excellent for grounding and for meditation as it contains within itself both polarities of Creation.

Lingam and Yoni Symbolism

The stone presents both polarities: its shape represents knowledge and the masculine aspect of creation, while the striations on it symbolize wisdom, the feminine aspect of creation.

Its shape recalls that of the Cosmic Egg from which all creation emerged, a representation of harmony and balance. It is a devotional symbol to Shiva, god of the birth of the Universe in the Hindu religion: the stone is in fact considered his phallus. But “Lingam” also means “The sign“: through Shiva everything is led to consciousness and consequently shown. Through his revealed consciousness he animates manifestation.

In the Hindu tradition we find it almost always associated with the Yoni, which symbolizes the feminine receptacle. Offerings are often made to these altars as an act of blessing the sacred union of masculine and feminine that generate life.

Shiva Lingam Legends

A thousand-year-old tradition holds that these stones increase sexual potency: they are in fact used to treat male impotence, female infertility and other reproductive imbalances.

A very popular legend in India tells that one day the God Shiva accidentally met a group of sages who did not recognize his greatness. Then he transformed into a naked and filthy ascetic and seduced their wives.

Furious, the sages captured him and castrated him, but at the moment his member touched the ground, light shot out from the universe.

At that point the sages understood they were wrong and begged the God to return the light to the world. Shiva agreed, on the condition that from that moment on they would worship him in the form of a Lingam (“Sign“): a phallic symbol always in erection because full of energy.

The worship of the Lingam is still today one of the most widespread in the Shaivite current. In the sanctuaries of the temples dedicated to Shiva, the Lingam is carved inside a cubic altar topped by a feminine emblem that contains it: the Yoni (“Vagina”) which serves as a container and a drain for water.

The altar symbolizes the world born from the union of the two opposite principles embodied by Shiva and Parvati: the Lingam, source of life and intellect, the Yoni symbol of cosmic energy.