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Mother Love; Goddess Love
We are all glad it’s Friday; even those of us who are fortunate enough to be “retired” from the corporate world still appreciate Friday evenings. I don’t know if this is such a well traveled rut for me that Fridays just feel better or if I am still enough in that weekly cycle, “the grind”, to continue to appreciate the more relaxed feeling that comes from closing down, at least a little bit, for this time of the week. I’ll be doing that as soon as I publish this!
A few days ago I mentioned the name of an Indian Holy Woman Rosemary and I have known and been following for a long time – probably close to 15 years now, since she started touring the US in 1995. She goes on a yearly tour of the West through the late spring and summer months to bring the teachings of her Hindu faith to her many thousands of followers here. She teaches from the Vedas, she initiates into powerful practices and she renews hope in the beauty and purpose of humanity. Mostly she brings the incredible power of a Mother’s Love for all of her “children.” And unless you’ve experienced her or someone like her, there is no describing the feeling of love she vibrates when she calls us her children and “her babies.”
Her name is Sri Karunamayi; but we all call her Amma, Mother in her native language, Telugu. And you can read about this remarkable woman at: www.karunamayi.org.
I have participated in many activities with Amma over the years: I have sat in silence with her at several of her retreats; I have done pranayama breathing exercises with her before and after meditation; I have been initiated into several chants, including the ancient and powerful Gayatri Mantra; I have chanted the Sri Saraswati Mantra to greet her and to wish her farewell; I have experienced personal darshan with her and received her blessing; and I have bowed to the floor to touch her precious feet; mostly I have just been in her presence and that’s enough to feel again that Motherly Love we all long for and deserve, no matter our age! We all need to feel that kind of unconditional love.
Sri Karunamayi is a devotee and, I believe, Avatar of Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of Learning. You will notice that Amma uses many of Saraswati’s symbols including swan and peacock. Saraswati is always portrayed with a Veena, an ancient Indian stringed instrument. According to saisathyasai.com: “The Veena points to the collective sound of all our thoughts and actions as it is manifest as music in the cosmic universe.” Amma’s voice is an echo of that “collective sound” and stays with one always.
That word: Avatar, is much in our language these days with the extraordinary movie by that name, video games in which players take on avatars, and even blogs where we can post our own “gravatars.” What is this about? Are we looking to take on a new persona to escape our own? Are we anxious to embody a powerful archetype to empower ourselves in a dis-empowering world? Amma is one woman who has done this, not to escape, but, indeed, to move fully into that Goddess energy and embrace the duties and responsibilities expected of a Goddess. Not many people can do this. Amma braved many hardships in order to accomplish what she has. And she continues to embrace her role in the very deepest sense. These world tours she takes on are not easy. I’ve seen first hand the logistics involved in her cross-country treks. Take a look at her tour schedule and you will know this is a rugged life!
And she does this all for love, for her children. Her Western tours are for both teaching and for fund raising. You can read about her many missions on her site. Just as one example she is building houses for displaced refugees. For our 25th wedding anniversary in 2008, Rosemary and I asked that all gifts be given in the name of SMVA Trust specifically to build one of these houses. I am pleased that we raised the $1100 to do just that, thanks to friends and family and a little extra from us.
If you want to experience Amma’s Mother Love, this pure Saraswati Goddess Love check her tour schedule and find a way to be in her presence this year!
As an aside but still related, I received the most magnificent and long awaited gift in the mail today. I had ordered a Tibetan style felted wool vest from a charming little website mid-February. (www.eternalknots.com) These vests and jackets are made by Tibetan refugees in Nepal and all the money goes to them, for feeding mothers and children among others. I can tell from the handiwork and care in the vest’s construction that this is a product of Love, a Mother’s Love to feed her children, and even love for some stranger on the other side of Mother Earth. I felt this high vibration of love as soon as I tried it on; and, of course, it fits beautifully. Order one for yourself or as a gift. But don’t expect instant gratification; it’s a long way to Nepal, even by “express mail”!
What a lovely way to begin the weekend. Namaste!
