Experience Your Divinity By Connecting With God (Part 1)

𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙈𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙊𝙣 𝙉𝙖𝙫𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙞 - 𝟏𝟓𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫

The divine vision, the royal clothes, the weapons, the unique chariot (vaahan), the hand of blessings and the face of 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚢, 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚊𝚠 – 𝗠𝗮𝗮 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗶. Preparations for the festival of Navratri involve creating the sacred space for the idol, laying seeds of wheat on banana leaves, above which a pot is placed from where droplets of water constantly fall. Garlands of flowers are placed in this pot. A diya or light is constantly lit. Prayers and fasting take place for the nine-day period. Looking at the spiritual meaning, these rituals speak volumes on how we can experience our divinity by connecting with God.

1 ● 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐯 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐭𝐢 means 𝗚𝗢𝗗 and 𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗟. Each deity is a kumari (unmarried) but called Ma (mother) and shown with weapons to kill the demons. When I the Soul (Shakti) connect to the non-physical Supreme Being or God (Shiv) and remember Him, I emerge – purity (quality of a kumari), love (quality of a mother) and power (weapons that kill the demons). 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐨𝐲 are the original qualities of every soul.

2 ● Shakti is with 8 arms which symbolizes the 𝟴 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝘀 each soul has - 𝙋𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙩𝙤 𝙟𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚, 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬, 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙪𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤-𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚.

3 ● Shakti holds a weapon in each of the 8 hands and conquers the demons. The weapons represent tools of wisdom. When we use these tools, we finish the demons of lust, anger, greed, attachment, ego and many other negative habits and sanskars.

4 ● When we allow the waters of 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕨𝕚𝕤𝕕𝕠𝕞 to fall from the mud pot (representing our intellect) on our thoughts (seeds), our thinking becomes clear, positive and powerful. The seeds germinate which means our efforts bear fruit and we experience success in every sphere of life. The flowers symbolize the emergence of divine virtues inside us, through this process.

(To be continued tomorrow...)