Mother Divine Victory is at Hand!

Tomorrow is the concluding day of Navaratri.

The story of Navaratri tells how the best of the best gave their all to endow Mother Divine with weapons and tools for the grand battle. Her Bow and Arrow, Discus, Thunderbolt, and Trident were manifested from the collective and universal good, intelligence, right duty, and vigilance. These weapons were forged in the fire of faith and courage. 

Mother Divine battled for nine days and nights against myriad demons. Every demon she smote sprang back up ten-fold, hundred-fold, thousand-fold! Still, she battled on from deeper and deeper levels of her own inexhaustible force of Everything until there was stillness, calm, and peace. 

Who were those demons? Mother Divine fought against the demons who are our very own weaknesses, greed, egoisms, and ignorances. She won over the legions of our fear, disgrace, and our every ineptitude  and sin. When was this battle waged? It was waged long ago, it is waged now, and forevermore, and whenever it needs to be fought. There will always be victory over ignorance and there will always be Divine Mother's valiant grace and protection. 

Visit ShivaMandir.org to learn about our local Navarati celebration in Denver, CO. USA!

May your heart be filled with the blessings of Mother Divine this Spring!

Navaratri, the Nine Days of Mother Divine, March 21st-28th 2015

   The Spring celebration of Divine Mother is now underway. Navaratri or the Nine Days of Mother Divine is a most auspicious time for devotional practice and meditation. Observing Navaratri increases and material well-being. Nava means nine, ratri means night. Navaratri is nine nights or “lunar days” long.

   Navaratri is celebrated at by many different traditions depending on local customs, but wherever it is celebrated, each night of the festival builds in energy, exuberance and devotion until the grand finale: the Day of Victory (Vijaya Dashami). Victory Day refers to Mother Divine vanquishing the enemy - which is egoism - after nine continuous days of battle.

    Throughout the world, Navaratri is celebrated at the change of seasons. By some traditions it is celebrated one time a year in the Fall. In other traditions it is celebrated twice yearly, during the Fall and Spring. In still other traditions it is celebrated during all four seasons, four times a year. 

    At the change of seasons, the laws of nature are shifting and the climatic and solar influences are in transition. These shifts in the seasons are wonderful opportunities for shifts in consciousness and spiritual growth. By honoring Mother Divine at these junctures in time, we are using the intelligence inherent in nature to optimize our spiritual growth and our connection to the Divine Mother.

    During these days of Navaratri, it is an ideal time to appreciate nature and increase our devotional practices. Take a walk today and notice the new signs of Spring. Then thank your Divine Mother for her beautiful creation.

Shiva Sai Mandir is observing Navaratri with pujas

 every from 6 to 6:30 pm and a 

Victory Day Celebration on 

Saturday, March 28 from 7 to 9 pm. 

You are warmly invited to attend!

Click here for more details 

about our Navaratri observances.

                Happy Navaratri!

                              Shiva Sai Mandir
                         1391 S. Pennsylvania St.
                            Denver, CO 80210

                          ShivaMandir.org

Your Mother is Coming and She is Bringing a Wild Surprise!

   This year, 2015, the Spring observance of the Nine Days of Mother Divine 

(Vasant Navaratri) is marked with rare astronomical occurrences.

  

   This New Moon (which immediately precedes Navaratri) is a Super Moon. A Super Moon is when the Moon is at its closest orbital point to the earth. The gravitational pull of this Super Moon will profoundly affect the Earth and her oceans, possibly causing unusual tidal events and power outages.

   This Super Moon will be coming between the Sun and the earth, blocking the Sun’s direct light to the earth - a solar eclipse. The eclipse will not be visible in the USA; it will be visible in Norway and parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. This happens just as the days and nights of the earth are equal in duration – which is the equinox, the astrological marker of the Spring season. The convergence of all these events happening at one time is extremely rare.

