Outside the West, the Kundalini tradition presents a model of the ‘divine feminine’ beyond binary gender

A piece of art shows the tantric tradition's depiction of Kundalini and energy centers – or chakras. Tantrika painting/Wellcome Collection, CC BY

The notion of the divine feminine is a recurring motif in American pop culture, playing with the assumptions people make when referring to God – often the deity described in the Bible – as “He.”

Whether it’s Alanis Morissette’s iconic portrayal of God in the 1999 comedy “Dogma” or Ariana Grande’s titular declaration in her 2018 track “God is a Woman,” the effect is the same: a mixture of irreverence and empowerment. It dovetails, moreover, with a ubiquitous political slogan: “The future is female.”