Durga, the Goddess of Protection.
Durga is the ultimate Mother, she wards off danger with her multitude of weapons, protecting us as only a mother can. Invoke Durga to channel your compassionate warrior self.(description by Sarah Tomlinson)
For a few years I've wanted to put together a collection of mandalas. Up until now all mandalas I've made have been custom and made to order but each time I always think that by making a collection for customers to choose from, the purchase price could be lower, more marketing avenues would be possible and this would also allow more freedom in my creative development process.
our yantra drawings get xeroxed many times during the making process
My new collection is coming together and I've been posting in process shots so you may have seen sneak peaks over the past 2 months. Today, Rob and I finished the first one which is a DURGA Yantra.
here after the bisque firing, awaiting glaze
Durga is the Goddess of Protection and is the ultimate Mother. She embodies a radiant power that is the unified force of all the divine energies. She appears when there is the need to establish balance and harmony, peace and prosperity within the self, within the world. As is the self, so is the world. She destroys, she triumphs compassionately, ultimately she is the mother of all.
A yantra is a type of mandala, and in Sanskrit literally means a tool for self-realization. A yantra is a kind of map of the self, and of the universe. The Durga yantra is visually the most powerful yantra after the Sri Yantra. If you would like more information about yantras and the Sri Yantra, see my post from last fall.
we used many textures of glaze especially with the various whites and ivories and are pleased with the effect
One doesn't have to be religious to enjoy, appreciate and benefit from a mandala or a yantra. One doesn't even have to be religious to make them. There are in depth Hindu practices that include yantras and take these geometries to a new level, but these is great power inherent in a yantra that transcends religion or particular practices.
To give you a sense of how I approached yantra making, here is a bit of background. In 2012, I developed an interest in making yantras and received an ancient Tantric initiation that opened up quite a few doors for me and continues to do so. Teachers shared information that they otherwise wouldn't have which has been invaluable. I've always been fundamentally allergic to religion but insatiably interested in spiritual engagement. It was explained to me that although this Tantra has it's roots in Hinduism, this particular type of Tantra is a kind of shamanism. And as you may know, I've studied, practiced and integrated Core Shamanism fully into my world view so this enabled me to move forward with the initiation. Shamanism has never seemed like a religion to me either, more of a wholistic view of life that is so natural and innate.
If you like this one check my blog regularly as over the next few weeks as each mandala is complete, I'll be posting in here on Steemit first.
Beautiful. I am feeling better already after reading your post and viewing this mandala.
Great :-))), best thing to hear
That's beautiful keep it up :)
thanks so much @rekaa!
Awesome work, upvoted!
@techwizardry thanks! yes interesting perspective on something I'm familiar with, thanks.
Do you assemble the pieces on top of the template? I really like the finished look of it. Awesome!
Thanks @cyberblock, I drew the image, rolled a slab of clay, drew it on to the clay, cut it out, fired it, glazed it, fired it again and assembled the pieces. Then I used thinset and grout to set it onto tile board.
That's just gorgeous! Is this the mandala you were going to do when you mentioned using my Plumeria flower for some of your reference material? I have been anxious to see the result. Your creative spirit is powerful ! Beautiful...just beautiful @natureofbeing .
Hi @bloomview, thanks! I was looking at flower images for a different mandala idea, not this one. (see my last studio post, although I didn't use the same flower as yours, this was the piece I was brainstorming for when I saw your image). I love flowers, petals, leaves...all so inspiring!
Your work is amazing. The level of professionalism is almost intimidating but in a good way. You set the bar high. Have a good day @natureofbeing and keep producing your inspiring work and posts. Salud!
Thanks so much, really appreciate the compliments and encouragement! Salud to you as well :-))
Jai Maa Durga....
indeed, Jai Ma Durga! thanks
Gorgeous @natureofbeing! I absolutely love this. It reminds me of a small component of a crop circle. I find sacred geometry so soothing and relaxing. How can you help but not feel connected to the source when you look at the organic design?
So glad you saw this so quickly :-) and that you like it! I too love sacred geometry and it seems most crop circles are also very specific geometries. And perfectly said - "How can you help but not feel connected to the source when you look at the organic design?"
Nice colors, layout, drawing and finish piece, throughly appreciated.
Thanks @reddust, glad you like it! I really appreciate feedback from fellow artists here.
Thank you for sharing
thanks for supporting my post!
I love these things!
@macksby!!! Haven't seen you in forever here! Thanks for checking in with my blog... How are things?
Im still around...:))
Looks like you are doing well, glad to see it -- Beautiful work!
