|
|
After a childhood corralled by Catholicism, following the
footsteps of a mother who measured her worth by the happiness of her
husband, it took me many years and many bad decisions to discover the
Goddess within myself. In my child-mind I could see very little
worthiness in being female. The Eve I got to know was an evil example
of how of women have led the human race on a direct path to hell. The
temptress was merely the first of many conniving women who lured men
down to the darkest parts of their souls. Mary was held in high regard,
not for being the vessel of the holy child. Her greatness held together
by the flimsy thread of her virginity. The Feminists were a frightening
lot who spoke a little too loudly, made a lot of men very unhappy, and
were accused of penis-envy. To be beautiful meant to look like Farrah,
to be great meant to be like Mother Teresa, to be wise-nearly
impossible. Thank goodness for my dissatisfaction.
It lead me on a tremendous spiritual journey ultimately ending with the
holy Vedic books of Hinduism. I remember feeling naughty with delight
in learning that Goddess worship exists, that temples have been built,
that women AND men worship Her. In Hinduism it is believed that God is
neither male nor female. You cannot have male without female. We have
been accused of idol worship, when in reality these "idols" only
represent a sliver of God's character, not an actual separate entity.
Some of these characteristics are feminine hence-Goddess. In the
Tripura Rahasya Goddess explains, "What I
am is utterly beyond the capacity of your mind to conceive. Therefore,
worship Me in whatever form appeals to you. I promise, in that very
form I will come to you." It would be my pleasure
to introduce some of these great ladies to you... Lalita is
the Goddess of love, the supreme sovereign empress of the universe. She
represents a state of consciousness in which there is no distinction
between spirit and matter, consciousness and energy are the same. She
is a powerful Goddess worshiped by the truly devoted. She has it all.
She is supreme love, supreme beauty, and supreme consciousness.
Sarasvati is perhaps the oldest Goddess in the world. She is a muse, a
great inspiration. She brings music, poetry, art and science. She has
four hands. One holds a book (supreme intelligence), another a mala or
rosary (supreme spiritual knowledge), and the third and fourth hold a
musical instrument which creates all musical vibration.
Laskshmi is the Goddess of wealth and good fortune. She has many
devotees and is known as being gentle and soft-hearted. She is one to
intercede in your life even when you think that you may be getting the
shaft by Goddess Herself. Durga, the demon slayer,
at one time was worshiped all the way from India to Rome. She is a
great warrior who can finish off any devilish demon. So when you find
yourself wrestling with your demons (selfishness, prejudice, gluttony
and so on) pray for Durga to come into your life to show you how to
slay them. Parvati, the Goddess of devotion, was a
young girl who wanted so badly to become one with God that she devoted
her life to worship. She withstood terrible weather, fires, stampedes
and every distraction you can think of without breaking from her
worship. Until one day when she heard a child crying in the woods, she
ran into the woods to help the child. It turned out to be God testing
her. He was so pleased that she would abandon what meant the most to
her to help the helpless that he took her to become one with him.
There are so many others: Ushas, Goddess of the dawn; Aditi, Mother
Earth; and Kali, the bloodthirsty Goddess created by the Mother of the
Universe Herself. While in battle a terrible demon appeared who had the
ability to clone himself every time a drop of his blood touched the
ground. Kali stretched out her long tongue to drink up every drop
before she ate him. This means if you find yourself thinking negative,
debilitating thoughts or developing bad habits call on Kali before they
take root. If you don’t they can multiply without end. Too bad I did
not know about Kali when I was younger. I could have saved a lot of
energy discovering the Goddess within myself.
The Natural Sanctuary
newsletter is published 6 times a year. For information about
subscribing, contact Natural Sanctuary
|