VEDIC HOLIDAY: SPRING NAVRATRI – CHAITRA
Navratri: Beginning of The Journey of the Soul
April 5th – April 14, 2019
This new moon day in Pisces is very special in the Vedic calendar and starts the nine days of Mother Divine. We liken this period from April 5th – 14th as a rebirth period where the soul is gestating in the womb of the Mother Divine and about to be reborn to a new life after 9 days rather than 9 months.
This period can be an intense time during the first three days ruled by Durga as deep purification of your subconscious energies are brought up to be healed and transformed. If you are receptive and open to transformation, this is a time for fasting, deep meditation, prayer and faith that the Divine Mother, with her immense love, is ready to pour her blessings upon you. Use this time to go deep within and transform.
Each day of the nine days is part of the journey of moon from the new moon towards its fullness. This Year it is from April 5th – 14th with the new moon in the United States being late at night on April 5th as well as in Europe and India beginning during the day on April 5th. During these nine days of activity, the sap of our energy rises chakra by chakra to reach the crown.
Throughout the nine days of Chaitra Navratri, there are dedications to one aspect of Mother Divine with the first three to Durga. One of my teachers, Indu Aurora has written beautifully about the first day and Durga:
“Durga means someone who has accomplished the impossible and the impossibility. That is the power hidden – sleeping – inert, as well as, innate in each of us. On the first day, we invoke Durga as Ma Shailaputri. She is the daughter of the great Himalayas. She has made up her mind to rise from the great earth below to the heavens above. She is invincible and immovable like the great Himalayas itself.”
She goes on to say: ” Once we become grounded and determined with 100% conviction of what we deserve, we are ready to break through the earth upon which we stand but we remain still like Ma Shailaputri. In order to move, we have to be stirred. Ma Shailaputri motivates us to be stirred and yet maintain still. She holds a trident on the right hand, which symbolizes the victory over three kinds of sufferings (karmic, cosmic and manasic), over three Gunas (sattva, Rajas and tamas) and in the left hand she holds a lotus. In order to be strong, we don’t have to lose our grace, gentleness and kindness. When you invoke Shailaputri within, no one can take your kindness as your weakness and your silence as your ignorance.”
Friday-Sunday will be a good day for silence, meditation, fasting, prayer and inner transformation. You can sponsor into pujas for the nine days at Puja.net or the Vedic Yagya Center or visit your local temple. It is a very beautiful time for deep transformation so enjoy. I find the Durga days always a bit intense so use the time to go within and heal.
The Divine loves you so much during this time. Just embrace it and let it in to cleanse the darkness into light. Savor and delight in the process!
