Tripura-Bhairavi (the fierce one in the 3 spheres) comes from before time, can take the form of the sun, and can dissolve the world as fire. She is the consort of Bhairava (a fierce form of Siva). In general, she is not thought of as a consort, but is independent of the gods and transcends them. While she is capable of exciting great passion, she is said to control passion as well. She is revealer and teacher, conferring the power of awakened consciousness that is cultivated in tantric spiritual practice. As all phenomena are in a dance of creation and dissolution, Bhairavi is present everywhere, implicitly offering revelation and awakened consciousness in this context. She is imaged with the crescent moon on her forehead.