Night Four · See Her
What Does Generative Power Look Like?
Veda:Akka… that is a lot of hands.
Akka:And not everything she holds looks gentle.
She looks at Ammomma.
She looks at Ammomma.
Akka:If Kushmanda is connected with beginnings,
why does she also carry weapons?
why does she also carry weapons?
Ammomma:Because the power to create is not the same
as being powerless.
as being powerless.
Kushmanda is commonly shown with eight arms, though her iconography is not identical in every tradition.
In the form we are following, her hands hold vessels together with the: lotus. chakra. bow. arrow. mace. water-pot. The vessel is important. But it does not appear alone.
Kushmanda’s form brings together things that suggest: nourishment. direction. protection. strength. continuity.
Creation is not presented here as something delicate that simply appears.
What begins may also need to be held, sustained and protected.
Creation is not the absence of power. It is power becoming form.
Creation Is Also Power. Generative power does not only begin something. It can also help hold what has begun.
What might need strength not only to begin, but also to be protected or sustained?