Eric Stoneberg

Vijaya : “Slice of Victory” – This slice of win is easy, breezy contentment. This Goddess of repose is traditionally seen seated on a big, satisfied, yawning lion. Repose is living IN the experience of contentment. To BE content with the life you have and choices you’ve made isn’t always easy. This is a much, much more complex practice than falling in love. Vijaya here is every small, successful encounter that more deeply invites us to revel in relationship. Happy Valentine’s Day. 

NILAPATAKA : “Falling into the Blue” – Bedecked in diamonds and blue sapphires, dripping with pearls, she is the moment immediately following ecstatic release. To see through her eyes is to experience your waking life like a lucid dream. And lucid dreamers get to experience the creative power of shaping their truth.

The TRUTH is more pliable in dreams (I can fly!) than we tend to experience in our waking life. And what is a truth in waking consciousness but a belief we repeat over and over to ourselves again and again? Are you telling yourself the same old, mundane story? Or are you authoring your life and creating its truth? (You’re always doing this actually, so you may as well do it on purpose, reflectively, with power – in the cool blue of repose.)

What if your waking life could be a lucid dream? To both have your experience and shape it at the same time, in every breath? To enjoy such a life would be to invest deeply in the yoga of Rasa, the engagement of the essential flows of human feeling. Nilapataka carries among her weapons a dart, or missle. Any mark you hit can be a focal point for exploration: you are free to bring your ecstacy into the world any place where you land that dart. 

The Nitya Shoashi Tantra says that devotion to this Goddess brings to devotees “a capacity to see through walls and travel vast distances instantly!” Sounds like quite the Soverign Queen of the Information Age.

NITYA : “Forever, Eternal” – This 10th night of the Moon Goddess sadhana brings us to a moment of climax – looking up you’ll see she’s well more than half way to full. The French call this moment “Le Petit Mort” – the little death. Orgasmic moments are forever, which is both ironic and true. This Goddess carries a trident and skull, instruments usually associated with Shiva. She’s become more powerful than him and controls all moving bodies while presiding in all parts of you. In death, you will return to the eternal source from whence you came – ecstatic, pulsating, blissful and true. The beauty of embodiment is savoring THAT experience IN a body. Tonight’s practice : orgasm. It’s Saturday night, so what are you waiting for? 

KULASUNDARI : “Embedded” – The Moon Goddess this night carries among her instruments a golden pen, like a stylus. She records the moment by etching it in to a book of memories. She chronicles the beauty of being together.

A nice practice this night: take stock of the most important relationships in your life. What are some of the traits you value in your sweetheart, or other close company? Celebrate beauty by calling to mind what is affirming and good. 

TVARITA : “With Quickness” – This goddess is surrounded by lions, tigers, bears and monkeys who growl and roar and scream. Be in he throes of your desire. Get real, get primal. Fearless and receptive, do what you love without faking it. 

Shivaduti : “Shiva’s Messenger” – Surrounded by Rishis who sing her praises, she’s as bright as the midday sun in summer and has a message for you: “Everything you need to live a beautiful life is already present inside you.” She’s known to inspire smokers to quit by wielding a particular favorite instrument, the double sided axe: “This could hurt me as much as it hurts you.”

Vajeshwari : “Lightning Bolt” – Wearing red ornaments, emanating red ruby color – her eyes are bloodshot and sway like red wine. She sits on a throne which is on a triangle on a hexagon on lotuses on a golden raft floating on an ocean of blood. (That’s quite an evocation of the female anatomy.) According to the Nitya Tantra, “When you’re with Vajeshwari all your troubles disappear.” She is lightning in a bottle and stands for the deepest engagement of play. Entering Vajeshwari is an act of fun, done for the sake of itself, because you can, because it feels good. Strike into the womb of LILA like lightning. Life is for play, not for attainment. You are here to love the life. You are the muse you seek. Let’s dance, baby.

Vahnivasini : “Dwelling as Fire” – She shines with the beauty of eternal youth and is dressed in yellow silk. This Goddess, forever young, projects the energies of her desire – her power causes others to act. When you have the feeling that you’re ready to set the world on fire, you’re dwelling as Vahnivasini. If you can set the world on fire, please do. 

Bherunda : “Molten Gold” – No longer just wet (see yesterday) now you’re HOT. Not a soft smile, but one that’s lit up – and golden. This goddess is always naked except for her gold jewelry. She is important among the medicine traditions of Ayurveda because she is also a dissolver of poisons – fear and shame are dissolved by her nakedness. Authenticity is exposure. And when we expose ourselves, we tend to think we’re more vulnerable. Not so, says Bherunda. In fact, among the Nityas,  this one has marvelous extra weaponry. Among her many possessions is a shield made of song – she knows what to sing to herself to protect herself. She carries a discus, a spinning weapon for social networking; and a thunderbolt – throw your power playfully and see where it lands! 

Saturday Moon Goddess : Klinna – “Always Wet” – With beads of sweat glistening on her forehead like pearls, she stands for the intoxication we feel when inner states pour out from beneath the surface. She is every example of love that exudes, like when you see your Beloved, or your child – you exude. It’s been a wet and rainy day in New York City every time I’ve written about Klinna! And today is no exception.

At this third night of the seduction, the goddess becomes irresisible. When you achive Klinna in your own experience, YOU are irrisistible. Klinna is traditionally described as surrounded by hundreds of other shaktis. Even as I write this late on a Saturday evening, there are likely hundreds of girls in New York watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s for the first or five hundredth time. Holly Golightly is THAT irresistible force of nature, always and forever surrounded by Shaktis who know that “there are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl’s complexion.”