   So what is the spiritual and energetic significance of these events? Navaratri is a sacred time. Spring Navaratri or Vasant Navaratri is a time of rebirth and new growth. Navaratri is nine lunar days (moonrise to moonset) set aside to celebrate nature and renew our relationship with our Divine Mother.

   This Vasant Navaratri commences under the influence of a solar eclipse that is amplified by a Super Moon. The energetic influence of this eclipse will be directly impacting for six months and diminishing gradually after that. It will bring sweeping changes. The old systems, institutions, patterns and perspectives will collapse and fall away -- to be replaced by rebirth and new growth. 

   During the transition, relationships will change and conflicts may potentially increase. The consequences of whatever decisions and actions humans will take in the coming six months will be especially intensified. Avoid beginning any new endeavors or making any contractual agreements from March 18^th through March 22^nd. This is an unstable period of time. Use the next 10 days (through March 28th) for deepened spiritual practices and introspection to make the most of this extremely rare and powerful time. This is an opportunity to set a new trajectory for maximum spiritual evolution.

Actual times (MDT, GMT -6), Friday, March 20, 2015: 

Eclipse: 1:41 am

New Moon: 3:36 am

Equinox: 8:45 am

Vasant Navaratri (adjusted times for North America):

March 21st - 28th

Visit ShivaMandir.Org for info on our local Navaratri celebrations in Denver, CO!

This is the Celebration of Mother's Final Victory in the Epic War

Today is the concluding day of Navaratri.

This is the celebration of Mother's final victory in the epic war. This ancient story is told in many lands and in many ways. The story tells how the best of the best gave their all to endow Mother Divine with weapons and tools for the grand battle. Her Bow and Arrow, Discus, Thunderbolt, and Trident were manifested from the collective and universal good, intelligence, right duty, and vigilance. These weapons were forged in the fire of faith and courage. 

Mother Divine battled for nine days and nights against myriad demons. Every demon she smote sprang back up ten-fold, hundred-fold, thousand-fold! Still, she battled on from deeper and deeper levels of her own inexhaustible force of Everything until there was stillness, calm, and peace. 

Who were those demons? Mother Divine fought against the demons who are our very own weaknesses, greed, egoisms, and ignorances. She won over the legions of our fear, disgrace, and our every ineptitude  and sin. When was this battle waged? It was waged long ago, it is waged now, and forevermore, and whenever it needs to be fought. There will always be victory over ignorance and there will always be Divine Mother's valiant grace and protection. 

...among deep thunder sounds,
you sit above kings and queens,  
having no fear, champion over all,
     you are fate, and the fiery mother of destiny,
never born or dying, you are continuous life
     and know what comes.
You are the Great Plenum, and you alone give birth.
Holy Mother, we pray you in this season lead us
onto peace and health and increase of good things.  

--Orphic Hymn from The Soul is Here for its Own Joy: Sacred Poems from Many Cultures (Robert Bly)

The Divine Mother Makes Her Appearances on Earth

White Buffalo Calf Woman, Original artwork above by Rogue Guirey Simpson, 1992

On this eight day of Navaratri, we consider Divine Mother's embodiments, her appearances on earth in story and as sacred woman.

Mother is an inherent and inseparable part of creation. The glory of the natural world is her raiment. Her visage can be seen in the faces of people; the fragility, the fierceness and the tenderness of all humanity is there. For all peoples, cultures, and throughout history, she has also moved amongst us, making Herself known. Often, she will take form. She may appear as a beautiful woman, not even recognized as the entity she is. There are many stories which illustrate this. She becomes embodied in order to teach and to give blessings or boons.

One embodiment of Divine Mother that has been told of again and again is that of White Buffalo Woman. Below follows one of her tales:

It was a winter morning, and two hunters on their hunt saw a beautiful woman approaching. She was in buckskin that was pure white and she carried a small pack. One of the men saw only a beautiful woman and immediately began lusting after her. His partner told him to stop having such thoughts because it was obvious that she was a "wakan" or holy woman. 

