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Navaratri-Nine Nights of the Goddess
What I’ve found over the decades of being a junkie for spirituality, is that traditions, mythologies and even megalithic structures from all over the world, not only point to similar things, but most of them also point to the cycles of nature in some way. It is clear to me, that the Divine, spells it all out for us in every direction that we look, that what is going on ‘out there’ (in nature and the cosmos) is also going on within ourSelves. One of those traditions that show up in fall, is Maha Navaratri. I’ve been in love with this holy-day since we first met!
Navaratri is a special celebration from the Hindu tradition that honors the goddess and is venerated in India and Nepal. It occurs about five times a year with the most celebrated being Spring and Fall as it marks the turning of the year. It commemorates the dance of the Divine Feminine for ushering in the shift in the seasons. It’s a portal in time, marking a transition between the seen and unseen, spirit and matter, and the dark and the light. It’s a time when we feel like we are straddling both worlds and we are neither here nor there, but somewhere in between in the netherworld. Probably for this very reason, that you hear that the veil between worlds is thin at this time and is ripe for contacting ancestors and angels.
The most significant/potent of the two Navaratri celebrations is during Fall, that’s why it’s called ‘Maha’ Navaratri. ‘Maha’ means great, ‘Nava’ means nine, and ‘ratri’ means night in Sanskrit. So essentially, it means the great nine nights of the goddess. This ‘holy’-day coincides with the Vedic lunar calendar and is thought to be the most powerful ten days of the year. The ancient seers/rishis of India identified Navratri as the time for the destruction of evil forces due to the power available at this time, to let go, destroy, release, transform and transmute our darkness into light. It is associated with a death cycle as the days get shorter and the nights get longer and life is being called into silence. Being closely linked with the seasons and with nature, it supports transformation, letting go, and healing. It invites our own deep dive into consciousness, awareness and our own inner wisdom.
So the story goes that each year during Navratri, the Great Mother manifests herself in the warrior form of Durga/Kali to battle the evil demon Mahishasura, who represents the dark forces that threaten the existence of goodness. The Goddess/Divine Feminine/Shakti Energy (Devas), descends to the Earth plane to awaken the Earth from a deep slumber. Her mission is to destroy the demons (Asuras) that could be interpreted as all types of negativity, evil forces and disharmony like the ego, greed, lust, laziness, fear, ignorance, sickness, anger, poverty, and jealousy that threaten to destroy our creative life and spiritual progress. She battles Mahishasura for nine nights and is victorious in the demons’ destruction on the 10th day.
It’s the classic battle between the light and dark, the good and bad, and the conscious and the sub-conscious that takes place within all beings. The story shows good triumphing over evil as the Devas/goddesses personify courage, universal love and self-discipline that overcome the Asuras/ego-driven nature of desires and greed. It is also a reminder that what is going on ‘out there’ in nature, when we are in the balance of light and dark, is also going on within ourselves, and that we, like the Devas, have the power to heal, transform and integrate those polarities within ourSelves.
Navaratri is the celebration of the goddess in all of her forms. In many traditions, she is not simply an energy, vibration or frequency. She is the mega-divine female, the Mother Divine—the counterpart of God the Father, create-ress of the phenomenal world. The invitation during this sacred time is to align with the powerful forces of this Divine Feminine/Divine Mother Shakti energy in the form of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati who represent power, abundance and wisdom in their most auspicious forms. They are each celebrated for three of the nine nights.
The power-house of this goddess trinity can be invoked to assist us in these shadowy processes of fall. Let’s take a look at how allowing the glorious light of the goddess to enter our consciousness, can assist us in transmuting our own darkness. It’s only fitting that we begin with Durga/Kali as she is the first aspect venerated at Navaratri and the most bad-ass for our own descent into darkness that initiates our own path to enlightenment. In fact, she should definitely join Archangel Michael as the feminine patron saint of our Beautiful Darkness journey.
First of all, who is this trinity of feminine badasses?
Durga aka Kali: She is the warrior goddess extraordinaire—complete with belt of dismembered heads. She wipes out, purifies, uproots, and transforms. She offers protection from enemies and dark forces.
Lakshmi: She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, beauty and health. Lakshmi is said to bestow inexhaustible wealth on her devotees. She is the goddess of the home and ensures you have everything that you need. She offers support and nurturing in all areas of life.
Saraswati: She is the goddess of wisdom, the creative arts, music, skill, speech and education. She is the goddess of consciousness. On Navaratri she dons a more ferocious form to eradicate ignorance and impurity in the world. She bestows right knowledge, understanding, creativity and artistry. She blesses her devotees with clarity, discrimination, wisdom and attaining excellence in the arts and sciences.
