Om hlreem bagalamukhi sarvadustanaam vacham mukham stambhaya jihvaam keelaya keelaya budheem vinashaya hlreem om swaha! For those who wish to aid in their resistance to hate and make possible the furtherance of love, here’s the mantram for Bagalamukhi and some images from her temple at Nilachal Hill in Assam where we visited on pilgrimage…
Brahmani, you of the Great Revelation, we bow to you. Dressed in yellow of the newest day, you who make your enemies inert with the blessed water from your womblike pot, tonight make us inert in wonderment, open to receive your boons and blessings. Let us count with you upon your akshamala (rosary) the names…
Women Clergy in East-West Perspective By: Chandra Alexandre This article is a sharing of some of my initial research on the contemporary and historical landscapes of women clergy in goddess worshipping traditions with a focus on Pagan and Hindu faiths. The role and responsibilities of clergy within these traditions will be outlined based on fieldwork…
It is May in the south of France. The weather is superb, and not only are more images of the Black Virgin located here than anywhere else, but the season of the Visitation of Mary as well as the feast day honoring Sara-la-Kali in Saintes Maries-de-la-Mer is upon the region. I can almost smell the…
Some Numerological Significances By: Chandra Alexandre The cuneiform tablets of Sumer display eight-pointed impressions made thousands of years ago by a stylus pushed into wet clay, and we know today that these eight-pointed impressions signify Inanna, Goddess of Morning and Evening. It seems fitting that the impressions of this ancient written language bring to mind…
By: Chandra Alexandre Goddess lore in India seems limited only by individual imagination. With every village comes another variation on basic themes, and every child growing up in India today learns many stories, just as a westerner might be introduced to fairy tales in kindergarten classrooms or as bedtime stories. It is through these myths…
The worship of the Great Mother spans history and culture. My own personal spiritual journey has similarly run the gamut from exploring the great earth religions and fertility cults of Europe to finding refuge in the Buddhist and Hindu temples that filled my early life. At the center of my own worship, the Great Mother…
Eastern Teacher to The West by Chandra Alexandre This article tells the story of my own exploration into the mysteries of the Goddess as manifested within the Hindu pantheon as Chamunda, the fierce, emaciated and terrifying Dark Mother. She is a goddess who is particularly revered among Shaktas (believers in the primacy of the Divine…