The woman came close, put down her bundle and asked the lustful man to speak with her. He came close, and all of a sudden, a great cloud enveloped the two of them. When the cloud disappeared, the woman stood there with a pile of bones at her feet which were being cleaned off of flesh by snakes. 

This story, according to the Lakota Holy Man, Black Elk, teaches how our thoughts should be considered and measured and disciplined because worldly passions can consume us entirely. 


To many, the stories about White Buffalo Woman are seen as ways of living, guideposts to spirituality, and ways of honoring community, and the environment. In fact, White Buffalo Woman has been told to have brought seven sacred rites to the Oglala Sioux, that support those very things.

This Darkness, Take It! Lift the Veil, Mother!

Statue of Veiled Isis at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site,
West Branch Iowa, 

On this seventh day of Navaratri, we ask: 

Mother Divine, draw aside the glittering veil of cosmic motion pictures and show me Thy delusion-dispersing face of mercy. Cosmic Mother, take this darkness away! When I sit with eyes closed, enveloped in self-created shadows, cause Thou to blaze upon me in splendor the aura of intuition. 

– Paramahamsa Yogananda

The Only Answer Is the Question

"Moon Goddess" by Josephine Wall (http://www.josephinewall.co.uk/art_gallery.html)

Today is the sixth day of Navaratri, and as we try to contemplate you, Mother Divine; Creator of All and Goddess Supreme, we cannot find any answers. There is no solution to You, or equation for You or definition of You. 

You are the future, the immense morning sky
turning red over the prairies of Eternity.
You are the rooster-crow after the Night of Time,
the dew, the early devotions, and the Daughter,
the Guest, the Ancient Mother and Death. 

You are the shape that changes its own shape,
that climbs out of fate, towering,
that which is never shouted for, and never mourned for,
and no more explored than a savage wood. 

You are the meaning deepest inside me,
that never reveals the secret of its owner.
And how you look depends on where we are:
from a boat you are shore, from the shore a boat. 

--Rainier Marie Rilke

You have no permanence except eternal impermanence. Even the Inevitable becomes the Never-Was under Your spell. 

For more information about the events Navaratri and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage:

This Terrible Beauty

detail from the painting "Anunciation," of Kali by Nafeeah Kim

“… Oh Goddess, this child has contemplated

awesome Aspects so intensely.

Put down your terrible sword. 

Drown me in your tender delights.”

- Babaji Bob Kindler

Today is the fifth day of Navaratri. On the first day, we discussed embracing all aspects of Mother Divine. Today, we'd like to discuss this point further: 

There is a certain understanding, a deeper initiation, a perspective that the Divine Mother gives to the souls who she alone chooses. It is the understanding of the Terrible Beauty.

There was a Sage who had this understanding. On a walk, one day, he came upon some others, who after having observed his manner and character, decided to test whether he would remain as he was. The others pointed out to him a dead and rotting dog in the gutter. It was quite a sight to see!

After contemplating the decomposing corpse for some moments, the Sage remarked with admiration upon the pearly white perfection of the dead dog’s teeth. Was the Sage merely a blind optimist or a goody-good who couldn't admit the unpleasant? Or could the Sage see the beauty in the terrible and the terrible in the beauty? 

One who can see this way sees the world more mystically, most profoundly, and sees beyond the duality in creation. What does it take to gain this perspective? Perhaps it's a calamity, a walk with death, a confrontation with the brutality and then the mercy of Nature? Or is it perhaps decades of penance or sadhana or a shock and shame that culminates in redemption? 

There are many ways to gain this perspective and when Mother grants the gift of this understanding, it will be yours forever. 

For more information about the events Navaratri and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage:

Prayers to Mother Divine

Prayer is not asking God for something; prayer is a yearning of the soul, a beautiful communication with Mother Divine! Open your heart to Mother and experience Her presence in the form of inner peace, bliss and divine love.  

