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Goddess of Sexual Energy

“Oh Goddess Chinnamasta
Lust and desire is in your blood
You show us the place where lust and desire belong
You feed the Chandra Nadi,
You feed the Surya Nadi,
You are the dark Amvasya between.
The movement of desire do you teach
Mistress of lunar and solar maneuvers you be,
You reveal the natural secrets of sex
By showing us how to bow down
And let the tides of nature move us
To you we bow.“

–    Boonath

Chinnamasta delights in trampling upon two lovers locked in sexual embrace. She tramples upon Kamadev, the god of desire and his lover Rati, who rides upon him fiercely.

Chinnamasta has cut of her own head and holds it in her hand (left hand) blood spurts out of her headless body in three channels. Chinnamasta herself drinks from the middle spring of blood. On the right of Chinnamasta stands her devotee Varnini, who drinks from the right channel of blood. On her left, is her devotee Dakini, who drinks from the right channel of blood.

THE THREE STREAM

Chinnamasta is a nourishing Goddess. She nourishes the 3 energy channels of the spine, known as Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. The passive and active channels, along with the balancing power between the two, which is what Chinnamasta nourishes.  

She nourishes these 3 aspects by 3 distinct forms of desire. Dakini, on the left of Chinnamasta, represents reception of desire – that is the power to lay low and receive desire. Varnini, on the right of Chinnamasta, represents the power to actively step forth and express desire.

The middle channel
that the Goddess Chinnamasta
herself drinks from,
is the bridging union
of the two polarities of desire.

THE GODDESS
OF SEXUAL ENERGY FLOW

Chinnamasta is a Goddess of sexual energy flow. Study of Chinnamasta teaches us about sexual energy and it’s 3 fold nature. The threefold nature of sexual energy is Chinnamasta, and Chinnamasta is the threefold nature of sexual energy.

These are the energies of receptive, active and balanced equilibrium.

Chinnamasta is the union of the opposites of sexual polarity. It could be said that she is the equilibrium of the opposites of sexual energy. This of course relates to sex directly, but it encompasses the principles of the exchange of energy in general.

All expressions of energy are dual, and all expressions of dualities have a place of meeting. Chinnamasta stands in that place of meeting.

Let us take the stark example of day and night. They are dual expressions of the same energy, moving in opposite directions. The place of equilibrium in which they meet is twilight. A third principle is created in the meeting of these dualities. Twilight is not always obvious and easily passes as a moment of little consequence. To the Tantrics it is a moment of great consequence in which the central line between is nourished. Twilight is a time for Tantric ritual for this very reason.

The practice of Hatha Yog
relates very much to working with
receptive & active principles of energy
& discovering the place
where they meet.

Chinnamasta mixes all things together. She is the secret third element where the receptive and the active desire meet and fuse together.

Her form is graphic,
which sharply & directly emphasises
the laws of desire
& energy exchange.

Chinnamasta Sadhana is instinctual and very matter of fact. In fact Chinnamasta is the pure essence of instinct, found between the expression and reception of instinct itself. She waits for the meeting, in the secret twilight place.

All are welcome to join our healing ritual dedicated to Chinnamasta.

Star of Radiance

In the early morning hour,
just before dawn, lover and beloved wake
and take a drink of water.

She asks, “Do you love me or yourself more?
Really, tell the absolute truth.”

He says, “There is nothing left of me.
I’m like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness? It has no resistance
to sunlight.”

The ruby and the sunrise are one.
Be courageous and discipline yourself.

Completely become hearing and ear,
and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.

Work. Keep digging your well.
Don’t think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.

Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
is a ring on the door.

Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who’s there.

Rumi

The star of Chittra Nakshatra is called Spica. This is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo. The stars of Virgo form the reclining figure of a woman, with Spica as the left hand of the Virgin – this yoga practice deriving from the left hand path of Tantra.

Spica is most visible in the sky in the northern hemisphere, in the months March to July. The Spica star can be seen well in the triangle formed by the 3 bright stars of Arcturus, Spica and Regulus. The base of the triangle is made by Spica and Regulus.

Virgo is the biggest constellation in the zodiac. It is most visible after sunset in the month of May. As the largest zodiac constellation the Sun takes 44 days to pass through it, longer than for any other constellation. The constellation of Virgo is also notable as it has 20 stars with known planets, which is more than any other constellation.

The long transition of the sun through the Virgo constellation gives the jewel of the Spica star an extended period to harness the solar force. Chittra is an active Nakshatra of radiance, many thousands of times brighter than the sun.Mangala (planet Mars) is the ruling planet of Chittra. Mars rules the solar-plexus Chakra as the active expression of its energy.

The Manipura chakra, as the solar-plexus is called, translates as the Jewel in the City. This is the fire in the belly that inclines us to action. The red planet of Mars is the fire of action that flows in the blood. The desire and impulse of action is put into creative use by the force of Chittra. Chittra is the second of the Mars ruled Nakshatras. All the Mars ruled Nakshatras deal with the skill of transforming and refining the elements of life.

How we use
and channel our life force
is the initiation
of the Mars ruled Nakshatras.

Mrgasirsa is the first Mars ruled Nakshatra that gives the initiation of cultivation and gathering Shakti. Chittra comes next and gives the initiation of shaping the Jewel of life with the Shakti we have preserved through the first initiation. The final Mars ruled Nakshatra is Dhanishta, which teaches us the further lesson of caring for the radiance of the jewel by honouring the law of rhythms.

These Nakshatra’s are dealt with in more detail in past blogs entries, which you may refer to here.
http://healinginthewillows.com/mrgasirsa/
http://healinginthewillows.com/dhanishta-nakshatra/

We can start to see how Nakshatras fit together when we consider them as a group under their planetary rulership, in this case Mars. By considering them as a group, we may get a deeper insight into the lessons they present to us.