The Full Moon, Goddess of the Night
What a difference a day makes. The Colorado sky here is a brilliant blue with high puffy clouds. Yesterday’s three inches of snow have already melted from the roads and life is full of cheer. This fullness I’m feeling may have something to do with the rapidly waxing Moon to full. She arrives at her fullest at 9:38 am MST on Sunday. And the next few nights of her rising should be spectacular as we look out over the eastern plains.
Many of the ancient Goddesses who ruled over their people with benevolence and light were associated with the Moon. Inanna and many of her “descendants” were Moon Goddesses. What is it about the Moon that offers this wonderful feminine energy recognized and honored through the millennia? And what is it today that continues to influence us, even when we don’t realize it? Even when we pay no attention to her glorious dance!
Yes, ask any emergency room nurse or doctor about the influence of the Full Moon. No, I’m not writing here, yet, about astrology and the influences of the planets and stars. Just as the Moon influences our oceans, so too does she influence the ocean residue pumping through our bodies. It’s a watery world we live in and we are watery creatures. The Moon tugs at us in subtle ways and during Full Moons not so subtle ways.
So, what I’m suggesting is we all need to pay attention to the phases of the Moon; this helps us understand what may be going on with us in our bodies, our emotions, our minds and our spirits. The Goddess Moon not only watches over us, she plays with us and asks for our response! If you are a woman reading this you already know about the filling and emptying of the Moon who moves in rhythms parallel to your own. Men, ask the Goddesses, the beautiful women, in your life, about these rhythms and begin to sense them yourselves. Honor the movements of the Moon and honor your responses to them.
There are many ways from ancient traditions to honor the cycles of the moon. A few months (moonths) ago Rosemary channeled a wonderful set of instructions on how to prepare for and respond to these cycles. You can down-load the audio of this message at: www.rosemarybredeson.com. Please accept this gift from me as a thank you for reading!
One of the wonderful Goddesses in my life, Barbara Everett of Minneapolis, is, among her many talents, an extraordinary astrologer. She has written a lovely piece on Sunday’s Moon; here’s an excerpt:
Pisces Symbol (note similarities to the Tai Chi!)
“Full Moon in the Sign of Pisces
“Pisces, the twelfth sign of the Zodiac, is the most mysterious sign of all.
It’s ruler is Neptune, the ancient god of the sea in which all secrets lie
hidden. The glyph is two fish, joined together, but swimming in opposite
directions, telling of the dual nature of Pisces—–moving upward towards
evolution and advancement——or downward towards negativity and sadness.
…
“At the time and celebration of the Full Moon, emotions are quick to surface,
especially at this full moon. Dreams are more available, tears come easily,
decisions are difficult to make. Be especially kind and generous to yourself
and others as we swim from Darkness to Light, from Chaos to Beauty, from death
to immortality. BELIEVE in the goodness of the human heart, BELIEVE in your
self as a divine being having a human experience, BELIEVE that Love heals,
changes the course of human events, and creates miracles of mind, body, and
spirit.”
Note the wateriness of this message! Emotions run strong during full moons. People may drive like “luna”-tics. Be careful, be aware, honor the Full Moon Goddess! Her influence will be with us for the next six days.
The Heart of Darkness
It is an unusually dark and gloomy day in Colorado. We are so use to the bright sunshine here and high skies. There is occasional light snow falling which lightens the day; the white is a beautiful contrast to the dreariness, the black clouds threatening more snow!
Light and dark – The Taoists used this contrast as a metaphor for the dichotomy of masculine and feminine energies. The Tai Chi symbol, a central representation of Taoism, highlights this contrast but also presents the balance between them and the dynamics of the energies: note the black feminine “fish” as it spirals around the white masculine “fish” as if chasing his tail. Also note the bit of feminine black in the white “fish”, its “eye”, and the white masculine “eye” of the feminine “fish.” It is a powerful image and tells us much about the ancient wisdom of Lao Tzu and his fellow sages. They fully appreciated and respected the feminine principle. Perhaps this is best explained in the first chapter of Lao Tzu’s “Taotejing.” This translation is by Red Pine:
The way that becomes a way is not the immortal way
The name that becomes a name is not the immortal name
The maiden of heaven and earth has no name
The mother of all things has a name
Thus in innocence we see the beginning
In passion we see the end
Two different names
For one and the same
The one we call dark
The dark beyond dark
The door to all beginnings.
