Eliminating darkness with a SMILE

Today, October 20th of 2020, is the 4th day of Navaratri, the Hindu festival that celebrates the Goddess, and which spans nine nights. I fell in love with Hindu philosophy in 2009, when I spent the year in India studying eastern philosophy and eastern healing modalities. I pretty quickly discovered something that brought a big smile to my face ;0)

This festival falls on different days each year, as Hindu festivals follow the lunar calendar. As my birthday in around this time of year, I looked up the day I was born on the Hindu calendar and found out it was the 4th day of Navaratri, the day that celebrates the avatar of the Goddess named Kushmanda! I had to find out more. Well, a quick google search revealed that Kushmanda created the Universe out of the "dark nothingness" with her divine smile. I personally understand different religious ideas as metaphors rather than facts, so to me she represents the power of happiness, love, and a positive attitude. It is also said that this Goddess is the source of energy of the universe, and her name means "little cosmic egg", meaning the source of creation.

This particular mythological story fits me as a glove, and I"m not surprised my soul chose that day to be born! I am a great believer in the power of joy, optimism, and positivity to create a positive world out of darkness. I am also known as an optimistic person, who smiles a lot, and who believes that everything always works out for the best (even if it's not obvious).

​Goddess Kushmanda bestows pleasures and eliminates problems. She has eight arms, each holding a tool that helps her in her mission. To me, this is symbolic of the tool box we each have at our possession- our intellect, different talents we have that contribute to our happy expression, learned skills that we acquire which contribute to our ability to heal and be happy (such as Hypnosis), etc. All in all, I would say she is a wonderful representation to what we should aspire to.

Worship is a big part of all religions, but as I approach this with a more secular mind-set, instead of worship I choose to give mindful attention to what this figure symbolizes, and create customs around bringing this energy into my life. 

So happy Navaratri to those who celebrate, and happy "Joy dispels darkness" day to all the rest! 

Sharon