--Sri Karunamayi

Today is the fourth day of Navaratri, and we consider our prayers to and our communications with Divine Mother. We call on her by her many names:

The Divine Mother is everywhere.
She is in everything.
She is the Divine Essence that lives within all beings.
Her domain is the field of life, for she gives
to all beings the sustenance that is needed for life. 

Her beauty lives in the natural world,
and spans the universes in all their splendor.
She has been called by many names,
for all traditions recognize Her. 

--Julie Redstone

We call upon her to fulfill our deepest desires. We do not call upon her selfishly:  

I have learned from ancient scripture
     that Goddess Tara is the liberator
of those who travel through temporal existence.
Compassionate Tara, take responsibility for me!
Please purify the intentions of my heart
     so the cruel and clever enemy,
egocentric passion and compulsion,
can no longer laugh at me and deride me. 

--Lex Hixon

For more information about the events of Navaratri and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage:

Honoring and Approaching Mother Divine

Today is the third day of Navaratri, and we continue to honor and celebrate all aspects of Divine Mother. She has many faces, many stories, many embodiments, and representations. All are honored and welcomed here.

Approach her with an open heart, lay bare your heart to her with frankness and humility, be as simple as a child. Kill ruthlessly the enemies that are egoism, cunningness, selfishness and crookedness. Take a total unreserved and ungrudging self-surrender to her. Sing her praise. Repeat her name. Worship her with faith and unflinching devotion.   

– Sri Swami Sivananda

For more information about the events Navaratri and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage:

Mother as Leveler Paves the Way to a Life Evergreen

Goddess Durga Photo Credit: josephalmighty.multiply.com

Today is the second day of Navaratri. 

In some traditions, Navaratri is divided into sets of three days to adore different aspects of the supreme goddess. On the first three days, the Mother is invoked as a powerful force called Durga in order to destroy all our impurities, vices and defects. This can be described as a great leveling of the field, a clearing, a preparation for what comes next. 

Below follows an excerpt from the poem, "The Mother Supreme," by Sri Chinmoy, which speaks to this clearing and leveling aspect of Mother:

   Soul stirring eyes of gold delight,

   All where reigning supreme--

   Our blind secrecy's dream

   She seizes with Her all forgiving Sight.

   Torn now asunder our ego's screen, 

   Under her Smile of Grace

   Blooms quick our surrender's face.

   She paves the way to a life evergreen.

This is Who We Love, and She's Startling, Wild, and Unpredictable (!)

Today, Saturday the 5th, is the first day of the autumn celebration of Mother Divine which is known as Navaratri. This is an ideal time to draw close to and celebrate all forms of the goddess. Navaratri is celebrated all around the world by many faiths and traditions. There are almost as many customs celebrating Navaratri as there are forms of Divine Mother.

Detail of Painting by Nafeeah Kim Johnson

It is easy to adore a docile, gentle, and beautiful form of Mother Divine, however, Mother Nature teaches us that the feminine can be brutal, exacting, dangerous, and fierce. To fully love Mother Divine and appreciate her power, you must embrace all aspects of her Nature. 

Below follows an excerpt of poem by Lex Hixon from his book Mother of the Universe: Visions of the Goddess and Tantric Hymns of Enlightenment, which celebrates her wildness:

Wisdom Mother cares for this child
      more tenderly than human mother,
yet her creative and destructive actions
      are startling, wild, unpredictable
as those of a mad person.
She is surrounded by swirling energy,
manifest in various feminine forms
      as human beings and etheric beings:
powerful women warriors, peaceful contemplatives,
terrifying protectresses surrounded by flames.
Godhead in its three aspects,
Creator, Sustainer, and Revealer,
stands humbly before my Mother.
She is supreme. 

For more information about the events over the next nine days and forward, please visit our calendar at The Sai Humanitarian Outreach Webpage: 

Come Celebrate Navaratri with Us, October 4th-13th

This is Victory Day!

Today is Victory Day!

--->

The temple priest has rung his bell.

