 As the Moon shifts into the first tithi of the waxing Moon cycle, late evening on Friday September 30th, the sacred nine day and night celebration of Shardiya Maha Navaratri begins. Nava means nine and ratri means night in Sanskrit. Each day and night of this powerful junction point, correlates to the epic battle between the goddess Sri Devi Mahatmyam and the demon Mahishasura. Maha Devi Mahatmyam is connected to both Durga and Shakti, powerful forms of divine feminine energy that awaken, clear, transform and heal. Sri Devi is understood to be the supreme creation power of the universe, the Tridevi, or triple goddess, as she expresses the creation, sustaining and destructive energies that perpetuate all forms of life. In the sacred text known as the Sri Devi Mahatmyam, composed between 400 and 600 CE, the many forms of the goddess are expressed. "She is presented, through a language of praise, as the one who dwells in all creatures, as the soul, as the power to know, the power to will and the power to act. She is consciousness of all living beings, she is intelligence, she is matter, and she is all that is form or emotion." - Via Wikipedia During the nine day and night Navaratri celebration, the battle between light and dark forces enlivens, ending on the 10th day with Victory Day, Vijaya Dashami. This battle between light and dark, good and bad, masculine and feminine, transformation and healing, is taking place within all beings at this sacred junction point. It is a time to heal and integrate polarities within. The Navaratri celebration is an expression of what is taking place within Nature, through the Laws that govern Nature, marking an important transition within us and around us. These important junction points (know as a gap, or sandhi in Sanskrit) happen multiple times a year, however, the Shardiya, or Maha Navaratri, junction point is considered the most powerful. This is a death cycle for both Northern and Southern hemispheres. As life is being called into silence in the North, and called into action for the South. In either case, doors are opening and closing. Align with Nature and Her powerful energy of change and transformation during Navaratri. Ritualize your connections with Nature- in order to land more closely to your own inner wisdom, to Her wisdom. Strengthen your connection to self and Spirit. Navaratri is a poignant time in the Vedic Calendar. This ancient calendar is one that is dedicated to Nature and her cycles and rhythms, the planets, and most importantly the Moon. In the Vedic Calendar, time is connected to what Nature and the cosmos are doing, and these elements are intimately related. Navaratri occurs twice a year- in the "gap" seasons of spring and fall. These times are considered sandhi times; delicate times that feel like you are neither here, nor there. We might call it the netherworld. This time, though delicate, is considered sacred. In the spring, Navaratri marks the "waking up" of the devis or the goddesses; the aspects of Natural Law that enliven growth, abundance, prosperity, learning, well being, change and transformation. In the fall, Navaratri invites in destruction, removal, change, transformation and healing. The goddesses Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi symbolize these parts of life and Nature, while also being parts of our own innate being. The three of them together represent our wholeness, the trinity of life, alive in and around us. These three goddesses also connect to Shakti, the goddess who gives the spark of life to every being, to Nature, and to existence. Fall Navaratri, or Maha Navaratri, is by far the most potent as it brings deep transformation and the ability to remove, destroy, release and transform, our darkness into light. The holy trinity of goddesses supports this process and allows us to let go of what needs to be released in order for greater nourishment. As we let go of our darkness, an increase of light and wisdom can take its place. This process is marked by Durga's powerful battle against the demon Mahishasura. On the 10th day, she destroyed him and was victorious. This day is called Vijaya Dashami (Dashami is the 10th lunar day of the Moon cycle, connected to dharma). The dates for this year's Maha Navaratri celebration are Saturday, October 1st to Tuesday, October 11th. This year, Maha Navaratri begins on October 1st in the USA- as the Moon enters the first tithi and begins to wax. The celebrations start just as the sacred fifteen day celebration of the ancestors, Pitru Paksha, ends. (This year Pitru Paksha is September 15th to 30th). The final day of Navarati is October 10th, as Moon moves through the 9th tithi (phase), Navami. Vijaya Dashami (Victory Day) is on October 11th, during tithi 10, Dashami. Though the entire Navaratri celebration is dedicated to Durga and her many forms (including shakti), many honor the expressions