Durga, Divine Mother of India

Durga is one of the incarnations of Devi or the original Mother Goddess in Hinduism. She represents the power of the Supreme Being and stands for righteousness. She protects mankind from evil by destroying evil forces such as jealousy, hate, greed, anger and arrogance. She is depicted as a warrior woman with eight arms and rides a tiger or lion. In each hand she carries different symbols such as a conch, sword, lotus flower, bow, and a trident among other things.
 
The lion she rides symbolizes uncontrolled animal-like tendencies such as anger, selfishness, jealousy and hate. By her sitting on top of the lion she represents the ability to tame and control those tendencies that all beings have. Durga represents pure positive energy or divine light and is the embodiment of divine feminine energy. She is seen as the Divine Shakti or powerful female force and is the primary deity in Shaktism.
 
The story of Durga says that she was born fully grown and created from the flames which came from the mouth of  the Gods in heaven. She was created so that she could destroy a buffalo-demon named Mahisasura. This fierce demon was said to be terrorizing the Gods in heaven and the men on earth. Durga was given an army of Gods to fight with her and a lion upon which to ride and was sent to kill Mahisasura.
 
Her festival, Navrati, or Nine Divine Nights, is celebrated for nine days and takes place around October during the harvest. During this festival the nine aspects of Durga or Navadurga are meditated upon one by one. Another celebration that is honored is Durga puja which takes place for five days annually. During this festival the victory of the goddess Durga over the demon Mahisasura is celebrated which represents the victory of good over evil.
 
To pray to Durga here are some mantras in her honor:  Om Sri Durgaya Namah
It is said that by chanting this mantra daily the Mother Durga will remove all obstacles from our lives. Another mantra is Om Hreeng Dung Durgaayai Namah. It is said that chanting this mantra will bring you success in all areas of life.
 
Jai Maa Durga! (Victory to the Mother!)

Medusa, Ancient Snake Goddess

Medusa is said to be an ancient deity and was originally known as a snake goddess. She was worshiped as a dark goddess in ancient Libya and was seen as a three-fold snake deity. She is known to be a gorgon who were said to be scaled and winged female monsters. In Greek myth she was the only mortal of three sisters and daughter to Phorcys and Ceto, who were chthonic monsters from an archaic world. Medusa was mother to the winged-horse Pegasus and the giant Khrysaor.

In classical Greek myth Medusa was a mortal priestess of the goddess Athena. She was said to be beautiful with long blonde, luscious locks of hair. As a priestess of Athena, Medusa had to pledge her celibacy and herself solely to the honor of the goddess. Although the god of the sea, Poseidon, took a strong liking to Medusa and ravaged her in Athena's temple thereby taking her sacred vows away from her. The goddess Athena upon hearing this became enraged with Medusa so she turned her into a terrible monster with snakes to replace her beautiful tresses.

If Medusa was looked upon by anyone, her gaze would turn them into stone. Athena instructs the hero Perseus to kill Medusa so he finds Medusa and decapitates her. When she is beheaded, her children Pegasus and Khrysaor spring forth from her blood. Although Medusa has been killed, her head still has the power to turn men into stone even in death. Perseus uses it as a weapon to turn some of his enemies into stone, then gives it to Athena who puts it onto her shield. It is said that blood dripped from Medusa's head in the Libyan desert in which created many venomous snakes. This is said to be the cause of the many venomous snakes in Africa.

It is said that the reason that Athena punished Medusa so severely is because she and Poseidon were long time rivals. Some think that Medusa represents the destructive aspect of Athena. Other sources say that Medusa won a beauty contest over Athena which made Athena jealous. It seems to me that these myths are highly in favor of the male forces at play. Women turning against one another and a woman being punished for being raped. Sounds a little too patriarchal for my taste.

There are many messages within this myth. Some say that Medusa became more powerful in death than in life as her head still held it's power to turn man into stone and the ability to create life with her blood.  Some feminist groups today say that Medusa's head is a symbol of feminine rage. And that her head turning man into stone represents her warning to stay away since she was raped.  In classical antiquity the image of Medusa's head was used as an evil-averting, protection symbol.






