Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 74

Gayatri Japam

The day after the annual changing of a Brahmin's thread is a sober one, observed only by men, who repeat the Gayatri prayer at least 108 times with concentration and devotion.

"Om bhur bhuvah svah
Tat savitur varenyam
Bhargo devasya dheemahi
Dhiyo yo nah prachodayaat"

Om: symbol of Para Brahman.
Bhur: Bhu Loka or the physical plane.
Bhuvah: the astral plane.
Svah: the celestial plane.
Tat: That; the transcendental Paramatma; God.
Savitur: the Creator.
Varenyam: fit to be worshipped.
Bhargo: remover of si...

Happy Rakhi!

Raksha Bandhan, or Rakhi, is the festival for siblings. The custom is for a sister to tie a rakhi (a silk thread) around the wrist of her brother, in symbolic exchange for his protection.

To make a simple rakhi, use red or yellow silk, a piece about 30" long. Fold in half. Tie a tight knot with a piece of cotton thread about a quarter down the length of the strand. Cut the loops of the folded thread and fluff the open ends.

Divide the longer part of the thread into half, and twist them. Tie ...

Reinventing Radha

The gallery is a box
filled with gold
thread and mirrors.
It frames the same
old story: Krishna gets
his girl back.

Radha in her cloak
of lotus, stunned
in bronze, face turned
away. Follow her
down the brass river
of her hair, or color her
with beetle-wings. Is she
one, or is she many?

No one is grateful
for betrayals
she already knows.
Throat slaked
with the syrup of forgetting,
Radha sizzles in my cells
like disease,
though my hair is gold,
and my eyes gray
as the headstrong sea.

-- Ouroboros ...