of her power through Lakshmi and Saraswati as well. This is a nine day and night celebration that is divided into three parts. The first three days are dedicated to the goddess Durga. Her warrior spirit cleanses, shifts, uproots, changes and transforms. Think of her as tilling the soil, prior to planting seeds. The next three days of celebration are dedicated to Lakshmi. Her abundance, nurturing, and wealth offer nourishment and support to us on all levels of life. Health is the ultimate wealth and Lakshmi brings this support as well. Finally, we have three days dedicated to goddess Saraswati. She gives us knowledge, understanding, wisdom, creativity and artistry. She is the rasayana (or healing balm) if you will to close this sacred nine day celebration. Together, these three goddesses bring wholeness, renewal, and the life giving offerings of Shakti. This creative life-force energy is truly what inspires life, living and abundance. It is at this time that we can connect to these three goddesses most easily- inside of us, and around us. Because of this, Navaratri is considered a very sacred and powerful time of year- one that influences our inner and outer experience of life for months to come. To connect with the goddesses more closely, make special offerings on your altar for them during the nine days. You can also dedicate your actions and intentions to them for greater communication. Connecting to fire and stoking the internal flame (or agni) can be valuable for the first three days of Durga. You may wish to write intentions that focus on empowerment and action steps for the coming months as well. Using self development tools to transform negative thoughts and mental body stories, will be well supported at this time. During the three days of Lakshmi, bring sweets and flowers to your altar, cook nourishing foods for your Self, decorate and adorn your Self. This is a time to focus on self care diligently. For the final portion of Navaratri, dedicated to Saraswati, music, art and poetry can be a good way to focus your energy, efforts and intentions. Use creativity, artistry and embodiment resources for grounding and landing in your intentions. Use one of my Creative Rituals for support with this process. On this first day and night of Navaratri, notice what's arriving. I have experienced that the first three days of Navaratri initiate the changes and transformations you are working with in this release cycle. Often you must confront challenges and obstacles as a result. More nourishment and support is coming, but you can't receive it without this important step. What is arriving? What parts of your personal mythology are showing up as a mirror for you? How can you clear more space within? Let Durga's fierce warrior energy initiate and provoke awareness. Emotionally, you may feel anger, pain, frustration or sadness emerge in the coming days. Physically you may need more rest or silence. Mentally you may need more inward reflection as well as time for meditation. Spiritually, you may need time with nature and rituals that help you land in deeper presence. Understand that this is a part of the change and transformation process. Where can you land into deeper presence with your needs? As you deepen your intention for this Navaratri celebration, find meaningful rituals for yourself that bring you closer to spirit. Spend time in nature and in meditation. Listening to Durga mantras right now is excellent for inviting in her presence. Traditionally, listening to Chandi Path recitations is also encouraged. During this sacred and potent time, treat your Self like the goddess that you are and share your abundance with others. May we each remember our abundant true nature, our immense creative life giving energy! Follow along with my Moon Mind Calendar to incorporate daily support and resources into your life during this sacred time. Read more about Navaratri from Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, renowned Shaka Vansya Ayurvedic Doctor. Join me as I share resources for navigating grief and big emotions. *Free* class Oct 1st. Join the List
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 Align With Durga and Her Powerful Energy of Change and Transformation During Navaratri.
