Nine is an Intriguing Number. The Number Nine is everywhere. One need only look just under the surface. Today as I sit, and see Day 69, it brings a smile to my face.The universe winking again.
I am always intrigued at how the Mystical, Mathematics, Myth and Metaphysics come together. 3M don’t stick as much.
Mathematics:
In numerology, the number nine represents completion, as it’s the last of the single-digit numbers and the highest in value. That said, it symbolically represents a culmination of wisdom and experience, and Integration. and buzzes with the energy of both endings and new beginnings.
Amongst the many appearances of Nine, some are 360 degrees, adds to 9 OR 180 it is still 9. Human beings born in 9 months. In Pythagorean Numerology 9 is always followed by 1. Endings followed by beginnings. The Greeks compared 9 to the ocean; constantly flowing around all the other digits. All numbers are bound by the 9. 9 is an evidence of cyclicity. The circle and the square unite through 9. Last but not the least, a famous English proverb also says that the cat which is the universal symbol of mystery and wisdom, has 9 lives.
Our ancestors beautifully and smartly hid the cosmic truths, in everyday “rituals” and folklore. Unfortunately thats all they became. And many people dropped it, without really understanding what it means. I am a big fan of Rituals. Some of my friends think of it as “religious” or traditional and therefore, old school. I used to go out of my way to explain – But now I just smile. And move one. I must have grown up.
Real modernity is understanding the value of tradition and its deeper meaning.
Clearly, anything that has survived as a behaviour for ages much have some wisdom.
In India, we have more 9’s – The Navagraha, Nine Planets that we workship. Navarasa Nine emotions that be build in our performing arts. And Navratri. Nine Nights, that we observe in our seasonal rituals.
We are right now in the NAVRATRI – It Started yesterday.
Navratri is a nine-day festival dedicates to Goddess Durga. One of the prominent Hindu festivals celebrated in a different region with different names, Navratri holds great significance. The word ‘Navratri’ in Sanskrit means ‘nine nights’. For the nine days ‘Nine Forms of Maa Durga’ is worshipped.
Myth:
It is believed that Goddess Durga is a reincarnation of Goddess Parvati, who is the wife of Lord Shiva. The Navaratri festival that celebrates the defeat of Mahishasura, by Goddess Durga signifies the victory of good over evil.
Mahishasura, was a bad guy, who did a lot of penance, for immortality. And when lord Brahma appeared, asked smartly, for a boon of not being killed by “Man or God” – He forgot Women. Too bad for him. Not so smart. The boon was granted – he thought he was now invincible. And went on to create havoc for the gods and humans. – Since neither could now kill him. The three big Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva came together and combined their forces to create “Shakti” – ALL forms of Power came together. The form was a Woman . You can imagine a superhero movie
Mysticism:
“Shakti” literally means the divine cosmic energy that represents feminine energy and the dynamic forces that move through the universe. Shakti, who is responsible for creation change, and destruction. – Maintaining Balance.
The Archetype, Shakti takes many forms and names, including mother goddess, fierce warrior, and the dark goddess of destruction. She’s an archetype who you might call upon for strength, fertility, wisdom, courage, and power.
Among all the 9 days of navratri, each day is devoted to the 9 different forms of the deity Durga. Invoking the Power of 9 in our Mind -Body and Spirit. Goddess Durga is worshiped under 9 distinct names for 9 days of Navratri. The Goddess takes up a new look, a fresh character and a new responsibility each day.
Day 1 – Shailaputri – Shailaputri (“Daughter of Mountain. It is in this form that Durga is worshiped as the wife of Shiva; she is depicted as riding the bull, Nandi, with a trishula in her right hand and lotus in her left.
Day 2 – Brahmacharini – In this form, Parvati became Yogini, her unmarried self. Brahmacharini is worshiped for emancipation or moksha and endowment of peace and prosperity, she symbolizes bliss and calm.
Day 3 – Chandraghanta – The name derived from the fact that after marrying Shiva, Parvati adorned her forehead with the ardhachandra (half-moon). She is the embodiment of beauty and is also symbolic of bravery.
Day 4 – Kushmanda – Believed to be the creative power of the universe, Kushmanda is associated with the endowment of vegetation on earth, and hence, the color of the day is Red. She is depicted as having eight arms and sits on a Tiger.
Day 5 – Skandamata – Is the mother of Skanda (or Kartikeya). The transforming strength of a mother when her child is confronted with danger. She is depicted riding a ferocious lion, having four arms, and holding her baby.
Day 6 – Katyayani – Born to sage Katyayana, known as the warrior goddess, she is considered one of the most violent forms of Devi.
Day 7 – Kaalaratri – It is believed that Parvati removed her fair skin to kill the demons Sumbha and Nisumbha. The Goddess appears in a red coloured attire or tiger skin with a lot of rage in her fiery eyes, her skin turns black.
Day 8 – Mahagauri – Mahagauri symbolizes intelligence and peace.
Day 9 – Siddhidhatri – On the last day of the festival people pray to Siddhidhatri. Sitting on a lotus, she is believed to possess and bestows all types of Siddhis, virtues. (There is such a thing as The Nine Noble Virtues, or 9NV – Courage – Truth – Honour – Fidelity – Discipline – Hospitality – Self Reliance – Industriousness – Perseverance )
She is also seen as the Ardhanarishvara form of Shiva and Shakti. It is believed that one side of Lord Shiva’s body is that of Goddess Siddhidhatri. Therefore, he is also known by the name of Ardhanarishwara. According to Vedic scriptures, Lord Shiva attained all the siddhis by worshiping this Goddess.
