Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess

Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess

Author: Hillary Rodrigues

Publisher: State University of New York Press

Published: 2012-02-01

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0791488446

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During a nine-day period every autumn, Hindus in India and throughout the world worship the Great Goddess, Durgā--the formidable deity who is loved like a mother. One of the most dramatic and popular of these celebrations is the Durgā Pūjā, a rite noted for its visual pageantry, ritual complexity, and communal participation. In this book, Hillary Peter Rodrigues describes the Bengali style of Durgā Pūjā practiced in the sacred city of Banaras from beginning to end. A romanization of the Sanskrit litany is included along with an English translation. In addition to the liturgical description, Rodrigues provides information on the rite's component elements and mythic aspects. There are interpretive sections on puja, the Great Goddess, women's roles in the ritual, and the socio-cultural functions of the ritual. Rodrigues maintains that the Durgā Pūjā is a rite of cosmic rejuvenation, of empowerment at both the personal and social levels, and a rite that orchestrates manifestations of the feminine, both Divine and human.


Book Synopsis Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess by : Hillary Rodrigues

Download or read book Ritual Worship of the Great Goddess written by Hillary Rodrigues and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During a nine-day period every autumn, Hindus in India and throughout the world worship the Great Goddess, Durgā--the formidable deity who is loved like a mother. One of the most dramatic and popular of these celebrations is the Durgā Pūjā, a rite noted for its visual pageantry, ritual complexity, and communal participation. In this book, Hillary Peter Rodrigues describes the Bengali style of Durgā Pūjā practiced in the sacred city of Banaras from beginning to end. A romanization of the Sanskrit litany is included along with an English translation. In addition to the liturgical description, Rodrigues provides information on the rite's component elements and mythic aspects. There are interpretive sections on puja, the Great Goddess, women's roles in the ritual, and the socio-cultural functions of the ritual. Rodrigues maintains that the Durgā Pūjā is a rite of cosmic rejuvenation, of empowerment at both the personal and social levels, and a rite that orchestrates manifestations of the feminine, both Divine and human.

Practicing the Presence of the Goddess

Practicing the Presence of the Goddess

Author: Barbara Ardinger

Publisher: New World Library

Published: 2011-12-21

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1608681351

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More women than ever are incorporating some kind of spiritual practice into their daily lives, and not always in traditional religious form, but as alternative or hybrid practices. In Practicing the Presence of the Goddess, Barbara Ardinger offers a wide variety of meditations and personal rituals to help women honor the feminine spirit and commune with the Goddess. These include creating a sacred space at home, building a meaningful altar, using ritual and meditation to enrich awareness, and inventing new rituals to celebrate personal events. The author's wry, gentle humor and loving attitude shine through the text, which offers possibilities ranging from bringing love into one's life to having a heart-to-heart with the Goddess.


Book Synopsis Practicing the Presence of the Goddess by : Barbara Ardinger

Download or read book Practicing the Presence of the Goddess written by Barbara Ardinger and published by New World Library. This book was released on 2011-12-21 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More women than ever are incorporating some kind of spiritual practice into their daily lives, and not always in traditional religious form, but as alternative or hybrid practices. In Practicing the Presence of the Goddess, Barbara Ardinger offers a wide variety of meditations and personal rituals to help women honor the feminine spirit and commune with the Goddess. These include creating a sacred space at home, building a meaningful altar, using ritual and meditation to enrich awareness, and inventing new rituals to celebrate personal events. The author's wry, gentle humor and loving attitude shine through the text, which offers possibilities ranging from bringing love into one's life to having a heart-to-heart with the Goddess.

Nine Nights of the Goddess

Nine Nights of the Goddess

Author: Caleb Simmons

Publisher: SUNY Press

Published: 2018-08-01

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 143847069X

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Explores the contemporary nature and the diverse narratives, rituals, and performances of the Navar?tri festival. Nine Nights of the Goddess explores the festival of Navarātri—alternatively called Navarātra, Mahānavamī, Durgā Pūjā, Dasarā, and/or Dassain—which lasts for nine nights and ends with a celebration called Vijayadaśamī, or "the tenth (day) of victory." Celebrated in both massive public venues and in small, private domestic spaces, Navarātri is one of the most important and ubiquitous festivals in South Asia and wherever South Asians have settled. These festivals share many elements, including the goddess, royal power, the killing of demons, and the worship of young girls and married women, but their interpretation and performance vary widely. This interdisciplinary collection of essays investigates Navarātri in its many manifestations and across historical periods, including celebrations in West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. Collectively, the essays consider the role of the festival's contextual specificity and continental ubiquity as a central component for understanding South Asian religious life, as well as how it shapes and is shaped by political patronage, economic development, and social status.