Chittra Nakshatra travels between Kanya (Virgo) and Tula (Libra) and brings the creative earthly juices of the Virgin to an awareness of the opposites. The balance of force is revealed by Tula, which means to weigh. When we consider our life force carefully, we become aware of the options we have. Creation is a process of weighing things up and applying the weight of our life force with consideration.

The creativity
that Chittra Nakshatra teaches us
is one of consideration,
calculation and implementation
of our energies.

Chittra is the careful cutting and shaping of the facets of the jewel. This is a detailed use of creative force, that has power in considering the formations and outcomes of applied life force.

We see that Chittra is oftentimes symbolised by a pearl in an oyster. Like the delicate work of faceting a jewel, the creation of the pearl is a slow and gradual process. It is the intelligent and sober application of force. Chittra brings us the awareness of the jewel of our life-force. It is the pearl of great price. Carefully looking at where we cast our pearls is the teaching that the rays of this Star shines upon us here on earth.

The Virgin in the Cave

The Tale of Persephone

We see that the Ancient Greeks put the celestial codes of the constellation of Virgo into the story of Persephone. Persephone was a beautiful Virgin. Her light spring-like nature was the opposite of the underworld god, known by the name of Hades.

Hades fell in love with Persephone and, one day, while Persephone was gaily picking flowers in a lush meadow he left his dark underworld kingdom and came to the earth to abduct her.

The earth became barren until Persephone found release from his cavernous clutches. But Persephone was bound to return to the underworld, upon account of a trick played on her by Hades.

Her return to earth corresponds to the months of abundance, when the Constellation of Virgo is most visible in the night sky. The season of spring occurs when the constellation of Virgo appears in the early evening above the horizon. When she’s no longer there, it is winter. That is when Persephone returns to the underworld. From the Northern Hemispheres perspective, Virgos absence from the evening sky is found in late autumn, winter and early spring. Virgo’s reappearance in the sky at nightfall comes again with the rising season of spring.

The Celestial Architect

The Polarities of Creation

The God of Chittra Nakshatra is Tvashta. He is the celestial Architect who transfers his inspiration and energy to us through his star Chittra.

Tvashta seems a bit multi-faceted himself. He appears complex at first glance. Tvashta has a dual form. One facet of Tvashta is Vishwakarma, who is the architect of the Devas.
We see, interestingly, that in regions of South India the crafters are known as the Vishwakarmas. The other facet of Tvashta, is Mayasur, who is the architect of the Asuras.

Both these faces of Tvashta deal with his skill in design, architecture, and crafting with creative force. As Vishwakarma, Tvashta creates forms that are diaphanous and creative. And as Mayasur he creates destructive forms coated in glamour and trickery. Tvashta, it can be seen, is the force and skill of the creative energy.

How is the creative force is wielded in our hands? As the life-force is released from the grip of unconsciousness, the range of possibility of creative force is liberated from limitation. The Tantric is a creative voyager who releases the skills of Tvashta by attempting to awaken from unconscious dreams.

One other noteworthy thing about Tvashta, is that he is one of the 12 Aditya’s. These are the deities that are assigned to each calendar month. The Aditya’s transport and give the teaching of the particular month that they rule over. All the Aditya’s hold lotus flowers.

What is unique about Tvashta, is that his lotus flower, is the only one amongst the Aditya’s that is closed. This is a worthy symbol of meditation that reveals many meanings when pondered upon. Perhaps we might rather simply say that creativity requires a stage of introverting to gather force, before it is put to action. We see this principle at play in the creation of life in the womb.

When the introverted gathering of elixir is not honoured, then real creative force might very well de deficient. Creativity without elixir, might then come to be replaced by a predictable and creatively dead clock-work engine. When night falls, not only does a lotus close its petals, but it enters back into the waters from whence it came.

The stone and the Jewel

Channelling the Life-Force

Chittra Nakshatra is the star that brings us the teaching and blessing of channelling our life energies towards the creation of beauty. Someone who works with cutting and polishing diamonds is called a diamantaire. The skill of a diamantaire, encapsulates very much the quality that Chittra Nakshatra presents to us.

To become a diamantaire, requires long years of study into the science and art that is diamond polishing. Painstaking attention to detail and patience is required. The fine work of cutting and polishing is preceded by separating the diamond from the ore. Many hours are required to cut a diamond.

A diamond
can only be cut
by another diamond.

This fact is something worth pondering on, when considering the creative work of polishing the diamond of our lives. The diamantaire takes the rough diamond stone and with the magic of an alchemist, transforms of to a sparkling and mesmerising jewel.
Life energy can be used to launch a stone and create injury and destruction. But, the very same life force, can be channelled into the detailed work of artfully shaping the facets of a stone, and creating a jewel.

By the focus of our life energies, we can take a stone that was once a rough sharp object – perhaps able to cut the hand, and not particularly alluring – and shape it into a jewel of fascination and reflective beauty.

The word Chittra means radiant, shining, delicately-detailed, multi-layered, multi-faceted and lustrous. It is most appropriate that this star is symbolised by a Jewel.

Chittra also contains the word Chit, which means ‘pure awareness’ and could be seen as referring to the shining jewel of the soul. Chit is suffixed by Tra, in the name of this Nakshatra. Tra is derived from the Sanskrit word Tryate, and means to set free. So Chittra in this sense, translates as ‘the setting free of the jewel of pure awareness’.

A work of art, such as a painting, is referred to as Citr in Hindi. This is derived from the word Chittra. Again, this points to the principle of this star, to bring us the illumination to shape the jewel of our life. Chittra for this reason has come to be known as the star of carving the jewel.

What is the condition of our jewel? Is it in the workshop, with us sitting attentively at the desk? Or, has it fallen to the wayside, as we nurture concerns, other than the jewel of our life?

