Aranyani Goddess of the forests She is an ancient Sanskrit goddess who did not fear the mysteries of the forests. She lived with the animals in even dangerous areas
No, she did not kiyi around wearing leaves and palms of trees with gold jewelry. She danced when no one could see her. She wore tiny bells on her ankles and villagers still hear her in the forest.
Aranyani was the guardian of sacred sanctuaries (even ours) , of jungles and all forests. Forests carry feminine energy. If you have spent alone time in one, you would have felt it.
The ancients worshiped Mother Nature; her animals, her rivers and lakes and pools, the wind and her many moods, the soft and hard rain, and each had a symbol to express them. The Sun was God of it all. What was not known to human beings, was assigned sacred names and places and belief systems around them.
Even today, the Indian temples are surrounded by trees and associations of the temple gods and goddesses, were plants, trees, flowers fruits, seed and flora. Aranyani is in charge of the environment and her many helpers are feminine and reign mightily when things are done that should not be done, to nature and the animals within them. There is more to taking care of climate and the environment than we even guessed. Her story, which will be familiar in different cultures and settings, is common:
There was a King and Queen who were unable to have a child, but they went into the forest where all things feminine are dealt with, and pleaded with Druga (remember her?) to help them conceive. The prayed to Durja and Durja appeared to these good people and a son was born to them. They were so enthralled and in love with their baby boy, as parents are, whose greatest desires is a child and receiving that answer to their prayers.
Durga appeared in the mother’s dreams one night. This time, she asked of her what was most precious. The mother was asked to give the child up for sacrifice. She told them that he needed to be sawed in half.
We cannot imagine the suffering it took to make any decision like this. They talked as a family, including their son. The made the decision that this was the way it was supposed to be. They walked to the temple and the King raised his saw and, just as he did, Durga appeared in the flesh and told them that this was only a test of their faith. Their reward for faithfulness was that they all would have eternal happiness. Today, we can go and stand in the spot where it is called “the place of the saw” (Arrah). There is a temple there and on the east side of the temple there is a shrine with the Goddess Aryanani , made of black stone, sculpted at the main shrine.
We have all sacrificed in many different ways. I have, many times, said I wished I did not know so much. We have seen things that we wish we hadn’t seen. We are exposed to things we wish we were not exposed to.
But, my “knowing” became a gift in my career where, a chid did not have to have the words, where a folded woman told it all, where the way someone dressed and did their make up might give me a clue to a nonverbal wounded person. Yes, there is a gift in knowing too much sometimes.
If you are one who wishes that they did not know too much, consider what it is you know and how you can use it to help others.
©Carol Desjarlais 10.6.21
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