Lakshmi- Goddess of Abundance
Divine Feminine Oracle Deck
I Choose to Feel Abundant.
Wealth is an Inside Job.
I spent the entire last year focused on these guiding principles, which were offered to me through an amazing Juicy Oracle Reading by Meghan Genge. I gifted myself the reading at the end of 2021 to help guide and focus me for 2022. Throughout the entire 12 card oracle reading, Lakshmi, Goddess of Abundance shined her light and brought insight. I spent the year focused on learning more about Lakshmi and connecting to her energy of abundance and gratitude. I connected to her through yoga, meditation, journaling and visual creativity.
Goddess Lakshmi
Lakshmi is the ancient Hindu Goddess of prosperity, good fortune and beauty. She is the mother goddess, wife and feminine counterpart of the god Vishnu. As one of the most beloved goddess in Hinduism, Lakshmi signifies the qualities of auspiciousness: good fortune, health, vitality, energy, radiance, loving kindness, authority and prosperity.
In Sally Kempton’s book Awakening Shakti, The transformative Power of the Goddess of Yoga she offers wonderful history, descriptions, stories and suggestions to connect with the goddess.
The image of Lakshmi is typically depicted as a beautiful woman standing on a lotus flower in the blue water with elephants. Her skin is glowing and her black, lustrous hair is streaming down to her waist. She has almond shaped eyes, honeyed lips and wears a red silk dress adorned with a white garland around her neck. She has either two or fours arms and her hands are open in an offering gesture.
Her name is derived from the Sanskrit root ‘laks’ and ‘laksa,’ meaning to know, understand, or to have a goal.
The bja mantra for Lakshmi is shrim pronounced “shreem” It is the seed sound, or the the essence of Lakshmi’s presence inside a sound. Contained within this seed is the unique energy and potential of Lakshmi.
She offers us an opportunity to connect to her energy and absorb the beauty into our self and life. We can tap into the Shakti, the divine power. It’s the life force of sacred divine energy. This energy is filled with freedom, beauty, love and the power of creativity and manifestation. She offers us practical teachings for our life and realize our goals.
The goddess energy is to preserve life. The ancient goddess’s name Shri is an abstract noun meaning good fortune, material possession, physical health, energy, radiance and loving kindness.
There are many ways to work with Lakshmi, and I have been experimenting with some of the ones listed below.
Lakshmi Visualization Meditation
One simple way to connect to Lakshmi is through visual meditation.
Begin in a comfortable seated position on a cushion or chair. Allow your sit bones to be heavy and rooted in your seat. Make sure that your posture is balanced and comfortable. Place your hands gently on you lap, palms up.
Begin by taking in a deeper breather through your nose. Exhale your breath out your mouth. Repeat for a couple more times and then allow your breath to flow.
Close your eyes if you like or have a soft gaze. Have a sense of welcoming the breath in and letting it go.
Begin by chanting “shrim” or the bija, seed sound for Laskshmi.
Sit quietly and feel the sound carry within you and around the room.
Breath in. Welcome in the radiant quality into your body.
See a glowing, rosy, golden light encircling your seat. Allow feelings of abundance to enter in your heart and in the open palms of your hands.
Imagine the abundance in your life. Imagine the gratitude for the people and material goods that you possess. Now, envision sharing this goodwill towards others.
When you are ready to end the meditation, whisper “Thank you” and bring the beauty and abundance into your day.
Full Moon Lakshmi Meditation
On the days including and surrounding the full moon, it’s a wonderful opportunity to connect to the qualities of Lakshmi. Use of this mantra can help to cultivate energetic qualities of creativity and abundance in our lives. A mantra is a sound, word or phrase that is repeated throughout meditation.
Jappa meditation is the repetition of words or phrases. It can be combined with a mala string which is composed of 108 beads. This is a tool to use to train or focus the mind during meditation, by speaking the mantra on each bead as you work your way around the necklace.
Mala beads
This mantra practice can be done audibly or silently. Chanting the words aloud requires presence and attention during the meditation. An internal practice of silently chanting the mantra is more challenging and can lead to a deeper, subtle opportunity to train the mind.
This practice weaves together all the energies and qualities of Lakshmi.
Om
Sri
Maha
Lakshmiaye
Namaha
Om - I offer salutations to the great goddess of good fortune.
Invoking qualities of Laksmi which include:
Fertility
Generosity
Abundance
Qualities to nourish life
Sustainability and Service
Another way to bring Lakshmi into the world would be through acts of service. This could either be physical acts of offering service or carrying the idea of radiance throughout your day. This can help to shift attitudes, especially with other people in your life. These practices can help to cultivate an auspicious mind.
Sustainability is at the core of the gifts that Lakshmi can bestow. She reminds me to seek out sustainability in my life by connecting to the idea that the Universe will provide and support me. I can take care of what I have, and limit the overuse and consumerism in my life.
You can practice this idea of having enough by feeling the satisfaction and fullness of life. In additional to material abundance, having an inner experience of fullness and beauty. Feeling the abundance in our lives, not only related to the physical belongings and wealth, but the connection to people and nature.
Keeping in Lakshmi’s Favor
The gifts bestowed by Lakshmi won’t stay without practices to support them. Honoring the qualities of generosity, balance, gratitude and loving kindness in your life will allow you to maintain your abundant life. If on the other hand, you allow judgment, envy, greed, anger and criticism to enter into your life, it will disrupt the flow of her gifts.
Some ways to keep an abundant life are through discipline, budgeting money, conservation of natural resources and housekeeping. I love the idea that Lakshmi won’t stay in a dirty and messy home! This helps me reduce the items that I own to the ones that are useful or bring meaning into my life. I take care of the things that I do own, and attempt to fix or repurpose the old or broken items in the house.
Getting Clear
During the year, I took the time to realign to what mattered to me. To find the practices and communities that supported this process. Last year brought many challenges and obstacles into my life. My youngest son’s three month trip to Alaska came at a pivotal time. This time of Inbetweeness was the beginning of my new website and business. Turning 50 over the summer, I began to turn my attention inside. I focused on myself and what I wanted out of my life.
“Lakshmi personifies the splendour and affluence that arrives when we align our every action with what the soul desires most for us.”
And
“Lakshmi represents both the gold we can hold in our hands and the gold we can become by doing work that feeds our soul.”
These two statements from the Divine Feminine Oracle became cornerstones to my process of turning within. I considered my relationship to money and abundance. After staying home for the past 25 years, I haven’t “earned” any money. I worked on shifting my mindset and beliefs around what earning money meant to me. I envisioned my new career and how I saw weaving in yoga, mediation, nature, creativity and journaling. Throughout this all, I realized the importance to connection and developing deep, nourishing relationships.
Spending time with the Goddess Lakshmi has led to a more full, and abundant outlook on life. One that values the possessions and relationships in my life and taking the time to honor and share them.