A cloud of smoke from candles and lamps

Haloes the Goddess, glowing bright

This beat of drums both maddens and dulls.

The incense burns: so heady the musk,

Our senses flounder in the flood.

This endless chant of sacred words

Soon drugs our lips and stuns our minds.

The Goddess, always staring down:

Her painted pupils cut through smoke

And read the secret thoughts we think.

We somehow feel this within our hearts.

To Mother, we know, we bow and pray –

Her form not just this image of clay. 

- Anonymous (from iloveindia.com)

Kali Puja from Vedanta Portland on Vimeo.

The 100 Names of Kali (Adyakali Svarupa Stotra)

Found via WikiCommons
The Goddess Kali (1770) 

 Indian Art Special Purpose Fund

The following 100 names of Kali come from the Mahanirvana Tantra. Each of these names can be recited as a mantra on its own or in succession. A YouTube example of all the names recited together as one mantra is found below the names:  

1. Kalakarshini Conqueror and/or Destroyer of Time
2. Karali Tremendously Terrific one
3. Kalyani Bestower of Peace and Happiness
4. Kalavati Possessor of all the (64) Arts
5. Kamala Who enjoys and is herself enjoyed
6. Kalidarpaghni Destructress of Pride
7. Kapardisha-kripanvita Kind and Devoted to Him with the Matted Hair (Shiva)
8. Kalika Devourer of him who Devours (Shiva), the goddess of the Kalika Purana
9. Kalamata Mother and Destructress of Time
10. Kalanala-samadyuti Brilliant as the Fires of the final Dissolution
11. Kapardini Lover of Him with the Matted Hair (Shiva)
12. Karalasya Thou of Formidable Countenance with Teeth like Fangs
13. Karunamrita-sagara Ocean of the Nectar of Compassion
14. Kripamayi Truly Merciful
15. Kripadhara Vessel of Compassion
16. Kripapara Whose Mercy is without Limit
17. Kripagama Attainable Only by Her Compassion
18. Krishanu Thou Art Fire
19. Kapila Tawny-colored One
20. Krishna Black of hue as is Krishna
21. Krishnananda-vivardhini Who Increases Joy and Bliss of Krishna
22. Kalaratri Night of Darkness
23. Kamarupa Thou Who Art the Form of Desire
24. Kamapasa-vimocini Liberator from the Bonds of Desire
25. Kadambini Dark as a bank of rain-clouds
26. Kaladhara Bearer of the Crescent Moon and all Female Energy
27. Kalikalmasa-nasini Destructress of Evil
28. Kumari-pujanaprita Pleased by the Worship of Virgin-Girls
29. Kumari-pujakalaya Refuge of all Virgin-Worshippers
30. Kumari-bhojanananda Pleased by the Feasts and Gifts to the Virgins
31. Kumari-rupadharini Who is in the Form of a Virgin
32. Kadamba-vanasamcara Wanderer in the Kadamba-Forest
33. Kadamba-pushpasantosa Taking Delight in the Kadamba-Flowers
34. Kadamba-vanavasini Who lives in the Kadamba-Forest
35. Kadamba-pushpamalini Wearing a Garland of Kadamba-Flowers
36. Kishori Thou Who Art Ever Youthful
37. Kalakanthi With a soft and Deep-throated Voice
38. Kalanada-ninadini Sweet as the Chakravaka-Bird
39. Kadambari-panarata Who drinks the Kadamba-Flower Wine
40. Kadambari-priya Excited and Pleased with the Kadamba-Wine
41. Kapalapatra-nirata Drinking from a Skull-Cup
42. Kamkalamalya-dharini Wearing a Garland of Bones
43. Kamalasana-santushta Lover of the Lotus Flower
44. Kamalasana-vasini Delighted to be Seated within the Lotus
45. Kamalalaya-madhyastha Abiding in the Center of the Lotus
