Shiva and Shakti the Consciousness and Energy
According to sources from spiritual side Lord Shiva symbolizes consciousness, the masculine principle. Goddess Shakti symbolizes the feminine principle, the activating power and energy. Whenever a power becomes active, and wherever energy exists, Shakti is working. Other terms for these primal principles are purusha and prakriti; Purusha is consciousness and Prakriti is nature.
Lord Shiva is generally portrayed holding a trident, which represents the trinity of Īshwara, Purusha and Prakriti. Shakti (or Prakriti) means energy, power, movement, change, nature. It is the maternal principle the provider, abundance. In the human as well as in the animal kingdom the mother offers nourishment, warmth and security. There is no greater love than the love of a mother. The mother carries and nourishes the child in her own body. When it is born she provides it with mother’s milk and raises it at the sacrifice of her own self until it becomes self-reliant.
Shiva (or Purusha), on the other hand, is pure
consciousness the unchanging, unlimited and unswayable observer. Purusha has no
desires whatsoever; these are inherent only in Prakriti. Purusha is the empty,
clear screen onto which Prakriti projects her colorful film.