Shakti in Hinduism

Shakti is a Sanskrit word that means power, strength, energy.
It is the primordial cosmic energy and represents the dynamic forces that are thought to move through the entire universe in Hinduism.
It represents the creative feminine force, the Great Divine Mother, the female energy, and embodies the active energy and power of male deities.

Shakti most actively manifests through female embodiment and creativity or fertility, though it is also present in males in its potential, unmanifest form. It is often associated in modern times to Shiva, the male energy.

Shakti is also the name of a goddess who is the wife of Indra, the king of gods and Lord of Heaven in Vedic mythology of ancient India.

In tantra-yoga, shakti refers to kundalini, a powerful vital energy represented as a snake, which awakes through the practice of meditation and rises along the spine from the sacrum bone to the tip of the skull, from one of the seven chakras to another, in ordre to harmonize them one by one.