Picture courtesy of Gaks Designs

My Experience at the Ashram

Entrance to the Ashram

Some of you may know that this past weekend I stayed at the Yoga Shakti ashram in Palm Bay, Florida for about three days. My experience can be described as spiritual, eye-opening and unforgettable. Although even those words will not do it justice. Sometimes it's hard to put a spiritual type of experience into words because you are dealing with feelings, energy and higher levels of living. What I can say though that as soon as I left to come back home my energy levels immediately dropped very low and I honestly didn't realize how high my energy level was while there.
 
I arrived on Friday afternoon and was greeted by the lovely family that runs the ashram. The ashram is seated in the middle of a forest on about 20 acres of land. There were different cottage-like houses on the property along with the screened pavilion where yoga was done any many of us slept. It was not glamorous living by any stretch of the imagination and even though I love that, it's not for everybody. I slept on my yoga mat on the floor of the pavilion with a lite blanket. Showers in the morning had to be quick as we were all sharing and we only had about 45 minutes to get ready in the morning. No shaving my legs or styling my hair and of course no makeup! :) The days were hot and the only place that had A/C was the temple which thankfully we were in much of the time. Surprisingly the nights cooled up quite a bit and I was grateful for that since I was sleeping in the screened pavilion. 

Statue of Ganesha in the Pavilion

Each morning we were woken up at 5:00am for morning meditation and prayer. The first morning we were awoken by someone playing a flute and the second morning the guru walked around the ashram reciting a chant that we had all learned the previous night. If any of you know the morning and evening Hindu prayers, they are very long and they're in Sanskrit so it was hard to follow along in the beginning. After that we had an hour yoga class taught by the guru. Throughout the day the guru taught us some of the Upanishads which are a collection of Vedic texts. Basically Hindu philosophy.
 
The philosophy behind what Hindus believe and practice rings the most true for me. Even though I do consider myself to be Pagan, Hindu philosophy is the most correct in my opinion. They believe that God (or Goddess for some of us) lives inside you and we all have the ability to connect with our higher selves through meditation and basic self awareness. To
understand and fully accept who you really are and to love yourself. I have always been of this mindset but didn't truly understand it until now. Many of us (myself included) search for external sources to satisfy us like material things or new careers or even love. What we need to understand is that what will fulfill us the most is looking on the inside to satisfy our needs. If you feel full and happy on the inside you will no longer need to keep searching for all the many external factors to satisfy yourself.

Statue of Krishna and Radha in the Temple

After lunch sometimes we had free time for a bit so I either walked the property or wrote in my journal. In the evening we had another session of the Upanishads and we learned some chanting as well as other meditation type exercises. We were sent to bed at 9:30 and lights were out. On my second night there after our nightly lecture from the guru, we were all given an exercise in silence and from 9:30 that night until we arrived for morning meditation the next day we were not supposed to talk at all. Even though I'm naturally a quite person, this was a little harder than I expected!

Statue of the Goddess Durga in the Temple

The family and others cooked every meal for us which was amazing. They grew much of their own own vegetables and herbs on the property so everything was organic and very pure. Every meal was vegan and incredibly delicious and satisfying. I'm vegan normally as well but I still noticed a difference in the food because it was so incredibly pure. While I was there I felt so lite like if I jumped too high I might float up into the clouds. You can feel the energy just buzzing around that place. It's palpable and I instantly felt a big shift in my energy the moment I drove off the property. I wanted to go back! I will go back at another time for sure.
 
I had never encountered a guru in my life so this was quite a different experience for me. They are strict so as to teach you discipline but you have to understand that it's nothing personal. I had a hard time with this at first but I understood why and now I totally respect it.  They are there to teach you and they are highly respected, revered and even worshiped people. Guru's are filled with knowledge and experience and they can literally see right thru you with no problem. They can be seen as being psychic even but I think it's just an extreme awareness to be able to see people for who they really are, and they will not hesitate to call you out on it.


I enjoyed my time at the ashram immensely and I can honestly say that this experience has changed my life in ways I still don't understand. All I know for sure is that this is something I will be experiencing more as it's left it's mark on my soul.

The Nine Muses, Goddesses of Inspiration

The Muses in Greek mythology consisted of nine goddesses that were known to give inspiration to those partaking in creative endeavors. They were known to rule over music, dance, poetry, artistry, science, mathematics, astronomy and drama. The Muses are daughters of Zeus, Father of the Gods, and Mnemosyne, Goddess of memory. In Greek myth it is said that Zeus laid with Mnemosyne for nine nights and a year later she gave birth to nine daughters who were known for their creative talents and gift of song.
 
