MATANGI 🦜

 MATANGI – HOME MEDITATIONS

 

OUTCAST SHAKTI

Oh Matangi,

Green of complexion

You glisten like an Emerald in the rain.

You accept all our impurities,

You are the heart Chakra that openly receives

the leftovers that we have to offer,

the ones that are no use to anyone but you.

To you we can bring our shame and our pain,

You can hear our broken refrain!

You are the one who Loves like no other.

Not only do you Love in the sweet scented places,

But you Love in the rotting flesh of yesteryear.

You never withhold your Love.

To you we bow.

Dear lovers of Shakti,

The practices here outlined, evoke the rays and become a way to deeper forms of nourishing ourselves. 

The second home ritual below is one of building an altar and working with food, nutrition and the Chakras.

We are of course nourished by the food we eat, but the psychic frequency of our spirit, when we eat, imbues the food with energy. 

Meals are potent opportunities for Yogic practice, as the ritual of the Matangi altar below highlights

The subject of nutrition is of great importance to Tantric practitioners. 

Food is a magnet for the energies that we resonate to. 

Meals can magically nourish the particular focus that we have in mind, and teach us about the field of resonance that we are creating, and which in turn, is creating us.

Matangi is the all embracing and evergreen heart.

If we take a momentary pause to feel into the vibration of the sacred heart in the moments that make up our lives, then the Shakti goes there. 

Energy follows focus it is often said, and here it is said once again.

1. THE GREEN MEDITATION 

We are dealing with the green ray here in this meditation. 

The creativity to weave this  practice into your life rests with you.

You might apply this for long stretches in meditation.

Then again, you might momentary align to the green vibration of the Heart anytime in your daily travels.

For example, when in an elevator, or when waiting for the tragic lights to turn green.

The following practice is one of Rangi Mudra – literally the attitude and practice of colour. 

• Focus on the Heart-chakra. Start by bringing your awareness to the very center of your chest. Go beneath the skin and locate a point within the centre of your breast. Start to focus on whatever feeling arises and accept it openly,  just as the Goddess Matagi is the vey force of loving acceptance of all that is. Gradually start to visualise a green glow emanating from your heart centre. Let the green glow grow and expand to the frontiers of awareness and beyond. Let your body, heart and soul become immersed in green. Let absolutely everything be permeated by the healing green ray of the Heart-Chakra. Perhaps everything you know and ever have known melts into green. melt into this colour to the utmost. 
  

Life after life, row after row, 

although although!

go with the flow, 

come to know the green that grows,

 the green above and below, 

follow careful, follow slow, 

let the green wind blow,

say hello to Swan and Crow, 

embrace both the friend and the foe, 

in greenest grace of nature’s glow, 

with the green that overflows & swings to and fro, 

undergo the initiation of the green doe,

let Matangi show you what she know,

Let her bestow the Emerald glow

2. HER GREEN ALTAR

Matangi is green, she is green, she is green.

What does green mean?

Green abounds in nature and signals growth.

Study within yourself the connotations that the colour green has for you.

Particularly a Green Woman, what can this mean?

We often inherit varying ideas, of such things as the Green Woman, according to the cultural climate with which we have been acquainted.

Matangi is the real outsider woman who breaks our psychic acquaintances. 

Her particular specialty lays with taboo areas. 

The very notion of Taboo does not exist for her. 

She is the liminal woman, neither pure nor impure. 

Neither is she perversely obsessed either with purity or pollution.

Moral precepts, social structures, spiritual/religious ideologies, gender roles, sexual appropriations, ancestral patterns and ideas of clean and unclean are uprooted by awakening the Shakti of Matangi.

She is not a Goddess to take lightly by any means.

Her Mantric practice is kept safely guarded because the chanting of it’s syllables awaken the unification of divisions. 

Hers is a careful and steady path, that if jumped into mindlessly, can tear the fabric of our established reality and lunge us into the consequences of what that entails. 

A precious silken sheet was blown by an Eastern wind,

it landed so gracefully upon a thorny bush of reddest rose.

She unpicked it with the patent hand that had touched infinite ages

Our psychic fabric has been slowly woven and embroidered for long years, and so, it is to be unpicked carefully, stitch by stitch.

When we approach the Tantric Goddess, we must first bow before we charge in.

Tearing things apart is not necessarily the way of approaching Shakti.

Matangi is worshiped with taboo items, and is particularly well known as being offered Ucchista or Jhuuttha (left over food scraps)

When we offer anything upon an altar to the Goddess, we are to be careful to observe if we approach with the mentality that what we offerer is unquestionably accepted and reward be reciprocated.

This is a very subtle Tantric secret that deserves much introspection by those who pursue the magic and mysteries of the Goddess.

In the secular world, a hundred dollars might buy us a pie or two. 

We can demand if we have the means. 

We might be used to expecting to get what we pay for.

The Goddess can never be bought with old coins, she requires living Love and not a storage of sentiments.

In our daily dealings,  if our order does not fit the bill, we obviously stand for our rights.

This kind of mentality may be very fitting in the dealings between palms and silver, but it does not fit in Tantric Goddess worship.

