Divine Femininity: Goddess Lakshmi

Divine Femininity is getting popular now and you may have heard or read about it already. When I refer to Divine Femininity here, I am not talking about an abstract notion of femininity in the lights of yoga or new age movement. I am talking about a literal divine aspects of it that are represented in Hinduism in a beautiful way, to my view point – as three Goddesses.

According to Vedas, an ancient Indian knowledge system, femininity in a woman is represented in three ways, or aspects, and should be unfolded this way and be constantly present in every woman ideally. All three are equally important and should be nurtured and respected all together. Three female deities, or goddesses govern these three aspects: Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga. In Hinduism all together these are Tridevi, each representing creation, preservation and destruction respectively. These three goddesses also correspond to three life periods of woman’s life. Let’s look at them all, and we will begin today with goddess Lakshmi.

Goddess of Beauty and Prosperity

Even though I probably should not pick, but Lakshmi is my favorite. I am writing this article, listening to mantra for Goddess Lakshmi, burning rose scent incenses. And her image is hanging right in front of me in the wall. Years after I have received my Indian name, Ma Devi Sita (after Sita, wife of Rama), I finally learned that Sita is also a representation of goddess Lakshmi on Earth. More so, goddess Lakshmi is governing all things beautiful. And beauty in all its aspects is something I am always seeking everywhere.

Goddess Lakshmi is a deity of beauty, wealth, prosperity, luck, joy, love in all its shapes and forms. This is the aspect that we are most familiar with when we refer to femininity or think about standards of female beauty.

Lakshmi is incredibly beautiful, her skin has a golden glow, her eyes are like lotus flowers, the colors of her clothes are of pink and red shades. In a classic sacred imagery, she sits on a lotus flower, and elephants on her sides are pouring milk over her. She is the goddess of true and highest goodness, an ultimate representation of femininity and beauty.

How to attract Lakshmi?

Because this goddess loves all things beautiful, it is important for a woman to decorate herself and her own space where she lives. Everything from makeup, body products, beautiful clothes, visiting beauty and spa salons, wearing jewelry is very beneficial for developing and nurturing Lakshmi aspect of femininity. This is where one part of woman’s power come from. Doing all this, she will not only increase her divine feminine frequency but also inspire and enlighten everyone around her, and especially men. She will be truly like a Sun to this world. She is able to create an atmosphere of love and warmth that every man will be happy to stay around.

It is important to note, that Lakshmi beauty is directed mainly to a husband or a partner, with the reasons of provoking feelings and emotions. For the rest of the world, this beauty presents itself in a more serene, humble way. In other words, this kind of beauty doesn’t not provoke lust or uncontrollable passion. This beauty is rather spiritual, actually.

What does Lakshmi love?

Words, that can describe Lakshmi best are: sweet, fragrant, oily, fresh and youthful. Foods that can attract and increase the energy of goddess Lakshmi are dairy products, ghee, grapes, dates, honey, almonds, mango, figs. All the sweets that are sattvic, or wholesome and fresh. Ghee, or clarified butter, in particular is incredibly good for woman’s beauty. Using it both internally and externally is very beneficial.

An especially good ritual for increasing this glowing internal beauty, that comes out from within as a true Lakshmi type beauty, is performing a ritual of oil self-massage daily. It is called abhyanga and I have already written about it a little here and here. If not daily, at least twice a week. You may use coconut or sesame oil and add a few drops of your favorite floral essential oil, warm it up and there you have it, a truly divine ritual of femininity. After some time of doing this self-massage, your whole body will become saturated with the oil from within and will be sort of oiled down internally. This internal oiliness with make you walk and move around slower and more beautiful, I promise you. I have done it. It is simultaneously grounding, pacifying and very sensual. It creates this gliding walk, like a river.

Goddess Lakshmi also really loves donations. Ideally, donations should be given in a proper way, at proper time and in proper place. The best location for that would be something very spiritual and sacred for you, whether it is your Guru or Teacher, or a temple or a church. This ensures that money, as an energy, will go to something in the purest and highest form of goodness.

Since beauty is the main quality of this Goddess, she likes everything beautiful. These are red or pink flowers, beautiful harmonious paintings, cleanliness, decorations. Everything that brings joy and harmony when you look at it. And another simple thing we can do to increase this aspect of femininity in us: to find a woman who has all these qualities in her for us. Someone who is like a muse or an inspiration, a role model of all the things Lakshmi. When you see someone who is spiritually and physically beautiful, from inside and out, with a beautiful proper speech, who is generous, loyal, loving and noble, make sure to friend her and stay in her presence as long as you can. This way feminine energy of Lakshmi, or Shakti, will also penetrate us and invite Lakshmi energy in our life.

One of the most important qualities of Lakshmi, that brings her luck and prosperity, is being humble and submissive to a husband. This is something that is foreign to a modern Western world, unfortunately.However there is a lot of wisdom and feminine power in this act. Lakshmi is completely submissive to her husband Vishnu, in Hinduism, which then shows the importance of the divine masculine of Vishnu. The act of serving him shows that she acknowledges this in him. She respects and obeys him because of his representation of the God to her. Ability to truly serve is something that brings Lakshmi’s blessing in woman’s life. However, woman should serve wisely and should not do it with just anyone. This is a subject of another future article though.

Lakshmi rituals

I will now make a conclusion and add some additional tips on how to attract and incorporate this lovely energy of Goddess Lakshmi into our life, ladies.

♥ Love unconditionally and serve unconditionally. Make sure you love and serve someone who has auspicious qualities, otherwise this will not attract Lakshmi at all. In fact, this will attract more negative aspects to one’s karma and we don’t want that.

♥ Generosity is something that Lakshmi really loves. You will certainly receive her blessing and energy if you become generose. Other ways of doing this is to share and offer food, especially sweets and fruits, with other women and children.

♥ Make sure you want to create and surround yourself with beauty everywhere. This means, creating beautiful living space, beautiful relationships, wearing beautiful clothes, cooking beautiful food. You may also increase your inner sense of beauty and cultivate it by visiting aesthetically pleasing venues, performances, museums, galleries, etc.

♥ Lakshmi does not like diets. However, she also does not like obesity. She simply likes healthy and beautiful body, not in a standard magazine way, but in a truly natural way. She loves feminine curves and shapes, and a healthy curvy body.

♥ Best foods to favor this Goddess are healthy sweets, dairy products, ghee. All tender and lush flowers of reds and pinks and whites shades.

♥ She absolutely loves jewelry, and especially gold. Make sure not to wear gold bracelet on your ankle though. This is considered a sign of disrespect towards goddess Lakshmi.

♥ She loves when you visit beautiful places in nature. Everything that takes your breath away, or something that brings peace to your heart and soul is very beneficial. It can anything from pretty man-made gardens to wild lakes, mountains and forests.

♥ And last but not least –  you can recite mantra of Lakshmi goddess to attract her energy in your life. The best of the best time would be Friday mornings. Friday is governed by planet Venus, which also governs all three deities including Lakshmi. It is considered the most feminine day of the week. You should chant this mantra 108 times in the morning and you will fill yourself with the tender energies of Lakshmi:

Om Shreem Maha Lakshmiyei Namaha

In my next article I will share about two other feminine deities. Stay wholesome and feminine, loves.

♥♥♥