Navaratri is a poignant time in the Vedic Calendar. This ancient calendar is one that is dedicated to Nature and her cycles and rhythms, the planets, and most importantly the Moon. In the Vedic Calendar, time is connected to what Nature and the cosmos are doing, and these elements are intimately related. The main Navaratri celebrations occur twice a year- in the "gap" seasons of spring and fall. These times are considered sandhi times; delicate times that feel like you are neither here, nor there. We might call it the netherworld. This time, though delicate, is considered sacred. In the spring, Navaratri marks the "waking up" of the devis or the goddesses, of Shakti; the aspects of Natural Law that enliven growth, abundance, prosperity, learning, well being, change and transformation. In the fall, Navaratri invites in destruction, removal, change, transformation and healing. The goddesses Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi symbolize these parts of life and Nature, while also being parts of our own innate being. The three of them together represent our wholeness, the trinity of life, alive in and around us. These three goddesses also connect to Shakti, the goddess who gives the spark of life to every being, to Nature, and to existence. Fall Navaratri, or Maha Navaratri, is by far the most potent as it brings deep transformation and the ability to remove, destroy, release and transform, our darkness into light. The holy trinity of goddesses supports this process and allows us to let go of what needs to be released in order for greater nourishment. As we let go of our darkness, an increase of light and wisdom can take its place. This process is marked by Durga's powerful battle against the demon Mahishasura. On the 10th day, she destroyed him and was victorious. This day is called Vijaya Dashami (Dashami is the 10th lunar day of the Moon cycle, connected to dharma). Vasant Navaratri, or spring Navaratri, begins with the new Moon this year, on Thursday April 7th at 04:24 am PDT. Sun and Moon are in Revati nakshatra, the final star of the zodiac, signifying endings and beginnings. This is the mark of the Vedic Lunar New Year and the beginning of the sacred nine day celebration of Navaratri as well. Durga is enlivened at this time! The battle between good over evil intensifies in the coming days as Durga battles the demon Mahishasura. This battle takes place within every human being. The conflict between light and dark forces, polarities, is expressed through this sacred and timeless battle. It also mirrors the conflicts stirred between the masculine and feminine energies within. This battle is a wake up call, a clearing of old, stagnant beliefs, patterns and behaviors. Pay close attention during this sacred nine day celebration as inner and outer conflicts intensify. What does this conflict share with you about your polarities? What mirrors are being held up in order for you to make lasting change and transformation? Nava means nine in Sanskrit while Ratri means nights. This is a nine day celebration that is divided into three parts. The first three days are dedicated to the goddess Durga. Her warrior spirit cleanses, shifts, uproots, changes and transforms. Think of her as tilling the soil, prior to planting seeds. The next three days of celebration are dedicated to Lakshmi. Her abundance, nurturing, and wealth offer nourishment and support to us on all levels of life. Health is the ultimate wealth and Lakshmi brings this support as well. Finally, we have three days dedicated to goddess Saraswati. She gives us knowledge, understanding, wisdom, creativity and artistry. She is the rasayana (or healing balm) if you will to close this sacred nine day celebration. Together, these three goddesses bring wholeness, renewal, and the life giving offerings of Shakti. This creative life-force energy is truly what inspires life, living and abundance. She is your Creative Intelligence. It is at this time that we can connect to these three goddesses most easily- inside of us, and around us. Because of this, Navaratri is considered a very sacred and powerful time of year- one that influences our inner and outer experience of life for months to come. To connect with the goddesses more closely, make special offerings on your altar to them during the nine days. You can also dedicate your actions and intentions to them for greater communication. Use this time for self development practices and sacred pause. Slow down and notice what is stirring within you and around you. Connecting to fire and stoking the internal flame (or agni) can be valuable for the first three days of Durga. You may wish to write intentions that focus on empowerment and action steps for the coming months as well. Using self development tools to transform negative thoughts and mental body stories, will be well supported at this time. During the three days of Lakshmi, bring sweets and flowers to your altar, cook nourishing foods for your Self, decorate and adorn your Self. This is a time to focus on self care diligently. For the final portion of Navaratri, dedicated to Saraswati, music, art and poetry can be a good way to focus your energy, efforts and intentions. Use creativity, artistry and embodiment resources for grounding and landing in your intentions. Use my Creative Rituals for support with this process. During this sacred and potent time, treat your Self like the goddess that you are and share your abundance with others. May we each remember our abundant true nature, our immense