My Ancestral Relationship to the Tridevi…

While the Tridevi has always been present in my life by the Grace of my ancestral lineage – the Tridevi didn’t directly come all at once. She came in parts, one at a time.

Although all the Vedic/Yogic deities were on our family altar in one form or another, and all of them were revered and invoked at different times during our daily family practice – my mother was a focused devotee of Durga Ma (a fierce form of Parvati) and my father was a devotee of the Trimurti ~ the consorts of the Tridevi, known as Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Preserver) and Shiva (Destroyer/Transformer). 

Tridevi’s Parvati

As for the Tridevi, Parvati was the first one to come through in a more direct way via a story my father most often recounted to me throughout my childhood. I loved hearing it, and each time he told it with that same enthusiasm, as if he was telling me it for the first time! My heart warms as I think back to those moments. It was the story of Ganesh’s birth. Parvati – Ganesh’s mother – appears in that story. She had created Ganesh by sculpting the turmeric paste from her skin – in order to have him stand at the door while she took a bath in privacy at a time when her consort, Shiva, was out. This newly formed Ganesh would protect her from any demons that may come. The story goes on to reveal how Ganesh then received his elephant head. I will share this story in detail during our upcoming Tridevi retreat.

Parvati’s blessings of love, devotion, nurturing, focus and discipline comes through in that story for me. I could feel and experience Parvati’s gifts through my father as a small child, within his loving, nurturing way with me – and in witnessing his spiritual discipline through his steady, focused daily practice and way of being. It is something that continues to live on in me in a deep way. It is who I am and the ground of my very existence. 

Tridevi’s Saraswati 

Saraswati came through in a more concentrated way in my early years of living on Salt Spring Island – over a decade and a half ago. My mother came to visit me for the first time, with my sister and her children. My mother brought me three little murtis (sculptures of deities), including a Saraswati murti that continues to rest on my altar today. Of all the female deities, this was the one she gifted me to bless my new home. At the time, I sensed she gifted this one because Saraswati is also known as the goddess of writing and knowledge (truth) – two disciplines I was very focused on. One was my vocation at the time, and the other I was deep in study and practice with, just before heading to the Motherland, where I would meet and study with my teacher. My mother’s recognition of the path I had chosen and her offering me support with that path was communicated through this gift of Saraswati on my altar. Saraswati Ma continues to be very present in my life through writing, steady practice of Truth, and my focus on the Divine that weaves through my whole life, as the flow of truth in me and all around me.

Tridevi’s Lakshmi

Lakshmi is actually a deity that I avoided for many years. It wasn’t until I met my teacher over a dozen years ago, that I embraced her more fully. Before that I felt like I was attaching myself to ego and attachment with all the seeming want of Lakshmi’s abundance and prosperity. But it was through studying with my teacher in India, that I realized that the key with Lakshmi is that it is ok to ask, but at the very same time, to release any attachment to the results of the ask – and take what comes as prasad, a blessing. In this way of moving through life, I could make focused asks, and my teacher encouraged it, as he often said that the deities need to know what the prayers are and who to direct them to. Otherwise they may not necessarily come without the focused direction.

Lakshmi’ gifts of abundance, grace, internal beauty and unconditional love – for me relayed the Goddess’ power, presence, grace – and  focus on cultivating and expanding my inner beauty, rather than looking outside to be filled. After studying with my teacher over a trio of winters several years ago, it became clear to me that there is nothing outside of us that can fill us, and that in fact, we are already full and always have been. It’s just colonial, capitalist culture that has dictated otherwise to us. This has solidified in me. When I feel Lakshmi in me, a visual of her hands comes through – one with abundance coming in, and another with abundance flowing outwards. This is the balance, this is the pointer to hold on lightly in this realm, for just like the cycles of nature and life teach us – everything is in flux here, except our True Nature. Can we anchor into this knowing through the truth of Saraswati, the steady practice and disciplined focus of Parvati – and the material action of Lakshmi?

–> Come join us in devotional practice to clear away any blockages that are getting in the way of your expansion.
–> Bring your intentions to life by aligning your thoughts, words and actions with the strength and grace of the Tridevi!
–> Learn more about how the power and practice of the Tridevi can support you, by being a part of our next Living Shakti Retreat on March 31 at Stowel Lake Farm on beautiful Salt Spring Island!

FULL DETAILS + REGISTRATION HERE

Please contact me with any questions.

P.S. Early Bird Offer Ends March 17.