Dear All,
Today we have celebrated the sixth night of Navaratri at Cabella, with our Holy Mother. It is inconceivable how many blessings She will shower upon us.
On the first night – of silence – we were able to offer a small puja. It started with an invocation of an English Christian hymn that some of you will recognise:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise
In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes
Most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of days
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
We also prayed that everything we offered the Great Devi, during this period of Navaratri would please Her. We offered a beautiful red sari which had come from the Sheffield, UK, collective. Also, as it was the night of Shri Shailaputri, who holds a lotus and a trident, we offered the most enormous trident that we found in the castle. It was a silent and deep experience, with a small number of the hosting countries present.
On the second night – of the Guru principle, we made some special offerings: prasad, which was channa, no sari, modest decorations, but lots of Lakshmi baskets from the UK, Israel and Ukraine, as it is a night of peace and prosperity. This was also a special night because the film crew, who have been in Cabella for the last two months, had completed their trailer and were able to show it to Shri Mataji. There was so much joy and lots of wonderful bhajans. It was the night when Shri Mataji announced that Diwali Puja would be in Cabella. The room was full with beaming faces and amazing Italian joy.
On the third night – the first night of the Devi Kavach – there were extensive and wonderful puja preparations. We had a delivery of flowers from the market which produced a wonderful garland, beautiful fragrant anklets, wristlets and a hair tie. By this time there were more Yogis present, and the bhajans were focused on the Devi. We prayed that our surrender would be deeper, so that Her work would be faster. Shri Mataji was offered an amazing sword, an axe, dagger, whip, pistol and wonderful, wonderful flowers. There were trays of prasad fresh fruit, nuts, dried fruit and five more Lakshmi baskets. Everyone felt totally blessed and rejuvenated.
On the fourth night Shri Mataji graciously accepted some more small offerings. We were informed that only seven people could come inside. The puja began with an invocation for this night, when the light comes into the darkness and the blessing of Devi Kavach is complete. In the Nine Nights booklet, Shri Mataji also talked about the need for religious integration and detachment on this night.
Glory to Thee My God this night,
For all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, oh keep me, Queen of Queens,
Beneath Thine own almighty wings.
The offerings needed to be fast and low key, so we offered a beautiful purple sari, flower adornments, trays of prasad made by the hosting ladies, lots of flowers, and more weapons – another huge sword, a rosary, tinsel and a dagger. There was no music tonight, but a depth of silence that inspired many to take long and luxurious namaskars. There were tears, as conditionings dissolved and a wonderful silent joy afterwards.
The joy gets greater as more and more people arrive from the hosting countries and so many other countries across the world. On the fifth night – the night that Chamunda slays two big demons – we were joined by some of the West Country collective, (from the UK). The invocation was: ‘On this fifth day of Navaratri, we ask with all humility and complete surrender. Oh Goddess, help to fulfill our destiny, please give us the spiritual personality, the victory, the spiritual ascent and the destruction of the negative forces weighing us down,’ with love, adoration and devotion from all the Sahaja Yogis in the world.
The offerings were quite amazing. We had heard that it was also the night of Shri Skandamata who has a lotus in Her hand and carries the baby Skanda in another. The sari that was offered was pink, with large green and blue leaves and flowers. The perfume from the oils was all pervading – jasmine, rose and sandalwood. The garland was rich red and bright yellow, with pinks and whites mixed in, and we had some beautiful English cut glass pieces to offer at the end. The Lakshmi baskets were over-flowing from Ukraine, Israel, the UK and Cyprus and there were so many people to make offerings that we had to queue across the sitting room and dining room in Shri Mataji’s castle. Many people found this night quite tough on the attention. It felt like the battleground was clearly inside our own heads and hearts.
The sixth night – Shashti – is the night of the shaktis. We were blessed with a huge tray of moghra garlands from India which filled the whole room with their sweet fragrance. The garland was rich and splendid and the sari, was a beautiful soft pink – from East London, UK. The evening started off with the offering of a wonderful heart of roses and a sincere prayer for Shri Mataji to awaken all our shakti powers. This was followed with some very small children offering flowers and the kumbha. There was the most beautiful namaskar moment, when a two to three year old boy prostrated himself completely before the Goddess. This lit up the room. It was also the first time we were joined by the Greek Sahaja Yogis which was wonderful and we now have a full complement of hosting countries. Compared to the night before, this night was the most joyful and sweet that many people had experienced. Shri Mataji was so alert, watching everything and everyone, and I’m sure you all felt the blessings across the world.
There was a very special Lakshmi basket from the UK. It contained all vegetables and honey that had been prepared at Blossom Farm, the English collective’s country property. It was incredible to see pumpkins, tomatoes, carrots, onions, garlic and other things, all grown by the Sahaja Yogis. When Shri Mataji was informed about this basket there was a spontaneous round of applause from everyone present. Sir CP assured us that Shri Mataji and he would very much like to visit the UK – they are planning their trip – he said, but we do not expect this to happen in the immediate future, since Diwali will be in Cabella this year. Finally, there was sweet music to keep all this flowing and a depth of silence in the ensuing meditation which was completely and transformingly joyful.
Lots of love to everyone and once again, from everyone in Cabella!
Anthony Headlam
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