recap on marishi-ten

wanted to source an earlier post - i looked at several web sites to get info & images on marishi-ten, specifically these three:

www.orderwhitemoon.org

www.worldlingo.com

www.onmarkproductions.com

what attracted me to this information was the boar/pig/hog reference (my group of friends and i call our get-togethers "hog reunions" because we tend to overindulge - feasting & drinking at one location - and keep laughing a lot) we always have such a great time - we have been friends for a long time and don't get to see each other much (the last hog reunion was in 2003)
marishi-ten is also known as "the diamond sow" and us girls call ourselves sows, so it's only fitting that all my hog friends (especially the "sows" and most especially sows who are battling illness) know about this wild warrior woman who goes around riding a wild boar and slinging swords around!! you go, girl~!

so check out my earlier post about marishi-ten - there's a cool dedication to the goddess there and i also found a ritual (lighting candles and there's a sword involved... very fierce!)

ok so next time, more stuff that i make!

time to show off

well, i suppose i should share some pix with you - here are some earrings i made a while back and one of my cards - i'll try taking some new photos of things i still have lying around - also, bookmarks and cards 'n' stuff like that





i also make papier roule (rolled paper) beads - i have to take some photos of those, too

i've learned so much and have so much more to learn - i procrastinate and plot and plan, but don't make much headway - i'll post more later, just trying to get some things done, posting, sharing, etc

photo: copper earrings/tjgoogins 2010/all rights reserved

have a great weekend, y'all! TJ

Marishi-ten

Marishiten

This is a photograph of a statue depicting the warrior goddess Marishi-ten.


Marishi-ten has historically been expressed in many forms:

* As a beautiful woman sitting on an open lotus
* As a ferocious demon perched on the back of a boar
* Riding a fiery chariot pulled by seven savage boars or sows
* As a multi-armed woman with a different weapon in each hand standing on the back of a boar.

She has been depicted with one, three, five or six faces; three eyes; and two, six, eight, ten or twelve arms. In her many-faced manifestations, one of her faces is that of a sow.

Symbols

* Sow
* Lotus

Origins

The origins of Marishiten are obscure, however she appears to be an amalgamation of Hindu, Iranian, and non-Aryan [citation needed] antecedents spanning 1500 years. She is identified as a Buddhist "goddess" of light, Marici.

Bujin Marishi-ten

Marishi-ten, Queen of Heaven, Goddess of the Sun and the Moon was adopted by the Bujin or Samurai in the 8th century CE as a protector and patron.

While devotions to Marishi-ten predate Zen, they appear to be geared towards a similar meditative mode in order to enable the warrior to achieve a more heightened spiritual level. He lost interest in the issues of victory or defeat (or life and death), thus transcending to a level where he became so empowered that he was freed from his own grasp on mortality. The end
result was that he became a better warrior.

The worship of Marishiten was to provide a way to achieve selflessness and compassion through Buddhist training by incorporating a passion for the mastery of the self.

This once-popular female deity, now nearly forgotten, is believed to have been male (India) before being worshipped by Japanese samurai 12 centuries ago.

I invoke the warrior goddess Marishi-ten to help two of my female friends fight cancer. May the goddess Marishi-ten symbolically inspire all who battle with dis-ease. I also send reiki to all who need the healing energy of love.

here is an invocation to this ancient diety that can be spoken as an affirmation

DEDICATION TO MARISHITEN

Great Goddess and Protectress of the Warrior
Grant me the gifts of Beauty – both inside and outside
Strength – to protect myself and my loved ones
Courage – to never let fear keep me from the way of the warrior
Honor - to always do the right thing and keep the right mind
Focus – to never lose track of my path
Health – so that I may always be able to endure whatever may come to pass
Wisdom – so that I may always know what is the correct action to take in any situation

Marishiten, I know that you possess these aspects in your own self and I now ask that you instill them in me as well.

As my dedication to this path, I take on the warrior’s name: ___________________ (choose a name) and will consider myself thus as I walk through life as a warrior of the great protectress of the samurai, Marishiten.

Something interesting to note regarding Mari/Marici/Marishiten was that she was known through the near-east as Mari, which became one of the most common girls’ names in the area. While Mari/Marici/Marishiten is considered the goddess of light, the festival honoring Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also known as the Festival of Lights. (Mari...? Mary...? How far back do the old stories go?)

Let us fight the good fight and win the day, one day at a time.
Love & light - good night! TJ

happy fourth of july

independence day - huzzah!

i actually have the holiday off (tomorrow, sunday) and so does my husband - very unusual for us to have a day off together - which means we'll drive all over the place, running errands and just generally getting on each other's nerves ;)

anyway, not much going on right now - working on some projects, one of which i will share in the next post along with some photos to show a transformation

have a great weekend, y'all!!

tj

when dogs have wings

renaissance faire: dogs with wings/photo: tjgoogins 2010/all rights reserved

it's thursday, july 1 - this summer is going fast - it's been hot & humid up here in new england, and yet this morning it was a pleasantly cool fifty-five degrees - too soon, too soon will the days of summer be merely a moist memory

well, some new projects, some old - still hoping to make some headway with the upstairs hoard (will i ever be able to say "finally finished"?) i was looking through an old journal and there it was: "still trying to get the upstairs organized" and this was in 2003! we'd only lived here three years and it was already out of control! now, seven years later, it's much worse but at least i'm not bringing stuff home every day like i was before - not going to the thrift stores looking for treasures, not shopping at joann's fabrics (it closed) and buying things that never get used just because they were on sale, etc

otherwise, i've been trying to figure out how to make images stay on cookie glaze without them bleeding and becoming a big mess - i think my husband, the pastry chef, is right about freezing them - hopefully they won't sweat when they come to room temperature... finding more web sites every day, looking for interesting cookie & cake stencils, food colorings, etc - very exciting!!

will try another batch this week - want to try using edible transfer sheets made of rice flour or sugar or some such ingredient - that might solve many problems re: image degradation - more updates soon, plus i hope to unveil my plan for these sweet things!! but then again, nothing is certain - it may not be until pigs (why not dogs? or cows?) have wings!!!!

so, what shall i leave you with today?? perhaps this photo from the recent, much-heralded Ren faire - i hope the day treats you well - stay thirsty, my friends!

tj