Relating with the Devī
This time of devotion to the Divine Mother happens throughout the year. The 2022 vasānta navaratri begins April 1st in the Americas and April 2nd in India & Asia, Africa, the South Pacific & Europe.
*Vasānta means spring, which is the current season in the northern hemisphere.. For those in the southern hemisphere, this Navarātri is in Autumn for you, so some meanings need to be adapted. The astrological implications are the same for all. So at the earth level there will be differences, but at the sky level the teachings and meanings are universal no matter where you live.
What is Navarātri?
The nine days & nights of the Devī {feminine divine} is a sacred practice of the Vedic Tradition in which we bow in reverence to the universal mother.
Navarātri occurs several times a year, calculated according to the lunar calendar and astrological configurations.
Each Navarātri is unique because of the season and the unique astrological configurations as we move through time. But each offers both a universal and deeply personal time of healing, transformation & inner awakening.
All of the Vedic festivals are based on calculating the timing of sacred subtle conditions in the manifestation. The tradition then invites us to make the most of these unseeable forces for the good of the individual and humanity as a whole.
Feminine Divine, Śakti, or Mother – is not about gender or biology. She is the power, capacity, movement that is alive as and in everything. She is the One presence and power that creates, sustains and resolves… in the ongoing dance of manifestation.
The image shown is of Śailaputri, daughter of the mountain, who is honored on Day 1 of Navarātri.
Who is the Devī
"I am all that moves, and all that doesn't move" ~ Devī Mahatmya
The Devī or Śri is both the One source of existence and the variegated glory of the manifestation.
She is that which is imminent {here and now as everything} and transcendent {beyond name and form}
Mahādevī, Great Mother.
Supreme Sovereign.
Self-emerged.
Embodiment of all-love and all-power and all-wisdom.
Born of out of the Śri Cakra that you are.
With a serpent as your garland and your hair in locks.
Carrying the drum and trident.
With your belly in three perfect folds.
Riding the bull of fearlessness.
Illuminated by the glow of the jewels in the crowns of the devas who are eternally bowing at your feet.
We bow in reverence to you as you appear to re-establish natural divine order and natural divine desire.
May we protect and be protected.
May we desire what is attuned to nature.
May we be wise and share wisdom.
May we love and be loved.
Jai Mā!
~ Kaya
A Roadmap for Navarātri
Navarātri may be new to you…. or you may have been wading in her waters for a few years… or perhaps you’re doing complex & nuanced sādhanas under the direction of a guru or mentor.
There are many ways in which Navarātri is honored and practiced, depending on tradition. Many of the deeper practices of Navarātri require inheritance of initiation. The practices are done as an initiation at this sacred time & in relationship.
At times I do {and will in the future} share more in depth and nuanced teachings, stories & practices. Here I’ll share some “open source” approaches. My next program for Navarātri will be during the next season’s Navarātri September 25th 2022. Save the date!
Option 1: Focus on One form
If you already have a special relationship with a form of the Devī, or a teacher has selected one for you to focus on, you can take the time to deepen that relationship. Do this with mantra, contemplation, visualization time at your altar, reading her stories or teachings, and bringing her into your life in the various ways that are appropriate to that form of the Devī. Make offerings to her at your altar, sing to her, offer yourself, your heart, your gratitude.
Option 2: Organize the 9 days & nights into 3 parts
1} Dedicate days 1-3 for Dūrga Mā. This is a time for clearing & purification. Let go of the past, clean house, gentle fasting or kitchari diet {if appropriate}, release, let go through journaling, crying, laughing. See Her riding in on her Lion, ready to help you battle your inner & outer obstacles. She carries all the weapons and is terrifying but her face is serene and full of love. She is your fierce mother. She will whip you into shape and help strip away what is blocking you in life & your spiritual journey.
2. Dedicate days 4-6 to Lakṣmi Devī. This is a time for beautification, nutrification, fulfillment of dharmic desires, cooking, deepening relationships with loved ones. See her sitting in her lotus, supporting you to be in the world but not of the world. Attune to your desires that are in tune with natural order and your greatest good. See how to step forward to embrace life as the spiritual journey itself.
3. Dedicate days 7-9 to Sarasvati Devī. This is time to commit to learning, wisdom, solitude {even if a little time each a day for a householder. See her sitting in peacefully on a flowing river, playing her vīna which uplifts your mind to other worldly places. Envision what you wish you learn or know, practice deep listening and see how life itself leads to ultimate spiritual wisdom if we let it.
In each of these steps, you can make offerings to her at your altar – flowers, nuts, sweets, fruits. Chant mantras if initiated, sing to her. Offer your tears, gratitude, dreams and love.
This Navarātri Re-Emerging
This year, Vasānta Navarātri is happening amidst a pivotal celestial moment in history.
This devotional time can help us release the past & move forward.
The influence of the past 2.5 years has been heavy and impactful, we need all the help we can get – including the divine! It is divine intervention that Navarātri comes now.
My husband, Michael wrote a series of articles starting in 2018, about Rahu, Jupiter and Saturn to prepare us for what was to unfold during the past few years. And now, we are emerging out of that time.
Multiple grahas {the luminaries & planets of the sky sphere} are making very major moves in April 2022. This is a pivotal moment. These same grahas {Saturn, Jupiter & Rāhu}: rulers of karma & dharma are making big shifts that only happen very rarely.
This is a transition, and we’ll have to choose whether we remain in the past, stay stuck in the transition or move forward – even if uncomfortable.
If you’ve felt lately like you have been “stuck between a rock and a hard place” with no great options {be it in life, relationships, home, work, family} there is hope coming with these changes that things will become more clear and forward motion will happen.
And yet… the right move may not be the obvious one or the predictable one. The right move may not be what you planned or expected a few years ago. The right move may be terrifying or overwhelming.
Shed the Past &
Take A Great Leap Forward
To release the past & move into the future, we call on the Divine and on our strengths & skills!
To do anything, you must take action. One of those actions is prayer. This is the blessing of Navarātri, which calls us to devotional acts & thoughts.
This month you can take actions to release the fears and limitations that have held us back – whether they are new fears, or linked to ancestors or past life {or a combination.
But, if you are held back by the fears, restrictions, and conflicts of the past you miss the opportunity that the universe is serving us in the form of these changes.
It’s a blessing that Navarātri starts just before the major astrological shifts of this month. The changes offer hope for restoring our wellbeing and trust in life, so we can embracing our capacities and fulfill our individual potentials.
You can do it. You are held by the divine, you are that divine, your future is an unfoldment into that One presence.
You can prepare, bolstered with the security of trust in the divine, to take a chance. Supported by Navarātri, you can leap into the unknown: trusting the divine, and trusting our own life’s journey – like Hanumān, whose heart full of his beloved Rām, remembers his power and leaps across the ocean.
Jai Mā!
Love,
Kaya
Supreme Release Yoga Series,
Starts Tuesday April 4
Nectar of Patanjali
Clarifying Yoga, The spiritual Journey of Life
A rare opportunity to delve into these essential teachings in ways that touch the heart and impact your practice & life. Kaya will select key sūtras and extract the mystical & practical nectar of this sacred manual, using the traditional commentary and the blessing of the oral teachings of her gurus and mentors who show how Patanjali restates the Upanishads & the Bhagavad Gitā. We will explore key sūtras on Yoga’s definition, purpose, potential & practice.