On September 6, the Jewish tradition will celebrate the new year. The new moon, according to Vedic astrology, will be in Magha nakshatra (primordial signs).
Magha energy is royal. It invites us to be courageous and to step up to the throne of our own kingdom while honouring our lineage, the journey of our ancestors.
A true king is one who leads with an open heart and remembers to bow and stay humble, not to fall trap to arrogance that will inevitably breed suffering.
During the same days, Hindus worldwide will start preparing for the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration, also known as Ganesha’s birthday. Ganesh is the remover of obstacles and the one, according to scriptures, who wrote the Vedas. He is very wise, has a memory of an elephant and with his broken tusk, he reminds us to stay humble and, in a way, also to honour the teachers and tradition.
Interestingly both traditions recognise that the days after the holiday are very powerful for spiritual evolution;
The Jewish celebrate the new year by invoking sweetness, gratitude and abundance for the coming year, some believers will do a Tashlikh- an act of throwing their sins into a body of water, after Rosh Hashana they will dive into deep contemplation in preparation for Yum Kippur, which will occur on September 15, 10 days after the New year.
Hindus will worship Ganesha in the form of a clay idol for the next ten days. During the last day, they will celebrate Ganesha’s return to Mount Kailash by immersing the clay statue in a river or ocean. (Mostly in Maharashtra).
So beautiful to see these traditions recognise the potency of these days while expressing it in such different ways.
It is vital for us to acknowledge how creative nature is and that we all manifest our divinity differently. Nature reminds us of our diversity in all her expressions…no two leaves are the same, no two snowflakes are the same. She reminds us to celebrate our diversity.
It is our differences that create unity, it is because of nature’s infinite ability to be creative that we can be different and therefore unite.
And how boring will it be if we all look, think, behave the same?
So, may we address this new moon as an opportunity to stay humble and recognise that through our differences, we unite. We are different parts of the same whole. It is our judgements and opinions driven by the mind that divides us, not our diversity.
“When you realise you don’t have to have an opinion about everything, you don’t have to like or dislike everything, agree or disagree with everything. Then a great spaciousness opens up to you”.
- Anandji