Matangi

MATANGI. Great Primordial Mother of the Forest. Elephant-headed Matriarch. You are autonomous, self-possessed, wild, seductive and passionate. You know freedom, how to manifest your desires, how to activate your will and lead. You know how to be nurturing toward your self and those around you. You are the dynamic force of expansion and contraction, evolving and becoming.

Matangi you are the absolutely awesome power of Woman. The primal power of instinct. The intuitive force of grace and mercy. The liberating knowledge of ancient female mysteries.

Woman listen to yourself, You whisper playfully in our ears. Woman, live your passion! Be fearless in your uniqueness! Be honest in your convictions and I will not lead you astray… What is it you have come here to do? Who is it that you have come here to be? What is stopping you???

Oh! Matangi, wild and ancient forest Mother-you are the creative power of Sex and Divine Love-that wondrous sensuous empowering reality that the patriarchs have tried to destroyed in us all. We, your devoted attendants-female and male are stripping off the chains that have oppressed us-the shame, the fear, and pain. We are surrendering to your teachings. Embodying your errant tempestuous force guides us into the heart of the sacrality of sex. We are re-membering you, Matangi. Supreme Mother of Tantric reality. You are the one who can transmute that which conventional society calls poisonous: menstrual blood, birthing blood, sexual fluids, excrements, dying decaying flesh and matter, bones and rot, muck and dirt and all that they call filth. You who bridge worlds between chaos and peace, you who leads us into the center of the darkness- that impenetrable, pregnant, and potent void that has so much to teach us. You dance seductively, calmly, assuredly through the unknown tempting all to taste of your power. You teach us how to face our fears and not abandon ourselves. You appear in our dreams and through synchronistic codes and symbols tell us how to come through the most frightening of realities.

They may come after our bodies with their violent religious wars, they may lie to us and try to mutilate us, to strip us of our power, to steal our fierceness and block our desires. They may try to beat your mysteries out of us- but if we align with You with full and utter abandon they will never ever succeed. Let us chant. Let us meditate. Let us pray, create, act and practice yoga. These are some of the tools that help us come into You.

Matangi you are worshiped at crossroads. At those betwixt and between places. The liminal realms where the magnitude of our yearning, of our desire to know you, to remember, to be free may at times overwhelm us. When we enter your realm we may lose our footing. We may be unsure of what road to take. Temptations may taunt us, teasing us toward unworthy desires. So how do we know what is real and unreal, how can we really hear? How can we see and feel the truth that you want us to know? How can we discern your voice when there are so many shouting, calling, demanding and yelling for our attention?

Matangi remains in our core-and to find that center we must drop into our self. We must sit quietly, with gaze turned inward, we must be still and listen to our heart beat, the pulse of our existence, the drumbeat that unites all life on this planet, the rhythmic dance of our Earthly and Cosmic Mother. She is inside us. We will find Matangi in our hearts and in our yonis waiting for us to listen to Her instinctual powerful call. With Her grace we manifest love that brings freedom. With Her love we actualize passion and fervor. With Her grace we merge tensions that have split and fragmented us for ages. With Her guidance we come to know our Divinity.

Matangi is the power of the sexually mature woman. The woman who is lover to herself above and beyond being lover to Other. She knows every union is a sacred Union with the One.. She is the one who makes choices based on the wisdom of her body, not out of fear of the consequences that patriarchal reality threatens her with. She is woman who is free. She is only waiting for the time when we can say:

I know You now, Matangi. I live You now. I am You now. Your powers activated in my being. Your mysteries shaping and influencing my life. Showing me the direction in which I have always been called. Defining the reality that I truly seek. I am not afraid of the dark or the chaos. I am not afraid of the unknown. I am not afraid to love fully. Of asking for, of demanding for what I want –with respect. I am only afraid of NOT listening to your call. I have known the petrifying reality of not living the life I was born to live -the life of the wild, uninhibited courageous yogini. Passionate lover of peace, of justice, of truth, of creative power. Woman who is authentic and real. Why should I any longer be afraid of the consequences of not conforming? How can I ever pursue endeavors whether sexual and creative or both with men and women who do not see me? Who do not see You? A life erotic, a life empowered, a life of service and freedom. A life where we can live in sensuous harmony with each other and the earth. With all of earth’s creatures. That is a life that inspires and nurtures. That is a life that enhances and improves all that S/he touches.

Matangi, may You guide us to our Divine essence. May we live and teach Your mysteries.