In order to have all-around success in life, believers seek the blessings of all three aspects of the divine feminine, hence the nine nights of worship.
I like to think about what it looks like, in our modern world to embrace and embody each of those aspects of the goddess and how I would invoke their energies. For the purpose of the particular work in this book of fall and the shadow, this is how I see these energies manifesting:
As I was meditating on Kali and how I could invoke her for shadow work, I saw her with her sword and her eyes were firey to illuminate truth from bullshit. I have always seen her as a fierce ‘momma bear’ energy, like someone who would be looking out for your best interest in a ferocious way. My request or invocation was that she would embody us, in a way that we could see with her eyes, the truthfulness of our lives. In other words, if Kali were surveying your life (imagine her eyes behind yours), she wouldn’t mince her words, her tongue is like a sword. If she were to see you in a toxic relationship, and you tried to tell her that it wasn’t that bad, she would rip you a new one with clarity and truth. She would call a spade a spade and say, “WTF are you doing here? Do you not know your worth?” She would take her sword and slash that relationship in half. She would pick up that addiction, that you have been justifying as ‘not that bad’, and lift it over her head and smash it to the ground into a thousand pieces—because she loves you.
I see Kali as an energy that would illuminate and awaken our own consciousness to all of our negativity, self-sabotage, and playing small ways. She would wield her sword of truth to illuminate any toxicity or inauthenticity in your life and in your sub-conscious. Her tenacity and eyes of fire would have you see with brutal honesty, all that is no longer in alignment with the truth of you and your dharma, and aid you in rooting it out. I see the fire shooting out of her eyes, like a super-hero burning to the ground, all that isn’t authentic.
As you courageously take on this work, you too, will wear your own slayed demons around your belt of accomplishments from that which you have transmuted from your own shadows—alchemically having transformed your darkness into light and power.
When you use the energy of Kali, just know, blood will be shed—your own. When you see yourself with her fiery eyes, there will be no more excuses, you will instantly be incinerated at the first untruth or self-deception that comes forth from your lips. All your excuses that have justified your bad behavior will evaporate, and you will be left witnessing the harsh truth of you. If that weren’t enough, you will see all the ways you have betrayed yourSelf and your own Soul and you will be left bleeding out on the battlefield of your own interior.
However, as devastating as this may initially appear, it is the first step on your path to enlightenment, often called the dark night of the Soul. It is a death of sorts, to all that is inauthentic and toxic to your new growth and evolution. But just like the promise of the sliver of the new moon that comes after the dark moon, and the Winter Solstice that celebrates the return of the light when it is at its weakest, when you are lying lifeless from your harrowing battle, Maha Lakshmi comes to your aide.
Ahhhh momma Lakshmi. She always reminds me of my grandmother, the goddess of the hearth and home. My grandmother was the glue of our family. She had a large, Victorian home in Maine, that you could always count on being well nourished there in her care. She provided us all with home cooked meals, a roof over our head, and a listening ear in hard times.
How I envision Lakshmi, in our work of the shadow, is the great nurturer and goddess of self care. When you find yourSelf bleeding out at some of the devastation the radical, fiery-eyes of Kali has brought to light, call on Maha Lakshmi. Embody her loving care as you bestow yourSelf with some creature comforts. Put on your favorite sweater, make yourself some warm soup or a cup of tea. Beautify your surroundings with flowers, a clean space, and cozy blankets.
Do all that you can to nurture yourSelf while you are undergoing this dark process. If Kali were the body/embodiment, Lakshmi would be the heart. To see yourSelf through the compassionate eyes of Lakshmi, picture the grandmothers, taking you in after you just got beat up by life. How would they nurture your Soul? What creature comforts would feel the most nourishing to you at this time? Don’t deprive yourSelf, pamper yourSelf. Show yourSelf some Lakshmi Self-love and care.
I like to picture Lakshmi as the attending nurse, that comes while my Soul is in the ICU unit. She is going to breathe life back into me and show me that beauty exists on the other side of my pain. She is here to shine the light of hope that all will be well—like the celebration of the Light on the Winter Solstice. Part of the gift of Lakshmi is not only material wealth, but spiritual wealth as well.
When you have re-gained your strength, are feeling better, and Lakshmi has taught you how to nurture and have compassion for your wounded Self, in comes your wise counselor, Saraswati. She will assist you in turning your wounds into wisdom by processing all that you have gone through.
Saraswati is going to aide you in comprehending, making peace with, and transforming your past, and your shadows and the masks that you wear to hide them. She will act like an alchemist and transmit to you how everything you have undergone, has had meaning and purpose and was for the growth of your Soul. You will gain great wisdom as you submit and surrender to her counsel.
