Navratri & Mother Lakshmi

Right over my stove in my kitchen I have an image of Mother Lakshmi. This is the best location for her image in the household because She is the goddess of health, wealth and prosperity. Cooking has everything to do with your health. Good food brings health, wealth and prosperity. When you nourish the body, you are able to do a day's work at home or at the office. Your work in the home and in the office brings you prosperity and wealth. If you are homemaker exclusively, you support your partner who brings income into the household by working outside the home or by developing a business from the home space. If you work outside the home, you bring income in that fashion. Many of us combine both homemaking and a career. Most households need income from two adults to provide an adequate living for a family. Navaratri is a celebration of the Mother aspect of life and it begins today and continues until March 25th.

I got to be honest, Mother Lakshmi is a goddess I do not always understand very well. Parts of the year I am often unemployed and looking for work. It seems as though She eludes me at least part of the year in the material aspect. It seems as though spiritual prosperity is the one thing I seem to have in abundance in my life.

We often forget this aspect of the goddess. We forget Her command of spiritual prosperity. It is the best kind of prosperity to have in this world. Material prosperity comes and goes, but spiritual prosperity is the best type of prosperity to have in your life. With spiritual prosperity you can weather the problems in your life. The Sanskrit word "Lakshmi" means "goal." The goal in life is to have prosperity in all of its forms: material and spiritual.

The other big symbol of Mother Lakshmi is light. Every Hindu sees a candle being lit every havan service near the havan kund. She is light, love and purity. This is why the candle is there in the first place. She is the Eternal light in the Universe.

She is also an Earth goddess who sustains food on the Earth. She is connected with the lotus, moon, water and the sea or ocean. Her elements of Mother Earth are connected with light, fire, earth and water. They are the elixir of life because you need light, earth, water and fire to live on this planet. She is often called the Daughter of the Ocean and the Sister of the Moon.

Her consort is Lord Vishnu, the second member of the Hindu Trinity. He sustains the Universe in many and varied ways. He has incarnated many times in many different forms on this Earth. Prosperity is possible when wealth is married to sustainability. So She had to marry the One who sustains to bring about prosperity on the Earth.

We all are attracted to water in its various forms. We build our cities near bodies of water. We drink water to sustain ourselves on this planet. Water comes as rain to nourish the plants, animals, nature and the crops. We use water to cleanse and bathe our bodies. Earth energies are connected with sources of water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, streams besides oceans and seas. When you say you are a Hindu, you are declaring to the world that you are an environmentalist and are choosing to live in line with Mother Lakshmi's earth elements. In the Native American traditions, earth elements are also key to survival. Earth, fire, water and air are also elements of Mother Earth in their traditions. the Lunar calendar is common to both Native and Hindu traditions. It is time we look at our practices at our mandirs to observe if they are ecological or not. Mother Laskmi is connected with many earth elements in our tradition.

So when you see Mother Earth in your life be glad because Mother Lakshmi is nearby bringing you health, wealth and prosperity. Happy Navaratri! May the Divine Mother be a guiding light in your life.

JAI SHRI MA! JAI SHRI EARTH! JAI PROSPERITY!

Radhapriestess