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DEVA DIWALI

November 28, 2020

& the Myth of Tripurari Purnima

Deva Diwali is the rejoicing in the spiritual world of the awareness of Shiva to cast the arrow of aware vision upon the blind Karmas of both the Matriarch and the Patriarch. These Karmas are revealed by the force of planetary currents upon the astral plane on Deva Diwali.

Deva Diwali is the Diwali of the Spirit World.
Tripurari Purnima is the full moon of Shiva in his form known as Tripurara. 

Tripurantaka is the destroyer of the three worlds. Tripurari (Triparuri are the three worlds) Shiva’s arrow-like vision destroys them.

In the Tantric year, this is the second most important ritual day that is dedicated to Shiva. The main one being the Shivaratri, which translates as the night of Shiva.

Tripurara is a name of Shiva. It means the lord of the three worlds.

Pura signifies a land or a place. The forehead marking upon Shiva is the three lines that denote the three realms.

What are the three worlds and how do they relate to this Full Mooned night?

Svarga, is the spirit world, Patala, is the underworld of the unconscious, and Bhumi, is the earth plane where the two worlds meet.

These worlds are symbolised by 3 terrestrial metals.
Patala is related to the heaviest metal of Iron, The lightest is Silver in the mysterious and unseen lunar world of Svarga, Gold is the weight in between, twice as heavy as silver, it is the metal of the revealed world, illuminated by the golden sun in the daylight, it is the earthly plane of seen things, known in Tantra as the realm of Bhumi

THE ASURA BROS

The story goes that there were three Asuras. These three brothers wished to dominate creation. Collectively they are known as Tripasura, the three.

They had got so powerful by worshiping Shiva and emulating the magical arts of Shiva himself.

Asura is often translated as Demon, this may have very many connotations to call them such. 

The Asuras are spirit beings who are overshadowed by unconscious shadows which lead them in destructive ways. 

The three Asura brothers were the Sons of the mighty demon Tarakasur who represents the destructive side of the sexual chakra. Tarakasur fathered 3 rapscallious sons named Vidyunmaali, Kamalaaksha, and Taarakaaksha.

The father had already met his fate at the hands of Shiva’s son, the world-famous elephant god Ganesha. 

The father was himself a powerful Yogi gone wrong. He had not completed his yogic austerity, but had prematurely gained power by a gamble. The gamble of premature power was given on condition that he could only be killed by Shiva’s son.

Knowing that Shiva was a Yogi far out of reach of the world and of family life, the wicked Tarakasur took the gamble of power. Once drunk on his power, he started to dominate unjustly with his newly acquired and seemingly unstoppable power. 

Little did he know that Shakti was to entice the mighty renunciant Shiva and bear a child with him. And so Tarakasur met his fate as had been ordained.

Vidyunmaali. Kamalaaksha, and Taarakaaksha represent the hidden karmas of the active masculine and passive femmine.

They represent the Moon, the Sun and Shuni (the planet Saturn). Shuni is he who raises Karma and that which has not been seen but must be faced.

The brothers, although devotees of Shiva, bore a grudge in their hearts that their father had not been as great as Shiva and had met his demise on account of Shiva’s son. 

The grudge that the brothers held against Shiva was to poison their hearts and cause their ruin.

The grudge they held represents the unresolved Karma with which they are synonymous.

THE CITIES OF METALS

The Three brothers and their endless magical concentrations and yogic austerities bore results after continued devotion. 

So much so that they won the favour of the creator. They were offered wishes for anything they so desired. 

Now, the 3 yogic brothers were so highly jealous of Shiva, who lived in the uppermost heights upon the sacred mountain, that they wished for their own heights and so wished for flying cities in the sky that would float above the abode of Shiva, 

The three brothers believed that if they elevated themselves higher than the unfathomable heights of Shiva then they would be greater than he.

The first brother asked for his flying city in the sky to be made of gold.
The second brother wished his flying city in the sky to be made of Silver.
The third brother wished for his flying city in the sky to be made of Lead.

The architect Mayasur was the one who built the cities in the sky for the 3 arrogant brothers. Mayasur was the great Architectural King responsible for building the destructive panels of life. It was he who built and gave his name to the legendary hall of illusionary mirrors known as Mayasabha.

