Durga Puja ~ Nine Nights of the Divine Mother~2022

You are invited to become Durga and ride Her tiger of divine instinct, power, and strength in a ten-day ritual course celebrating the largest contemporary Goddess  Festival on the planet!

Celebrate the Annual Fall Durga Puja from your home temple or anywhere you are through a special online daily practice and teaching with author and Shakta Tantra priestess and Yogini Laura Ambika Amazzone, M.A.

This year Durga Puja begins on Monday, September 26 (across the world) and ends on Wednesday, October 5  Durga's victory day.   Once you register, the ritual course will open on September 7 to give you a brief intro of the festival and info about the structure of the course.  The ritual lessons will officially open on September 25 for those who are in a timezone ahead of the the time zones in the United States so you can begin on what would be September 26 for you. 

For all other participants in the Americas, please begin on September 26 in the morning or evening so you can follow the traditional days of the festival.

 *Please note this course will remain open throughout the festival and you can join at anytime.*

Navaratri is a time of year that brings the community together and the various forms of Durga and Her 5th century CE myth are worshiped and celebrated communally.  

This online go-at-your-own-pace course is a wonderful opportunity to travel virtually with other seekers and Goddess devotees through ten different modules that are aligned with the myth, Goddesses and millennia old teachings around this nine day festival. 

 During the 10 modules of this course you will:

• Embark on a Sacred Pilgrimage to the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and Sacred tantric sites in India through a daily Visual Presentation. 
• Hear stories of the Durga myth and Durga puja rituals in Nepal
• Visit Goddess temples throughout the Kathmandu Valley, and receive darshan from countless images of the Divine Mother in Her many forms.
• Learn about the history of the festival going back to the Indus Sarasvati Valley civilization 
• Understand how Durga’s 1500 year old myth and this annual 5000 year old festival is completely relevant today. 
• Connect with Durga and Her various manifestations (Mahasaraswati: Purification, Meditation, Learning; Mahalakshmi: Abundance, Contentment and Love) Mahakali: Transformation, Power & Release), the Navadurgas (Guides and Protectors of our Spiritual Development as Practitioners and Devotees, and Eight Matrikas (Guardians and Liberators of Afflicted Emotions) through a daily sadhana (practice)
• Deepen your powers of strength, courage, and fierce compassion
• Learn ways to center yourself and find composure in the midst of any situation
• Receive tools and practices to work with anxiety, sorrow, grief, difficulty & fear
• Learn step by step ritual techniques you can perform daily to help you work with and transform different emotional states
• Experience daily guided visualizations and meditations 
• Learn mantras to work with both positive and challenging energies.
• Receive guidance from Laura Amazzone, initiated Shakta Priestess, Yogini, and Author of “Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power” who has spent decades studying, practicing, writing, and teaching about Durga, Her ancient festival and myth, and collective emanations.
• Experience the Goddess Durga and Her many forms and aspects within yourself!

 ABOUT THE COURSE:

Every autumn on the first new moon that falls after the fall equinox, nine nights of Tantric worship of the Divine Mother begins. Navaratri or Durga Puja is a 5000 year old festival that gives participants an opportunity to come together in community and celebrate the ancient mysteries of life, death, and rebirth on the personal, social and cosmic levels

The nine night festival is divided into three sets of three days and nights dedicated to different faces of the Goddess that honor the cyclical nature of existence, acknowledge different stages of womanhood, promote empowerment and liberation both on a personal and cosmic level, and offer rituals of renewal and regeneration.

We will begin with a special ritual to invite the Goddess into a sacred vessel as is traditionally done in India and Nepal. We will set an intention for what we want to focus on as we move through the nine days experiencing different levels of release, empowerment and ways of connecting with the Goddess within ourself! On each of the nine days we will explore the significance of Durga’s 2000 year old myth and how each chapter gives direct insight into the nature of our afflicted minds and challenging life experiences.

Each set of three days is dedicated to a different face of the Goddess and energies we can tune into  on  micro and macro levels. 

The first three days we work with the energies of Kali to let go of negative and limiting thoughts, habits and beliefs in order to be able to tap into our Goddess powers. She shows us our delusions and confronts us with what is Real. 

