We are currently in the 9 days of the Hindu festival of Navaratri. I recently become aware of this celebration, and was so taken with it that I wanted to share a little about it. Rather than being interested in its specific religious form, what sparked my curiosity was the beauty of celebrating of all that is feminine.

Navaratri celebrates the divine feminine in all its forms.  Each day of the festival emphasises a different aspect of feminine energy, and they include action and vigour, bliss and calm, beauty and bravery, creative power and mother earth, transformation and protection of the young, courage and ferocity, intelligence and peace, and the admiration of beauty.

I am drawn to the multi-faceted nature of this depiction of femininity, embracing strength, power, tranquillity, creation, peacefulness and beauty all at the same time. It seems to me a holistic way to celebrate the feminine, and a useful and timely challenge to societal perceptions of femininity which can be partial and lack a sense of wholeness.

So, I wonder, what does the feminine mean to you? What characteristics make it up? How do you relate to the feminine aspects within you, whatever your overall gender identity?  

Perhaps this Navaratri festival is a good time to pause and reflect, and to celebrate yourself, and the women in your life, for all that they and you are.