Chinnamasta

Pure Life-Force

Chinnamasta is the pure ruby red life force. She is the multifaceted jewel, that tells us of the possibilities of movements within the constellation of life. She shows us the options we have, of how to apply the life-force that we carry. She is the Vidya (wisdom) that meets us at the ‘tripple-crossroads’ of power.
In every movement of desire, we play either a passive or an active seat.

Chinnamasta is the seat between the two familiar ways. She is the teacher of transmitting and transmuting our life-force into sacred and spiritually potent action. Her jewel shines with the secret lustre of the union of two forces. Her Jewel is the meeting of polarities, and transmits the wisdom of sacred equilibrium. Her Jewel is the place where opposites and opposition are magically fused together.

When we hear the word equilibrium we might be prone to think of peace and wellbeing. But the equilibrium that Chinnamasta transports to us is a double sided balance and integrity, between the forces of rapturous chaos and poised awareness. She tears her head from her body, but she drinks of the middle stream of equilibrium force, without spilling a single drop from of the jewel coloured elixir of her life blood.

If you would like to join the Chinnamasta Jayanti ritual

CLICK HERE

Hara Ring

THE STAR OF HERITAGE & POWER

Magha means power, majesty and rulership. This Nakshatra is our very heart of power. Magha gives us grand royal standing, and the power of rulership.

The power of rulership comes by embracing the dualisms within the Heart. When the Heart no longer divides, it takes the seat of power in all the realms of existence.

Magha is found in the constellation of Simha (Leo) and is actually the Star Alpha Leonis, which is the very heart of the Lion. This Star is also known by the name Regulus in Latin, which interestingly, means ‘the little king’.

Magha Nakshatra is often symbolised by a throne, representing our heritage and power. The seat of power of this star is the seat of our hereditary power. It concerns the power of our past and our ancestry.

This star
brings us to question
the actual meaning of power.

Magha’s power is the power of the Heart. The deepest lesson that this Star represents is opening to an all-encompassing Heart that unites all, and rejects nothing. This is the vision of the Yogins.

The Headless Past

We see that the planetary ruler of this Nakshatra is Ketu. This is the Southern node of the Moon that is responsible for lunar eclipsing.

Ketu concerns the past. He is the body without a head, and is the storehouse of the unconscious rudiment of our being.
When we work with Ketu, we go back into the past, where those forgotten and unseen elements of ourselves are brought into focus.
The Moon rules the mind and our psychic awareness.

Ketu,
having the power
to eclipse the mind,
represents the storehouse
of personal history
that can impose itself
upon the vision of reality.

Afflictions of Ketu make one into a library of past manuscripts and transactions that obscure the flexible vision of ever changing reality.

When Ketu holds strong sway in our lives, we have family disputes, and we grind on the grudges of the past.
When we come back to the roots, we are in effect taking the journey to Ketu.

By addressing root issues we impact the fruit if our experiential life. The root distills the essence and sap, which in turn translates to the taste of the fruit. Tantric’s know this Sap to be Soma. Soma is made up of Tejas, Ojas and Prana: mental fire, fluidic potency and breath power, respectively. The balance of these constituents is a preoccupation of Tantra.

Taking The Seat of Power

Ancestral issues might present some of the dustiest shelves in our psychic library. Spiritual unrest in the energetic plane of the ancestors, spans concurrently across realms of time and space, and resonates and reverberates into the very fabric of our everyday life and being.

When we make peace
with our ancestral line,
we nourish the roots.
Without the roots,
their will be no fruit.

Having dispute with the family is a deep and subtle issue that is often the cause of much heartache and pain and anguish. Sometimes we enter into unconscious seats that have their origin on the subtle levels. It might not be easy to approach long held family issues.

The energies of the family heritage pass along the line until they are resolved in the great odyssey of destiny. Cutting off our roots might be one way to give the tree of our being space to grow. It is not uncommon that family members do not see eye to eye, but…

… to cut away our ancestral roots
out of anger, shame or denial
is to cut away
a great portion of our power.

Coming to accept the good, the bad and the ugly of our heritage is to take the seat of power.

Healing the Family Tree

All our relationships
are mirrors
of our ancestral dynamics.

Are connections are coloured by the energies of our line. Some of the patterns and footprints that we walk in are woven of ancestral twine. We may see how our children follow the paths that we ourselves transferred to them. We may see how we take on the energies of our elders too. The root is the undercurrent that can’t be cut away without affecting the fruit.
Reclaiming our power by standing for our heritage, is the first step in resolving the past.

“Can we resolve the past
Lurking jaws, joints of time?
The Base
To come of age in a dry place
Holes and caves.”

J. Morrison – American Prayer

When we redress the issues from a spiritual angle, we effect changes in the manifest realm. Merely holding a positive thought in mind is of little consequence in this pursuit. At the best, it might convince us that things are all well and good. The Tantric learns to employ all facets of their being in the spiritual pursuit of healing.

When we approach the spiritual world with a holy sense of purity we confine our psychic forces, and therefore confine their expression in our manifest life.

Angelic lightness
is just one facet of being,
but it is not the whole picture.

The pursuit of the holy stems from fear, denial and escapism to the true face of reality. The Goddess has many faces. Some of which are blinding, some of which are dark and consuming. To sit in the seat of power and to allow the full impact of feeling the effect of her ever changing gaze upon us is to be in reality.

To superimpose the Goddess’ face with a wished for visage, it to apply shadow and lipstick to the mirror. If we keep sticking things upon her mirror, we will create a fantasy and lose touch with reality. This is not the way spirituality is meant to be.

The Ancestors

“Gorgeous girls are bound to meet
To talk of stars and kings and feet
Through the chromosomes of space and time
Me, I’m fast like bad infection
Gasping for my resurrection
Swear to me in times of war and stress

Seen his family with a shrinking smile
See his family at the happy games
Standing in the mouth of all that’s pure
Come straggling in your tattered remnants
You’ll come to me with tears and blame
I am the future
I’m tomorrow
I am the end“

D. Bowie – Earthling

The ancestors dwell on this star. They are known as the Pitris and are made up of guardian spirits and deceased ancestors.
Yogic culture works profoundly with ancestry. Our heritage is understood to be our root that yields the fruit of our being.