The three brothers conspired to align the cities with the weight of the heaviest metal behind. It took a whole year before they could manage to form an exact alignment.

When they finally did, they conspired to ram full blast onto the sacred mountain upon which Shiva eternally meditates. 

They planned to smash the mountain to dust, and along with it, the great Shiva.

And so on the day in question, which falls upon Deva Diwali of the last Full Moon of the darkest part of the year, there is an astral alignment of destructive spiritual forces.

In Tantric science the metal of the Moon is Silver, the metal of the Sun is Gold, and the metal of Shuni (Saturn) is Iron. 

At the first place the three brothers put the silver flying city, in second place they put the golden flying city, and behind they placed the Iron city.

Silver is half the weight of pure gold, so they thought that if the silver should not do the job the gold would, and failing that the iron which is equal in weight to both silver and gold combined would certainly smash the sacred mountain.

Shuni is the planet that raises the deep unconscious imprints and most hidden karmas.

When Saturn is behind the Moon and the Sun, he reveals the hidden shadow sides of these two planets. These are the receptive Lunar and the active Solar shadows we are talking of. The unresolved sides are brought to the surface upon the spiritual plane. This occurs on the night of Deva Diwali and is revealed in sacred ritual.

FASTER THAN TIME

At the moment of exact alignment after a year of trying to synchronise they blasted the mountain at lightning speed.

In terminal velocity they broke through space and time, sound and vision barriers were transgressed.

But the Tripasura had underestimated Shiva, the master of Yog! 

In speed beyond light and thought, Shiva saw what was going on and summoned Vishwakarman, the architect of the universe and of the creative panels of life.

Shiva asked Vishwakarman for an arrow to be built that could destroy the 3 cities. It was done as the very thought was manifesting.

The arrow appeared as instantaneously as the speed of thought and Shiv took aim with his bow, known as Pinakka. The arrow rained fiery flames and torrents of water upon the three cities and pierced the arrogant hearts of the three yogis gone astray.

The cities rose in flames and Shiv danced the Tripura Nasha Tandava upon them, (that is the ‘vision of the three worlds’ dance). These are three distinct yogic dances that relate to Silver (light) Gold (middle) and Iron (heavy). They are danced upon this ritual night.

The blazing 3 worlds seemed to turn to dust and they departed beyond the terrestrial hemisphere and disappeared.

From the ashes of the burned bodies of the brothers, shiva drew three lines upon his forehead, one silver, one gold and one black.

[There are other variants of the story where Shiva only gazed upon the cities and they dissolved. Nasha means gaze. Some of the versions of the story tell of other quite charming details. For example, the great snake Vasuki (that Shiva wears as a necklace), was the bowstring, and the war chariot on which he rode for the task was Bhumi, the earth Goddess, and had the Moon and the Sun as its wheels. The deity of the heart was the arrow.]

Tripurantaka became shiva’s name after he destroyed the 3 cities and the Tripasura (the three demonic brothers).

Tripurara also became Shiva’s name, meaning ‘the lord of the three worlds’.
The forehead markings of Shiva bear significance to this story.

The mountainous home of Shiva is referred to as the stable seat of Shiva, Shivasan.

The story reveals how all of us walk in the balance of our mountain, which can be stirred up, or even ground down by the solar and lunar expressions of unconsciousness.

After marking his forehead victoriously, yet without vanity or display, Shiva returned to his Samadhi but was ever very attentive.

At the exact time each year, by planetary alignment upon the astral plane, the three cities in the sky boomerang back – like an echo etched in the fabric of time and space, they returned and attempted to bombard his sacred mountain meditation once again. The yogic power of the three brothers combined had etched itself into the ethers for infinity. 

Shiva takes a whole year to breath one single breath, and between each breath he is vigilant to cast the arrow and blast the cities back into outer orbit. 

The pause between each inhale and exhale is a place of vigilance and concentration where Shiva remains aware of the shadow of the three metal cities of gold, silver and iron.
That is, the heavy underworld Karmas of the feminine and masculine that Shuni (Saturn) dredges up from the unconscious feminine and the masculine poles.