46. Kamalamoda-modini Pleased and Intoxicated by the Scent of Lotus
47. Kalahamsa-gati Moving and Swaying as a Swan
48. Klaibyanasini Destroying all Fears
49. Kamarupini Assuming any Form She Desires
50. Kamarupa-kritavasa Who Lives in the place of Sexual Desire
51. Kamapitha-vilasini Playing at the Kamakhya Pitha
52. Kamaniya Beautiful One
53. Kalpalata Creeper who Provides every Desire
54. Kamaniya-vibhushana Beauty is Thy Ornament
55. Kamaniya-gunaradhya Adorable Image of all Tenderness
56. Komalamgi Delicate and Tender-Bodied
57. Krishodari Slender of Waist
58. Karanamrita-santosha Pleased with the Nectar of Purified Wine
59. Karanananda-siddhida Giver of Success to those Who Enjoy that Wine
60. Karanananda-japeshta Deity of those who Worship with Wine
61. Karanarcana-harshita Glad to be Worshipped with Purified Wine
62. Karanarnava-sammagma Immersed in an Ocean of Wine
63. Karanavrata-palini Protecting those Who Perform Ritual with Wine
64. Kasturi-saurabhamoda Gladdened by the Scent of Musk
65. Kasturi-tilakojjvala Luminous One with a Mark of Musk on Her Forehead
66. Kasturi-pujanarata Excited by Worship with Musk
67. Kasturi-pujakapriya Loving those Who Worship Her with Musk
68. Kasturi-dahajanani Mother of those who Burn Musk as Incense
69. Kasturim-rigatoshini Who is fond of the Musk-Deer
70. Kasturi-bhojanaprita Who is pleased to Eat Musk of the Musk-Deer
71. Karpuramoda-modita Whom the Scent of Camphor Gladdens
72. Karpura-malabharana Adorned with Garlands of Camphor
73. Karpura-candanakshita Body Painted with Camphor and Sandal-Paste
74. Karpura-karanahlada Pleased with Purified Wine flavored with Camphor
75. Karpuramrita-payini Drinker of Nectar Flavored with Camphor
76. Karpura-sagarasnata Bathing in the Ocean of Camphor
77. Karpura-sagaralaya At Home in the Ocean of Camphor
78. Kurchabija-japaprita Pleased by Worship with the mantra 'hum'
79. Kurchajapa-parayayana Threatening and Conquering Demons with 'hum'
80. Kulina Embodiment of the Kula teachings
81. Kaulika-radhya Adored by Kula Tantrics
82. Kaulika-priyakarini Benefactress of the Kula
83. Kulacara Observant of the Kulacara
84. Kantukini Joyous One
85. Kulamarga-pradarshini Revealing the Kula-Path to Seekers
86. Kasishvari Queen of the Sacred City (Benares, i.e. Varanasi)
87. Kashtahartri Allayer of all Suffering
88. Kasishvara-dayini Giver of Blessings to the Lord of Varanasi (Shiva)
89. Kasishvara-kritamoda Giver of Pleasures to the Lord of Varanasi
90. Kasishvara-manorama Beloved of Shiva Who Overwhelms His Mind
91. Kalamanjira-carana Whose Toe-bells Sound Sweet Melodies
92. Kvanatkanci-vibhusana Whose Girdle-bells Tinkle Ever so Sweet
93. Kancanadri-kritagara Residing in the Golden Mountain (Meru)
94. Kancanacala-kaumudi Shining Moon-Beam on the Mountain of Gold
95. Kamabija-japananda Excited to Hear 'klim' (mantra of sexual union)
96. Kamabija-svarupini Embodiment of the mantra 'klim'
97. Kumatighni Destructress of all Evil Inclinations
98. Kulinarti-nasini Destructress of the Kula's Afflictions
99. Kulakamini Lady of the Kula
100. Kalakantaka-ghatini Destructress of the Fear of Death

Resources:

The Adyakali Stotra: http://yoniversum.nl/daktexts/kalistotra.html

Here is an example of the 100 Names recited together as one mantra: 

