Today I reflected on the meaning, the symbolism and the necessity of Navrathri.

9 Nights, the story I was told as a child was based largely on the Goddess and Her three forms, each representation of Herself in different moods. The story goes that She fought the evil demon Mahishasura for 9 days and 9 nights, and on the 10th day which we refer to as Vijayadasmi, She finally defeats him, chops off his head and he lays dead at Her feet. She stands over him in Her form as the Fearful One, the power that destroyed world’s greatest evil. Thus, giving Her the name Mahishasuramardini.

But God Forms are merely forms. Why were they given forms in the first place?

Everything is just energy manifesting in different forms. This energy, however, is formless, and it cannot be destroyed nor can it be created. It can be changed from one form to another though. And I suppose this is where the whole idea of God forms took place.

This is my understanding of the Universe and the way it works. We are all part of the Universe. If the Universe is energy, then so are we.
Some call it Universe- I call it God.

We are but forms of energy, manifested in what we are today. As we are.

So God Forms – I think, that we think, that we think in pictures. So that's why we put a form to the formless.But the real reason behind forms is to ultimately realize that there is no form at all.
We and He are One – So we and the Universe are One.
The Universe, is everything..and nothing.
The Universe is what we want it to be.
We are, just the essence of nothing.

Navrathri.

9 nights dedicated to the Feminine aspect of this energy, Shakti. Each night is special because the journey it takes is one so individual and unique, it only means something if you understand the true essence of nothing.

The first 3 nights are dedicated to Durga – the aspect of Shakti at its most fearful, most powerful. ‘She’ is depicted as the feared one, the terrifying one who destroys the demons. Demons – those negatives that reside within us. I’d like to think they are forms of energy that are manifested within us which hinders us from achieving the Real Goal, whatever that may be to each of us individually.

When they are removed, so to speak, then comes Lakshmi. The derivative of Shakti that bestows wealth. Wealth is to have – but to have what? Money? Gold? Love? Happiness?
Here’s the thing – we already have all this.

We have them ...they are just unmanifested.
So in these three nights, this form of Shakti is focused on so we may ‘manifest’ what we already have.

Saraswati – the last three nights. Shakti is worshipped in this form as the energy of wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom – another large reservoir of what already exists within us. We tap into this energy on the last three nights, after having discarded what is not needed to achieve our goals, and manifesting wealth which we already have – because now we are ready and prepared to receive the dawning that knowledge and wisdom is already part of us. We have all the answers – its just a matter of allowing it to surface.

Out of respect for this wisdom, we revere the Feminine energy in the form of Saraswati.

And the tenth day, Vijayadasami?

It’s the day the awakening occurs.

That we and Him are One – and so, we and the Universe are One.
The Universe is everything and nothing, depending on how we wish to see it.
Everything that is Real is Unreal.
If dust you think, dust you become.
If God you think, God you become.

So really, in the essence of nothing, lies the beginning of everything.