This is the favorite time of year because the Lakshmi comes alive during the Hindu holiday of Deepavali (or Diwali). Each year, around the new moon in October or November, Hindu people celebrate this Goddess of Fortune and invite Her into their homes, attempting to secure Her favors for the year to come. This year, Deepavali day falls on November 8, eve of the new moon.
Lakshmi is such a special Goddess. She’s magical, and practical. Her mate is a God and her best friend, a guy. She is a living Goddess, worshipped around the world. In these times of challenge as in all times of challenge, she can be a comfort and a healer; she brings a sense of greater fortune even in the darkest moments. She is a powerful cosmic connection; a divine female who looks like us, and offers a sense of courage, of hope, of power.
As the Hindu Goddess of Good Fortune and Beauty, she represents and is seen as the personification of abundance, prosperity, wealth, well-being and harmony. She is actively worshiped daily by millions of Hindus, and interfaith practitioners of Goddess spirituality, around the globe. Because of her popularity she is considered a universal Goddess. Yet Deepavali is her special holiday because it is a holiday of lights, and represents a sweet, soulful and prosperous time when people dress up and celebrate in the name of the Goddess of Fortune.
On the night before Deepavali Day children often light off firecrackers and sparklers, and in some parts of India, adults bang pots and pans to scare off Lakshmi’s dark sister, Alakshmi. Then women line their windows and door ways with tiny lights (deepa) that are offerings to Lakshmi, to help her find her way to their abode.
One Deepvali Day Lakshmi is honored with worship such as Homan, Abishekam and Puja. And later that day the Sarada Puja to bless account books for the year is offered, followed by a Lakhmi-Kubera Puja, to Goddess of Fortune and The God of Wealth. For two days, people participate in additional pujas and “Annakut Utsavam,” where people bring sweets to the temple or make offerings in their homes to Lakshmi and her beloved Vishnu. In the temples the food is stacked and overflowing around holy icons and the priests hand out blessed sweets to children and especially needy devotees. They are accepted gladly, in two hands, and a respectful bow of the head. People often kiss or pray over this blessed food, called prasad, before eating it and taking in the energies of the Goddess and her mate.
Lakshmi is a goddess who brings all good things to light and to life! She has one of the most colorful creation myths of all the deities in the Hindu pantheon. It is said Goddess Lakshmi was born, fully-grown, on a pink lotus that rose from the milky sea. She was immediately be-decked, be-jeweled and worshipped by the gods and sages. They prayed that she would come to their abodes, and to their worlds, for they believed that where Lakshmi is you will also find riches and fulfillment.
Three millennia later, she remains the symbol of all things fortunate, and she is a highly sought after and beloved female deity.
May The Goddess Lakshmi come to your house on Deepavali and bring ALL THE BEST to you the whole year, especially for my friends who stay in Mak Mandin, Butterworth.
p/s: This posting credited is to The Goddess Gift.
Lakshmi is such a special Goddess. She’s magical, and practical. Her mate is a God and her best friend, a guy. She is a living Goddess, worshipped around the world. In these times of challenge as in all times of challenge, she can be a comfort and a healer; she brings a sense of greater fortune even in the darkest moments. She is a powerful cosmic connection; a divine female who looks like us, and offers a sense of courage, of hope, of power.
As the Hindu Goddess of Good Fortune and Beauty, she represents and is seen as the personification of abundance, prosperity, wealth, well-being and harmony. She is actively worshiped daily by millions of Hindus, and interfaith practitioners of Goddess spirituality, around the globe. Because of her popularity she is considered a universal Goddess. Yet Deepavali is her special holiday because it is a holiday of lights, and represents a sweet, soulful and prosperous time when people dress up and celebrate in the name of the Goddess of Fortune.
On the night before Deepavali Day children often light off firecrackers and sparklers, and in some parts of India, adults bang pots and pans to scare off Lakshmi’s dark sister, Alakshmi. Then women line their windows and door ways with tiny lights (deepa) that are offerings to Lakshmi, to help her find her way to their abode.
One Deepvali Day Lakshmi is honored with worship such as Homan, Abishekam and Puja. And later that day the Sarada Puja to bless account books for the year is offered, followed by a Lakhmi-Kubera Puja, to Goddess of Fortune and The God of Wealth. For two days, people participate in additional pujas and “Annakut Utsavam,” where people bring sweets to the temple or make offerings in their homes to Lakshmi and her beloved Vishnu. In the temples the food is stacked and overflowing around holy icons and the priests hand out blessed sweets to children and especially needy devotees. They are accepted gladly, in two hands, and a respectful bow of the head. People often kiss or pray over this blessed food, called prasad, before eating it and taking in the energies of the Goddess and her mate.
Lakshmi is a goddess who brings all good things to light and to life! She has one of the most colorful creation myths of all the deities in the Hindu pantheon. It is said Goddess Lakshmi was born, fully-grown, on a pink lotus that rose from the milky sea. She was immediately be-decked, be-jeweled and worshipped by the gods and sages. They prayed that she would come to their abodes, and to their worlds, for they believed that where Lakshmi is you will also find riches and fulfillment.
Three millennia later, she remains the symbol of all things fortunate, and she is a highly sought after and beloved female deity.
May The Goddess Lakshmi come to your house on Deepavali and bring ALL THE BEST to you the whole year, especially for my friends who stay in Mak Mandin, Butterworth.
p/s: This posting credited is to The Goddess Gift.