creative life giving energy and the power of the Divine Feminine for healing and transformation! Read more about Navaratri from Vaidya Rama Kant Mishra, renowned Shaka Vansya Ayurvedic Doctor. Ready to take your inner growth to the next level and deepen your relationship with your inner feminine wisdom? Join me for my Jyotish Astrology Classes for Transformation and Healing. Classes begin April 2016. Get the Details  The Thing Is The thing is.. to love life, to love it even when you have no stomach for it and everything you've held dear crumbles like burnt paper in your hand, your throat filled with the silt of it. When grief sits with you, its tropical heat thickening the air, heavy as water more fit for gills than lungs; when grief weights you like your own flesh only more of it, an obesity of grief, you think, How can a body withstand this? Then you hold life like a face between your palms, a plain face, no charming smile, no violet eyes, and you say, yes, I will take you I will love you again. ~ Ellen Bass Renewal, awakenings and beginnings arrive with the Vernal equinox on March 19th at 21:00 PDT. The length of light and darkness is almost equal on this day, which marks a turning point. For the northern hemisphere, days will be getting lighter (longer) as we move into spring and summer. This is the beginning of more light, more life. Shakti is stirring, inviting in more creativity in the coming days and months. This sense of opening moves us towards completion as the eclipse portal closes. Fertility and creativity are enlivened with this full Moon, as it coincides with the Vedic Holi festival, also known as "the festival of colors". Holika Dahan (the night before Holi when the fires are lit) is on the 22nd this year, followed by the Holi on the 23rd. This celebration in the Vedic calendar which roughly coincides with the vernal equinox and the arrival of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, sparks creative potential, increased love, beauty and creativity. It takes place with the Phalguni Purnima as the Phalguni stars are ripe with sensuality, love, beauty and abundant resources. No matter the hemisphere you are in, both spring and fall are considered "sandhi" times of year- or in between seasons. These are sacred times, when the veil is thin, sensitivity is heightened. In Ayurveda, we attend to necessary physical rituals that help the body cleanse and purify. Holi comes at this sacred junction and is a time to "plant seeds" so to speak. It is a celebration of fertility, abundance and the awakening of Shakti within Nature. It is the marking of the gap, which is ripe with potential and possibility. The full enlivening of Ma is celebrated during Vasant Navaratri- the nine days of Mother Divine, beginning on the 7th of April this year. Consider Holi the "kick off" celebration in many ways- a time to plant your desires and create your fruits for the coming year. Let this Full Moon enliven a sense of spring and possibility. Use this week's Creative Engagement activity (below) for your cultivation process. The full Moon is March 23rd at 05:00 PDT while Moon is in Virgo and Uttaraphalguni. This full Moon coincides with a penumbral lunar eclipse, closing the two week eclipse portal that has been invoking challenging shadow work for many. The eclipse begins at 02:39 PDT, with the maximum eclipse being at 04:47 PDT, and ending at 06:54 PDT. Creative Ritual My Creative Rituals are intended to support your transformation and healing process in the cycle to come. Each ritual is in alignment with the cosmic tides- in order to help you adjust, shift and move more fluidly in balance with Nature's rhythms. Recycle this ritual more than once for added benefits. * For the full version sign up for my membership.  The new Moon is powerfully silent, coinciding with Shivaratri and a total solar eclipse. As the Moon empties entirely, the connection to your inner landscape deepens. This is an opportunity to plant seeds of desire very intentionally. During the eclipse portal (March 8th to 23rd) your soil will be tilled, old roots will be dug up, rocks and debris will be removed. It's a time of clearing and cleaning- of preparation.