There are  various rituals in Tantra for blessing the ancestors, and connecting to their blessings. Tantric work spans across many planes of existence. By connecting to the root energies resonating through time, we see how time is a concurrent thing, existing and moving together in sync, like the fingers of a wristwatch.

We release spirits and energy through the chromosomes of space and time, by our involvement in the spiritual side of life, when we approach the world of the ancestors by way of ritual.

There are many special days for Tantric ancestral rites. These are days, when the world of the ancestors is said to open up and be within view to the eye that looks.

Dark Moon days,
for example,
are times when the spirit world
intersects with the earthly plane.
That is a day
when the ancestors are worked with.

Tantric ritual dedicates a whole month to Ancestral work in the autumn. There is the ritual festival of first honouring the mothers line for a fortnight. Which is then followed by honouring the fathers line for a further fortnight.

When the Moon is is Magha Nakshatra, it is also a day when the ancestors come close to us spiritually. The half ascending Moon of Bagalamukhi supports us to touch the balance of dark and light ancestral themes. And so, on this ritual night, while the moon in in the Star of ancestry, we shall take a journey to the world of the ancestors. This night is blessed under the auspices of the Goddess Bagalamukhi. She it be, who pulls the spirit beyond the terrestrial.

To join the ritual for Bagalamukhi Jayanti

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“Oh Goddess Bagalamukhi,
some say the yellow one.
We see you glowing gold,
coming from the east.
You are the great paralysis.
We gather upon your birthday
to courageously come to honour
the wake-up shock that you admister.
You are the great shock that pierces the chakra
and brings us to silence.
To you we bow.”

–Boonath

The story of Bagalamukhi references the colour gold quite centrally. It starts in the Golden age of Satya Yuga. Satya Yuga translates as ‘the age of truth’. It is first among the four ages.

Satya Yuga is the Golden age of balanced harmony. Bagalamukhi appears from a golden pond of Turmeric that is known as the sacred Haridra pond. Bagalamukhi was summoned by the golden God Pitambara. This is a name of Vishnu who is keeper of the Golden-age. Pitambara can be translated as, ‘the one who is wrapped in yellow’.

The story goes that the Golden-age was threatened by a storm. The forces of equilibrium had become disturbed, and thick grey clouds threatened the order of cosmic balance.

Pitambara prayed deeply until the gift of Bagalamukhi, the golden Goddess of beauty, appeared from the sacred Golden pond.  Bagalamukhi Emerged in dazzling beauty from the sacred golden pond. She stupefied and beamed with radiant countenance of skin dyed gold by Turmeric.

The golden effulgence of her beauty, that manifested upon the earthly plane, was paralyzing. Her golden jewellery tinkled and chimed through infinity as she walked with shining effulgent grace. The bells of her bracelets emitted sacred sounds that paralyzed the doom of the suffocating storm that had been brewing in the heart and soul of existence.

“Bagalamukhi means,
‘the one who paralyses
and captures
by her very gaze’“.

The golden God Pitambara could once again rest into his golden world, as Bagalamukhi restored order by paralyzing the impending storm. Bagalamukhi did it only by the power of her golden gaze. She came to be known as Pitambari, the one with the Golden yellow gaze.

The Solar Plexus and its opposite

The sacred Golden pond, called Haridra, takes its name from the root spice known as Turmeric. Turmeric is an important herb for the health of the fire element in the body, which dwells in the solar plexus.

The right measure is a panacea for regulating the fire element in the human organism. Taken in excess, turmeric can cause dryness in the constitution. This pond in the story outlined above, represents the solar plexus chakra.

The storm clouds threatening to obscure the Golden-age represent the opposite spectrum of clouds of Kali Yuga, that is, the dark Iron-age. If the gathering storm clouds gather in excess, unbalance in equilibrium and order ensues.

The opposite colour in the spectrum to Yellow is Indigo. The indigo Chakra is the Agya chakra at the Third eye, with which the Solar is connected as its opposite. The Third-Eye is ruled by the dark Moon and the Solar plexus is ruled by the sun. We here see the two opposite polarities starkly at play.

In Tantra opposite polarities hold a secret: they both attract and repel each other, just like night and day, hot and cold, man and woman. The vision of the balance of opposites is revealed by Bagalamukhi’s startling gaze. This detail of balancing opposites is one of the keys to Bagalamukhi ritual worship.

The Goddess who disperses psychic clouds

Bagalamukhi is the Goddess force who arrests the movement of the clouds in the psychic sky of our spirit. We might be all-to-used to the pattern of the movements of our inner thought forms and structures. They may be taken as a normality and something that we hold dear to and nourish.

The Tantric comes to recognise those structures of the self, that are opaque and impenetrable forms. By studying the psychic sky of the self, the Tantric learns to recognise the clouds that obscure the vision of the Goddess.

“Bagalamukhi
is she who creates a pause
in the familiar and habitual patterns
of the movement,
of the psyche world
we live within.”

In the pause that she offers we come to the discovery of translucent spheres of being, where visions are glimpsed. The closer we contact her vision, the clearer the vision of reality becomes.

Khechari Mudra

“Khechari Mudra
is the practice of working
with the tongue.“

The tongue is the intersection between the polarities of the solar plexus and the third eye, while at the same time, it connects the energies of the sexual and throat Chakras together.

Tantra prescribes many techniques of working with the tongue. The nerves of the tongue are profoundly related to the solar plexus and sexual nerves. The vagus nerve is stimulated through the tongue.

