Part of today’s prompt for OctWriPoMo is: What protects you like an umbrella? What shields you? What covers you?
Thinking about this briefly, it was clear that there is nothing comparable to the protection outlined in the 23rd Psalm of the Christian Bible. I use it daily and it is the unfailing blanket coverage for me. What I did with my offering today was to paraphrase it to personalize.
Also, I wanted to say a word or two about the image accompanying. I’m about halfway through a 6-week leisure course, Gifts from Psyche’s Garden, being offered at the local branch of the area district library. It is about studying ancient symbols, images, religions, and seeing how these images connect with our collective unconscious, which is where a lot of the images we see in our dreams come from. Today we learned about the Gods and creation myths of India. Did you know that the Hindus have 32 MILLION different gods and goddesses? Impressive! I learned that Durga is one of the Hindi goddesses of protection. I’m not sure she carries a rod and a staff, but she has plenty of other protective devices. There is something so very liberating about having so many gods and goddesses to choose from. I’m choosing to have Durga be the goddess I think of when I recite the 23rd Psalm.
One more thing about the Hindu pantheon: there is a choice of either worshiping them or venerating them. I’ll have to ponder that some before making further comment.
shining benevolent protector,
you make me rest when i’m weary.
you show me a way of peace and calm,
filling up my emptiness,
when my wandering leads me astray;
then you lead me back to the fold
with my full awareness and appreciation.
when dark elements approach,
from without and from within,
i am confident that you will shield
and keep this darkness from
damaging me too badly.
you can kick ass when needed.
your strong guidance is
a shield in and of itself and is
of great comfort to me.
you show all that you care
and that you provide. i sit
in a cherished position, under your protection.
you have blessed me in so many ways!
this cherishing and these blessings
are not of a temporal nature.
i live in your house, under your watchful gaze,
for eternity and beyond.
Tao Talk 
Not of a temporan nature indeed. What a lovely piece, and I love the title!
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thank you Shuku! i thought of insurance for the title 🙂
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I love how you personalized this!! Well done.
Your course sounds very interesting.
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thank you very much. the lady who teaches the course is retired teacher and psychoanalyst. She’s knows the origins stories from many places. She’s like having access to Joseph Campbell! Very interesting lady teaching a very interesting course.
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How wonderful that you have written about Durga, when we in India are in fact celebrating her return to earth. Every year, according to mythology, Durga descends on earth, her maternal home, for nine days.
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Wow! Is this part of her 9 days here on earth? If so, I’ve got to believe this is a serendipitous event!
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It is indeed. Today is the seventh day, which is very auspicious.
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I can’t wait to tell my class.
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I had posted the following poem on the day she begins her journey.
https://paeansunpluggedblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/08/maa-mother/
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Thank you for the link. Just read about Durga and the annual celebration celebrating her return to earth. I was out on google yesterday, trying to find out more about her and there aren’t a lot of sites with quality info on them. If you know of any good ones, will you please let me know?
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You are kindly welcome.
Off hand I really don’t know of any site. But I will surely try to find out and let you know.
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Much appreciated. Im going to check out the library also. I need/want to know more.
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I can understand that.
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Wow, wonderfully written!❤
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thank you, glad you like them
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