The lunar and solar poles of Silver and Gold are raised once a year on this junction.

An opportunity is afforded to see into the hidden stories encoded in the inner and outer constellations we are living, unconsciously between the feminine and the masculine. 

Upon this yearly junction the three planets are positioned in such a way that they are pushed by Shuni (Saturn) from the rear, and raise the karma’s latent in the masculine solar (gold) and feminine lunar (silver). 

Saturn is the planet that rules the heaviest terrestrial metal that dwells in both the physical and astral body. 

Shuni is the king of the planets for his ability to cast shadowy unconscious darkness upon all and sundry.

The Deva Diwali is the rejoicing in the spiritual world of the awareness of Shiva to cast the arrow of aware vision upon the blind Karmas of both the Matriarch and the Patriarch. These Karmas are revealed by the force of planetary currents upon the astral plane once a year on Deva Diwali.

Deva Diwali 
A Gupt Puja

The planets are physical and affect us physically, but the planets also have realities in the astral world. This night of Deva Diwali is to be remembered to be based upon movements of the inner astral universe. It is after all the Diwali of the spirit world.

Tantra recognises several unorthodox gupt (hidden) festival days, these are in some ways mirrors of earthly planetary events, the Gupt festivals are times of very subtle inner work. More subtle techniques are applied on the Gupt festival days.

For example, the two navaratri (nine nights of Goddess) are times of physical planetary alignment as ritual in Tantra, they also have their inner equivalent of the Gupt Navaratri where more detailed and subtle techniques are practiced as planets on the astral plane work from the inside out as opposed to the outside in. 

Deva Diwali is a secret and inner Diwali that can not be taken for granted. If we do nothing to attempt to look at the Karmas that are pushing us into actions both passive and active, then there is no lamp lighting, there is no rejoicing and the Inner Deva Diwali is nothing we would know as experience. 

Spiritual lamps take much care, huffs and gusts of impulses and cheap escapist moves can extinguish magic flames in an instant.

The Arrow 
between breaths

In the Tantric pantheon of sacred healing practices, every Moon phase has its corresponding practices and mudras.

Shiva’s breath is his bow (Dhanusha) named Pinakka. 

This bow represents the slowly drawn breath, the pause between the breath is the shot of the arrow.

The latent Karmas that live unseen are found between the breaths. When the pause between the breaths is discovered, then the secrets of Pranayam opens up both body and soul.

The backbend in Yog is the essential of melting, it is independent of strength or force but requires a solid foundation from which to fall with gravity. The secret of opening the back bend is in the discovery of the pause between the breaths. 

Deep Karmas are melted both physically and psychically in the back bend. Back bend is Bolo, the soft one. Bolo is a name of Shiva.

When we are over-active and living by the solar principle over the Moon, the relationships to the feminine fall into death and destruction. The pause between the breaths can appear as an empty and lonely place which must be ventured in, if we are to know the magical secrets of the mountainous home of Shiva. Pharbhati, who is the manifestation of Shakti as Shiva’s Lover, literally means ‘the light of the Mountain’. She is the Rose of Shiva, but he called her the Rose of Shakti (listen to our recorded tale about this Tantric Myth on our YouTube Channel).

This night’s ritual practice is very much about discovering that which we move away from in the pauses between the breaths, that which we move towards hangs together in absolute relation to what we move away from.

That which we do not want to see, conditions that which we see.

The Yogi investigates Woman and Man, the Moon and the Sun, the Night and the Day, the Egg and the Seed.

Shiva’s bow shoots the sacred arrow of water and fire, this is silver and gold, this is the Moon and the Sun, this is the female dark (Rajas) blood, and the male white (Bindu) seed.

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Shaadee Ardha Chandra Puja

November 21, 2020

It’s coming like the tidal flood
Beneath the lunar sway
Imperial, mysterious
In amorous array.

L. CohenDemocracy.

Shaadee Ardha Chandra Puja is the ritual of the inner marriage.
Shaadee, means marriage. This is the release of the work of the current Moon phase, which we have been working with – through our weekly online classes – under the spell of the Goddess Kamala.
Not much can or should be said about union and marriage.
If marriage is born of true Love it is the completion of a Yog.
Some marriages are born of elements other than Love.
This is a Moon phase that investigates and reveals the face of Love.

