Achala Siddha™

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FOLKLORE CEREMONIES

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FOLKLORE CEREMONIES

Nature is our Supreme savior. She cares for us in every way… offering us everything She gifts us with Rain, rivers, sunlight, trees, healing plants and herbs, mountains, metals, minerals and so on, just so that mankind may use Her gifts for his own survival.

The Ancient People recognising these as gifts and contributions from Nature in turn offered Her, their tears of gratitude and celebrated Life in salutation to Her. Back then the gracious celebration of Natural Resources was filled with veneration and gratitude for Her concern towards all living beings. These acts of veneration grew into Ceremonies and Rituals amongst most Ancient Cultures and prevail till date in many of the Folklore Traditions.

Their learning came from a true example set by the life of a simple tree. They saw that the tree is the only one living organism that not only utilises all of Natures resources but also re-offers its entire self back to Her, in service to Her. Awakening to this simple-truth in the life of a tree, the Folklore people worship the tree as a deity.

Likewise, they consider every natural resource to have its own being and spirit within it and describe this spirited being within each natural resource as an entity or a Devata (God) that presides in it.

For instance, in ancient Indian mythology,

Devata Varunan is the God of Rain

Suryan is the Sun God

Chandran is Moon God

Agni Devata is the God of Fire

Vayu Devata is the God of Air, and

Bhooma Devi is our beloved Mother Earth

The folklore people find these presiding deities not confined to the five fundamental elements of Nature but to be present in all things created by God, from the permutations and combinations of the five primal elements.

Based on such recognitions and realisations, they formulated a Way to Worship and Celebrate, the presence of the deities and in turn, the invisible spirit of Nature descended into everything. Their approach didn't remain confined and deeply reflected in their daily chores of life. They worshiped and celebrated Nature's generosity before beginning even their day-to-day fieldwork including cultivation, harvesting and thanked Her on returning home after a full days work.

We know even from history that in the Harappa civilization there were several kinds of worships and ceremonies, performed in systematic ways. The Ancient Mystic Traditions and sects of Pre-Vedic Era prevalent in those days considered the Woman to be of utmost importance in spiritual as well as social aspects. Back then She was even considered the head of the family and worship was feminine oriented. Instead of rituals, there were ceremonies and instead of renunciation, there was 'existential living'. The Ultimate was considered in light of Feminine Grace. To describe it as a simile - the Vedic system is like harvesting the crop whereas the Pre-Vedic system is the cultivation of the crops, an extremely creative based system.

So, rituals and ceremonies varied from tradition to tradition according to the beliefs and perceptions of the ways of Nature and the teachings of their primitive Masters. But, all in all, the simple people of Folklore made rituals and ceremonies for each and every activity deeply related to the contributions of Nature. And through recurring festivities, they remained in harmonious communion with the ever-flowing grace of Nature.

According to ancient Tradition, each season is a different representation of the five fundamental elements of Nature. Folklore people created indigenous festivals first to thank the passing season and then to welcome the oncoming one. This celebration continues even now amidst our modern day societies. In South India, the festival of Pongal signifies a completion of the harvesting month. They offer gratitude to Sun God, Suryan, for blessing them to accomplish their harvest.

This very approach even prevails in the healing dimension of the Tantric Siddha Tradition. Before a Native healer uproots any healing herbs, the Healers follow a certain ritual. They worship the presiding Devata of the plant asking its permission to uproot it. After the herb has been taken, another ritual is followed to invoke the presence of the presiding Devata into the uprooted herb. This ritual of empowerment is what is actually responsible for the healing properties and strength used in the folklore medicinal system. 

In a nutshell, folklore ceremonies and festivals are pathways that humanize the various forces of Nature making them one amongst us. And this is so because the folklore people see themselves as one of the participants of the ever-flowing graceful dance of Mother Nature. Regrettably, today we are far from understanding this simple way of life. We prefer to exclude Nature. We try hard to separate ourselves from all the naturalness of Life. Pushing on insensitively, we drive in more and more separation in ways more than one and pave the way for calling upon Her wrath - natural calamities.