Book Synopsis Nine Nights of the Goddess by : Caleb Simmons

Download or read book Nine Nights of the Goddess written by Caleb Simmons and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the contemporary nature and the diverse narratives, rituals, and performances of the Navar?tri festival. Nine Nights of the Goddess explores the festival of Navarātri—alternatively called Navarātra, Mahānavamī, Durgā Pūjā, Dasarā, and/or Dassain—which lasts for nine nights and ends with a celebration called Vijayadaśamī, or "the tenth (day) of victory." Celebrated in both massive public venues and in small, private domestic spaces, Navarātri is one of the most important and ubiquitous festivals in South Asia and wherever South Asians have settled. These festivals share many elements, including the goddess, royal power, the killing of demons, and the worship of young girls and married women, but their interpretation and performance vary widely. This interdisciplinary collection of essays investigates Navarātri in its many manifestations and across historical periods, including celebrations in West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Nepal. Collectively, the essays consider the role of the festival's contextual specificity and continental ubiquity as a central component for understanding South Asian religious life, as well as how it shapes and is shaped by political patronage, economic development, and social status.

Goddesses And Women In The Indic Religious Tradition

Goddesses And Women In The Indic Religious Tradition

Author: Arvind Sharma

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 183

ISBN-13: 9004124667

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Following the lead of a "hermeneutics of surprise" the book identifies, indeed, surprising new material, and offers unexpected new insights essential to the debate on the position of goddesses and women in ancient India.


Book Synopsis Goddesses And Women In The Indic Religious Tradition by : Arvind Sharma

Download or read book Goddesses And Women In The Indic Religious Tradition written by Arvind Sharma and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2005 with total page 183 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the lead of a "hermeneutics of surprise" the book identifies, indeed, surprising new material, and offers unexpected new insights essential to the debate on the position of goddesses and women in ancient India.

The Goddess

The Goddess

Author: David Leeming

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2016-03-15

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1780235380

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For as long as we have sought god, we have found the goddess. Ruling over the imaginations of humankind’s earliest agricultural civilizations, she played a critical spiritual role as a keeper of nature’s fertile powers and an assurance of the next sustaining harvest. In The Goddess, David Leeming and Christopher Fee take us all the way back into prehistory, tracing the goddess across vast spans of time to tell the epic story of the transformation of belief and what it says about who we are. Leeming and Fee use the goddess to gaze into the lives and souls of the people who worshipped her. They chart the development of traditional Western gender roles through an understanding of the transformation of concepts of the Goddess from her earliest roots in India and Iran to her more familiar faces in Ireland and Iceland. They examine the subordination of the goddess to the god as human civilizations became mobile and began to look upon masculine deities for assurances of survival in movement and battle. And they show how, despite this history, the goddess has remained alive in our spiritual imaginations, in figures such as the Christian Virgin Mother and, in contemporary times, the new-age resurrection of figures such as Gaia. The Goddess explores this central aspect of ancient spiritual thought as a window into human history and the deepest roots of our beliefs.


Book Synopsis The Goddess by : David Leeming

Download or read book The Goddess written by David Leeming and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2016-03-15 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For as long as we have sought god, we have found the goddess. Ruling over the imaginations of humankind’s earliest agricultural civilizations, she played a critical spiritual role as a keeper of nature’s fertile powers and an assurance of the next sustaining harvest. In The Goddess, David Leeming and Christopher Fee take us all the way back into prehistory, tracing the goddess across vast spans of time to tell the epic story of the transformation of belief and what it says about who we are. Leeming and Fee use the goddess to gaze into the lives and souls of the people who worshipped her. They chart the development of traditional Western gender roles through an understanding of the transformation of concepts of the Goddess from her earliest roots in India and Iran to her more familiar faces in Ireland and Iceland. They examine the subordination of the goddess to the god as human civilizations became mobile and began to look upon masculine deities for assurances of survival in movement and battle. And they show how, despite this history, the goddess has remained alive in our spiritual imaginations, in figures such as the Christian Virgin Mother and, in contemporary times, the new-age resurrection of figures such as Gaia. The Goddess explores this central aspect of ancient spiritual thought as a window into human history and the deepest roots of our beliefs.

