It is Friday – Devi’s Day. And so therefore, we bring an ‘after-action report’ from our associates at Un Tiers Chemin – Arts, Rites et Savoirs Traditionnels as to their propitiation of the Goddess on the Ninth Night of #NavRatri as part of our ‘Operation VaishvaDevi’ (‘Show of Force’ – Shakti) effort.

As you can see, they had undertaken a parallel suite of worship in intentional resonancy to our own Hindu observances. In the particular schema that I follow (and there are most definitely others), the Ninth Night is for Siddhidhatri, the Great Goddess at Her Apex (well, one of These).

It therefore seemed only appropriate as the time for the propitiation of the key Celtic expression of the Great Goddess – Danu (and c.f. various of my earlier work demonstrating, for instance, the cognate coherency of ‘Danu’ and ‘Aditi’ in functional usage between the Celtic and Hindu spheres – ‘Tuatha De Danann’ (‘Tribe of the Gods (De – like Deva) of (Mother) Danu (Danann)’) in relation to ‘Adityas’ (‘[Gods Born] of [Mother] Aditi’), for instance)

Now, as with anything of this nature – there are various details that aren’t for public dissemination, however it was frankly remarkable just how well the ritualine approach our Celtic cousins already had in readiness concorded with our own familiar Hindu approaches.

And I say ‘cousins’ – as it should happen, my own French heritage is, in fact, Breton. So in that sense, I mean it perhaps a bit more directly than usual. And therefore have found it a point of even further pride and duty that … well … you’ll see what I mean when we get to the Hymnal that had been invoked.

But enough from me. We shall now hear from Yann, Mab Beltan :

“Here is the “After Action Report” for the 9th night of yesterday :

Last night I honored the Celtic goddess Danu. I don’t usually write about this sort of things, because my household rites are, so to speak, “housebound.” But this wasn’t just a household rite. It was the 9th night of the Navaratri, a great Hindu festival celebrating the various forms of their great goddess, Devi.

The Arya Akasha Institute for Indo-European Studies organized on this occasion… “joint operations”, one could say, or “inter-allied drills”. It was not only about honoring Danu for what she brings to my Breton, Celtic, and European home. It was also an opportunity to take part in the rebirth of our ancestral traditions, reconnecting them to another branch of the tree, a branch that has never been severed. Certainly, the land of the Indian subcontinent is quite different from the land of Armorica that I am lucky enough to inhabit. Our languages, our cultures, our rituals, have evolved in different ways; other indigenous populations have been integrated, and have given birth to other societies, organized differently. However, I recognize in the Indian civilization the last integrally Indo-European civilization of our world – a civilization that has not only preserved its language, but also its religion and the societies shaped around it, fighting to preserve its sovereignty and to give the Gods their rightful place.

This 9th and final night of the Navaratri festival was dedicated to Siddhidhatri, “the bestower of boons”. It so happens that the name of our Celtic goddess Danu, in addition to being associated with the name of great rivers such as the Danube, also has this double meaning: that of “gift”, both in the sense of “present” and in the sense of “skill”. Siddhidhatri is, mythically, the progenitor of all gods and goddesses… just as our gods are named the Tuatha Dé Dannan (People of the Goddess Dana) in Ireland, the Pumeib Dôn (Five Children of Dôn) in Wales. By chance (but is chance anything other than the mask of Destiny?), Danu is also the name of an Indian goddess attested as early as Vedic antiquity, associated with primordial waters. She is still honored on the eastern border of the Hindu world: on the Indonesian island of Bali, in the most populous Muslim state in the world, stands the temple of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, dedicated to the one they call Dewi Danu – the goddess Danu.

That night, by thanking Danu, the Great Mother of the Bretons, for her gifts to my household, I could at the same time link my praise to that of the other associates of the Arya Akasha Institute, and to that of millions of Hindus, to celebrate our Mother-Tradition, that of our ancient common origin. While the streams of tradition flow underground here, and require deep digging to bring a trickle of water back to the surface, the Hindu religion is still a mighty river with innumerable arms. It is not about diverting the waters of one side to mix with those of the other; it is about going back to the common source, to gather a living and pure water, the taste of which Europe has forgotten, to the point of not being able to recognize it anymore.

“We are, as it were, of no repute; grant us, mother, distinction.
In you, Don, who are divine, all existences are collected”
In you, abundant in water, who are divine, all existences are gathered.”
(Rig Veda, II, 41, 16b-17a)

O Danu, unquenchable spring, Mother of our Gods, bestower of gifts, give back to the Bretons, to the Celts, to the Europeans, the memory of what they used to be: what those who honored Siddhidhatri last night have never ceased to be!

“Itron Doueez Danu, mirit ho Pretoned.
Goulennit dreist pep tra ma veint feal bepred!

Evidomp pezh ur brud ha pezh ul levenez,
Ma oc’h deut d’hor c’hemer evit hi pugale!

Evidomp ni emañ he c’harantez vrasañ,
Evidomp ni he ra he purzhudoù kaerañ!”.

Goddess Danu, our Lady, watch over your Bretons.
Ask them above all to remain always faithful!

For us, what glory and what joy,
That you have taken us as your children!

Goddess Danu, our Lady, watch over your Bretons.
Ask them above all to remain always faithful!

It is for us that her greatest love is,
It is for us that she performs her most beautiful wonders.

Goddess Danu, our Lady, watch over your Bretons.
Ask them above all to remain always faithful!

Kevarc’h Danu!
Kevarc’h he bugale, Doueel ha Denel!

[Yann, Mab Beltan
note: the visual, work by MAli’s is, obviously, non-contractual]”

[-C.A.R. ; posted on behalf of our associates, in their own translation]

Jai Mata Di !