We are back to Integration and Feminine Power.
Metaphysics
Navratri, is about the Four Season: There are actually 4 types of Navratri. Each marking and getting humans ready for Seasonal change. Sharda , Chaitra, Magha and Ashada each falling at different times of the year to mark the change of season. Out of these the first two, Sharda in October and Chaitra in March are celebrated and known the Most
So far its understandable – but why are these two celebrated most, and why Nine Nights and not days…
Navratri is about the Equinox.
Equinox comes from the latin word – “Eqi” meaning Equal and ’Nox’ meaning Night. Phew !!!
An equinox is the instant in time when the plane of Earth’s equator passes through the geometric center of the Sun’s disk. This occurs twice each year, around 20 March and 23 September (the two Navratri that are celebrated Most). Equinox is a unique phenomenon during which the earth’s day and night are of equal length resulting in 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night in every part of the earth. This is not the case on other days. The earth is tilted at an angle of 23.5 degrees because of which the length of the day and night differs according to the time of year and the region of the earth.
Back to balance and Integration at a whole another level, at the level of Planets.
The theme integration continues, Good- Bad, God -Demons , Above-below, Creation-Destruction, Beginning Ending, Sun-moon, Day- Night
This theme of “Shakti” has been a consistent in the story of my life. A friend who came home yesterday, Krishna, told me how he in love with my Grandma. Through my stories.
I grew up in a strong Matriarchal family. Both my Grandma and Nana (mom’s mom) both were very strong figures. Both of them also studied together in a boarding school and as little girls decided, they would get their children married. They of Course drifted apart. got married lost touch. But came back together again “accidentally meeting in a church”, the mystical forces are stronger than what we can imagine. The rest is history. Literally.
In my early, 20s I was also a strong feminist. Then my son was born. And I realised that when any one thing is overemphasised, the Other gets pushed back into the shadows. And I decided to change. I began to see, Woman and Man, and Masculine and Feminine – distinctly.
Even though I was a “feminist” I had more “masculine” energy. It has taken me years to acknowledge accept and explore my feminine sides. The world is full of misunderstood and misplaced – Masculine and feminine.
Metaphysics:
With the Conversation of Energy, we are back to Metaphysic.
Both, Masculine and Feminine are forms, manifestations of ENERGY – Shakti.
I was intrigued about , What might be the connection between Energy and Feminine, if at all. Why was “Shakti – Feminine, depicted as a Woman, other than in the Mahishasura story, ofcourse, there we know the reason. He literally asked for it. No Man or God should kill him.
It reminds of me the movie I recently saw, Thailavi (Leader) , a Biopic based on a strong woman political leader from the South of India, who interestingly was an artist. Men underestimated her, and then regretted. They underestimated the power of Love from which she was able to fight.
Back to energy, last few months I have been curious about and studying the mysterious DNA, and while digging I stumbled upon something which blew my mind.
Mitochondria.
Mitochondria are membrane-bound cell organelles that generate most of the energy needed to power the cell’s biochemical reactions. Chemical energy produced by the mitochondria is stored in a small molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). So it is the Power house of our Body.
Here is the twist
Unlike nuclear DNA, which comes from both parents, Mitochondrial DNA comes only from the Mother. A Woman. Wow… !!!!
It’s well known that the transfer of mitochondrial DNA from mother to offspring, often called Maternal Inheritance, occurs in humans and most multicellular organisms.
Isn’t nature just Awesomely beautiful !!! I feel like just getting up and dancing dandia.
So simply put the Energy generators in our body literally come from a “Woman”.
So this is how it all starts to come together.
Mitochondria – Energy -Mother – Shakti – Durga Maa – Nine months birth- Navratri – Equinox.
Phew !!!!
The process of Integration of All around. Perhaps if we need to look at where are thing “disintegrated, where is the balance off, and hoe might we be creating the OR and separation. How everything in nature form the minutest cell in our body to the month sun and planets are constantly telling us about moving toward “ONE” – Integration.
How harnessing Feminine energy, of creation, care, fierceness, beauty and all the other forms may be needed to Invoke. And What is happening in our inner and outer world when we ignore it, maybe like Mahishasura did.
Perhaps a Woman is Powerful, Inherently, Perhaps because Birth and Death is experienced by her body every month. The Feminine Energy is in ALL of us, unfortunately it gets put down in a ultra-masculine society as “Soft”. And the world pays a heavy price.
Perhaps it’s not so much destruction of “EVIL”, since energy cannot be created or destroyed. But integration of that in us. The story of goddess Kali when she kills a demon who, with every drop of blood spilled takes form again and gain. Eventually Kali has to kill and drink his blood. So that it doe snot spill and keep perpetuating. Integration.
In the pandemic the world has seen Feminine leadership and its positive impact again and again.
Perhaps It time to fully embrace the Power of 9 and Change and Integrate – Unlike the Cats we don’t have Nine Lives – Or maybe we do. We ALL certainly have the power house of energy inside of us – in every cell – Literally
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