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| An excerpt from a Seema Kohli painting |
Hallelujah for the GODDESS, the DIVINE FEMININE FORCE! On Mother’s Day 2011, I would like to introduce a term that is new to me—SHAKTI. Apparently in Hinduism, the GODDESS “is” SHAKTI, and WOMEN “have” SHAKTI. SHAKTI is the POWER OF CREATION. I am thankful to Ogelthorpe University, and its museum exhibit, “Goddess, Lion, Peasant, Priest,” for bringing powerful contemporary images of the Hindi Goddess in her multiple manifestations to Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
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| A Painting of the Divine Feminine by Seema Kohli |
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| Another work by Seema Kohli |
Hallelujah for the powerful paintings of SHAKTI by Seema Kohli, a contemporary Indian artist born in 1960 and living in New Dehli! Her images of the GODDESS are breathtaking! (See more about Seema Kohli and her artwork on her website.) The intricacy of line and pattern in her work as well as color is a celebration to CREATION itself!
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| The Divine Feminine by other Contemporary Indian Artists (sorry for not getting their names) |
A week ago, on Wednesday, April 27, I had the good fortune of attending the lecture, “The Power of the Feminine in India: Women & Goddesses” given by Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger. A professor of religion at Emory University, Professor Flueckiger, is currently writing the book, “When the World Becomes Female: Festival, Narrative & Ritual Traditions of the Goddess Gangamma.” Having lived in India until she was 18 and spent considerable time there doing research, she spoke about her experiences with Hindi women and their concept of the power, SHAKTI, that human women are believed to embody. Hindi women don’t even need to believe in SHAKTI but can express it through various rituals such as singing, making sand paintings, and using tumeric powder.
Whether we BELIEVE in the GODDESS or PRACTICE ritual related to the GODDESS the MOTHER, let us all HONOR SHAKTI today! Hallelujah for the magnificent CREATOR and to all of us human WOMEN, who possess the power to generate something new, original, and unique. Hallelujah to Seema Kohli and all female ARTISTS!
