Dear Beautiful Ones,
Welcome to the magical month of October!
.October is full of magic and more change. We begin to see more leaves changing colors and falling to the ground.
October is also a time when we begin to prepare to move into the darker times of the year with less daylight and cooler weather. Our mother earth prepares to go dormant.
.And of course, we spend this month decorating and preparing for the celebration of Halloween. Christians created the celebration of Halloween; however, Halloween’s origins come from the Celtic Pagan holy day of Samhain, pronounced “sah-win”.
.In the 9th century AD, the Western Christian Church, merged All Soul’s Day/All Saint’s Day with the Pagan celebration of Samhain and named it Halloween! Halloween originated from the name All Hallow’s Eve.
.The celebration of Samhain also dates back to ancient times of the Neolithic period in Ireland. The Neolithic period began in 10,500 BC and is the first evidence of humans in Ireland. Samhain is a time to honor the dead, our ancestors, and also a time to give gratitude as it was the last harvest of the year. So, whatever was harvested had to last throughout the winter.
Just as Christianity merged Halloween with the Pagan celebration of Samhain, I am honored to announce that I am officially a Christian Wiccan Priestess through the religion of Wicca! This is a blending of my love of the holy family with my love of magic.
Christianity, Wicca and Yoga all teach that there is a higher power that resides inside of us and we can access this higher power to lead us in love and light.
I was drawn to Wicca from a young age. What I particularly love about Wicca and also the Tantric traditon of yoga is the honoring of the Divine Feminine, the Mother God. If we are made in the image of God, then of course God is both male and female. God/Goddess is all pervading. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, the Bible says,
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is Spirit.”
In Tantric yoga, it is said that if you take one step to the Divine Mother, she will take 1000 steps to you! We are now in the age of the Devi Consciousness or the Shakti Rising. This is a time of the Divine Feminine, the Creative Force of the Universe coming into balance with the Divine Masculine.
Below is a prayer to the Divine Mother in both English and Sanskrit. This prayer comes a Sacred text over 4000 years old that describes the Goddess as the supreme power and creator of the universe.
DEVI PRAYER
HYMN TO THE DIVINE MOTHER
English text by Julie (Julie Redstone)
The Divine Mother is everywhere.
She is in everything.
She is the Divine Essence that lives within all beings.
Her domain is the field of life, for she gives
to all beings the sustenance that is needed for life.
Her beauty lives in the natural world,
and spans the universes in all their splendor.
She has been called by many names,
for all traditions recognize Her.
Into each consciousness the knowledge is given
of the sacredness of life.
This sacredness IS the Mother.
She is the holy generator of the physical world,
joined to the heart and soul of every living thing.
All of the Earth is one with Her.
All beings of the Earth owe their life to Her,
for she is the Mother of all, the One who bestows
all gifts of life.
Her gifts come to the deserving and to the
non-deserving alike, for the sun does not choose
upon whom to shine.
She is the source of Divine blessing, the part
of the Oneness that bestows the graces that fill life.
We have not seen Her because her being is
cloaked in silence.
She emerges now as part of the Oneness where
she has always resided, blessing all, giving to all.
All who bow before Her are sustained by the life
within them.
All who honor Her are sustained by life’s gifts
both within themselves and beyond.
The purpose of existence is to join with Life that lives
in all dimensions and all realms of being.
It is the Mother that creates this evolving,
this unfolding journey,
for she is the fabric of Time itself,
the means by which all things grow.
She is the template for life that exists within Her —
the substance and form of all that shall ever come to be.
May all be blessed by the blessings of the
Divine Oneness.
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Sanskrit “Devi Prayer” from “108 Sacred Names of Mother Divine” by Craig Pruess and Ananda:
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Parashakti Sundari
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Mahamaye Mangale
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Mahakali Bhairavi
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Mahalakshmi Vaishnavi
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Ma Sarasvati Brahmi
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Durga Devi Shankari
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Uma Parvati Shive
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Ma Bhavani Ambike
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Annapurna Lakshmi Ma
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasya Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Kamala Katyayani
Namastastasyai Namastasyai Namastasyai Namo Namah
Ma Amba Lalitha Devi
Tvam Tripura Sundari
Namastasyai Namastasyai Namastasya Namo Namah
Through prayer by going within we access our Source by whatever name you call your source, and find the answers lie within. That Magic is in each moment.
During this magical month of October, I invite you to spend some time in prayer with the Divine Feminine aspect of your Source. Allow that unconditional motherly love to come to you and embrace you. And if your own mother was not unconditionally loving, know that there is a Divine Feminine that is always available and remember that when we take one step to her, she takes 1000 steps to us.
Magical Blessings and Much Love,
Parvati Victoria Goodwin
Special thanks to Blissful Yoga’s Community for joining together for the Wizards, Witches and Wands (aka. Harry Potter) Festival in Mullica Hill!
As a team, we went above and beyond and had an AMAZING day!
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!