The Sanskrit word mantra is comprised of two words: Stories that cover everything from breathing patterns to the shapes we take with our bodies (asanas), and our hands (mudras), to the sounds (mantras) that connect us vibrationally to the physical world. The tradition of yoga is steeped in story. We have myths for why the sun travels across the sky each day.
We have myths explaining why winter turns into spring. Myths are one of the ways we try to explain the things in the world that seem to defy our understanding. All of these connections are born out of the stories or myths that we’ve heard and they exist in nearly every culture imaginable. When we hear the word Goddess, we typically think of is everything from the Virgin Mary to Xena Warrior Princess. On my second visit to India, I attended a puja (ceremony) honoring the goddess Kali. Try going to India and not visiting a temple they are everywhere! Like sets of Russian dolls, there are tiny temples increasing in size, all leading towards the actual temple you’re seeking. When I was in India the first time, I visited many many temples including one of the most renowned temples of Goddess Durga, the Jwalamukhi Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh. In Thailand, I saw temple paintings of the Goddess Manimekhala, said to be the goddess of lightning and the seas. I’ve traveled a lot and worked all over the world, and have seen a lot of Goddesses. I believe that’s the great power of deities and what we love about them. I knew that it wasn’t really Wonder Woman on that subway, it was just a tall woman in a crazy red and blue sequined outfit, but in that moment I was suddenly open to more than just my self-serving perspective. As if ensnared by her Lasso of Truth, I decided to forgo my punkass plan, got off at the next stop and slowly retraced my way back to school. I felt the immediate collision between my adolescent agenda to misbehave and Wonder Woman’s destiny to fight injustice. Sitting on the downtown line a flash of red caught my eye. Three trains and a subway later, I was in the city and looking to get into trouble. I had lied my way into scoring a weekend pass away from my all-girls boarding school in upstate New York. When I was 15, I met a goddess on the NYC subway.