Devi

Devi

Author: Vidya Dehejia

Publisher: Mapin

Published: 1999-04-01

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 9781890206161

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Devi, the Great Goddess of India is beautiful, beneficent, terrifying, all-powerful, and glorious. Ubiquitous in India's social and spiritual fabric, she has, over the millennia, been painted, sculpted, carved, and wrought from silver and bronze in a myriad of shapes and forms. Devi: The Great Goddess brings together one hundred and twenty of these diverse examples of Devi and a group of distinguished essayists who explore facets of Devi worship and tradition, including ritual, architecture, literature, history and contemporary issues such as feminism and gender politics. From a terra-cotta goddess figurine dating to 100 B.C. to "At the Hub of Things" (1987), a monumental contemporary sculpture by Anish Kapoor, to twentieth-century folk art figurines, the beauty and diversity of the art of the Great Goddess showcased here testify to her continual and powerful presence in the life of India. "India is a land of stories, " asserts Thomas Coburn, author of "The Threefold Vision of the Devi Mahatmya, " the principle sacred text devoted to worship of the Great Goddess. A land of stories, vibrant history, and extraordinary art, India is home to Devi, the Great Goddess, celebrated in this volume with stories, poems, scholarship, and lavish illustrations. The book will appeal to readers compelled by the exploration and interpretation of the art, religion, and history of India.


Book Synopsis Devi by : Vidya Dehejia

Download or read book Devi written by Vidya Dehejia and published by Mapin. This book was released on 1999-04-01 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Devi, the Great Goddess of India is beautiful, beneficent, terrifying, all-powerful, and glorious. Ubiquitous in India's social and spiritual fabric, she has, over the millennia, been painted, sculpted, carved, and wrought from silver and bronze in a myriad of shapes and forms. Devi: The Great Goddess brings together one hundred and twenty of these diverse examples of Devi and a group of distinguished essayists who explore facets of Devi worship and tradition, including ritual, architecture, literature, history and contemporary issues such as feminism and gender politics. From a terra-cotta goddess figurine dating to 100 B.C. to "At the Hub of Things" (1987), a monumental contemporary sculpture by Anish Kapoor, to twentieth-century folk art figurines, the beauty and diversity of the art of the Great Goddess showcased here testify to her continual and powerful presence in the life of India. "India is a land of stories, " asserts Thomas Coburn, author of "The Threefold Vision of the Devi Mahatmya, " the principle sacred text devoted to worship of the Great Goddess. A land of stories, vibrant history, and extraordinary art, India is home to Devi, the Great Goddess, celebrated in this volume with stories, poems, scholarship, and lavish illustrations. The book will appeal to readers compelled by the exploration and interpretation of the art, religion, and history of India.

Goddess Spirituality Book

Goddess Spirituality Book

Author: Ffiona Morgan

Publisher: Daughters of Moon Pub.

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 9781880130063

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Book Synopsis Goddess Spirituality Book by : Ffiona Morgan

Download or read book Goddess Spirituality Book written by Ffiona Morgan and published by Daughters of Moon Pub.. This book was released on 1995 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Magic and the Power of the Goddess