You can invoke the wisdom of Saraswati, to know what music would be best for the processing of different emotions, and which essential oils would be powerful to facilitate bringing up and healing past wounds. You can request her inspiration while you use any of the creative arts of drawing, writing, painting, or singing as a means of therapy and inspiration for others.
Her wisdom will guide you to connect any dots of your past pain with your own dharma and life purpose. Often our greatest strengths come from our deepest wounds, and become a gift when we can share those stories of over-coming with others in their times of need.
Aligning with the energy of the goddess at Navaratri, supports the process of fall and assists us in shining the light of awareness on our shadows, knowing what deserves to be released, and letting go of what is no longer serving our highest, authentic, expression. As we let go of our darkness, we create space for our inner light and wisdom to arise.
It matters not if you are male or female—the Divine Shakti power that sustains life, exists in both men and women as receptivity, nurturing, vulnerability, beauty, inspiration, fertility, prosperity, joy, intuition, and community and are available to all of us. In a world where It appears that the goddess has long been forgotten, and is no longer a living presence for most people in our modern, industrial, patriarchal society, we would do well to bring Her back into our awareness. When our connection to Her is weak, we suffer financially, physically, mentally and emotionally. The Shakti power brings everything that is enlivening, nurturing and inspiring into this world.
There is so much more to this power-house trinity of goddesses! What I’ve shared above, is how to utilize the energy for a specific purpose. I’ll be sharing more about how to invoke different archetypal energies with each turn of the wheel of life—coming up next with the Winter Solstice, then the Spring Equinox and culminating with the Summer Solstice. Meanwhile, do your own research, ask yourSelf how you embody each one of those energies and how do they play out in your life. Where have you abandoned the goddess? Which goddess archetype do you feel more aligned? Which energy comes easy and which is more of a challenge for you—the brutal honesty and momma bear quality of Kali, the Self-love, nurturing and compassion of Lakshmi or turning your wounds into wisdom, like Saraswati?
Embody, invoke or propitiate these goddess energies as your own spiritual practice dictates. Follow your heart. Create your own rituals. Set up a sacred alter. Light a candle. Meditate. Chant an ancient mantra to one of these or other goddesses, or make up your own. Place a picture or a statue of your favorite goddess in a prominent or auspicious spot in your home or yard. Be more conscious and aware of honoring the goddess in all of her forms throughout your day. Bow. Have gratitude. Allow the Divine Feminine some space to be embodied within yourSelf. Love. Flow. Create. Happy Navaratri. ©Laurie Frazier ~excerpt from Beautiful Darkness
Using Crystals to Represent the Energies of Kali, Lakshmi & Saraswati to Facilitate the Processes of Fall
So if using crystals are a part of your practice, or you would like them to be, or if you have no clue what I’m talking about right now, let’s keep it simple. Crystals, rocks, stones, etc carry specific energies, as do herbs, animals, elements, and seasons. Whether they truly have the energy that they’ve been used for for hundreds/thousands of years or whether they don’t, for me, they have the energy ((( I )) bestow on them. It is my intention that empowers the ‘thing’ to hold that energy for me.
When I have a particular goal, something I want to manifest, create or let go of, I will often set up a sacred space a.k.a. alter, that I put carefully chosen items on to represent whatever it is that I am working on. Just the focused act of contemplating that particular intention, and choosing what I do to represent it, has power. Every time I walk by that sacred space, I am reminded of what I am working on, if only momentarily. The physical representation in my home of my mental construct, assists me in bringing the particular goal into fruition.
As I intentionally choose the things I do, I am clear in my mind that I am choosing what I choose, for very specific reasons. Sometimes, the same item will represent different things, at different times. For instance, a feather may represent harnessing the element of air and another time, it may represent something I am letting go of, thus making myself ‘light as a feather.’ The power comes in my clarity and my specific intention for that particular item.
I prefer to go with the flow and tap into the energy that has already been used for hundreds of years, like a feather representing air, a candle representing fire and a rose quartz having the energy of love and compassion. Like a Sanskrit sutra, which is simply a mantra with meaning, that has been chanted repetitively for thousands of years and is believed to carry the specific energy of its meaning by the mere chanting of it—particular items, because they have been used for thousands of years for specific ends, go with that! Because why not? It’s like a stone rolling downhill—that’s the energy you want to tap into. And, there are always things that hold specific meaning for me and nobody else, I use those just as often.
So that was a long introduction to saying here are the different crystals I would use to harness/represent the energies of the goddesses above, Kali, Lakshmi and Saraswati as the particular way that they manifest during our shadow processes of fall.
