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We are at the beginning of the holiest month in the Vedic lunar calendar, the Kartika month, which began with the October full moon on 28 October and will end with the November full moon.
Why is this lunar cycle so special, so significant, so sacred?
It marks the beginning of the dark half of the year. Winter, with its many hours of darkness and cold, is lying ahead of us. The Kartika month serves to prepare for this time!
The festivals and deities celebrated during this lunarcycle help us to bring light into our energy body and consciousness, to consciously raise our vibration and keep it high. We invite light and positivity, beauty and harmony into our lives, homes, bodies and minds.
It is the time to cultivate SATTVA, the quality of purity, lightness and clarity, for this is what will carry us through the many dark days of winter without losing ourselves in feelings of loneliness, sadness, sluggishness or depression. The quality of TAMAS, the dullness and heaviness that prevails at this time of year, is of course also necessary and important for nature (us included) to regenerate. But since we don't hibernate (even if we sometimes wish we could), we don't want to let the tamasic quality overwhelm us completely.
In the middle of this lunar cycle, just before the new moon, the darkest night, the festivals begin....
On Trayodashi, the 13th lunar day, 2 days before AMAVASYA (new moon) several deities are celebrated... DHANVANTARI, the divine power of healing and long, healthy life, God of Ayurveda,
and Divine Mother in the form of LAKSHMI, the universal power of beauty, nurturing, abundance, gentleness, fulfilment, the flow of blessings.
But also Shiva is honoured, together with Shakti.... many people fast on this day. (Especially women who wish for a good husband ;-))
The next day is KAMALA JAYANTI, the day when KAMALA DEVI, the tantric form of Lakshmi is honoured. She is one of the MAHAVIDYAS, one of the Goddesses who initiate us into the great wisdoms and lead us to self-realization.
And the following day, at new moon, is DIWALI, the great festival of light, where in India the houses are decorated in the evening with countless oil lamps. The floor in front of the entrance doors is adorned by the women with large, colourful mandalas, circular geometric patterns. Each mandala invites a particularenergetic quality into the house, at this time it is mainly the quality of Lakshmi - abundance, harmony and beauty. Of course there is also a feast with the most beautiful food.
I find it very interesting that the sun is in the sign Libra at this time, the sign in which it is debilitated and has the least strength. The power of the external light is reduced to a minimum, because the moon as well is in darkness during these days.
Such a clear indication that it is time to turn to the inner light! The sign Libra also represents the energetic heart centre in our body, ANAHATA CHAKRA! So it is really about feeling the light of our soul in our heart centre, strengthening it and letting it shine brightly!
For me personally, it is important to use this time precisely for this! In my life I feel more and more clearly how the presence of Divine Mother carries me. Although I frequently neglect my sadhana in favour of external events, and very often in favour of the incessant accumulation of work, no effort I have ever made to be close to Her has been in vain. Every little effort I make causes Her presence to take deeper and deeper root in my consciousness.
The special thing about a sadhana with Devi, with the Divine in the form of the Universal Mother, Shakti, the Goddess, is that she is so gracious, so bountiful, so generous, so forgiving, so loving and caring as only a mother can be. (Yes, she can also be strict and adamant if necessary.... but that too is out of love.)
Connecting with the Divine in the maternal form gives us the feeling of being safe and under Her protection in all circumstances. It gives us the certainty of being at home in a benevolent universe.
I am sure many of you are wondering, especially in these times of war and unimaginable human suffering, how such events fit into this worldview. I cannot arrogate to myself to fully understand this, but basically, in the Vedic worldview, everything that happens, on a personal as well as on a collective level, is the result of previous actions (from this or past lives, our own, or those of our ancestors or those who have influenced and shaped us). All the pain and suffering we have to go through has the purpose of opening our eyes and hearts and turning (perhaps as a last possible refuge) to the Divine, making a conscious decision not to follow the forces of the ego (fear, hatred, greed, envy, revenge...) but to keep ingturn towards the Light unconditionally. I am aware that this is easy to say as long as one is not in such a painful situation oneself. But what other choice is there really? There are only these two possibilities in the world of duality.... the deeper entanglement in the material world and the abandonment of inner guidance through bitterness, resignation, retaliation......or the turning towards the higher reality and truth of our eternal soul in unconditional surrender. We also fight this battle in small ways in our everyday lives, even though the dimensions are quite different. So let's use every opportunity to reaffirm our decision.
If you are like me, then the external circumstances of life once again have no regard for these wonderful, precious days that want to be celebrated and savoured. You, like me, are probably just as busy as ever.
And yet I want to do what I can. Because without this inner light, the beauty and grace of the Goddess that carries me from within, I don't want to and can't live anymore. She is everything for me. And without Her, everything is nothing.
And just so there is no misunderstanding.... She is not something external that we first have to acquire. She is the life force that already beats in our hearts, the voice of longing within that calls to us..... She is identical with our eternal being, the light of our soul, which we are here to uncover, to unveil, to free from the veils of illusion. She is who we already are. To recognise Her is to recognize ourselves. Referring to this Divine Power as Mother is a matter of taste, or more likely a result of past lives and one's own vibrational frequency.
But the form in which we relate to the Divine also influences the way we experience it. The Formless is also a concept in our mind, which we need until the Divine omnipresence becomes a lived experience, and concepts and forms are no longer necessary.
And so I would like to support you to use this time for yourself, to invite high vibration, beauty and inner peace into your life, which will carry you not only through winter, but through any form of challenge or darkness.
May you allow your awareness of Devi within, that eternal, unclouded light of your soul to become so strong and present, so that it illuminates your inner being throughout all the ups and downs of life and outshines everything else, and you begin to perceive beauty and divine presence and grace unconditionally in ALL circumstances. This is the ultimate goal, this is the "great wisdom" (MAHAVIDYA) of Kamala Devi.
On the 3 most important days, that is the 11th, 12th and 13th of November, Lakshmi, Kamala and then Diwali are celebrated. Here I would like to share special meditations with you. The best way to do this is through my TELEGRAM CHANNEL. You can subscribe to the channel here: t.me/pathoftheyoginis
I wish you and us a blessed time. May this light of realisation shine in our hearts, touch others and spread.
Jai Ma!
P.S.: If my sharing inspires you, I am always happy to receive FLOWERS from you (under "support"). This supports me very much in being able to continue my work.
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