“Particular placements
of the tongue
all have their specific functions.“

Khechari Vidya (wisdom of Kechari) is a secret practice that is initiated upon Bagalamukhi Jayanti. Specific mudras and mantras in combination with the movements of the tongue can direct the energy. An upward placement, for example, can send the energy up to the third eye. A downward placement sends the energy to the sexual Chakra. A directly frontal placement connects to the solar plexus Chakra. According to the placement of the tongue, the whole system of Chakric energies can be worked with. Bagalamukhi is the keeper of this Vidya (wisdom)

The tongue goes North

This brings us to another myth that relates to  Bagalamukhi. When we see the Goddess Bagalamukhi in pictures, she is portrayed as pulling out the tongue of a ghoulish looking little man with bulging eyes.

The story tells us that Madan was a Yogi who became Asuric (destructive) after he gained the Siddhi of Khechari Mudra. It is a story – as are all yogic tales – to meditate upon in order to glean its deeper meaning.

This is the Siddhi (magical power) of speech, often referred to as Vakk Siddhi. Those who work with the Khechari Mudra of the tongue in very deep ways, gain the power of speech. What is said can come to manifest when the power of Khechari is evoked.

“Khechari yogis
are careful
and sometimes very reserved
with speech.“

Now, the story tells us that the Asura Madan had the power of Khechari Mudra, but his heart was eclipsed by bitterness, and so he cursed left right and centre and caused much suffering.

The golden glowing goddess appeared and stunned his eclipsed heat and pulled his tongue in the Northern direction, bringing his energies into communion with his third eye.

The upward movement of the tongue connects the sexual energies and digestive fires with the subtle energies of the third eye. Bagalamukhi is the Goddess force that draws the gold out of the swamp of habitual murky dwelling.

Upon this Half Waxing ritual night we shall approach Bagalamukhi with the prayer of receiving Khechari Vidya. This is a ritual time of working with the solar forces as mirrored in the rising Moon. Bagalamukhi Ritual is very much about studying the impact of our active words. Not only the spoken words, but also the words that resound and colour our innermost being. Some of the practices of Bagalamukhi that we shall engage in are preliminaries of the Full Northern Mudras of Khechari.

To join the ritual

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Pollution, Scraps and Leftovers

“Oh Matangi,
Green of complexion
You glisten like an Emerald in the rain.
You accept all our impurities,
You are the heart chakra that openly receives the leftovers that we have to offer,
the ones that are no use to anyone but you.
To you we can bring our shame and our pain,
You can hear our broken refrain!
No one can Love you, for you are the one who Loves like no other.
Not only do you Love in the sweet-scented places,
But you Love in the rotting flesh of yesteryear,
you never withhold your Love.
To you we bow.“

– Boonath

The Green Woman Beyond

Matangi is the Outcast Goddess. She is the woman who does not align to conventional standard. Not that she is a rebel who rages against the machine of modernity.
Matangi is not against convention. It’s just that she does not abide by its restrictive codes. Her vision extends beyond the bounds of normality. Matangi is not a woman with something to prove.
She doesn’t scoff at the ways of ignorance and injustice. Matangi is possessed of an equal vision that accepts all as it is. The Shakti of her vision is put towards the out-of-bound mysteries.

When we oppose something strongly, we give a big portion of our Shakti to it and end up depleted… or we might find ourselves ever in a position of grinding the axe of our power upon the blunt edges of that which we oppose. An axe can only take so much grinding until there is nothing left of it.
All opposition ends with Matangi. She brings us to the vision of empowered innocence.

The Green Wild Soul

Matangi teaches us to take back our power. Whether that power be mental, emotional or physical. Matangi teaches us to un-invest our spiritual powers from the codes of societal, ancestral, spiritual and moral forms that they may be bound-up with.
As we bring the power away from standards, we discover a vast amount of Shakti that can launch us into uncharted waters. Matangi unfolds the green vision of the wild Soul in the sea of eternity.

Matangi can be worshiped by any means, if the worship is sincere. She is often worshiped with leftover food scraps and normally taboo items and forms of devotion. Ucchishta means polluted, it is usually taken to mean scraps and leftovers, but encompasses all that is considered dirty, forbidden, unclean and unholy.

If we make contact with the powers of Matangi, she delivers us from notions of good and bad, she brings an empowered acceptance of the way things are, and helps us to resign the seat of judgement.
Matangi is a potent spiritual sphere of consciousness that accepts all things. If we are truly to learn her lesson, we must step into the empowered stance of accepting all things.
Matangi is no docile victim. She is an intensely Ugra Devi (fearsome goddess). Her stance is so empowered that everything is accepted by her. Nothing oppresses her, nothing aggravates her, with nothing to resist or be aggravated by, Matangi has double the force of anything that upholds a standard.

Finding Matangi within, is the empowering of the Heart Chakra. The Heart Chakra resonates at the Green frequency, Matangi too, is green.
Her colour signifies the full power of the wild heart. Hers is not a heart with an agenda or a preference, her heart loves all equally.

Anything offered with sincerity pleases Matangi. That which is rotting and unholy pleases Matangi. She accepts a pearl and ruby necklace just as readily as a bone on a string. If the bone has rotting flesh upon it, Matangi accepts it just as much as she would a box of exclusive pralines.
The sincerity and devotion of in what is offered to her, becomes the most important thing when approaching Matangi. What is offered is of little consequence, it is the force behind the offering.

She is not a woman to be flattered or bought.
When we approach her worship. We are made to look at the fancies within us that take delight at flattery, and the parts of us are ready to jump like a puppy if we are given what we like.
In her ritual work, we are asked:
Which parts of us become pleased at praise and honour?
Which parts of us like to be told what we want to hear?
Matangi might be the only woman to tell us what we do not want to hear. Sometimes the truth is best left alone because truth can hurt?

