Who Is She?

The Divine Mother plays a huge role in our life. We have Her all over the place. As soon as you come into our apartment, She flanks both sides of the hallway and you cannot escape Her surrounding you with Her presence. People feel Her, whether they know She is there or not. They usually say something like, “WOW, you have a great place here!” What they are really saying is, “What is this Sacred feeling I am having!”

Setting the tone for an environment, any environment, is a responsibility we take seriously. There is order, of course, married to a Virgo, but there is also a holy atmosphere that comes from giving attention to the sacred. We have altars and sacred objects all around in our place. And with these, everything seems to take on an aura of holiness. Even the common things that one may not consider “holy objects” are seen in a different light. 

The Divine Mother is Everywhere

There really is nowhere the Divine Mother is not. She is in the coffee cup, in the refrigerator, the blue glass bottles on the kitchen counter; She is in the granite of the counter itself. She is literally in everything. So why do we miss Her? It’s a matter of our attention. To what do we give it? Without bringing to mind the Divine Mother in everything, we do not see Her. It’s like being in an ocean of Joy while insisting we are depressed. 

Sondra brought these Goddesses back from Bali. They are guardians of the Rice Fields. Now They are guardians of our Holy Home. I sit at the kitchen table and look across the vista to the spot-lighted wall of the foyer, where They stand three in a row, holding the scared space, protecting the atmosphere, and sending out Their vibes of perfect peace.

Across from Them are three other Goddesses:

This is Jagadambe, the Divine Mother who holds the conch shell and other sacred objects. She was painted by a Spanish artist, and Sondra got this poster of the painting from one of her Spanish organizers. She is fierce, but at the same time compassionate.

This is Madame Pele, the Hawaiian Goddess of Fire and Volcanoes. Francene Hart, an artist from Hawaii, painted this illustration for Sondra’s book, Pele’s Wish. The Fire Goddess is very strong in Hawaii, as there is a lot of volcanic action happening all of the time, especially on the Big Island of Hawaii. This book, Pele’s Wish, is all about the Divine Mother in Hawaiian culture, and the power She wields in their pantheon of deities. You can order this book here: bit.ly/PeleRay. You would be surprised at the helpful energy She can bring into your life, as She bestows this benevolent power irrespective of location and culture. It does help if you have been to Hawaii though, and have seen Her in action at Kilauea Crater.

This is a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the miraculous Icon that is housed in a special shrine in Mexico City. This is a painting, not a reproduction, so it has its own authenticity. As a painter, I would say this painting, though not the original that perhaps was created not by human hands, still beacons to that Sacred Source of Power that imparts good fortune on all that She sees or touches. She sends a blessing unto us. Her presence is palpable. We can feel the care of the painter, and Her care coming through this authentic icon.

Why Deify the Human Form?

Why do we deify our own image? We deified men for millennium. And look where that got us? Certainly there is a Life Force that transcends gender, and extends far beyond our human form and scope. The Divine Creator is more akin to vast empty and loving space than it is to the depiction of a male or female human body. Yet we are so imbued with the Father-Mother-Child archetype, it is almost impossible not to ascribe human form to the Creative Forces of the Universe. The Divine Mother is at least a benevolent and loving character. Unless of course we are talking about Mother Kali, the destroyer of our ignorance. She can not only be fierce, but downright scary.

I once knew a psychologist who studied quite in depth the male view of the female persona. He pointed out a dual assessment of her supernatural powers: Goddess or Godzilla ! I would say Mother Kali is a bit on the Godzilla side. As long as we are in bodies, we will be image makers, and will see the Divine in the form of the human being. Rather than a limitation placed upon the Divine, perhaps we can see these depictions as an Ascension placed upon the aspiration of the human soul to transcend all limitations.

There is a crown of glory that goes higher than the diadem of worldly authority of kings and queens. Woven of the grasses that cover the earth, this crown is one of the life giving feminine herself, and cannot be attained or defended by armies of the wills of men. This is a crown of innocence, a crown of simplicity, a crown of the everyday functions of daily life. This is the Deity of the Divine Mother. We find Her in our midst. She is just across the way, in the next room, over there, tending to the necessities that make our life here bearable. Amba, Amba, Jaya Jagadamba! This is a praise to the Divine Mother that is uttered frequently in the East.

We Paint a Visual Praise

There is a gaze, a connection face to face, a presence that touches the core of two beings who have ended the separation between themselves. Usually it is brought about by the one who is most free of the illusion of separation that seems to divide us into individual “entities.” The Enlightened One is enlightened by virtue of this Wholeness, this Oneness with all creation that He or She has fully realized. In Their presence a joining within us takes place. “Darshan” is a word describing this Holy Encounter in which separation has ended. It is palpably felt and experienced in the aura of these Enlightened Beings. A person feels transported to a more perfect dimension of Peace and Joy in the presence of the Divine Mother.

Gratitude for life is increased in the awareness of the Divine Mother. She is the giver of all strength, the bestower of good fortune, the love that removes the troubles of the world. In Her are all problems dissolved, if we want them to be. If we don’t, then that is on us to suffer a little more. The choice is ours.

I spent four years writing Odes to the Divine Mother. I got to know Her intimately, you could say. It was probably the most productive thing in my life I ever did. Here is an Ode to give you an example:

16

Mother of  My Food

The Mother of my food, You provide all of the sustenance my body needs for Life. You send Your angels of air, water, and light into the fire of myself, to the combustion that propels my action in Your grand scheme of things. You place the edible plants of nature at my disposal and instruct me to eat with gratitude all that I need to maintain my body. Your nourishment extends into every cell of my physical form. I am the expression of Your Love in action for all the gifts of Life You bestow throughout the cosmos. I am the One who finds Your Presence in the day-to-day observations of common occurrences. Seeing You everywhere brings me intense joy. Hearing You in all sound tunes my ears to a higher vibration of divine listening. In many ways You are my food that sustains my awareness of holiness that envelops my whole world. I partake what I need, and then partake some more. I feed this nourishment back into my verses that I write to You. My audience is all You send—the perfect ones to read these written songs of adoration. I’ve heard it said, “Man cannot live on bread alone, but on every word that is uttered out of the mouth of God.” Let these words be food to millions. Let my passion for these verses be transmitted into the hearts of many. I eat Your food, O Mother, and am filled with the energy I receive from You alone to fulfill the tasks of Your divine inspiration.

We are fed by the Divine Mother of Life, whether we acknowledge Her or not. I say, why not acknowledge Her? Our world would be a much more peaceful and sustainable place if we did. And perhaps when we ask, “Who Is She?” we will actually have the matrix of an answer now: “She is my Life, She is my Love, She is my everything. She is my Divine Mother.”

Jai Ma!

Love

Markus