‘’In Tantric cosmology
this Chaturthi Moon day
is said to be amongst the most
psychically destabilizing days
of the year.’’
– Boonath
ELEPHANT POWER
Earth Ritual
GANESH JAYANTI
AN INITIATION INTO THE TANTRIC PATH OF YOGA
ROOTED IN THE SHAMANIC WISDOM OF INDIA
15 FEBRUARY | Chaturti Moon
Part 1 of a 5 Part Series
20:oo - 23:oo CET | 19:oo - 22:oo GMT
*A recording will be made available,
if you cannot make the exact date/time.
Please specify by email when registering."
‘’In Tantric cosmology
This coming ritual night is concerned with establishing foundations. This Jayanti day is the Birthday of the Elephant God Ganesh. He is the Earth deity that guards the doorway of manifest grounded power.
Ganesh is honoured by Tantrics on the Chaturthi day each month, Chaturthi means fourth and refers to the 4th day following a New Moon or Full Moon. In Tantric cosmology this Chaturthi Moon day is said to be amongst the most psychically destabilizing days and hence the Elephant ritual is a practice that fills the polar opposite of instability by its stability.
The Moon energy of the Full and New Moon is potent for the first 3 nights and then on the 4th day its effects start to subside. This subsiding corresponds to a subsiding of psychic tension/magnetism within us that is pronounced and potent at the extremes of the New and Full lunar expressions. The subsiding of inner psychic magnetism brings with is a state of psychic instability and uncertainty, hence the solidity of the Elephant energy is invoked on the Chaturthi days.
This ritual is a magical focussed undertaking of weighting our forces into the roots of earthly being. When the foundation is heavy, immovable and as grounded as an elephant, then and only then, can the branches of our being branch out and give the fruit of spiritual being. This same law holds true when considering the harvest of earthly fruits upon the tree of life.
The tendency of spiritual practices is to uproot our structures and stir up the psychic forces. The word Laghoo refers to a yogic aspirant, Laghoo implies expansive ethereal expression and lightness. But without the weight of the Base chakra that is presided over by the Elephant God Ganesh – the forces of our being can become dispersed in the unbearable lightness of being. A flimsy and impotently unempowered life is the result of lacking root.
And so, upon this ritual day and night, since aeons long, the Tantrics have reserved a ritual of Jayanti for the rooting and nourishing weight of Ganesh. A Jayanti is a ritual time of birthing, and this particular ritual day is dedicated to birthing the Rooted elephant power of the Base Chakra. ”Seek ye first the foundation and all things shall be added” this axiom is a reminder that the fruit is only as sweet as the Roots are Deep.
Ganesh brings earthy harvest in life if the roots that he presides over are honoured and watered. This ritual night is a concentrated prayerful attempt to find the roots of our being and nourish them through harnessing the psychic currents of Elephant power.
‘When Ganesh is happy he raises his trunk and flaps his ears’. This happiness of which the Yogins speak, is the ascent of the Kundalini serpent, represented by the Trunk of Ganesh. Ganesh is the Chakravatin, that means the one upon who the whole system of the Chakras spins upon. The constellation of all the Chakras orbits around the base. The seat of Ganesh is the Mooladhar Chakra. Mool means root and Adhar is the base. The foundation of our being, when weighed in the heavy and steady power of the Elephant – creates foundation of life, upon which all the Chakras spin.
All those who seek spiritual fruits in life and recognise the need for earthly roots are called to this ritual. All those who would tread the slow and steady paced path of the Elephant power – void of skywalking wishfulness and empty power, are summoned to celebrate the birth of the Earth Guardian Ganesh.
REST OF SERIES
Part 2 | 20 February | KHODIYAR MAA – Crocodile Power & Water Element
Part 3 | 27 April | HANUMAN JAYANTI – Monkey Power & Air Element
Part 4 | 13 August | NAAGA PANCHAMI – Snake Power & Akashic Element
Part 5 | 22 August | HAYAGRIVA JAYANTI – Horse Power & Fire Element
WHERE & HOW: It’s all Online.
MUST REGISTER IN ADVANCE
The rituals takes place ONLINE, from 8pm until ±11pm Central European Time (CET).
*A recording will be made available, if you cannot make the exact date/time. Just specify that you will require a recording when registering.
WHAT IS 'WORKING WITH THE SHADOW'?
A short interview with Boonath.
ANCIENT & SACRED
On these healing circles you will practice a form of Yoga that is rarely available and accessible even in India today. You will take part in a sacred Yogic tradition that roots itself in India’s native shamanic wisdom & Tantric lineage handed down orally between generations of Yogis, Babas, Sadhus and Fakirs.
You will be exposed to the old tantric ways of seeking profound healing and spiritual awakening, including practicing in darkly-lit spaces to quieten the mind and awaken the senses to the body’s subtle energy currents, holding simple postures for long periods of time, and engaging in powerful breath-work to open-up the body and take the mind into altered states of consciousness.
GENTLE
The practice draws on postures seldom used in modern styles of yoga, ancient sequences that honour the mother and the divine feminine, gently opening-up the body to its highest levels of flexibility through minimal effort.
Integral to this experience will be the exploration of sound-currents present in the body (Nada Yoga) – perhaps one of Yoga’s greatest secrets and one of the most powerful vehicles through which the karmic patterns stored in the chakras can be accessed and released in pursuit of profound healing.
UNIQUE
Unique to this tradition is its simultaneous employment of Asanas (postures), aerobic & anaerobic Pranayam (breathwork), Mudras (gestures), and Mantras (sacred sounds).
The synergy created by the employment of these various yogic tools will lead you into altered states of consciousness and dream-like experiences aimed at facilitating a greater openness to inward journeying and an easier access to your subconscious.