Kali: Any black stone like obsidian, black tourmaline, etc. Why? Because black stones are known to absorb negativity. I had an experience once, while teaching in an addiction treatment facility, where one of the patients that had just relapsed on heroine, was holding my black tourmaline and this fist size stone broke in half in his hand! No kidding. I was like, this shit is real! So get some black stones/crystals, if it resonates with you, holds it in your hand while you are meditating on these heavy emotions, carry it in your pocket or bra. Maybe on the left side, by your heart ladies, to absorb all that resentment, anger, and disappointment. I suggest that when you use it, you communicate with it and let it know its job. “Beautiful crystal, please absorb any negativity that resides in me.” “Thank you for holding my negative thoughts, emotions, etc.”
Be intentional. Connect with whatever you are using. Hold it in your hands, close your eyes, notice if you feel anything whatsoever—warmth, vibration, tingling, coolness. Do it often. As you let go of your heavy stuff, you will become more sensitive. Keep tuning in. Let these items/objects/oils/rocks/plants/etc speak to you. Also, speak to them. Let them know what you would like them to represent for you. Conjur up the feeling, power, emotion you want them to carry, while you are holding it and imbue them with it.
Apparently, back in the way back machine, crystals used to be used to carry messages from one kingdom to another. Yet another lost art. I digress…
Lakshmi: Although Lakshmi is known most for the quality of abundance, in this work of the shadow, we are harnessing her aspect of being the goddess of health and well-being and invoking her for Self-love and care. In pictures of Lakshmi, pink often seems to be one of the predominant colors. As I meditated on her, and how we could best use her energy in the dark work of fall, she came to me as a nurse and a care-taker, like a really good grandmother. The stone that best represents that to me is hands down, rose quartz.
Rose quartz is the stone of love and compassion. It feels very Venusian, which Lakshmi also represents being the goddess of beauty and the home. Get a nice big chunk of it for your alter, a smaller one for your pocket, or buy it in jewelry and wear it. One can never manifest or harness enough love and compassion—especially Self-love.
Every time you see this warm pink stone, ask yourself, “What can I do to nourish me?” “What do I need in this moment?” Also ask yourself where have you not been caring for you and showing yourSelf some love. How is that Self-talk going? Are you being kind to you? Is there an environment of friendliness within yourSelf? If not, please remind yourSelf that having compassion for you, is the only healthy way to do this work. If you find yourself being more of a hater, put the work down. You don’t get to play here without the loving compassion of Lakshmi. Let this pink rock be a reminder to you, with every glimpse, to love you some you.
Saraswati: Without question the crystal I would use in honoring the quality of wisdom in Saraswati in this situation, is amethyst. Why? Because purple is the color that represents the crown chakra and also the sixth or sixth sense, and both are connected to inner and divine wisdom. Amethyst is a very high-frequency, purifying stone that is not only used to protect against negative energy, but is also known to awaken higher consciousness.
In other words, because we are invoking Saraswati, to assist us in turning our wounds into wisdom, it requires us stepping out of our egos and tapping into our Higher Selves. Our Higher Selves, can see with different eyes, the big picture. Using our intuition, we can see how everything we have gone through is also pointing us in a direction, cultivating strengths, and creating skills we didn’t have before the challenge. Using the energy of Saraswati, amethyst, and our own intention we can alchemize our weakness into strengths, and make chicken soup, out of chicken shit (as my grandmother used to say) or more pc, turning lemons into lemonade.
Again, none of this is necessary. Wether you see these goddesses as real for you or merely archetypal, whether you believe crystals and stones inherently carry the energy I’ve shared or they don’t, it matters not. Real or imagined, fairy tale or quantum physics, we are simply pointing to something. We are more powerful than we can even imagine. Our beliefs create our world. I choose to align with those that not only feel resonate to my heart and Soul, but ones that give my life more meaning and a magical quality.
I choose to be an active participant with the Divine/Higher Self in the co-creation of my life. I like to set clear intentions, and align myself with the energies present for a more effortless and graceful flow to my experience. I enjoy feeling intimately connected to nature, the seasons and the elements—which includes, but is not limited to trees, plants, animals, and stones. Mythology, archetypes and story-telling give me an anchor on which to align my own experience and have a greater understanding of my world. Connecting all of these dots, harnessing all of the energies I resonate with to manifest and create what I desire, makes me feel like an alchemical wizard and magical af—if only in my own mind, which is all that ever matters, anyway. ©Laurie Frazier ~excerpt from Beautiful Darkness-A Journey through the Shadows to Emotional Freedom
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