In myth the Muses were sometimes referred to as water nymphs as they were associated with four sacred springs. The Muses were said not to care about human affairs but were immersed in all ways of creativity. Their main cult center was located at Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Greece. A festival was celebrated in their honor every four years at Thespiae (near Helicon) in which much singing and dancing took place. 

The Muses gave inspiration to many poets and philosophers. They were said to usually be invoked prior to any kind of creative activity. It is said that the Muses inspired Hesiod to write his epic poem the Theogony.
 
Below is a list of each of the Muses along with their correspondences.
 
Kleio - Muse of history. Her name in Greek means "to celebrate" or "famous". She is often depicted carrying a scroll or sitting next to a chest of books
 
Kalliope - Muse of epic poetry. Her name in Greek means "beautiful-voiced". She was said to also be a Goddess of eloquence and wisdom. Kalliope was depicted carrying a writing tablet or a book.
 
Erato - Muse of lyric poetry especially known for her love and erotic poetry. Her name means "lovely" or "beloved". She is depicted wearing a wreath made from myrtle and roses and holding a lyre.
 
Euterpe - Muse of music. She was the Goddess that performed for the Gods on Mount Olympus. Her name means "the giver of much delight" and she is depicted playing or often holding a flute.
 
Melpomene - Muse of tragedy or drama. Her name means "to celebrate with dance and song". She is depicted wearing a tragic mask and wearing the boots that those types of actors wore.
 
Polyhymnia - Muse of sacred poetry and sacred hymn. Her name can mean "praise" or "hymn". She is depicted as being in very serious thought while holding a finger to her mouth.
 
Terpsikhore - Muse of dance. Her name means "delight in dancing". She is depicted sitting or standing while holding a lyre.
 
Thalia - Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry. Her name means "rich festivity" or "blooming". She is depicted wearing a crown of ivy and wearing a comic mask.
 
Urania - Muse of astronomy. Her name means "heavenly" or "of heaven". Urania can tell the future by the arrangement of the stars. She is depicted wearing a cloak embroidered with the stars while pointing to a celestial globe.




Artist ~ Andrea Mantegna - Parnassus

Magic Monday, Oneiromancy

Oneiromancy is the art of dream-work or dream divination. It is an ancient practice dating back many thousands of years and was used by the Egyptians, Greeks, Maltese and other ancient cultures. In ancient Malta people would visit the Hypogeum which was an underground chamber where they would sleep in the presence of the goddess in order to receive divine answers through dreams.  This is known as dream incubation and was also practiced in Ancient Greece at the Oracle of Delphi. The Pharaohs of ancient Egypt were said to have scribes interpret their dreams for prophecies.
 
To practice the art of dream divination all one needs is sleep, a dream journal and a comfortable bed. Although adding other items can also help make your dreams a little more magical. If you do not already do so, get in the habit of keeping a dream journal. This can be any kind of journal, it doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just something to write your dreams down in daily. This should be done soon after you wake up so you do not forget important details. Keeping a dream journal will also help you to notice any patterns within your dreams and will therefore help your divination.
 
You can choose to invoke or not invoke your deity of choice for your dream divination as well. Setting up a shrine and doing some meditation before bed may also be an option. A nice hot, aromatic bath is also a nice way to relax your body and mind before bed. You may also choose to pull a card from a tarot deck and place the card under your pillow. Make sure to closely study your card right before you close your eyes so as to get a lasting image of the card in your mind.
 
Once you have completed any activities beforehand like setting up a shrine or taking a bath, make sure your bed is set up as you normally would. Your dream journal should be next to your bed with a pen so it will be ready for the you in the morning. Now cleanse your area with a smudge stick or incense or you may even wish to chant something. Get into bed and make yourself comfortable. Now is the time to invoke a deity of your choice or focus on a tarot card that you pulled. Now fall asleep as you normally would.
 
When you awake in the morning write down your dream as much as you can remember and if you had multiple dreams. Sometimes things may come to you throughout the day as well, write those down too. Try to think about the meaning of your dream as it relates to the particular answer you are seeking. Sometimes if we do not get the answer right away come back to the dream in your journal a day later and see it something clicks. You can also perform the divination again.
 
Wishing everyone magical dreams!