UNBOUND
Because we are going to play with shamanic yogic traditions, the practice will take place outside of clearly time constraints. Generally, the practice will last about 6 hours, but if the group is ready to practice longer we might carry well into the night.
INCLUSIVE
The Circle is open to those interested in the healing path.
Tantra and Yoga practitioners, and those seeking healing, practitioners of the mystic arts. Both advanced and beginners will find a place in this circle.
If you have had or are having psychosis please get in touch directly with us as this is important to know about in this work. The same goes for those with strong mobility issues. Drug and alcohol users also need to inform us of their condition. Thank you.
The practie usually takes place in the dark or darkly-lit spaces.
The pictures below were taken in daylight to capture the flow of a practice.
BOONATH
BOONATH was born into a life of yoga. He grew up between Europe and India and was introduced as a child to yoga through his grandparents who were on both sides yoga practitioners.
His grandparents took him on his first Himalayan pilgrimage when he was just seven years old and he has been exposed to the world of yogis ever since.
Boonath has taken initiation into the left hand path (that’s the path of the heart) and specialises in the branch of Chandra Parampara, that is a secret style of Moon practice that works with the night forces. It is a style of tantra that goes very deep into the subconscious roots It is first and foremostly a Healing System. Most of his family still lives in India and he has been travelling there regularly throughout his life in pursuit of yoga. He has worked closely in apprenticeship with elders in the line of Siddha systems of healing and holds much knowledge in the use of rituals, mantras and body/spirit healing methods among other things.
Boonath has been working in this line and helping people with the implementation of these techniques for over 25 years to successfully overcome mental and physical problems, from chronic pain to addiction.
Boonath’s healing and yoga work sees him travelling across the whole of Europe to give workshops and healing sessions. His travels and yoga workshops continue to benefit people in deprived circumstances.
In recent years Boonath has been living and teaching yoga in Germany where he has a network of students. It was in Berlin that Boonath met Kim, with whom Boonath co-founded Working with the Shadow in 2014.
Formal studies and encounters have all left their impression on Boonath, but his teachings are deeply rooted in the Shamanic traditions of the mystical Babas and Fakirs of India, with whom Boonath has been studying closely since childhood to the present day.
KIM
KIM is an Eco-Activist turned Yogi and the founder of Healing in the Willows, the retreat company hosting Working with the Shadow, which he developed in 2014 in collaboration with Boonath, who he assists with the teaching. Kim discovered Yoga in 2005, following a burn-out at work that brought him onto the path of ‘Yog’. Kim had spent over 10 years coordinating international environmental campaigns in Brussels, Amsterdam and Berlin for major environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace, WWF, Friends of the Earth, ActionAid, and many others.
Kim practiced Yoga with many teachers from several modern styles of Yoga (including Iyengar, Astanga, Vinasa, Bikram, Sivananda, Scaravelli, Kundalini) all over Europe, India and further afield. In 2011 Kim set up a first yoga collective in Berlin, which he then expanded to a new location in 2013, in one of the economically deprived areas of town that was undergoing gentrification. The collective brought together a variety of local teachers to promote yoga on a donation basis within the surrounding community unable to afford the increasing cost of living. It was there that Kim met Boonath and, through Boonath, that his understanding of what Yoga is and what Yoga can do shifted entirely. Boonath’s rare and ancient Tantric lineage revolutionised Kim’s understanding of Yoga and initiated him into a mystical healing journey that impacted strongly also on Kim’s activist work.
Since then Kim has been collaborating with Boonath on developing Working with the Shadow through the retreats, workshops and online classes.
“It shifted my understanding of what Yoga actually is,
on a fundamental level”
Joe
Farmer & Activist | UK
REGISTRATION.
A recording will be made available,
if you cannot make the exact date/time.
Just specify that you will require a recording
when registering by email .
TO BOOK A PLACE ON THE ONLINE SESSION…
STEP 1 | Make the payment
either via Paypal or bank transfer (see below).
STEP 2 | Send a proof of payment
(a screenshot will do) to info@healinginthewillows.com
We will then:
STEP 3 | Send you a confirmation email confirming your registration.
STEP 4 | The day of the event, we will send you an email containing:
– all the technical details to connect to the class online,
– suggestions on how best to prepare for the practice (foods and drinks to avoid),
– how to set-up your room for the practice,
– props you might need during the practice (blankets, cushions, etc).
PANDEMIC-FRIENDLY PRICE
FEES VARY ACCORDING TO INCOME
Please choose the amount matching your current economic situation,
whether you are unemployed, low income or high income.
Please remember that we depend entirely on peoples’ fees for the carrying out of this work:
UNEMPLOYED
€25 / €99
1 ritual / all 5 rituals
LOW INCOME
€35 / €149
1 ritual / all 5 rituals
HIGH INCOME
€50 / €199
1 ritual / all 5 rituals
PAYPAL
kim.bizzarri@gmail.com
BANK TRANSFER
Account holder: Kim Bizzarri
Iban: IT91A0200870691000003926096
Bic/Swift: UNCRITM1CEC
Bank: Unicredit
*
PAYMENTS ARE TO BE MADE BEFORE
& NO LATER THAN NOON
ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT
*
THE SESSION WILL HAPPEN ON ZOOM
We will send you the links and passwords necessary for joining the practice.
All your need your end is a computer / tablet with a camera (preferably, but not essential – it’s important that you can see us), a microphone (so that we can hear you, but it’s not essential) and good speakers / audio,
as it will be fundamental that you hear the instructions.
*
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS
T: +39 3298456532
@: info [at] healinginthewillows.com
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