Mourning Elisabeth Glorianne

rice ceilingI’m still wheeling over the sudden and tragic death of this young woman, my almost daughter-in-law. We expected wedding bells to ring this spring and to officially welcome her into our tribe. Instead, I am looking for a vessel for my grief and tonight I found one in an ancient Vedic mantra.

Since there was no service held while I was in Houston, and I needed to return home to prepare for the upcoming semester, I held my own service by lighting incense, chanting the Gayatri mantra and visualizing peaceful rest for her.

Earlier on the blog I posted Deva Premal singing the gayatri mantra to some teenage girls. That seems oddly appropriate now, none the less I wanted to branch out. Here is a version by Lenise, with South American artwork. The style is not so dissimilar from Deva Premal. 108 repetitions is the classic number to repeat to complete a mala.

Elisabeth, I pray you are finally enjoying the peace that was so elusive during your days among us. May we use your death as a catalyst to nourish and bring peace to all we meet.

Gayatri Mantra

I was sooo excited about the poetry collection I began organizing Wednesday that I entirely forgot about posting a Thursday video. So sorry to those of you who have been enjoying the Thursday visual infusions.

I’ve been receiving questions from students regarding mantra, which I’ll try to field in more detail in later posts.In the meanwhile, here is a lovely video of mantra with one of my fav chanters, Deva Premal.

This is a beautiful rendition of the Gayatri Mantra — Though I’d be hard pressed to find ANYTHING by Deva Premal that was NOT beautiful. Here she explains a bit about her unusual growing up experiences to a group of girls at the cusp of womanhood.

Parents, you may find this supportive and inspiring because if you are reading this, you probably are already a bit out of the mainstream in your child-rearing practices.

If you would like to learn more about the Gayatri Mantra, wahidudden provides several other versions as well as several more translations. Here is a translation by Krishnamurti that he cites:

We meditate upon the radiant Divine Light

of that adorable Sun of Spiritual Consciousness;

May it awaken our intuitional consciousness.




May you find blessings in this powerful and sacred prayer!