I love this image of the dark door, full of mystery and the unknown. Yet, it seem soft and warm, welcoming. It is that feminine energy which moves us to sink into ourselves and become one with all. It is that doorway which humanity is called to move through. We are on an exquisite threshold. Are we brave enough to enter through to a new dawn?
Light and dark. I have found so much of value in China Galland’s book, Longing for Darkness. I quote a passage here which speaks so passionately and so eloquently about this darkness:
“…longing for darkness is a deeply felt human need that cuts across, goes beyond, and at the same time includes issues of ethnicity. This is a multivalent darkness. This is the darkness of ancient wisdom, of people of color, of space, of the womb, of the earth, of the unknown, of sorrow, of unconsciousness, of the darkness beyond the light, of matter, of the descent, of the body, of the shadow of the Most High.
“Like light, darkness has a wide range of symbolic meanings. The color black can signify the stage just before enlightenment in Tibetan Buddhism–imminence; space; burning; the final stage of the soul’s journey to beatitude in a Sufi tradition; wisdom; fertility in Old Europe; purity in a Turkish tradition; mourning in the West; and the first step in the medieval alchemical process, the nigredo.”
Beautiful! Nothing to be afraid of there but something to embrace. The Taoists embraced the Feminine energy; so much of LaoTzu’s magnificent work is about the Dark Feminine. It is time for all of us to remember the importance of the dark. It is time for us to step through the “door to all beginnings.”
From Inanna to Madonna
I am reading two exceptional books on the Goddess. The first one was purchased by Rosemary for her research and work on Inanna, a very early Sumerian Goddess of Heaven and Earth. As soon as I saw the book I knew I had to read it and Rosemary hasn’t seen it since! The book? Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer by Diane Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer. Maybe it’s the red cover with gold lettering in the title that attracted me. Or maybe it is the name – Inanna…who knows what past-life connections I may have to this powerful feminine principal from ancient times.
Actually the stories and hymns from the book are ancient; they were first written down on clay tablets in cuneiform at least 4,000 years ago. Sumer was settled during the 5th millennium BC and became known as Sumer about 3,000 BC. The stories are likely far older in the oral literature carried by the people. Inanna’s reign spans a fascinating period of history when humans were in transition from a nomadic to an agrarian life style and began to gather and live in city-states. In the west we consider this period the rise of civilization there in the so called fertile crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. She also reigns over a very important shift in the way humanity governed itself as men began to gather power onto themselves and as the mystery of life held by women for millennia before this period began to lose it’s influence on society.
Was this a fateful or fatal shift in the balance of power? It was definitely fateful; time will tell if it was fatal! And this brings me to my first point: we are in the beginning of another shift. Men who have held power over humanity for at least the past 4,000 years are beginning to lose their control. Women are coming to prominence in many fields; women are taking control of finances from the family level to institutions; women are beginning to play a major role in governing throughout the world; women are coming back into their own right. Women will save the world! – Hopefully in the nick of time.
The Goddesses, Inanna, Ishtar, Mari, Diana, Isis, Hecate, Pasiphae, Selene, Brigit, Cybele, the Shekinah, Lilith, Persephone,… all moon goddesses, and all related, are still with us, just as the moon is still with us! It is time to find Her again if we are to save ourselves through Her support.
The second book? Longing for Darkness, Tara and the Black Madonna by China Galland. This is the story of the one woman’s search for the Divine Feminine, not only for herself but for all women (and men!). I first read this book years ago; it is a great source book for Buddhist teachings and is a wonderful travelogue as Ms. Galland goes on pilgrimages in search of Tara and the Black Madonnas. Through her travels and time with teachers she discovers the connections among all the moon goddesses from Tara to Kali to Inanna to the Madonna. And she finds the Divine Feminine in herself.
I have the honor and privilege to live with the Divine Feminine as personified by Rosemary. All of these goddesses in my life give me hope for humanity. The immediate future does not look all that great! It has taken men 4,000 years to get us to this point. Perhaps it will take a few years of recovery and balance before we can see the true light through the brilliant and beautiful eyes of the Goddess.
Men and The Goddess 