“Wishing you Love”
| Ciao and Sacred Sunday to you: |
| Did you know that celebrations honoring mothers and motherhood can be traced back in time from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the early Christians? According to an online History site, while the Greeks and Romans honored the goddesses Rhea and Cybele, the Christians were honoring the “mother church”, and saw this designated festival day as a way to bring Christians back into the fold. In the United States the secular holiday began in the early 1900’s with Anna Jarvis creating a ceremony to commemorate her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis. During and after the Civil War, Anna Reeves Jarvis saw the need of bringing women together in friendship circles. Her vision was to support women after such sacrifices were made by all mothers during the devastation of the war. In her later years Anna Jarvis was disappointed in how her desire to honor her mother, for all that she did to help women, resulted in such a commercialized industry. I find it ironic that on this holiday honoring women and the sacrifices they make for their families and communities, we here in the US are witnessing, yet again, our democracy being challenged with the looming threat of overturning Roe vs. Wade by the Supreme Court. If ever there was a time for the intercession of the Goddess Durga, now is it! You might remember in reading my book, The Breakaway Girl, Durga is considered the goddess for troubled times. Often referred to as the goddess of “Tough Going”. Durga is fierce, intelligent, and compassionate. At the same time, she’s ferocious and wields a sword in one of her eight hands to slice through the bull shit revealing truth. Durga’s confident, strong, and ready to go to battle for the sake of humanity. Durga IS – the Mother of All. My friend, I don’t know what your religious or political affiliation is. Or whether you and I agree on most matters. However, I believe that you and I would agree that democracy, freedom, equality, and justice for all is in peril. We are living in a tumultuous time with the world facing daily crisis. Whether you attend church on Sunday, take a yoga class, or go out in nature to commune with the Divine, we both need to do some serious soul searching. Maybe even some social activism. That’s for you alone to decide on the who, what, where. However, in the meantime, today, this very minute, we can… Get down on our knees and pray for sounder minds to prevail. If calling on Durga resonates with you, try chanting her mantra: Om Dum Durgaye Namaha. Sound it out phonetically and don’t worry if you’re not sure that you’re pronouncing it correctly. One of the many reasons I love the goddesses, they care only for your intention, not your perfection. So, on this day dedicated to mothers, I wish you the courage and confidence, strength and intelligence, beauty and grace of the Maha Shakti, the Mother Goddess of All. |
| With love and appreciation, xoxo Paulette |