The Evergreen Heart

Matangi is the Goddess who is actually pleased when we offer her the parts of our soul that are no longer edible… the parts that are kept hidden and out of sight (even unto ourselves), perhaps in shame.
The hidden parts carry a profound power, the more repressed, the greater their power becomes.
Hidden repressed things become a cause of perversion and sickness. The underground forces start to rule us unless they are brought to the heart. Matangi is the Woman who accepts them with an evergreen heart.

Those parts of us that are old and rotting and are offered to Matangi in her Rituals.
If we have habits that are standing in the way of our progress and polluting our lives, Matangi is the Goddess who opens the trapdoor and shows us a way to work with, and handle the noxious eruptions of the soul.

If our health and relationships are not in flow, then Matangi happily takes the old scraps that rott away and pollute the sacred heart, that is, if we even offer them to her.
The old scraps in our soul might be something we come to oppose, whether we call it the ego or the devil to be conquered and destroyed, it amounts to the same thing. If the power of our old scraps and wounds of soul is not reclaimed, it can lead to addictions.
Addiction does not only mean addiction to substances, overwork, and the usual things we might associate it with. Addiction also pertains to holding tight to a particular set of beliefs and modes of behaviour.
The need for drama is a subtle addiction, perhaps one that is quenched through relationships and even movies.
Being driven to action out of necessity is a subtle form of addiction that we might nurture and justify as a wholesome one, because it is in pursuit of good things. Anything that comes with a drive is the very opposite of freedom, and so it could be classed as an addiction.
Often our addictions and unhealthy habits are difficult to release.
On the one hand they are defences that can provide a distraction from facing our inner wounds, and on the other hand, they are often a source of shame and may be kept hidden and secret – even from ourselves.

Blessing Shame

Matangi blesses our shame with the Hand of a healing mother.
Matangi gladly takes our rotting pollution if we but embrace it enough to give to her. She stands like a mirror that reflects the inherent power within things. Those places we might see as the very opposite of power and life might be the ones where it is most present.
To face her, is to face ourselves in the most stagnant of places.
With Matangi, there is no moving around the issue,
there is no escape from oneself,
there is no rising above or dropping below,
there is only – going to the Heart of the matter.

Matangi is a shameless outcast Goddess.
All so-called Taboos are looked at by her emerald green eyes.
She is the outcast Goddess who isn’t offered a place in polite society,
but without her, polite society insidiously pollutes itself in an unseen manner.

“You may come to me in happiness
Or you may come to me in grief
You may come to in your deepest faith
You may come in disbelief.”

L.Cohen – Lover Lover Lover

Just as the lyrics above express. Matangi does not care how we come to her. Her lesson is that we even attempt to come to her at all.
Whether we come to her in filthy rags, or whether we come to her in royal dress. Matangi will take and bless whatever we have to offer.

Her Vision

The Chaturthi, or fourth lunar night synchronises with the ritual of Matangi.
We find her Jayanti ritual on this lunar night. Chaturthi is a time of psychic imbalance where the pull and push of lunar magnetism is split.
Within this unstable time, the possibility to find the Ucchishta (Hidden rotting areas within our soul) is supported as the inner psychic nature is not so solid under this lunar influence. Chaturthi days loosen-up the psychic nature.
Chaturthi rituals within the destabilising lunar influence are to be grounded in a solid pursuit and have a heavy and focussed character.
The focus and spirit of Matangi ritual, is to offer to her the Ucchishta elements within us.
When we release the Ucchishta, which may have become the foundation of our being, and the cause of our many impulses and pursuits, we discover a secret world beyond the familiar.
Giving up ourselves is a radical undertaking that has radical rewards. It is not something that can necessarily be done in one fell swoop. The techniques and path of Tantra gradually loosens solidified psychic matter and offers us way to release the structures and edifices of the constructed self. Matangi reveals the unadulterated soul beyond all constructs. This Chaturti Moon falls within the Lunar House (Nakshatra) of the Deer Star Mrgasirsa (click HERE to read about this star constellation).

Our personal history, might be gathered with an onward rolling snowball effect. The snowball of our being might be built of many obsolete and redundant things that have come to fix our character and reality? Matangi is the Heart that melts the snowball ball of the formulated self, she offers a vast vision of what lays beyond the threshold of personal identity.
When history is not there, then the familiar self starts to vanish.
When the familiar self that we live with and within begins to fade away, then we have a vast amount of liberated energy which is no longer invested into the familiar structure of the self.
This liberated psychic energy is the power of Siddhi.
That is the meaning behind why Matangi is called the Mother of Siddhi. She be the one who imparts magical power.

Tantric ritual upon the fourth lunar night, involves many careful formulas for focussing stray psychic energies. We shall find our stay psychic energies by way of ritual and attempt to release structures as we move towards the great encompassing heart of Matangi. Hers is a heart that stands beyond and between all form.
Her vision is the vision of the all-exclusive Heart.

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The Deer Star of Seeking

Tomorrow night’s Matangi’s Jayanti, the day and night during which Tantrics honour the Mahavidya Goddess Matangi, will happen under the auspices of the Mrgasirsa Nakshatra (lunar house). Mrgasirsa translates as the head of the deer and is symbolised by a Deer searching and scouring the land for nourishment.

It is formed of a cluster of 4 stars in the constellation of Orion, the brightest star of this Nakshatra is Bellatrix. These stars form the shape of a Deer head.

This Mangala (Mars) Ruled Nakshatra traverses both Taurus and Gemini. Mangala being the ruling planet of this Nakshatra, gives the force to search and quest. This is the quality of enthusiasm that is the fountain of youth, ever seeking and searching to know and to find.

Right Under the Nose

Uniting Opposites

The desire to unite disparate parts is the wanderlust of the Tantric voyager. Opposite poles mysteriously magnetize and attract each other, while simultaneously also having the force of repelling or de-magnetizing each other.

We find that all the Mars ruled Nakshatra’s are possessed of the adventurous spirit. We see that all the Mars ruled Nakshatra’s sit between two zodiac constellations, they are half in one sign and half in another, giving them the quality that inspires the quest of searching to unify opposites.