Magic and the Power of the Goddess

Author: Gareth Knight

Publisher: Destiny Books

Published: 2008-03-27

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 9781594772351

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A manual of magical and mystical techniques for contacting the Goddess within • Draws from two thousand years of source material to demonstrate the ongoing reality of the feminine power and its relevance for today • Includes rituals, exercises, and techniques for evoking the Goddess • Explains how the dynamics of the sacred or magic circle serve as a guide to living harmoniously In this wide-ranging view of magic and ritual, Gareth Knight demonstrates the presence of the Goddess throughout Western esoteric traditions. From Greek myths and the Mysteries of Isis to the emergence of the cult of the Blessed Virgin and seventeenth-century Rosicrucian spiritual alchemy, he shows how the Goddess--the elemental consciousness of Earth--has revealed herself in different times and places. Honoring her many guises, Knight explores the powers of the Goddess as maiden, mother, initiator, protector, sorceress, and faery queen. Guided meditations on each of these qualities lead the practitioner into direct contact with the potent healing energy of the Divine Feminine. The author also offers rituals, exercises, and other practical tools for integrating the Western magical tradition with worship of the Goddess. He shows how we, and our planet, have suffered due to the repression of the feminine principle. For our own health, and that of our environment as well, we must recognize the power of the Goddess within to reconstitute and guide our existence.


Book Synopsis Magic and the Power of the Goddess by : Gareth Knight

Download or read book Magic and the Power of the Goddess written by Gareth Knight and published by Destiny Books. This book was released on 2008-03-27 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A manual of magical and mystical techniques for contacting the Goddess within • Draws from two thousand years of source material to demonstrate the ongoing reality of the feminine power and its relevance for today • Includes rituals, exercises, and techniques for evoking the Goddess • Explains how the dynamics of the sacred or magic circle serve as a guide to living harmoniously In this wide-ranging view of magic and ritual, Gareth Knight demonstrates the presence of the Goddess throughout Western esoteric traditions. From Greek myths and the Mysteries of Isis to the emergence of the cult of the Blessed Virgin and seventeenth-century Rosicrucian spiritual alchemy, he shows how the Goddess--the elemental consciousness of Earth--has revealed herself in different times and places. Honoring her many guises, Knight explores the powers of the Goddess as maiden, mother, initiator, protector, sorceress, and faery queen. Guided meditations on each of these qualities lead the practitioner into direct contact with the potent healing energy of the Divine Feminine. The author also offers rituals, exercises, and other practical tools for integrating the Western magical tradition with worship of the Goddess. He shows how we, and our planet, have suffered due to the repression of the feminine principle. For our own health, and that of our environment as well, we must recognize the power of the Goddess within to reconstitute and guide our existence.

At the Feet of the Goddess

At the Feet of the Goddess

Author: Lynn Foulston

Publisher:

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 9788187138716

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Nowhere is the feminine dimension of the divine more omnipresent, vibrant and alive than in Hinduism. Lynn Foulston's work stands out through its great attention to local details relating to their diverse locations, their rich phenomenology, here documented by new visual evidence, their presence and power in people's lives, and the joyous celebration of their existence and influence through numerous rituals and festivities. It is a joy to read this book, and it is a challenge to ponder its evidence, for many of its nuanced observation and conclusions raise questions about earlier goddess research and invite us to new evaluation of the significance of dynamic goddess beliefs and practices in Indian culture . Professor Ursula King university of Bristol. Huddled under trees, at the edge of a water tank or at the center of a busting settlement, the divine feminine in the form of local goddesses pervades and characterizes local Hindu religion. Found in a variety than the lofty orthodox goddess, supply the daily spiritual sustenance that keeps heart and soul together for the mass of the Hindu population. At the feet of the Goddess: the divine feminine in local Hindu religion is an investigation of local Hinduism. It embraces ritual, worship and iconography, rather than philosophy and metaphysics, in two communities. In each of these sites, as is common within many local worship is based in ritual and grounded in tradition that may not be fully comprehended by its adherents, it is female deities that predominate. Although local worship is based on ritual and grounded in tradition that may not be fully comprehended by its adherents, it is also partly based in, and is a reflection of, a more complex metaphysical undercurrent. Local goddesses, in particular, while representing anthropomorphized figures for the majority of their devotes, are concurrently the personifications of the abstract concept of sakti-female energy. This book, which contains colour plate illustrations of temple shrines and goddess, is a major event in the study of goddess belief and practice India.


