April 16-17 is Panchami Lakshmi and this is a special time to honor the great Goddess Lakshmi!
This special time occurs within the framework of the Indian New Year celebration called Chaitra Navratri. Chaitra Navratri is a nine day festival that marks the beginning of the New year and the divine feminine throughout many places in India.
Chaitra Navratri festival also honors Goddess Durga and her main manifestations, or avatars. This time is about new beginnings and starting the new year with the right attitudes and actions alongside the blossoming of spring.
Regardless of your spiritual path or religion, this is a powerful time of year to honor the divine feminine and harness the abundant, flowering energy of spring!
Lakshmi in the Vedic tradition of India is the Goddess associated with wealth, fortune, beauty, fertility and contentment. Devi Skandamata is the Devi to be honored on April 16 - she is the mother of Lord Skanda, the great warrior!
Benefits of worshiping Goddess Lakshmi and Devi Skandamata on Lakshmi Panchami are:
* To support attainment of Spiritual Goals
* To enhance courage, bravery and achievement
* To achieve good health, happiness, longevity and well being
* Honor and cultivate beauty and intelligence
* A good time to put money in savings or to purchase precious gems and gold for financial gain.
Panchami tithi (5th day of the waxing Moon phase) and Panchami Lakshmi times are from April 16, 2021 at 05:36 AM Pacific Time, until April 17, 2021 08:02 AM Pacific Time.
Best Time for Gains: April 16, 2021 08:01 AM to 09:44 AM PDT or
April 16, 10:35 PM to 11:52 PM PDT
Best Times for Knowledge and Peace: April 16, 2021, 09:44 AM to 11:27 AM PDT or April 17, 02:25AM to 3:42AM PDT
I prefer the times given on Friday morning for honoring Lakshmi since this is the day of Venus, and the planet Venus has an association with Goddess Lakshmi. Especially while the Moon is in Rohini nakshatra on Friday through 11:09am Friday morning, Pacific Time.
*Auspicious times are from the website Drik panchang.
How to Honor Goddess Lakshmi on Panchami Lakshmi?
With a prayer:
Beautiful goddess seated on a chariot, Delighted by songs on lustful elephants, Bedecked with lotuses, pearls and gems, Lustrous as fire, radiant as gold, Resplendent as the sun, calm as the moon, Mistress of cows and horses — Take away poverty and misfortune Bring joy, riches, harvest and children. ~ Unknown
By coloring her Yantra (Yantra is sacred geometry that depicts the Goddess)
One way to honor Goddess Lakshmi-Shri is draw, color or paint her Yantra (sacred geometry from India).
To honor Goddess Lakshmi I am offering you a free download of a black and white line drawing to color on this special day.
See link below for the download. use the image here as an example for the colors - the Yantra is ideally painted or colored as shown.
At the same time as coloring the yantra, chanting a mantra to Goddess Lakshmi is also important.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE YANTRA LAKSHMI COLORING PAGE
By Chanting a Mantra
Another way to honor Goddess Lakshmi is to chant a mantra to her - while coloring her yantra.
There are many Lakshmi mantras online but one powerful and short mantra is "Shreem".
Be sure to chant a mantra to Devi Skandmata who is honored on the day associated with Lakshmi.
This is her mantra: Om Skandamatre Namaha
Another name for Lakshmi is Shree. The Sanskrit word Shree is considered to be a divine blessing for material life. The Sanskrit symbol in the first photo of this blog post pictures the symbol for the name Shree in gold. Goddess Lakshmi is an ancient Indian Goddess, who has been mentioned in the Rig Veda, possibly with references dating back as early as 500 B.C.
Goddess Lakshmi is one of a trio of powerful Goddesses: Lakshmi the Goddess of wealth and fertility, Durga (or Kali) the Goddess of Power and Saraswati the Goddess of Knowledge. Together they form the Supreme Mother Goddess.
An important note - Goddess Lakshmi is often depicted with with one palm open and with an owl by her side. There is important symbolism and a warning associated with the owl.
The owl signifies power, intelligence and patience and signals that Lakshmi is not just about attaining wealth and other material gains for oneself, but also gives a warning to share with those who have less. This is an important time for helping those who are under-served in our communities, in whatever way we are able. Whether through donation of money, services or goods, or by donating our time.
From the book, Lakshmi: The Goddess of Wealth and Fortune: An Introduction ~ Devdutt Pattanaik
"Lakshmi is the divine power that transforms dreams into reality. She is prakriti, the perfect creation: self-sustaining, self-contained Nature. She is maya, the delightful delusion, the dream-like expression of divinity that makes life comprehensible, hence worth living. She is shakti, energy, boundless and bountiful. To realize her is to rejoice in the wonders of life."