Sept 26- Oct 4, 2022
Navratri or Navaratri
Nava: Nine
Ratri: Night
Nine nights of the Divine Mother/Feminine has arrived. My favorite time of year!
These nine nights, Navaratri, come at the junction of seasons to inspire a renewed spirit of commitment to purification and ascension, removing obstructions in the body and thought processes and realigning with our divine origins. Each day has a specific Goddess energy embodied, holding in it the profound knowledge of the Shakti Tradition, the Dasha Mahavidyas 'ten knowledges' and ultimately Sri Vidya. The Feminine or Shakti principle is the ruling force in this manifest world. Scientists call this force that cannot be seen but exists everywhere as 'dark energy.' Dark energy is responsible for the rapid evolution of the universe, gives shape and form to the galaxies. This is nothing but Shakti, which is diefied in the Hindu Tradition and affectionately called Devi.
We need the blessings of Devi, the Divine Mother principle, to allow for anything to function on the material plane. She is pure power. She is the energy behind life itself and creation itself. The ceaseless play of creation is her dance and if anyone wants to take part in it, you need her blessings.
If we wish to gain access to any material good or to be rid of internal processes of greed, lust, envy, jealousy, anger etc., or arrive to and have the doors of higher states of consicousness opened, we need the grace of Devi. Her power in removing these internal negativites(anger jealousy etc. as mentioned above) is on full display in the Devi Mahatmya, where the goddess Durga battles and ultimatly annihilates the buffalo demon Mahishasura. It is the powerful and ruthless nature of the Goddess in removing all negative forces from us that assures her supremacy. She is the exterminator to call when the path to betterment gets dark and confusing. The Devi Mahatmya is sung during these 9 nights, as a symbol of the Goddess's onmiscence and omnipotent power to lead us all from darkness to light.
There is a Sanskrit saying that Devas (gods/naturally occurring divine forces of nature) do not enter places where women are not respected and loved.
In Shakti Tantra, the body is looked upon as a temple. The Samaya Tantra conducts a ritual of taking the 64 parts of Devi and superimposing them on oneself to awaken the divinity through mantras and worship. The body is verily made a consecrated temple.
It is proclaimed that one need not go anywhere or seek anything; everything is within.
These 9 nights are nights of awakening, awakening to this fact that the body is a temple and everything can be found within. Through the attitude of devotion, prayer and worship, the divine reveals itself from within.
In Shakti tradition, man is not looked upon as an impure sinner, who has to rise from the mire and ask for forgiveness so that he may be redeemed and attain salvation. This whole world is the abode of God.
These nine nights are when the veil hiding ones divinity is thinner, and one may behold that divinity everywhere as well as within.
What to do during these Nine Nights?
Devotion Chants or 'Bhajan'. ex. Mahishasura Mardhini, Lalita Sahasrama.
Fasting or 'Vrat' in Hindi. Water fasting, fruit fasting or vegetarian only diet. This cleanses the mind and body by loosening our attachments to sensory gratification and keeps our mind focused.
Meditation
Reading. I recommend Sri Saundarya Lahari, and Sri Vijana Bhairava Tantra.
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