Jan 19, 2011

Yesterday while doing some research on Raas/Garba/Dandiya I came across this description of the nine forms of the goddess Shakti in relation to the festival of Navratri.

Nine forms of Shakti
Durga,
the inaccessible one
Bhadrakali
Amba
or Jagadamba,
Mother of the universe
Annapurna, The one who bestows grains
(anna) in plenty (purna: used as subjective)
Sarvamangala,
The one who gives joy (mangal) to all (sarva)
Bhairavi
Chandika or Chandi
Lalita
Bhavani
Mookambika
I often call my daughter with some of these names, to represent in jest, the incarnation she most reminds me of at that time. In any case, it got me thinking.

The goddess – so commonly venerated is called Shakti – as in the source of power. I like that notion of the feminine – its many facets and particularly the aspects of being powerful, capable and fearless.