To be (born) or not to be (born)

[Guest guest]

I have a question that has been on my mind after reading many

posts on the message board. An excerpt of The Chalice and the

Blade (on the Shakta reading list) made me think of this, too, and

I'm interested in knowledgeable Shakta feedback. My question:

is the ultimate "goal" of Shaktism to not be born anymore?

 

In The Chalice and the Blade, there is a description of an earlier

goddess-oriented society and its burial rights: they placed the

dead among cowrie shells covered with red ochre, believed to

symbolize the yoni, and menstrual blood. This is believed to

have encouraged rebirth of the dead person's spirit, a desireable

outcome in that culture's belief system. That sounds the

opposite what I have read of rising above emotions and

thoughts, etc. and becoming one with divine consciousness in

Hindu religions, which leads (to my understanding) to the

ultimate goal of not being born anymore, in order to avoid

suffering.

 

I plan to read Encountering the Goddess: a translation of the

Devi Mahatmya, which may answer my question, but thought I'd

ask the group members for their understandings, too, in case

there is more than one view on this topic.