In the case of Mrgasirsa the bridge is between Vrishabha (Taurus) and Mithuna (Gemini). Taurus is an earthly sign of heart that is ruled by Venus. It is concerned with the immediate earthly sensorial territory.

Gemini is Mercurial etheric sign of the metaphysical mind. It is concerned with travel and movement in the metaphysical spheres. We can see these opposites at play clearly in Mrgasirsa, we could call it the joinery between the head and the heart.

When the head and the heart move in harmony with each other, then we have a great level of practical wisdom. When they are out of sync with each other, then we have abstractive irrelevance in the earthly sense and overly emotional indulgence in matters of the heart.

The Deer is a most practical creature of heart, infact it is the animal that symbolizes the Heart-Chakta for Tantrics. The Deer possess the eyes of a lover and has the swift movements of the air ruled Heart-Chakra.

When we look at pictures of the Nebula of Orion, we very interestingly even see that it presents a heart shaped form to us.

The Deer beautifully brings the qualities of the heart and the head together. It is a measured creature that is in touch with the mysteries inherent in its environment. It is not a chancer that that looks for wonderment far afield, but rather discovers the delights that are right under its nose.

The Deer is known famously for having the musk gland. This gland produces a substance that has been widely prized in perfumery. The gland contains pheromones that strongly attract and affect the heart of those who catch the scent. It is a scent that Deers attract mates by.

All creatures have such glands that incite and allure. The musk of the deer has been recognised as exerting a particularly powerful impact upon the heart. This has made of it a much sought after commodity. The paradox is that the harvesting of this gland might be anything but heart-full in the exploitation of the Deer.

The Deity of Mrgasirsa is Soma, Soma is the lunarly Elixir of life. Soma is the fountain of eternal youth and steady energy.

When Soma flows smoothly, the energy and the emotions are rhythmic and regular. Soma does not blow hot and cold, nor does it have drops and dips between energy and depletion. Soma is not a quality of excitement and restless stimulation, it is rather a smooth creamy continuity that brings life.

When Soma flows, then Prana (breath power) Tejas (psychic fire) and Ojas (watery essence) is abundant. Soma is the Elixir that the Yogins are careful to preserve. Without Soma, the waters of life run dry.

The Deer is a reminder of the cultivation and preservation of Soma. It is a creature that measures its capacities and knows its capabilities well. It is familiar with what its environment brings and has to offer. It equally knows  dry well, what it’s environment does not have to offer. The deer is a teacher of the sacred heart that is practical to that which is right under its nose. It does not waste its essence in far off pursuits, but brings the vision of magic to the pursuit right under its nose.

On the path of the Deer, we are asked to measure our resources.

To go beyond what our resources actually are, is not the path of devotion, it is rather the opposite path that goes against the sacred heart.

On the path of the Deer, we are asked to look closely at the promises and searchings of chasing rainbows to the detriment of our Soma life fluid.

On the Path of the Deer, we are asked to look at, make use of and appreciate the particular shade of the green of our grass.

Way of the Deer

This Deer-driven star of Soma, shines the energy of searching and seeking. The spirit of the quest, and the wonderlust towards innocent discovery is reflected in the eyes of the Deer.

The wonderlust of ever looking, searching and being on the eternal quest for the magical Elixir, may far outdo the need to find and obtain the certain treasure when seen through the vision of a Deer.

The vision that looks deep into that which is below the nose, is the path of efficiency, functionality and appreciation.

If the vision of ever looking into the wonders that are hidden in our midst is not with us, then all love, appreciation and gratitude are thrown out of the window.

The Deer vision is the wonderment and devotion in each and every little thing that is in our path. The deer spirit, is the spirit that is attuned to catch the voice of the flowers and the scent of the Moon.

Mrgasirsa is made of two words, Mrga implies Deer and other related species, such as antelope and gazelle, and Sirsa, which implies the head.

This points towards the power of this star to shine down upon our highest point ‘the head’, and turn us towards the search of deep mysteries.

The symbol of this star is the inclined head of the focused deer, sniffing out it’s path. The ritual journey taken under this star is one of inclining our head to look into the basis nourishment of our spirit.

This concerns things that are very close at hand, so close as to be right under our nose. The deer is an animal that is a wanderer within its familiar territory. It is a very practical creature that is in deep contact with its immediate surroundings. It could be said that the Deer is the seeker of adventure in the familiar.

This quality of knowing, studying and appreciating it’s territory, makes the Deer incredibly adaptable to new conditions, perhaps like no other creature.

Sometimes we might live in a cycle of achieving things. We naturally may have to strive under a schedule of duties and fulfilling tasks. When things become monotonous, we might see it as an indication of a needed change. The change that the Deer eyed vision of Mrgasirsa brings to us, is a change of our vision, to deepen our focus into the magic that is around us and learn to look for the unfamiliar in the very midst of the familiar.

The wonder that is brought to us by the Deer-eyed gaze of this star is to keep the journey of-the-sparkling, ever with us.

When we aim for a distant star, we risk losing the closer scent of the magical things around us. By slowing down the frequency of our sniff, the scents of magic that are right-up-close to us come under our nose.

This star brings us to question things such as excessive movement, striving and speed.

The Search For What is There

Searching is a word that is redefined by this Star. The search for the magical Deer-eyed vision is what is implied by the wisdom of this Star.

A search that goes pushing and rushing along in pursuit of the treasure, blindly misses daisy secrets that only the Deer-eye catches.

It might one day arrive at the treasure, only to find a mirror that reflects back the dried up loss of power that such a blind journey created.

The vision of the Deer is one that catches the sparkles along its way. The Deer vision gathers the treasure in its very gaze. Learning the secrets of the Deer is the path of learning to honour the Deer-eyed-gaze.