Some marriages
are born of elements
other than Love
– the subject of Sunday’s
Half Moon ritual.

RECAPITULATION

OF THE LUNAR RITUAL MONTH OF LOVE  

A good opportunity is presented to briefly go over the last a Moon phase of Love – irrespective of whether you have taken part in our online gatherings or not. You might have still sensed the subtle influences of these powerful moon stations in various aspects of your life.
It may give a glimpse into the possibilities of Moon Magic.

PURNIMA | 31 October


On the Full Moon, Kamar Purnima, we begun working with the inner Prince energy. Upon this ritual night – in accord with ancient Tantric custom – we took the inner seat of the princess, looking towards the prince on that full Moon night.

In this ritual we worked with the colours of the chakras. Through this practices we investigated the granthis (knots) that obstruct our journey upon the rainbow ladder of the chakras.

The knots and psychic blockades can be revealed to us by concentrated Antar Mudra (inner concentrations).

The Full Moon is the Shakti (power) phase of the Moon. It is a time of bright ritual.

The more Shakti that is generated and stirred up on the Shakti Moon phase, the easier it becomes to then access the deeper hidden layers of our psyche on its opposite station: the Amvasya (Dark Moon) phase.
Amvasya is the bhand (inner) phase that allows us access to the deepest parts of ourselves.

Lets remember that Magic and Ritual follow laws of resonance, reflection and exchange. These are scientific laws of cause and effect, action having its opposite reaction. This be something to ponder upon.

ARDHA CHANDRA | 7 November


The next ritual on the half descending Moon was Thakka Ardha Chandra Puja. Thakka implies the first lovers’ meeting (the meeting of the inner Princess and Prince).
We worked very simply in terms bodily practices in that ritual, with much static asan, storytelling and information about how Ritual and Magic can be approached.

Focus and energy
was placed on inner Mudras,
which are complex
and required much concentration.

We recapitulated every romantic first meeting we encountered in our lives to investigate the extend to which we have come to rely on the familiar landscapes and slogans of contact that structure our unconscious patters.

Such familiar codes of connection are insidious as they close the doorways to broader horizons. Profound concentration and awareness is required in every first encounter if we are to glimpse into new realities and magical avenues of being.

We tested this to the utmost in this Siddha ritual. It’s benefits we then reflected in its opposite Moon phase of the Sukkha Moon (the half ascending lunar phase).

On this night we introduced and started to go into how Moon Magic works, and the great importance, of how magical power ought to be harnessed most effectively and safely when it is aroused.
When one works magically, deeply and in a challenging way upon the Siddha Moon phase (half descending), it opens a door that is reflected back in its opposite at the Sukkha Moon phase (half ascending). It can be translated as a planting and harvesting phase of one’s inner work. A seed is planted and cared for in one phase and the fruits reaped on it’s mirror phase.

AMVASYA | 14 November


On Amvasya, we saw the Dark Moon of Diwali. In this ritual we went briefly into the meaning of why this appears to be the most widely celebrated of all Indian festivals.
Known to the Tantrics as the very Dark Moon, it goes by many names, including Kamala Jayanti, the birth of the Goddess of love, which rules over the current Moon phase and which we are celebrating through these online gatherings.
Diwali is equally the mourning of the loss of the Goddess, for Amvasya meaning the Moonless sky (Dark Moon). It is also known as the night of Kali (for Kali means ‘dark’).
We went into these seeming paradoxes and their relation to the stars through the many tantric myths that tell the story of this major Moon phase (see our blog post) as a way to investigate the true face of the Goddess of Love within us.

The Dark Moon is the Bhand (inner) phase ritual.
It was a sombre reflection back to its Shakti sister of the full Moon. Following magical laws and again working and moving with the resonances of nature’s rhythms.

This was the night
of deep longing,
assisted along by some dynamic
and focused asan,
with particular focus on
the Heart Nadis (energy lines).