Shivaratri begins on the 7th late in the evening, which is a time period that supports planting seeds of potential through the depth of silence. Shiva as destroyer, is at one with this awakened state of creativity. His role is to support your collapse into concentrated, focused alignment with the harmony of existence- that which is pure consciousness, deep, unaltered silence and awakening. This is where your creativity resides, your ability to manifest, create and transform- over and over again. Through the transcendence, you can easily touch this silence in its pure form. Shiva reminds us to use this silence to release, simplify and transform. From a silent and awakened state, you can plant the seeds of life more intentionally and powerfully. Use your deep inner silence for stirring your creative desires. As the full Moon and the lunar eclipse arrive on March 23rd, the fertility festival, Holi, will activate your silent seeds, helping them become more fully awakened with the creative wisdom of Nature. What are you creating for your powerful life? What is your vision? Let your imagination move you into being. For the full version sign up for my membership. A Celebration of the Goddess Inside and Out Navaratri is a poignant time in the Vedic Calendar. This ancient calendar is one that is dedicated to Nature and her cycles and rhythms, the planets, and most importantly the Moon. In the Vedic Calendar, time is connected to what Nature and the cosmos are doing, and these elements are intimately related. Navaratri occurs twice a year- in the "gap" seasons of spring and fall. These times are considered sandhi times; delicate times that feel like you are neither here, nor there. We might call it the netherworld. This time, though delicate, is considered sacred. In the spring, Navaratri marks the "waking up" of the devis or the goddesses; the aspects of Natural Law that enliven growth, abundance, prosperity, learning, well being, change and transformation. The goddesses Durga, Saraswati and Lakshmi symbolize these parts of life and Nature, while also being parts of our own innate being. The three of them together represent our wholeness, the trinity of life, alive in and around us. These three goddesses also connect to Shakti, the goddess who gives the spark of life to every being, to Nature, and to existence. Vasant Navaratri (or spring Navaratri) begins this year on March 21st and ends on the ninth day, March 29th. This year the celebrations fall in the gap between the new Moon total solar eclipse on the 20th and the full Moon lunar eclipse on April 4th. This heightens the fragility of this period and invites us to attend to our fragility, our vulnerability, at this time. It is an excellent time for self care practices, gentle cleanses and rituals for release, renewal and rejuvenation. Nava means nine in Sanskrit while Ratri means nights. This is a nine day celebration that is divided into three parts. The first three days are dedicated to the goddess Durga. Her warrior spirit cleanses, shifts, uproots, changes and transforms. Think of her as tilling the soil, prior to planting seeds. The next three days of celebration are dedicated to Lakshmi. Her abundance, nurturing, and wealth offer nourishment and support to us on all levels of life. Health is the ultimate wealth and Lakshmi brings this support as well. Finally, we have three days dedicated to goddess Saraswati. She gives us knowledge, understanding, wisdom, creativity and artistry. She is the rasayana (or healing balm) if you will to close this sacred nine day celebration. Together, these three goddesses bring wholeness, renewal, and the life giving offerings of Shakti. This creative life-force energy is truly what inspires life, living and abundance. It is at this time that we can connect to these three goddesses most easily- inside of us, and around us. Because of this, Navaratri is considered a very sacred and powerful time of year- one that influences our inner and outer experience of life for months to come. To connect with the goddesses more closely, make special offerings on your altar for them during the nine days. You can also dedicate your actions and intentions to them for greater communication. Connecting to fire and stoking the internal flame (or agni) can be valuable for the first three days of Durga. You may wish to write intentions that focus on empowerment and action steps for the coming months as well. During the three days of Lakshmi, bring sweets and flowers to your altar, cook nourishing foods for your Self, decorate and adorn your Self. For the final portion of Navaratri, dedicated to Saraswati, music, art and poetry can be a good way to focus your energy, efforts and intentions. Use this nine days for treating your Self like the goddess that you are and share your abundance with others. May we each remember our abundant true nature, our immense creative life giving energy! The nine day celebration of the Divine Mothers, Vasant Navaratri, begins Saturday March 21st. I'll be sharing a 10 Day Self Care Challenge during this sacred time. Look for special self care reminders and resources in my newsletter. Are you on my list?! My next *free* Jyotish Basics Class is March 21st. Don't miss out on this transformational and healing class to help you track the Moon and its influences upon you. Sign up for details. Need some extra guidance and clarity? Schedule a session with me. Plan your week in tune with nature. Never miss a planetary update. Sign up for my weekly newsletter. Was this post helpful? 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