Shiva and Shakti are opposites yet they never exist in isolation from one another.  Parama-Shiva is the single-pointed, undifferentiated "pool" of existence that preceded the creation of the phenomenal universe.  At that point the Shakti energy existed in perfect union with Parama-Shiva.  The two are wrapped in a close, tight embrac; there is no understanding of where one ends and the other begins.  When consciousness is added to the "pool", Parama-Shiva becomes separated into two halves - Shiva and Shakti.  Shiva, the masculine half contains every possibility and potential in a state of still, unbroken consciousness. Shakti is the creative, female energy that causes movement and creates opposites.  Much like a mirror, the Shakti energy allows the still, all-encompassing Shiva energy to begin to see and understand its own inherent depth of possibility.  Shiva is the raw material for everything in the universe.  Shakti is the power that moulds that raw material into the sensual universe we know and love.  There is no Shiva without Shakti and no Shakti without Shiva.

Shiva of course also refers to the many armed god who is part of the Hindu trinity which also includes Brahma and Vishnu.  Within the trinity Shiva is the destroyer (Brahma is the creator and Vishnu is the preserver) but to followers of Shiva represents all three - creation, preservation and destruction - represented by the three-pronged trident always by his side.  Many stories of Shiva tell of his solitary life of meditation, contemplation and utter absorption in the oneness of all things.  He is praised as the first and ultimate 'yogi' - master of yoga in all its facets.  But Shiva does not remain alone forever.  Eventually Parvati finds Shiva and through many trials and tribulations becomes both his student and his wife.  It is through the Shakti of his wife that Shiva transforms from a solitary, powerful (and sometimes wrathful) god to a more tolerant, compassionate and loving god-man.  She becomes his mirror so that he may know the full extent of himself and his power as a god.

Shiva and Shakti remind us not only of the obvious opposites in the universe - black and white, male and female, love and hate - but also of the fact that those opposites are only known (and able to exist) through the reflection of the other.  We can not know ourselves in solitude.  But through community with other like-minded seekers and communion with the divine we can at least begin down the path of deeper understanding and knowledge of our true, perfect, undivided Selves.