The inner mudras were bhand (focussed) on looking for the lost Goddess.
The mythology surrounding Diwali points to this and we talked briefly about how this relates to astro lunar junctions that are presented of this day in the cyclic rhythms of the Moon.

The longing arises from a mysterious place that we attempted to encounter during the practice, learning that the object of longing becoming secondary to the feeling of longing in itself.

NATURES RYTHMS


When we go attentively and map our consciousness and bodily rhythms, we see how the Moon moves us.
We are under the push and pull of lunar currents.
We can make the tides work for the good of our spirit and our lives, if we acknowledge this lunar force of nature. Resisting these currents only leads to suffering.
We might sometimes stand over nature and heed not her magical currents that we are bound to, but the Tantric branch of Moon Work is a step to restoring the flow of the Nature Goddess, first and foremost within our own Hearts.

To find out more about this major lunar cycle within the Tantric Calendar, check out our post on Kamala and Diwali.

And don’t forget to also check out our online classes which coincide with major Tantra festivals and rituals.

KAMALA JAYANTI
– Kamari Amvasya –

The Loss & Return of the Moon Goddess

On the November Dark Moon
Tantrics study the Ravan within themselves
That is, the part of us that wishes
to impatiently possess the Goddess
before we have won her hand and trust.
It is a night that has been prayed by Tantrics
since the beginning of time
for the return of the Goddess.
We shall meet to mourn her loss,
and celebrate her return
(if we have earned it)

Boonath

This Saturday, 14th of November, is Kamari Amvasya – also known more generally as Diwali, the festival of lights – without doubt, the biggest celebration in the Indian culture.

Amvasya is the absence of light when the Moon is dark, and Kumari means princess. Kamari Amvasya is the absence of the princess/Moon when she is stolen from the sky.                                                               

This night is the ritual time
when the active seat is taken
by the Kamar (prince) force within us,
which goes searching for Kamari (princess),
who has been swallowed by the dark.

The last Purnima (Full Moon) was the exact opposite, known as Kamar Purnima. When the inner princess went looking for the inner prince. This dark Moon is also celebrated as Kamala Jayanti, Kamala is the Goddess of Love, Jayanti is her birthday, an inner symbolism is there to ponder.

This Amvasya is the second Dark Moon in the very heart of the dark half of the year. The darkest Moon also known as Kali Chand. This ritual dark moon is an important festival in the orthodox tradition, and of great ritual significance to the Tantrics.
The planetary currents pose the challenge and incite the Tapasya (strength) of questing for the lost femmine.

The story of Diwali is a story of Kumari Amvasya, as can be seen upon Moonless reflection. It narrates of how the Goddess Sita is stolen away from her beloved Raam by the clutches of the powerful Yogi Ravan.
When Ravan stole Sita away, Raam – the great Solar power – lost his Moon and darkness and destruction fell upon the Heart.

THE EGO OF INFINITY


Ravan was one of the greatest yogis of unbelievable Shakti (power). He was a devout yogi who worshiped Shiva day and night until he acquired the power of Shiva himself.
Having identified so much with Shiva, Ravan himself became the object of his love and admiration.
The Shiv Tandav Strotra is a song that praises the beauty of Shiva as no other song does.
It was written by Ravan as he wept tears of suffering through the realisation of the greatness of Shiva.

Ravan was so determined
to become greater than Shiva
that he lifted the sacred mountain
upon which Shiva himself lived
as an attempt to show how
his individual self
was greater than the infinite mystery.

But Shiva was soon to show him a lesson.
The mountain came crashing down and crushed Ravan’s fingers for infinite aeons of time. Some even say that Ravan wept the Ganges into being as Shiva kept the mountain crushing upon Ravan’s fingers with the weight if his little toe.

Shiva crushed Ravan’s hand
out of Love for his devotee.
To teach Ravan that no one
can be greater than infinity.

Shiva is the great infinity beyond the beyond. The infinity that cannot be owned or assumed by any. An infinity to surrender and die by.

Ravan sang the most admiring verses ever sung towards Shiva as the weight of the mountain of infinity that no one can lift crushed Ravan into the most painful state imaginable.


