Yoni

What does yoni mean?

Yoni is the Sanskrit word for the vulva, vagina, and womb. In Hinduism and in tantra it also stands for the source or origin, and the yoni is a sacred symbol of the goddess Shakti. In tantric texts it names the female genitals without a clinical or crude charge.

Where the word yoni comes from

From Sanskrit. The etymological dictionary dates its adoption into English to 1799 and translates it literally as “vulva, womb”, originally the “female sexual principle as an object of veneration”. Beyond the genitals, the word also refers to the source or origin of something, and the English-language encyclopedia lists the womb, the source, and the female reproductive organs as meanings. In Hinduism and in tantra the yoni is also an abstract, non-figurative symbol of the goddess Shakti, with the lingam as the male counterpart; that symbol lives above all in the kaula and tantra practices and in the Shaktism and Shaivism traditions.

Why people use the word yoni

Because it does something that “vagina” and the crude words don’t: it names the female genitals with a positive, sacred charge. For anyone who struggles to talk about it at all, that gives a neutral and respectful word, and in the tantric context it makes room for attention instead of shame. The spiritual charge doesn’t sit well with everyone, though, because yoni is a cultural-religious term and not a medical one; anyone after a plain anatomical word has enough in vulva. In tantra and in sex education the choice still often falls on yoni, precisely because the word brings room and respect where “vagina” keeps its distance.

Where this fits on this site

Are you running into this word because you’re considering a yoni massage? What that is exactly, and how such an appointment runs with me, you can read on the page about tantra. This glossary page only gives the origin and meaning of the word; for the practice you’re welcome to ask your question with no strings attached.

Sources

• Yoni (etymology). Online Etymology Dictionary. Gives the adoption into English around 1799 and the literal translation “vulva, womb”, originally the “female sexual principle as an object of veneration”.
• Yoni. English-language encyclopedia. Gives the meanings womb, source, and female reproductive organs, the role as an abstract symbol of the goddess Shakti with the lingam as counterpart, and the use in the kaula and tantra practices and in Shaktism and Shaivism.

Related terms

Yoni belongs to tantra and Hinduism; that’s where the word comes from. The male counterpart is called lingam and doesn’t have its own page yet.

• Tantra. The tradition this word belongs to, with the distinction between the old teaching and what the West made of it.
• Yoni massage. The slow, attentive massage that takes its name from this word.
• Sexual response cycle. The model of the phases of arousal, which the slow attention of tantra works on.