The second three days we work with Lakshmi and look at the theme of anger and desire. Her battle with the shapeshifting Demon shows us how to approach upsetting situations from our hearts rather than our minds. 

During the last three days the final purifications begin and we turn to Saraswati, Goddess of Meditation, Healing and Creative Inspiration in helping us experience freedom from our fears and conditioning so that we may remember our inherently divine and empowered natures. 

The tenth day is known as Vijaya Dashami! The Goddess' victory day and we will celebrate our victories and the transformation that has taken place through our committment, dedication and openness to Goddess within and around us.

Each day I offer  special sadhanas (practices) that include meditations, mantra (chants), guided visualization, and questions for self-reflection that can be expressed through writing or art.  

On each day there are also  guided visualizations to the Navadurgas and Eight Matrikas. There is the option to reflect on their respective powers and functions that are emphasized during the guided meditation and follow the cycle of each collective as one of your daily Navaratri practices.

This is not a live course.  Laura will check the discussion board and interact with all practitioners daily through the course discussion boards. Your participation is encouraged but not required.   

The Voice Thread presentations were recorded in 2021 with the intention of providing a greater context of the Shakta tradition to students in this Shakta Kula and for those on a dedicate yogic and tantric path interested in Durga and Navaratri.  This is a very immersive and multi-faceted course offering that will give you a lot of context and ritual suggestions around participating in this millennia-old Goddess festival! 

You may not have the time to watch the Voice Thread presentations daily during the festival period-- this is fine. Remember you will have until December 31 to go back and sit with the larger contextual, historical and mythological teachings and images around this powerful festival. 

I like to remind my students how these teachings will meet us where we are at. There are no grades, no texts or quizzes. This is for you to show up as and when you are able. No matter how many times you have participated in this particular course or in others, or if this is your first time in celebrating Navaratri, Goddess will guide you on your own unique inner journey. 

Course will remain open and students will have access until December 31, 2022

REGISTRATION:

New Students to this Online Nine Night course - Register here or at the red button link above.

Returning Durgas* to the Nine Nights on line- Register here

Returning Durgas mean *you have participated in Laura Amazzone's online Nine Nights course anytime in the last 8 years.

FOR THOSE SEEKING LIVE TEACHINGS AND INTERACTIONS WITH LAURA AND OTHER YOGINIS DURING NAVARATRI:

You are welcome to join a separate 3 evening Navaratri 2022 Satsang on Sept. 26, Sept. 29, and October 2 live or from recording on Zoom from 4-6:30 pm PDT. 

These "evenings" will consist of guided meditations, teachings on themes of the Durga myth that correlate with the days of Navaratri and the main Goddesses that are relevant to the three days. 

For those who want to enroll in this online Nine Nights course and  join the Live Satsang at a discounted price. Choose "Navaratri and Live Satsang" option at checkout or click here.

Returning students to the online Nine Nights program receive a discounted price and can join the Satsang with an additional discount.  Returning Durgas and Live Satsang: Click here.

Or if you wish to join only the Live  (and recorded) Navaratri Satsang for $90, please reach out to Laura ~shaktasadhanas@gmail.com for payment options.

Why Participate in Durga Puja??

With Durga's grace,  our combined intentions and prayers to alleviate the many forms of  personal and collective suffering the planet is experiencing will be received.  At the end of Durga's epic myth as outlined in the Chandi Path, after Durga's victory over injustice and ignorance has been declared, She tells Her "children" in all the worlds to call on Her in times of difficulty and distress . She even says to call on Her in times of pandemics and epidemics, and climate crises like wildfires, drought, and floods (!), and where there is any form of injustice. Maa Durga  will hear our cries and come. Still, our participation is necessary. Our individual and collective devotion and prayers for peace, wellness, equilibrium, and justice is essential for we are all embodiments of the Divine Mother! 

One of my Tantric teachers always says that wherever we give our attention is like a magnifying glass. It is heartening to think of the power we can generate,  one mantra at a time, multiplied by the many mantras all of us on this Nine Night journey at Mystery School of the Goddess are reciting each day! And we join our voices and prayers with the millions around the world who are celebrating the Divine Mother Durga's victory over ignorance and injustice in this annual fall festival. 

May this ritual course be an individual and collective offering toward restoring balance, harmony, peace, and Beauty within ourselves, our communities and on this planet.