If we make an offering, it can’t be assumed to be recieved if we are not definitive and complete about it in all the levels of our being. The heart does t always move like clockwork. Perhaps the language of love and devotion has no laws.

If we just approach with our power and effort and will to get what we will, but do not come with an exposed heart, the Goddess will not be interested, and her gateway will remain closed.

HER MIRROR JEWEL

It is up to us to get to know all the aspects of our being and marry them into a unity.

Tantra is a path of studying our many facets and looking honestly at which facets we do not nourish or bring to the altar of the Goddess.

Her altar is ever before us,

Each gesture of the hand touches her,

Some facets of our soul might be so smeared as to not reflect the light of the Moon.

As we uncover the jewel of our soul, we come to be able to offer our full radiance to the Goddess.

Radiance is a play of dark and light!

She is a mirror who gives back all that we radiate to her, on top of this, she gives something more. What is the something more? 

When the unnourished facets of our being are touched upon, it can cause tiredness or aversion. 

We might all too easily turn away from such things, and admit that they are not for us. 

We might exit without an investigation into why we are challenged and are brought to a state of aversion.

Tantric practices approach our inner aversions.

Turning away from things that challenge us, is to turn away from our power.

Tantra has never been a pleasure seeking subject as it is nowadays misconstrued in the Western market place. 

Tantra is not just a pleasureful path of fun and peace. 

Tantra is a serious and ongoing work with no rest. 

On the Path of Kundalini there is no retirement and rest. 

But the reward of the magical gaze of the Goddess is infinite.

These are some of the things to be taken into account when working with Goddesses such as Matangi, who is amongst the most Ugra of Devi’s. 

Ugra is not a word easily translated to English. It means terrifying, fearsome, monstrous, radically beautiful.

Matangi is the dark side of feminine Wisdom. 

Matangi is the other half of Sarasvati who is the Goddess of wisdom and music.

We see a similar iconography of the two Goddesses, they both play the 7 stringed instrument known as the Veena, by way of which, they transfer wisdom to the 7 Chakras through the seven strings.

Where one Goddess deals with the bright expansive side of wisdom, the other deals with the dark introverted side of wisdom.

In this meditation upon Matangi we build a Puja (ritualistic altar) to her 

Upon this altar to Matangi we offer our left-overs and all our inner shit.

This is not the same as dumping our crap somewhere to be dealt with for us. 

If we make a sincere effort to deal with our obstacles, then Matangi may mirror back to us the blessing of our efforts.

BUILDING HER ALTAR  – UCCHISTA SADHANA 

Set aside a space in your dwelling for an Altar for Matangi. 

Take a green cloth or piece of paper. Perhaps a green candle and some green leaves in a green vase. 

You might print an image of Matangi for the altar.

For a period of 7 days, if you do this ritual consecutively, offer the left overs of your daily meal. 

You may do this practice for 7 consecutive days, or you may choose to spread it out for as long as you wish.

You may let each food offering rot away upon the altar of Matangi and open a teaching to the Chakra it is related to.

You may be creative in procuring the seven colours of the foods.

Organic food dyes are easily available these days if you want to take an easy option!

Each Chakra corresponds to a psychic dimension of our being and resonates with a particular colour frequency, and sound.

The Chakras can hold recordings of experiences that make up the fabric of our being.

For example, unresolved sexual energy investments can be stored in the sexual Chakra. To say it this way is very much a simplification of the matter, but the second Chakra is a doorway to our sexual energy, and can be greatly coloured with the history of our sexual self. 

Ancestral patterns and cultural repression’s around sexuality may come to settle in the Sexual Chakra and act as rotting leftovers that bar our entrance to the subtle secrets of this sacred doorway.

By working with this and the other Chakras, we are delving into the archives that write our reality into being. 

In working with the Chakras, we sometimes unearth the ancient manuscripts of our being. 

Sometimes we uncover traumas and painful experiences that cause us sorrow and anger. Just like the cleaning of a house, it can take work and effort to bring clarity and renewal. Tantra is a path of courage.

In the same way that the Sexual Chakra can hold the experiences and imprints related to Sexuality,  the Heart Chakra also can have its imprints. It can register old wounds that colour our ability to love, the ancestral imprints of love that we grew up with can repeat the cycle in our lives if things are left unconscious and unresolved.

The Third Eye can hold our beliefs, views and education. We could say that the Third Eye can be the slayer of reality, and give us a biased perspective.

Drugs can cause wounds to this psychic energy centre and leave an impact that if left unhealed can affect our clarity of psychic vision.

We ourselves can know our issues best when we look with sobriety. 

If we look honestly into ourselves without spiritually dissociating from the very real issues and and themes that we carry,  we come to the healing release. 

The path of Tantra comes to face the Ucchista elements within… these are what in this here ritual we call the ‘left-over’, polluted and even rotting things in our Chakras.

In this ritual of Matangi, we will work with the left-overs of all the Chakras.

If we are sincere about it, this 7 stage meditation upon the Chakras, under the potent force of Matangi, can do very much to resolve in the spirit the echoes of left-over energies.

Moving out of ancestral patterns and blocks is a massive undertaking.