Magic Monday, Spring Cleaning

Spring is a time of renewal and new beginnings. It's a time to get rid of the old so that we may be able to welcome the new. Spring is also the perfect time to cleanse your house and yourself of any negative energies or clutter. Cleaning your home of its physical clutter goes hand in hand with clearing it of any energy clutter. The book Magical Housekeeping by Tess Whitehurst has some wonderful home cleansings so I decided to share one here.

A Thorough Space Clearing

Supplies:

• White tea light candle for every room
• Small plate for every room
• Sea salt
• Bundle of sage
• Optional: bell or chime

Once you've cleaned your home of any physical clutter, gather your supplies and say a quick prayer over them to empower them with your intention. Then place your candles on the small plates and place one in each room. Around each candle make a ring of salt on the plate, and light the candle. Go back to your first room and begin to clap loudly around the perimeter of the space, paying special attention to corners and dark spots.

Open the windows in the first room of your house. Then light your sage bundle and shake it until the flame goes out and it's smoking. Walk around the perimeter of the room with the smoke which will dissolve negative energy and lift vibrations. Do this for each room in your home and then extinguish the sage and close your windows. You may also wish to ring a bell in each room as well which will also clear the space and raise the vibrations.

If you are planning to stay home after this, let your tea lights burn down as much as possible, if not extinguish them. Pour the salt down the sink and then take a shower to cleanse yourself of any negative energies.

Now you and your home are clean, fresh and new! Happy spring cleaning!

Rhiannon, Welsh Goddess of Horses and Magic

Rhiannon is the Welsh Goddess of horses, creativity, inspiration, movement and sovereignty. Her name is said to be derived from the ancient Celtic Goddess Rigantona which means "Great Queen". Rhiannon is often depicted as a beautiful woman riding her otherworldly white mare with mystical birds that fly at her side. These birds sing songs of enchantment that are said to lull people into a peaceful sleep and wake the dead.

Her myth appears in the Mabinogion, which is a collection of Welsh/Celtic mythology. One such tale about Rhiannon involves her marriage to king Pwyll. One night, after a feast with his men, Pwyll decides to take a walk to the mound in the forest. Upon the mound he notices a woman in the distance riding a beautiful white mare. He sends one of his men after her so that they may speak but the man is never able to catch up to her. The next night Pwyll returns to the mound and again sees Rhiannon riding in the distance so he sends another one of his men after her and he also cannot seem to catch her. Pwyll suspects some sort of trickery or magic so the next night when he sees Rhiannon he rides after her himself. He also cannot catch her so he calls out to her to stop so that they may speak. She stops her horse and tells him he should have said that to her earlier. 

She tells Pwyll that she is here to marry him as she does not want to marry the man her father has chosen for her. After sometime the two are married and have a son named Pryderi. The couple hires women to watch over their child at night. One night the women all fall asleep and when they awake the cradle is empty and the child gone. Terrified that the king will kill them upon hearing this news the women decide to blame Rhiannon. They sneak into Rhiannon's room where she sleeps and smear blood over her face and body. They then tell Pwyll that Rhiannon murdered and ate her baby. Rhiannon is punished for this crime by having to sit by a horse mounting block and offer to carry visitors to the courts on her back. The boy was found by the stables by a man names Teyrnon and he and his wife raise him as their own. Years later when they realize that the boy belongs to the king, they return him home to Rhiannon and Pwyll.

In this myth we can see that Rhiannon has to carry the burden of blame even for something she did not actually do. Though she gets through it carrying the weight of it on her back and in the end when the truth prevails she is stronger because of it. This teaches us to always be true to ourselves and through this we achieve strength. To not be true to ourselves is a heavy and unnecessary burden to carry. Through truth we achieve freedom.

Rhiannon is a lunar Goddess and is also associated with the underworld. She rides her white mare while guiding souls back to the spirit world to ensure their safe passage. Both horses and birds are viewed as otherworldly creatures in Celtic myth.  Rhiannon is associated with the Gaulish Goddess Epona, also a horse Goddess, whom the Romans worshiped as well. She is also viewed as a faery Queen and has associations with the Lady of the Lake.

Rhiannon is a creative Goddess and can be called upon for any creative endeavors we are taking on. She can also be called on for those seeking to explore the magical realms. Let her guide you with her mystical white mare and sweet singing birds. Since she is connected with movement in general you may also call on her for any kind of travel. She can also help you on your path for self truth.





Art courtesy of Kim Dreyer