THE SHADOW OF RAVAN


Despite the strong identification of Ravan with Shiva, Ravan still had one little part left that had not merged with Shiva.
Ravan had an avaricious weakness for beauty.
This avarice was void of grace and honour of the feminine. It was the crude hand of the patriarch that sought to dominate and possess the feminine.
This is what lead to his downfall.

Sita, the cool Moon Goddess
was a mesmerizing and receptive vessel
for Ravan’s powerful burning Shakti.
Ravan could not contain
the Shakti he had acquired.

So he went wild and lost his mind at the thought of the beauty of Sita cooling his burning infernos of manhood.
He therefore abducted the Goddess of the Moon away from her Beloved Raam with deceit and force.

When Ravan stole Sita away Raam – the great Solar power – lost his Moon.
Darkness and destruction then fell upon the world and the Heart. But Ravan had overestimated his power!

The Love between the Goddess & the God
was bound together by the sacred breath, Prana,
known to the Yogis as Hanuman,
their loyal attendant and friend,
the monkey God.

Hanuman is also called Pawan Petra, which means the child of the Wind.
The story tells how Hanuman through the fearlessness evoked by his devotion to his Beloved Sita and Raam, rescued the captive Sita and brought her to her place of balance

The symbolism inherent in the story
reveals how it is the breath
that balances the power of the lovers
within ourselves.

It is the breath that reveals the secrets of Love in the outer world. The breath Heals our relationships, for the breath holds the emotional codes of behavior. The yogis call the psycho/physical energy knots in the breath – the Granthis. Tantra attempts to approach these knots.
The breath can resolve the concurrent Love lives, that we have lived in past, present and future.
Hence, Hanuman Ji is the one who brings the Lovers together.

The story Goes through many twists and turns before the Lovers we’re united by Hunumans devotion.
At one point the story narrates that Hanuman needed to bring a healing herb from the Sacred mountain, he was not able to find it, and So he brought the whole mountain with him.

When Ravan was not able to lift the mountain with all his might, how was it that Hanuman not only lifted the mountain, but flew with it across the land?
Because Hanuman lifted the mountain, in the name of bringing the Lovers together, he had the great blessing.
And, so Sita was brought back to Raam by their loyal attendant, Hanuman the monkey god.
And in bringing Sun and Moon back into balance Hanuman restored Love on Earth.

An endless array of lamps
were lit by humankind
to guide the flying Monkey God Hanuman,
carrying Sita under his arm,
back to Raam.

THE POWER OF THE BREATH


Hanuman represents Prana, the Breath.
Hanuman restores Love and harmony on Earth by breathing the Moon and the Sun back together and therefore overcoming the destructive forces of the fire of passion that had possessed Ravan to dishonour the feminine. This resulted in the failure of the feminine and the masculine to live and Love in equal measure.

When the Shakti
is mistreated in such a way
that brings imbalance in our system,
we can no longer control her
and destruction (rather than healing)
becomes our fate.

In Tantra Yoga a balance is sought at all times to bring the masculine and the feminine, the Sun and the Moon, the Light and the Darkness, and the Active and the Passive, in perfect balance. Yet, in a world in which the active, male, solar forces are so dominant, more attention needs to be given to the feminine qualities, which is why the Tantrics have been worshipping the Goddess for aeons.

This inner and outer balance between the male and the female is, in a nutshell, the meaning of Hatha Yog – Ha, implying Sun, and Th, the Moon. These are equally designations of Kamari and Kamar. The Kama in both their names is the desire that longs for their opposite nature’s to meet. Hence the Tantrics honour the twilight meeting.

Like a million lamps burning in the darkest night, this is the Tantric night of deep prayer for the feminine.
Might it be prayed with tears?
Might it me prayed with amorous force and desire?
It is a night that has been prayed by Tantrics since the beginning of time for the return of the Goddess.
A chance to move towards the inner princess is offered upon this sacred night.
On this powerful dark night,
We may meet to mourn her loss, and celebrate her return – if we have earned it.

To find out more about about this current lunam phase governed by the Goddess Kamala, read also our posts about Diwali and Shaadee.

And if you would like to experience an authentic tantric ritual, join one of our online classes!

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