We might see how we ourselves follow the path of our ancestors. 

If we are old enough to have children, we might see them repeating the patterns that we did not resolve. 

Matangi, it is to be remembered is a radical outsider. 

That is not necessarily the same as the rebel. 

When we work with Matangi, we are brought to the essence of rebellion. 

To be against something because we can’t get along with it, or because we can not accept it, is not real rebellion, but rather an escapist reaction of victimhood. 

The real rebellion is Love, this is the a rebellion of the heart. 

Love walks within all circles, while at the same time being outside of the circumference of restrictive order.

Matangi is totally outside the norms of familiar patterns. She pukes in the face of conservatism.

To approach her is to tumble the structures of the confined self.

BASE CHAKRA

• On the first day of the ritual, we will work with the first Chakra and the colour red. Choose a red food such as a red apple, beetroot or cherries.
• As you eat the red food, focus upon your Base Chakra. Visualise the colour red, and go into all that you feel in your foundational Base Chakra. 
• When the meal is over, leave some red food to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your red Base Chakra.
• If you take a pause of days or even weeks, between moving onto the next Chakra, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the leftover echoes of the Base Chakra.

SEXUAL CHAKRA

• On the second day of the ritual, we will work with the second Chakra and the colour orange. Choose an orange food. Perhaps a lentil soup or a peach.
• As you eat the orange food, focus upon your Sexual Chakra. Visualise the colour orange, and go into all that you feel in the land of the second Chakra. 
• When the meal is over, leave some orange food scraps to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your Sexual Chakra. 

• If you take a pause of days or even weeks, between moving onto the next Chakra, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the leftover echoes of the Sexual Chakra.

SOLAR-PLEXUS CHAKRA 

• On the third day of the ritual, we will work with the 3rd Chakra and the colour yellow. Choose yellow food such as a corn or pineapple.
• As you eat the yellow food, focus upon your Solar-Plexus Chakra, and visualise the colour yellow. Go into all that you feel in your 3rd Chakra. 
• When the meal is over, leave some yellow food to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your Solar-Plexus Chakra.

• If you take a pause of days or even weeks, between moving onto the next Chakra, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the leftover echoes of the Solar-Plexus Chakra.

HEART CHAKRA

• On the fourth day of the ritual, we will work with the 4th Chakra and the colour green. Choose green food, if possible choose Mung Beans.
• As you eat the green food, focus upon your Heart Chakra, and visualise the colour green. Go into all that you feel in your Heart.
• When the meal is over, leave some green food to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your Heart.

• If you take a pause of days or even weeks, between moving onto the next Chakra, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the leftover echoes of the Heart Chakra.

THROAT CHAKRA 

• On the fifth day of the ritual, we will work with the 5th Chakra and the colour blue. Choose blue food, such as a blueberry yogurt or a muffin with blue icing.
• As you eat the blue food, focus upon your Throat Chakra, and visualise the colour blue. Go into all that you feel in your 5th Chakra. 
• When the meal is over, leave some blue food to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your Throat Chakra.

• If you take a pause of days or even weeks, between moving onto the next Chakra, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the leftover echoes of the Throat Chakra.

THIRD-EYE CHAKRA 

• On the sixth day of the ritual, we will work with the 6th Chakra and the colour indigo. Choose an indigo food, such as some black beans, aubergine or dark grapes.
• As you eat the indigo food, focus upon your Third-Eye Chakra, and visualise the colour Indigo. Go into all that you feel in your 6th Chakra. 
• When the meal is over, leave some indigo food to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your Third-Eye Chakra.

• If you take a pause of days or even weeks, between moving onto the next Chakra, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the leftover echoes of the Third-Eye Chakra.

CROWN CHAKRA 

• On the 7th day of the ritual, we will work with the 7th Chakra and the colour violet. Choose violet coloured food. See what you can discover, perhaps a violet sweet or violet coloured ice cream.
• As you eat the violet food, focus upon your Crown Chakra, and visualise the colour Violet. Go into all that you feel in your 7th Chakra. 
• When the meal is over, leave some violet food to offer upon the altar of Matangi.
•  Place the leftovers upon the altar of Matangi, and sit down to meditate upon any leftover energies in your Crown Chakra.

• If you take a pause of days, weeks or months, before the completion of the ritual, then meditate upon the altar on the rotting food regularly. Let it speak to you about the left over echoes of the Crown Chakra.

COMPLETION OF THE RITUAL

• After the 7 stages of this ritual are completed, let the alter stand.
• You may let the sacred altar of Matangi completely rot, it may take mound and even attract insects.
• Let it stand as long as you feel it to stay. 
• Meditate upon it daily for as long as it stands. As you ponder and contemplate the alter of Matangi, it may become a bridge to her scared heart. 
• In the meditation on the altar of Matangi, gather all the insights and energies you experience and have experienced in the course of this ritual. Gather them deeply into your rainbow constellation of your Chakras, and meditate upon them all. 
• Then one day at twilight, go somewhere out in nature, and offer the scraps to a place of power that you find.
• Wait long enough to see if any animals come to feast. 
• If a Crow comes to feast on the scraps, it is said to confer a deep blessing.