The way back to the magical gaze of the Deer, might be an arduous path. A path where we come to question our internal power of soul. We may come to see parts in ourselves, where we have thrown out precious nourishing things from our heart in exchange for inedible dirt.

Exotic perfumes in distant lands sweep the heart into magical fantasy it could be said. But discovering the scent of the home we are in, the one right under-our-nose, unfolds a fantastical reality that we might be bypassing… or by-sniffing and missing the essential treasure of being.

We might miss the rainbow in search of the pot of gold if we lose the lesson of the Deer. We might have taken influence from some place, and feel that wonder is far away from where we are. Maybe wonder is so close that it’s in the very gaze that we see things with. In the gaze of the Deer

Mrgasirsa brings us its blessing if we tune in and listen to the frequency of its starbeams. This Star makes us Deer-eyed and Deer-nosed. It teaches us to be able to beam the focus of our psychic forces right to the fundament of where we are in each and every gaze and sniff.

Chasing the Golden Deer

The Golden Deer that captivated Sita in the Ramayana epic, is what starts the whole story of her abduction and resultant rescue under the powers of Hanuman’s devotion to restore Love.

Sita, upon seeing the golden Deer was so captivated by it beauty, that she just had to have it.

The Deer shimmered like the golden sun and had silver moonlike spots that entranced Sita, so much as, as to forget where she was and what was around her. Her desire for the Deer, caused her to lose all ground.

A whole odyssey of separation and battle ensued as a result of seeking the golden Deer, who was infact a trickster.

The teaching inherent in this tale is clear when we consider the quality of the Deer as outlined above. The search for the Golden Deer carried consequences for all involved, but the paradox is that without the overstepping of ones territory, the path of Karma does not unfold. Straying is a necessary part of learning.

Playing it too safe can be the path of living death.

Much blood and Soma may spill in the pursuit of the golden Deer, but it becomes a deep teaching of the nature of overstepping the lines of reality.

By the teaching of this Star, we are brought to question and look at our own golden Deer pursuits.

Spirit of the Deer

The Yogins consider the animals as teachers and emissaries of particular qualities of the Spirit. A theoretical study of the habits of animals is certainly a very interesting way to get familiar with the qualities of the various creatures that live on earth. Tantric’s meditate upon the animals and evoke their particular spirit and quality within themselves. Observing the actual animal by meditation and tuning in to its energy has been a favorite pastime of Tantric’s, as a way to learn and attune to the animals secrets.

Observing how the coat of a Deer changes with the seasons communicates many mysteries to us if we open the receptive channels to its teaching. Mimicking the bark of the Deer is a way to comprehend where the energy of the deer is located in its body and spirit. The sound of the Deer engages the heart and the throat equally. This becomes poignant when we consider the Venus and Mercury aspects that the Deer Nakshatra stands between, as hilighted above in the ‘Uniting Opposites’ section.

The spirt of the Deer is a determined but innocent one that is more interested in the divine play than in the divine accomplishment.

When we look at the gods who have a deer with them, we get some pointers into the meaning of this Star.

Krishna is the player of the celestial game known as Lila.

Lila is the romantic play of the spirit with all phenomena. Krishna is often pictured with the deer, as we see here above.

Another deity who rises upon Deer back is Vayu.

Vayu is the deity of the wind who rides swiftly upon Deer-back and carries the jewel of Pranic breath power to us. The Heart is the transformer of the common air element, into the the life force of Prana that the Yogins honour and awaken.

Soma

Soma, the Moon deity, is another who also rides swiftly upon deer-back. He plays an important position here as he is the ruling deity of Mrgasirsa.

The parentage of Soma is of worthy note and points to secrets of lunar balance. The Moon rules the psychic movements by its ever changing rhythms. To balance the Moon energy of the psyche is open the secrets of Soma.

Soma is born of Bhanu and Nisha, Bhanu is the hot fiery father, Nisha is the mother who is cool, dark and moist. The first child of this couple was Agni, the second was Rohini and the third was Soma.

Agni is the fire god of the Nakshatra Krittika. Rohini is the most fertile red star woman. Rohini’s Nakshatra stands right between Krittika and Mrgasirsa. We have seen that Mrgasirsa is the cool star of Soma.

Rohini is brought to her fruitful power by standing in balance balance Agni and Soma. Heat and coolness in balanced measure is needed for her to thrive.

The lunarly journey of the Moon, travels through these three Nakshatras in the sequence in which they were born.

Soma is the Moon, but it is equally the Elixiral fluid of magic and wonder.

The force of this Star is to translate the fountain of eternal youth to us here on earth by shining them to us by the light of the Moons fourth waxing night.

Those places where inspiration and wonderlust are most unstable in us, are brought to life by this particular Moonshine.

A Woman of Heart

The Deer is the animal that is connected to the Heart-Chakra. The Heart-Chakra resonates with the Green colour spectrum.

This brings us to Matangi, the Green Goddess of tomorrow night. We shall meet for the ritual that Annually honours Matangi.

She is the Green Goddess of unconditional Love. Matangi lays no condition upon the form that love is offered to her in. Her green-eyed vision sees with the eye of the Heart-Chakra.

Matangi is the deep essence of motherhood. Like a true mother who is equal about handling warm milk or warm shit, Matangi’s hands fear not to touch all sides of love.

Matangi is a powerful ally for us in determining the value of the things that we receive in our lives. Sometimes the most bitter medicine is administered with the greatest love, this is something that Matangi makes us aware of and sober enough to see.

Alternatively, sometimes the sweetest things are backed with empty sentiment that does not nourish anything deeper than our surface fancies.

Matangi is the unseen side of wisdom. She makes us wise in opening our eyes to the view that might be far off the beaten track of the conditioned heart. She is the great outsider who has lays down no conditions other than the whole hearted condition of Heart. Click HERE to read more about Matangi.

If you would like to join the tantric ritual on Matangi Jayanti

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