Dhumavati

Beloved Mother who dwells in the smoke, who presides over the most difficult transitions. She who knows that certain endings are unavoidable. They are necessary predecessors to radical reinvention. Her presence brings the message that though disappointment, defeat or loss-and the negative repercussions of such experiences-may cause suffering for a time, they will not limit your future happiness. They are a means for opening as yet unrecognized pathways for fulfilment. Your trust must be unconditional at this time, and later you shall see that everything has worked out for the absolute best.

The seventh of the Mahavidya wisdom goddesses is Dhumavati. She is the crone goddess and, uniquely in the Hindu context from which she arises, also a widow. Her name means, ‘she who is made of smoke, ‘, and as the expression goes, ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire. Dhumavati is associated with the profound suffering. Just as smoke is the polluting and concealing manifestation of fire, it can be hard to believe there is any divine blessing, hidden or otherwise, when we are in the agonies of intense suffering.

In honoring Dhumavati, we acknowledge that suffering is part of life and can develop compassion. Our capacity for kindness is often in direct proportion to the suffering we have experienced and processed as it can grow empathy and wisdom in the soul. Some continue to create pain for themselves and others, and others alleviate suffering in the world through what they have learned. The difference comes through the willingness to face and process pain. Dhumavati can help us find the courage to be real about our suffering, neither becoming lost in it nor avoiding it, but rather, to go through it and process it.

Dhumavati is often associated with the most painful aspects of human existence – aging, disease, thirst, poverty, hunger, death and ugliness on all levels. This may cause some to fear her and try to push her away. Yet, when we are suffering greatly, we can know that she is with us. With her black, smoky skin, she becomes the blackened Madonna, the Beloved Mother, who does not watch our suffering from some remote place in blissful detachment but is suffering along with us. Our cries resonate in her heart. In our emotional anguish, she is our sacred companion, and her presence can help us bear witness with honesty and courage.

Healing begins with an acknowledgement of suffering. You cannot resolve an issue if you deny it exists. Bearing honest witness is the only way for change to begin. When Dhumavati arises in a reading, there is an opportunity to end a profound and difficult struggle – perhaps one that is obscured and difficult to articulate and acknowledge. Such truth-speaking to yourself happens when you can admit, “This is not good for me,” or “I’m not yet sure what or how, but something needs to stop.”

Dhumavati is sometimes depicted with two crows attempting to pull a cart they cannot move. At other times, her cart is without means of movement at all. She brings the message that the path you are on cannot take you any further.

This doesn’t mean that life is over, but rather, that life as you have known it has come to an end. This is the inception of a new cycle. To be ready for it, as we know from Kali’s mysteries, we must grieve and release what has been.

In the social context from which Dhumavati emerges, widows are at the edges of acceptable social status. In this way, Dhumavati is a goddess for those who have been shunned criticized or denounced, those forced out of social status or position through circumstances that are not necessarily of their own choosing. When external events seem to be forcing you in a certain direction, feelings of vulnerability can arise, but then, so can a sense of being deeply guided by the Universe. Dhumavati’s presence signifies a time when something you once counted on has failed you in some way. Through that process, opportunities open that would not have been otherwise available to you.

Dhumavati is the harbinger of endings and loss, but also of radical trust and secret blessings that are revealed later, and most often, unexpectedly. Something avoided at all cost happens anyway, and we end up being grateful for it because it frees us. New horizons open up. Everything changes. It wasn’t easy. It took courage. It hurt a lot. We had to grow, but she was there with us, letting us know, “This feels terrible, but something good is going to come from it. The pain will end. You are going to be more than just okay — you are going to thrive.”

Invocation Ritual

Say the following prayer:

Ma Dhumavati, I honor your powerful presence and secret blessings that lead to spiritual liberation. I gratefully receive your powers of protection, warding off negativity and defending me from enemies known and unknown, within and without. You acknowledge my suffering and the suffering of all beings so that healing and awakening can truly occur. You show us when and how to lean into the mysterious workings of the Universe. You gift me freedom and entry into new worlds. The prayers of our dark mother’s gracious mind rise upon your smoky essence. May blessings and healing manifest for the spiritual benefit of all beings. Jai Ma! Jai Ma! Jai Ma!

Take a moment to acknowledge where you are struggling right now. It may be pain in your life, pain you sense in others or the world. That acknowledgement can become the ending of a pathway that cannot lead you anywhere worth going. You don’t have to know how to start a new path – the Divine Mother knows.

As you honestly and courageously bear witness, you can speak your declaration:

Divine Mother, healing change and compassionate awakening is needed here…

Complete your practice with her mantra sequence:

Om, Dhoom, Dhoom, Dhumavathi Swaha! Jai Ma Kali! Jai Jai Ma!

(Sounds like, OHM DOOM DOOM DOOM-AH-VAH-TI SWAH-HAH JAY-MAH-KAR-LEE JAY-JAY-MAH)

Bow with your hands in prayer.

You have completed your sacred ritual.