Navratri Continues and Waxing Crescent Moon

 Navratri continues tonight with the visit of Lakshmi. 

The word navratri means nine nights; on each set of three nights we meditate on a different aspect of Shakti, the universal principle of energy and creativity, Mother Earth, and the feminine power in each of us. Tonight we honor and thank the Divine Mother as Lakshmi, the Goddess of success.

Now the moon is waxing until it's full again; it's building light and building energy. Astrologists say that it’s important to expend your energy now to honor this cycle of expansion, and also let the brighter moon shine a light on challenging areas in your life to aid personal expansion. 

In these first days of the waxing crescent moon, I'll tap into this metaphor and give attention to my own growing energy, take first steps towards my intentions, and find my motivation to follow through with persistent action.

Agenda Today:
1. Morning meditation on creative growth 

2. Plan first steps

3. Make a new rangoli design
4. Add to my altar

5. Mindfulness

6. Evening visualization and prayer
7. Lakshmi mantra

1. Morning meditation on creative growth:

During Navratri, Hindus work on their vyavhaar (behaviour) and acharan (character). Each of the three goddesses signifies a stage of the spiritual journey we all go through: Durga’s strength and energy creates an opening, Lakshmi’s success and fortune nurtures growth, and Saraswati’s wisdom and knowledge leads to enlightenment, happiness, and peace.

After Durga has destroyed the old structure of my personality, a constructive process can begin. The word Lakshmi comes from the Sanskrit word Laksya, meaning aim or goal. Lakshmi heals and nourishes my spirit and brings me steadiness of mind. She bestows spiritual and material wealth, good food, health, and happiness. 

On each morning of Navratri I light a small white candle, center, and feel myself fill with thankfulness for all I have now in my life. For these next three mornings I meditate on my inner life-giving force of creativity, and the qualities and habits I wish to cultivate in the days ahead.

2. Plan first steps:

Today, at the waxing crescent, I give attention to my level of energy, and prepare to act on my priorities.

What are my top priorities for action this week? Are these priorities truly leading me on the right path?

Is my energy really growing? Where do I feel resistance to action? What information or help might I need to ease the way?

What are my first steps? Do I have supplies to gather or calls to make?

How can I give full effort?

3. Make a new rangoli design:
Rangolis are rice flour designs, made on the floor or a metal plate. At Navratri a new design might be made each day, with dots, squares, flowers, birds, and so on- each one designed to welcome the spirit of the Goddess.

I made a rangoli of Lakshmi's footprints with my grandson, on the threshold of our front door, with chalk and rice flour, to welcome the Goddess of success. I used a pattern that I found here, but it took on a new look! This was a true collaboration.

A note about working with toddlers: I have no expectations when I do art with a baby. He is in-the-moment and experiencing the textures and tools in freedom. Art with a toddler is always a kind of meditation for me - I stay in-tune to his interest, bring his attention back to the process, delight in his spontaneity. 

At one, he understands HOT, and is mindful

4. Add to my altar:
For the next three nights the Mother is invoked as Lakshmi, goddess of material and spiritual wealth. I added a bowl of coins from around the world, to remind me of the nurturing quality of the Shakti.

5. Mindfulness:
Attention is the first step towards giving full effort to my priorities: I want to remember my deepest, most essential, most passionate reasons for acting on my intentions, and hold my intentions with gentle awareness all day long. I use several strategies:

• I review my intentions first thing in the morning, turning my essential reasons into shorthand mantras. For example, my three intentions today are:
  
• Earthcare newsletter; leadership
• Toddler art; creative soul
• Paint; conversation with God
• Later I will take my intentions for a walk and speak them out loud to the trees.
• I also have a grid of my priorities on my phone that charts out the one's I intend to act on each day, and I check it often to motivate myself to complete one more important action.

Remembering my intentions throughout the day is a mindfulness practice; it creates energy and excitement for my priorities, but I have to take care to hold my intentions gently, not obsessively. If I begin to worry about completing my intentions, or think about them in an aggressive way, I try to back off a little. Even though I fully intend to take these actions, life sometimes shifts under my feet; and it is not my intention to feel self-loathing or anxiety.

6. Evening visualization and prayer:

I end each day of Navratri with a prayer. For these next three nights I honor the constructive aspect of the Mother. 

Laksmi is a beautiful golden woman with four arms, sitting on a fully bloomed lotus and holding a lotus bud. Cascades of gold coins flow from her hands, and she wears gold embroidered red clothes, indicating her offering of prosperity. Lakshmi brings the growth and unfolding of whatever is life-enhancing. 

I picture this Mother spirit sitting on the blossom of my heart, gently opening it to accept love and happiness into my life.

“Thank you, Great Spirit, for providing energy for the earth to move around the sun, and for maintaining the correct balance of the universe. You are the earth. You nourish support, protect, and mother all creatures, all beings. I ask you to help me to develop and maintain patience, forgiveness, compassion, loving-kindness, and integrity. Give me the persistence to succeed at my goals, and bless me with abundant health and happiness.”

7. Lakshmi Mantra:
I continue to focus on my image of Lakshmi and chant-

• Om - the primordial sound 
• Shreem -  from which beauty and feminine energy emanates
• Ma-ha - great
• Lak-shma-yai - goddess of wealth
• Na-ma-ha - I pray.

(You might want to chant along with someone who knows how. Many YouTube versions exist, and my favorite is here.)