Navratri, the famed Nine Nights of the Goddess, is soon to begin. We propose to have a broad Indo-European 'Show of Force' (Shakti) for the occasion. What do we mean by this? Navratri is, of course, a Hindu observance. Yet the Goddess is broader than 'just' the Hindusphere. She has also been worshipped amidst all … Continue reading Operation VaishvaDevi – A Show of Force
Kushmanda
The Sovereign-Sires Of The Sky – Lord Shiva And Devi As The Ultimate Rulers Of The Grahas
We had earlier had our attention drawn to this verse (and its backdrop) by several associates. It is a work of one of the great Tamil Shaivite saints, Sambandar (also anglicized, as here, as Campantar) - and, as one can immediately see, it is a verse for the simultaneous praising of Lord Shiva, as well … Continue reading The Sovereign-Sires Of The Sky – Lord Shiva And Devi As The Ultimate Rulers Of The Grahas
The Vitality of the Universe Entire – On MahaGauri, SiddhiDhatri, and Demeter
The Eighth Night of #NavRatri is dedicated to MahaGauri - The Great Beauty, The 'Great White One' ; The Ninth Night of NavRatri, to Siddhidhatri - the Bestower of Boons, The Giver of Empowerment. Both because I am rather late in my finishing of this piece - but also due to a certain underlying thematic unity ... … Continue reading The Vitality of the Universe Entire – On MahaGauri, SiddhiDhatri, and Demeter
Kushmanda for Chaitra Navratri – The Power of the Sun
The Fourth Night of #NavRatri is dedicated to Ma as Kushmanda - which I have figuratively chosen to render as 'the Power of the Sun'. In essence, the reason that the Sun is ... well ... the Sun - rather than some abstract 'ball of flaming gas', or even simply an inanimate, lifeless object, is … Continue reading Kushmanda for Chaitra Navratri – The Power of the Sun
The Names Of The NavaDurgas In Accessible Translation For NavRatri
With NavRatri beginning tonight - here's an enumeration of the Nine NavaDurgas (One for each Night) … along with an attempt to make the theonyms more understandable via colour-coding. The colour of the part of the word in Sanskrit corresponds to the English word it's translated as. So, for instance, 'Shailaputri' has 'Shaila' (Mountain) in … Continue reading The Names Of The NavaDurgas In Accessible Translation For NavRatri
The Radiant Queen and the Beautiful Princess – Two Indo-European Solar Goddesses – On Scythian Tabiti, Hindu Tapati, Greek Helen
I think by now that many would agree that if a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - then Wiki-knowledge can be the summation of many dangerous things put together. Due to its prominence as a source, questionable material placed thereupon has a way of spreading out and cropping up again all over the place. … Continue reading The Radiant Queen and the Beautiful Princess – Two Indo-European Solar Goddesses – On Scythian Tabiti, Hindu Tapati, Greek Helen
The Radiant Queen of the Heavens – On Scythian Tabiti As Template For The Greater Indo-European Solar Goddess [Part 3 – The Wide Shining One And The Eye Of The Bright Sky]
The point of all of this, has been to attempt to sketch out in broad (solar-ray-diant, perhaps via illumination, provided you don't look too directly at it) brush-strokes a sort of typology for the situation. One wherein we can clearly see that the Sky Father's Consort may have been 'replicated' and referred to in various … Continue reading The Radiant Queen of the Heavens – On Scythian Tabiti As Template For The Greater Indo-European Solar Goddess [Part 3 – The Wide Shining One And The Eye Of The Bright Sky]
The Radiant Queen of the Heavens – On Scythian Tabiti As Template For The Greater Indo-European Solar Goddess [Part 1 – The Figurative Eclipse And Unconquered Re-Emergence Of The Solar Goddess Deific]
It is one of those curious little mysteries of our sphere - how particular portions of the Indo-European mythology have changed and shifted to acquire the now entrenched archetypal connotations we are so familiar with today ... especially in those areas wherein the modern perception of things is so clearly at odds with how things … Continue reading The Radiant Queen of the Heavens – On Scythian Tabiti As Template For The Greater Indo-European Solar Goddess [Part 1 – The Figurative Eclipse And Unconquered Re-Emergence Of The Solar Goddess Deific]
Kushmanda – 4th Navadurga, The 4th Night of NavRatri
The Fourth Night of #NavRatri is dedicated to Ma as Kushmanda – the Power of the Sun. Now, this is my own somewhat figurative rendering of the name; with a more direct translation working out something like “Warmth of the Cosmic Egg”. And while it might be tempting, I suppose, to think of the Sun … Continue reading Kushmanda – 4th Navadurga, The 4th Night of NavRatri
Navratri – The Nine Nights of Goddess Durga
Tonight marks the start of NavRatri – the Nine Nights of Goddess Durga. In North Indian tradition, we mark each one of the Nine as being dedicated to a particular NavaDurga Aspect of MataDI; whereas in South India, it is more common to regard it as three sets of three days apiece – one for … Continue reading Navratri – The Nine Nights of Goddess Durga
arya-akasha 