by Edna Sousa
Durga is the Hindu warrior goddess. Her name represents the inaccessible or the invincible. She has other names, including Pavarti, Ambika and Kali. It’s said that Durga goddess is the Great Mother. She is the consort of Shiva and the mother of Ganesha, Kartikeya and Lakshmi. There is, perhaps, no goddess in the Hindu pantheon more important and significant than Durga. Durga is a Devi or Feminine Divine, and is called Maa Durga (Mother Durga).

The durga goddess is believed to have extremely bright, curly, beautiful hair, three red eyes, and golden-red skin. It is said that there was a Demon, son of the king of the demons, who mated with a buffalo and, because his prayers to Brahma, could never be killed by any man alive. So the gods created Durga, the Hindu warrior goddess, to kill the demon.
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by Edna Sousa
Lakshimi is the Hindu goddess for prosperity, beauty, good luck and fortune — both materially and spiritually. She is also considered to represent the divine feminine energy or the feminine side of the Devine Being. In the Vedic tracition, she is the counterpart of the Lord Vishnu, who gives balance in sustains the Universe.

The word Lakshmi is derived from the sanscrit Laksya meaning target, aim or objetive. So if you have your goal for this year, Lakshmi is the goddess you need to consult. The Lakshmi goddess is the symbol of youth and beauty. She has four hands representing the four principles of human life: Dharma, Karma, Artha, and Moska. She sometimes appears with jar containing gold and another jar containing Amrita, the elixir of immortality and the sacred fluid of feminine enlightenment.
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by Roberta Striga
If you start reading up on Feng Shui, it can become quite overwhelming quite fast. With its different schools and subtle laws it can leave a person paralyzed and at loss where to even begin.

Fret not, first thing is that I have learned through the process is that you can do anything for 15 minutes. And secondly it is not necessary to go on a redecorating Feng Shui bonanza that will leave you feeling exhausted and grumpy. Rome was not built in a day and you will not be done in one day either. So before you run out and start purchasing Chinese coins, Dragons and Lucky frogs lets see what can be done right now to reclaim your home and get some Chi flowing.

The bottom line is your home should be your sanctuary. Your retreat. One place where you feel safe, cozy and comfortable. Get the basics right and then you can move to the more advanced stuff.
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by Roberta Striga
The Ba-Gua chart or map will be your essential tool once you set out to apply Feng Shui principles to your home. It will help you take a look at your home and see how certain areas of your life correlate to certain areas of your home. It will also help you bring more harmony and balance into your home, improve your health and overall quality of life. Remember, it is not necessary to do everything at once–you can add stuff or remove stuff from certain areas and let your home come together in a magnificent way.

I introduced the map in my previous post The Basic Principles of Feng Shui for Beginners…or you can just go directly to the map from this link.

The Ba-Gua map is an octagonal shaped map, but to make things a bit easier you can stretch it and make corners which you then divide into 9 equal sections.
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by Roberta Striga
Feng Shui is an ancient system that was developed some 3000 years ago in China. It’s connected with Taoist principle and based on the premise that nature and land is filled with energy, life force or, as the Chinese call it, Chi (Qi).

The Chinese believe that Chi or energy is always flowing and it represents everything positive in your life. When Chi is not flowing freely or it is blocked in some areas in your home then problems can arise–health problems, money problems, depression, feeling stuck in your career, etc.

So in order to have good health and prosperity and abundance in your life Chi should flow freely and your surroundings should be arranged in such a way that will work in harmony with the nature rather then against it. Feng Shui with its extensive body of knowledge should help you harmonize your surroundings, improve your health and attract abundance, prosperity and peace in your life.
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Regardless of one’s personal spiritual beliefs or affiliation, decorating with sacred imagery is a sure way to foster a serene and restorative environment in your home -– and achieve an exotic stylistic eclecticism sure to elicit reaction from your guests. There are beautiful and affordable bronze, brass, and resin statues available , in a wide range of sizes from tiny to monumental, of the many key Hindu deities — colorful and distinctive personae that I’ll be featuring in the next few posts, starting with Saraswati.

Saraswati

Goddess of music, learning, verbal communication, Saraswati reigns as patroness of the arts in the Hindu pantheon. She is usually depicted with four arms, representing the four aspects of human learning: mind, intellect, alertness, and ego. They can also represent the 4 vedas, Hinduism’s primary sacred texts. The vedas, in turn, represent the 3 forms of literature:

• Poetry: the Rigveda contains hymns, representing poetry
• Prose: Yajurveda contains prose
• Music: Samaveda represents music

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A friend gave me a Nepalese salt lamp as a gift last year. I had never seen one before, but immediately loved its natural, asymmetrical rock-like form and especially the beautifully warm and rosy light it radiated once I plugged it in. My parrot took one look at it and walked up to lick it — as I did, following his lead! Yes, it is pure salt…but it more closely resembles a nice big piece of rose quartz.

Not only are salt lamps lovely ambient accent lighting options for your home — they also provide health benefits for both mind and body, as I learned through a little research. When warmed by a light bulb, the pure salt cleanses your air and exudes negative ions with nearly the same powerful benefits of a mechanical ionizer, but without the noise or harmful ozone — and counteracts the fatiguing effects of the fluorescent lights and computers of many workplaces. Negative ions are naturally generated by moving water, the ocean, and mountain air, whereas indoor air — particularly when re-circulated, or in the vicinity of electronics — is exceedingly low in ions.
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