In Praise of Mother Kali

On this eighth day of Navaratri, we would like to share a poem we found about Ma Kali: 

In Praise of Mother Kali

"Hindu Goddess with Many Arms Statue"
 on the Wall of the Sri Senpaga Vinayagar Temple
Photo Credit Unknown, found @ featurepics.com

Oh mysterious Kali, cremation grounds are Your great delight,

for there you release Souls from mundane existence.
I have transformed my Heart
into a cremation ground
so you will be attracted here to dance
in ceaseless liberating bliss.
Oh Goddess of Wisdom,
my limited desires have been consumed
on the vast pyre of renunciation.
Oh Goddess of Freedom,
I am surrounded by the ashes
that were my conventional world,
waiting for you to come.
Please manifest in the brilliant midnight hour
from this renouncing heart.

- Ramprasad

Mother, May i?

Oh Mother Divine,

Devi mine
Murti, Sati, Buddhi
Bhakti, Shraddha, Shakti
Gaia, Mahamaya

You are every power, grace and goodness.
You are every wrath and tumult, source of fear

You call everything into being,
Come to fullness and then disappear

All I ask is let me see You
and adore You.
Please let me draw near

  - KSJ

Today is the Fourth Day of Navaratri

Today is the fourth day of Navaratri and we are looking at the interplay of consciousness and energy, father and mother, heaven and earth, intelligence and creation.

Vedic science has delineated two foundational forces in the universe. The interplay of these forces gives rise to the inception, maintenance, and dissolution of creation. These forces are beyond concepts of gender and personality though that is in part where we begin so that we may understand these concepts. Representation through personification is used as a teaching method.

Below follows a poem which celebrates these two foundational forces:

Oh Mother, You are Shakti 

and your consort is Shiva 

Oh Mother, You are Ever Changing

and your Consort is Eternal 

Oh Mother, You are Darkness

and your Consort is Light 

Oh Mother, You are Chaos

and your Consort is Order 

Oh Mother, You are Earth

and your Consort is Heaven 

Oh Mother, You are Passion

and your Consort is Reason 

Oh Mother, Give birth to Me

and Everything that will ever be. 

--KSJ

*** *** ***

 We will host a sunset puja over the next days of Navaratri. Please join us: 

http://www.shivamandir.org/ai1ec_event/day-1-of-navaratri-puja/?instance_id=3834087

This is the End of the Third Day of Navaratri

A conversation about Shiva and Shakti in this image (artist unknown): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10200365259967183&set=t.1300224436&type=3&theater

God’s the Mother and the Father. 

Where does your power come from?

Beyond the image of lingam and yoni

Within the symbol of peace pipe’s stem and bowl

Inside the story of the sword and chalice

Found in Wiccan’s broom and broomstick

Union; joined together and made whole.

The mystery is more than penetration

Power and submission or even primal force.

Not just womb and vessel can claim creation’s source.

It’s there in fission and fusion, longing and veneration 

Life’s arc and alternating current is its origin and eternal course.

- KSJ

We will host a sunset puja over the next days of Navaratri. Please join us: 

http://www.shivamandir.org/ai1ec_event/day-1-of-navaratri-puja/?instance_id=3834087

Where is Divine Mother's throne? (Celebrating the second day of Navaratri)

The Throne of Astarte from the shrine at Ain Ba'al
located at the department of antiquities in Beirut
found in the book: The Levant: History and 
Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean (Art & Architecture)

Where is Divine Mother’s throne
Her most glorious place?

Is it on the most majestic mountain?
Or in the cathedral of the tallest forest tree?
Is it in the vastness of a canyon’s grace
Or somewhere in the limitless sea?
Was it built by human hands,
an impeccable marble altar?

If I search this earth,
all domain and lands,
I will never find it.
I need only look inside to see
where She most wants to be.

Her throne is there, was always there
In the heart space inside of me.

- KSJ