Shivaratri; Honour the Masculine!

Tonight is MahaShivaratri - the great night of Shiva, the male principle.  This is a festival observed in honour of Lord Shiva and it is believed that on this day Lord Shiva was married to Parvati. Shiva is the male principal. How often today do we think of worshipping the masculine as the Divine Masculine, who's greatest desire is to serve the Goddess by creating safety, making and holding space and witnessing without judgement? 

Traditionally,  people observe a strict fast on this day. Some devotees do not even take a drop of water and they keep vigil all night. The Shiva Lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk, curd, honey, rose water, and anointing with flowers, whilst the chanting of the Mantra "Om Namah Shivaya" continues.  This picture is one I took in Varanasi three years ago. This year, I celebrated early at the weekend at the Winter Bhakti Gathering (http://winterbhaktigathering.co.uk) with about 150 others. Beautiful chanting; amazing people... How much the world needs again the dance of the Divine Masculine and the Goddess rather than the mutual wounding of the dysfunctional masculine and the wounded feminine. Find a good man and celebrate him!!

Sex/Spirit Drive

We hear a lot about people's sex drive and how it comes and goes; whether it is too high or low but you may have never hear the term "Spirit drive".  This is the drive to connect to Spirit; to Source to the Divine. Some people experience this as a deep longing for the One; for union with or absorption into the Divine. Some young children experience it, though they may have a hard time formulating it; a longing to go home. This later gets eclipsed by, or transforms into the sex drive. Later in life they may separate out again and we can experience the two as more separate drives. The author of some recent research published in the American Journal of Medecine on this said, "Approximately half of the women aged 80 or older reported arousal and orgasm most of the time, but rarely reported sexual desire."  See Article . So you could think of the variations of your sex and your spirit drives through your life. Where are you now? Tantra, of course says that at the deepest level the two drives are from the same source; there is only the deep longing to realise the Oneness that is All.