Book Synopsis At the Feet of the Goddess by : Lynn Foulston

Download or read book At the Feet of the Goddess written by Lynn Foulston and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nowhere is the feminine dimension of the divine more omnipresent, vibrant and alive than in Hinduism. Lynn Foulston's work stands out through its great attention to local details relating to their diverse locations, their rich phenomenology, here documented by new visual evidence, their presence and power in people's lives, and the joyous celebration of their existence and influence through numerous rituals and festivities. It is a joy to read this book, and it is a challenge to ponder its evidence, for many of its nuanced observation and conclusions raise questions about earlier goddess research and invite us to new evaluation of the significance of dynamic goddess beliefs and practices in Indian culture . Professor Ursula King university of Bristol. Huddled under trees, at the edge of a water tank or at the center of a busting settlement, the divine feminine in the form of local goddesses pervades and characterizes local Hindu religion. Found in a variety than the lofty orthodox goddess, supply the daily spiritual sustenance that keeps heart and soul together for the mass of the Hindu population. At the feet of the Goddess: the divine feminine in local Hindu religion is an investigation of local Hinduism. It embraces ritual, worship and iconography, rather than philosophy and metaphysics, in two communities. In each of these sites, as is common within many local worship is based in ritual and grounded in tradition that may not be fully comprehended by its adherents, it is female deities that predominate. Although local worship is based on ritual and grounded in tradition that may not be fully comprehended by its adherents, it is also partly based in, and is a reflection of, a more complex metaphysical undercurrent. Local goddesses, in particular, while representing anthropomorphized figures for the majority of their devotes, are concurrently the personifications of the abstract concept of sakti-female energy. This book, which contains colour plate illustrations of temple shrines and goddess, is a major event in the study of goddess belief and practice India.

The Goddess Path

The Goddess Path

Author: Patricia Monaghan

Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9781567184679

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Now you can find more meaning and joy in your life, journey inward, find the divine, and become transformed, when you read The Goddess Path by Patricia Monaghan. The Goddess Path can be your guide to speed you on your spiritual quest. Think of this book as a signpost on your spiritual travels, designed to help you nurture your own connection to the goddess and share in her boundless wisdom. Call her into your life with beautiful and ancient invocations. Create your own rituals to honor the lessons she has to teach. As you ponder life-changing questions and venture on brave new experiments, you fan the divine spark into flame--and, in that fire, you are transformed. The Goddess Path includes myths, symbols, feast days, ancient invocations, and suggestions for connecting with the following goddesses for these purposes and more: Amaterasu for clarity Aphrodite for passion Artemis for protection Athena for strength Brigid for survival The Cailleach for power Demeter and Persephone for initiation Gaia for abundance Hathor for affection Hera for dignity Inanna for inner strength Isis for restorative love Kali for freedom Kuan-Yin for mercy The Maenads for ecstasy The Muses for inspiration Oshun for healing love Paivatar for release Pomona for joy Asule and Saules Meita for family health In The Goddess Path, Monaghan presents a means to work with the goddess, using ancient and modern techniques that will thrill and amaze you.


Book Synopsis The Goddess Path by : Patricia Monaghan

Download or read book The Goddess Path written by Patricia Monaghan and published by Llewellyn Worldwide. This book was released on 1999 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now you can find more meaning and joy in your life, journey inward, find the divine, and become transformed, when you read The Goddess Path by Patricia Monaghan. The Goddess Path can be your guide to speed you on your spiritual quest. Think of this book as a signpost on your spiritual travels, designed to help you nurture your own connection to the goddess and share in her boundless wisdom. Call her into your life with beautiful and ancient invocations. Create your own rituals to honor the lessons she has to teach. As you ponder life-changing questions and venture on brave new experiments, you fan the divine spark into flame--and, in that fire, you are transformed. The Goddess Path includes myths, symbols, feast days, ancient invocations, and suggestions for connecting with the following goddesses for these purposes and more: Amaterasu for clarity Aphrodite for passion Artemis for protection Athena for strength Brigid for survival The Cailleach for power Demeter and Persephone for initiation Gaia for abundance Hathor for affection Hera for dignity Inanna for inner strength Isis for restorative love Kali for freedom Kuan-Yin for mercy The Maenads for ecstasy The Muses for inspiration Oshun for healing love Paivatar for release Pomona for joy Asule and Saules Meita for family health In The Goddess Path, Monaghan presents a means to work with the goddess, using ancient and modern techniques that will thrill and amaze you.