When we think of feminine and masculine, typically we tend to think in terms of gender, i.e. female and male but the Vedic worldview has a much broader approach than the arrangement or expression of chromosomes. In Vedic circles the feminine and masculine are seen as aspects of creation, present everywhere and in everything.
Wherever there is masculine there is always feminine, and vice versa, with the feminine often referred to as Mother Divine and celebrated through a vast range of personifications* and a range of festivals or holy days.
One of those festivals is Navratri Sharad, a celebration of triumph over ignorance, held over nine nights and 10 days in the fall of each year (Northern Hemisphere fall, Southern Hemisphere spring).
Though each night of Navratri Sharad honors specific representations of Mother Divine, Thom invites us in this episode to use the festival as a springboard to making the celebration of the feminine an everyday occurrence and an opportunity to continuously explore just what the feminine is and how She is represented in everyday life.
*For more on the personification of aspects of creation, listen to our three-part series on God, Gods and Goddesses.
Sharad Navratri Dates 2021: October 7 (Thursday) to October 15 (Friday)
See here for dates in other years - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navaratri
Episode highlights:
[00:40] Navratri Sharad - Nine Nights of the Divine Mother
[02:22] A Range of Appreciation
[03:14] Connecting the Dots
[04:35] Removing Limitations
[05:43] Vijayadashami - The Tenth Night
[07:00] An Expansive View of Divine Mother
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