Vajrayogini

Vajrayogini is a female meditational deity in Vajrayana Buddhism. Vajrayogini can appear as the tantric consort of Chakrasamvara, or as an independent deity and an embodiment of power in female form. Vajrayogini is depicted as a red, semi-wrathful dakini wearing bone-ornaments of the charnel grounds, bearing small fangs, often drinking blood from a skull-cup. An important form/emanation of Vajrayogini is Vajravarahi, “The Vajra-Sow,” readily identifiable by the sow’s head projecting from her own, which is symbolism related to the rooting out of the ego. Machik Labdron (1055–1153), one of the most prominent female masters in Tibetan Buddhism, is believed to be and often represented as an emanation of Vajrayogini.