Glad you're still here...and thanks so much for your kind words, I'll be in touch more often.
What a gorgeous artwork! I love that you gave a detailed background of the design. I'm not into shamanism and was surprised there are various walks under it (terribly sorry if I got that wrong). How long have you practiced Core Shamanism, if I may ask
Thanks @unspeakableme, glad to hear your feedback! Yes Shamanism is as old as humans and every indigenous group of people throughout history (all of us) began with Shamanism so there are hundreds of forms. I began my forays with Shamanism in 2003, so 14 years or so and now it's just a way of life.
Oh! That's interesting enough to make me want to read a lot more about it. Thanks for sharing :D
Absolute stunning, Ruth! I feel so lucky to have one of your designs integrated into my book. 😊
Thanks and it's an honor!
Beautiful work - and an illuminating article.
thank you @seattlesal! You're in Seattle....I'm thinking of putting together a PNW steemit meet-up for late July or early August, would you be interested in coming?
wow thank you!! beautiful craft and really powerful!! looking forward to see more of your work. I love mandalas and draw sacred geometry myself but I never thought of doing it like a mosaic..really cool! thanxx again! peace
Wonderful to hear, thanks so much! Sacred geometry is pretty amazing for sure.
Amazing work!! Love this soo much. I stayed at an Ashram in BC. Yasodhara Ashram in the west Kootenays. And the room i was in was the Durga suite. We made good friends. Great post @natureofbeing. Love this design keeo
Durga suite...wow, that must have been something and I imagine that's a beautiful Ashram. Thanks so much! I've been really surprised with the experience Durga and Kali energy recently - in yantra making. Both have reputations for such intensity but what I didn't expect was the accompanying sweetness and it has been so amazing. Strong, powerful and yes so loving also. Anyway, thanks for your comment and support!
Great post keep it up
Pla dear vote on my page for ur vote great honor to me
thanks @mero!
Welcom dear
Plz can check my page
Really nice work
thanks @pluemacher!
I could stare at this thing for hours while trippin. Well done.
:-), thanks @lizardkings72....does it come alive if you look at while trippin? I haven't tripped in 30 years, but some cool things can happen.
This is spectacular! So beautiful and well made. I really loved that you showed the steps of the creation process. Thank you so much for sharing!
Amazing piece!
thanks, great to hear from a talented artist!
Amazing art! I love how red and yellow blend :D
And I really need to study more about Durga, the ultimate Mother -sounds so interesting...you see, I'm writing my Master's thesis on Lilith now, the first wife of Adam that she was the anti-mother and demon goddess so it would be intriguing to see similarities and differences there (maybe I can even use them for my thesis haha!) Thank you Ruth, amazing stuff - blog stalking started - Steem on !!!
Hello @meanmommy, Lilith is amazing and has a lot in common with Durga and Kali who like Lilith have this dark reputation but actually are fierce in their love. What a great subject for a thesis...worth putting out some posts about lilith!! I'd certainly read them. I'll be posting on Kali, Chinnamasta and Bhairavi soon who are all multi-dimensional facets of the goddess. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and supporting, more to come.
I did do my first post on Lilith a few days ago, but wasn't very popular - I don't know how many people would care to be honest. I mean I know I'm obsessed with her but it doesn't mean everyone else is haha!! I'll look up the ones you mentioned now and keep a close eye on your next posts - I cannot believe I wasn't following you until now (I thought I did actually!!) Steem on talented girl and keep in touch ;)
Thanks @meanmommy33, just keep on posting good content and especially what means a lot to you...it takes awhile for people to find you, but it'll happen if you're posting the heartfelt stuff! I'll go and check out the lillith post, I didn't see it. (think I'm folllowing too many people so my feed is too long!)
I'm glad I found you ;) (or that we found each other for that matter hehe!) The feed works in mysterious ways, very often I miss very cool posts from people I follow and I don't understand why since I'm not following that many :/ I'll make a post about that soon ;)
yes me too...it's a long feed to be able to check everyday so I keep a list of my fav blogs and am sure to check those every day.
How to you keep a list of fav blogs?!? I mean, like on a note or something? Because I don't think there's this feature on stemmit yet, is there??? I should do that too, whichever way possible!!
Wow, this is awesome. You’ve got some skills. Thanks for sharing, will look forward to your future posts.
thanks so much @firepower for your kind words and for coming back for more!
btw, you have a great blog...so glad to meet you! following now...
Beautiful. Making mandalas and yantras really helps one connect to the energies :-) @waykiwayki