“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven” ~ Ecclesiastes 3, 1-8
In human design, gate 52 is known as the gate of stillness or the still mountain, and is found in our root center. As a solar transit, the dates corresponding to this gate are around June 25th and June 30th, with a 1-2 day variability depending on the year. If this gate is where your conscious Sun resides, this becomes part of your incarnation cross, giving you insights on your overall purpose in life, as our conscious Sun shows us our life’s work or what we’re here to do in this life as we embody the natural expression of our true self.
The archetypal energy corresponding to gate 52 is that of Parvati Hindu goddess of domestic bliss, fertility, beauty, nurturing, divine grace, devotion, feminine strength and inner power. For reference, gates of 15, 39 and 53 are also aligned to Parvati.
If your conscious Sun resides in gate 52, perhaps there’s no better way to guide you into the deeper understanding of the higher purpose of this energy and your life’s path than through the love story of Parvati and Shiva on their sacred mountain. While this gate is called the gate of stillness, it isn’t about not doing or “stillness”, it is about a concentrated and channeled energy towards something of deeper meaning to you.
Parvati, and her love story with Shiva, actually hold the sacred wisdom of the gate 52, as it relates to the power of feminine manifestation, which is what this gate is actually about in its essence. There is also an almost Zen Buddhist energy to this gate also, so let’s dive right into it and what it means to have your conscious Sun in the beautiful gate 52.
The quarter of form
Gate 52 resides in the second quarter of the quantum mandala called the quarter of form. This is about an overall purpose of manifestation i.e. bringing spirit into matter – shaping something into the physical, bringing it from the unmanifest to the manifest, embodiment, and making forms, movements, words.
If your conscious Sun resides here this is a purpose fulfilled through creation or manifestation i.e. forming and shaping something from the unmanifest into the physical. This is about bringing something into form or experiencing our life deeply through our body, i.e. being deeply connected to our five senses and sensual self. Here we are no longer satisfied to hear from our mind how interesting something is, we need to experience it through our body. We do not want to look at photos of the Caribbean all day or hear about it, we want to get there, go to the beaches, feet in white sands, sands on skins, salts on skins, and spend long sensual nights under the starry skies with our lover.
We want to experience what we see and feel, immerse ourselves entirely and wholebodily into the experience, and then share it with others also – giving it shape or form. This is about shaping emotions into words, feeling into our body, and moving ourselves through life. Dancing is here also, and all kinds of movements of our body – whether it is our hands moving to write, to make, to garden, to massage, or it is our lips – to speak love onto others, to speak beautiful words, to sing, to pray. Many talented poets and mystics have this gate, and storytelling here can be filled with soulful energy and be deeply heartfelt. There is a natural ability to shape emotions, feelings and all that is unnamable only felt deep within, into words.
So the manifestation purpose of this quarter here can create new words through emotions, new forms through dance, and all kinds of art that encompasses our within worlds. With the gate of stillness here, this art of creation and manifestation is first felt deep within us – like a whisper or a voice from a time before time beyond time, as if we are pulled towards a desire, a horizon, that we just feel is the right one. We may not have all the answers or why, and we don’t need to – we just need to feel deep into it and trust our core. And let the answers reveal themselves. Let your body move you.
Gate 52: Faith in divine timing and trusting yourself to act when the time is right
If you have your conscious Sun in this gate, your life’s work, or what you are here to do in this life, holds a powerful gift and manifestation. You need to fall into trust. Into surrender. Into trusting the unique timing of your life, and follow the patience of rhythm. You essentially need to become very patient with your life and with yourself. It isn’t about not doing – it is about trust in your unique timing, mastering your powerful energy and focusing it and channeling it intentionally.
This is about being crystal clear with what you desire and with your intentions, and then staying true to it without worrying about the little details.
The seed here is your intention. It is a seed of your future. You must never unhold it, you must never let it slip. Keep nurturing it in your heart, no matter how long it may take to see it physically manifest externally. There are certain things we know deep in our core, in our bones, and if you have such a thing, about you are made to do in this life, you need to stay clear in that and keep moving forward.
Part of your higher purpose has to do with being in service to others because there is something powerful that you are offering to the world just by your mere presence. It is helping people align to their within also, trust their core, and trust the movement in stillness and silent needed contemplation. It is about mirroring to people that intention is our root and this is where all begins. And that once we are clear of our true intention, and keep aligning our actions to it daily, we become it and it becomes us, and all inevitably marries us.
The dancer becomes the dance itself, the poet the poem, the one kissing and being kissed becomes the kiss itself. Love becomes loving. This is yoga. This is union. And this is Parvati and Shiva.
If you remain rooted in contributing to the betterment of other people’s lives, and aligned to higher values and integrity and clear intention, all will move naturally and like water. Clarity of mind, purity of heart, sincerity in action. These are the three of manifestation and creating forms. As you do this, you will flourish in all levels, from the material and physical to the mystical and spiritual; and you will fall into a deep intimacy not just with other people, not just with yourself, but fall into a deep intimacy with life itself.
Do not worry about other people’s lives going faster than yours. Your life is not meant to be like theirs. Even if you see other people going faster than you and appearing to succeed or you feel left behind, you must hold tight to your intention and wait for your destiny to manifest naturally. Because it will. And it is probably much more beautiful and bigger and fulfilling than you may even dream of. This is a sacred mountain you are on. Trust yourself, trust your path, trust the unique unfolding of your life, and know you are here to embody the sacredness of intention and heart trust, heart led.
Of course, you will have to go out there and make things happen at times, it isn’t about being stuck in waiting phases, but waiting phases will happen also and these usually have a deeper spiritual purpose. Sometimes we are in the temple of God, in the center, and there we stay a little quiet, a little still. This is a spiritual feminine pathway in this gate that we find often, which means we need to learn when to act and when to pause, because all phases and seasons are needed.
We don’t push seeds into the frozen ground in winter, flowers will not bloom, it is just not their time yet. We’ll only frustrate ourselves and we’ll hurt the seeds also. Learning the cycles of the land, and within ourselves and of life, are our beautiful allies – because we then learn to clearly discern when it’s time to act and when it’s time to wait. This gate is about clear connection to your sacral center, so you need to learn to trust your sacral and what your gut moves you to do or not do.
Along your beautiful path of life, one of the things I believe you will learn is that the best things in life are worth waiting for – this is your truth, and it’s a universal wisdom also, which you will be reflecting to others as well. Through you being in your true self others too may feel inspired to give themselves the permission to learn and fall into the sacredness of stillness – so that they awaken their inner wisdom, inner monk, inner sage, and awaken the wisdom of their heart.
This is about the alchemy of learning gnosis, inner higher knowledge and trusting what we know to be true even if by logic it may not make sense yet. This is about the secret threads. Like in a book. Have you noticed the secret threads in old books – the one that keeps the pages together, sewn. Have you noticed the secret threads in dresses – the many needed to make it a love you wear.
In life too are the secret threads. The ones that pull us towards the horizons, the whispers in the breeze, the “I don’t know yet or exactly how” but we keep moving because there is something pulling us towards itself. Sometimes almosts, but not the it, not exactly, not yet. Until the day we find ourselves before the landscape, or person, who embodies what we knew to be true within us all along; and we know, this is the one I was made for.
Whether it is your beloved, the work you desired, the project you worked hard for – the secret threads all along mattered, guided you, and you will see why, but until then just keep trusting your path and keep investing and pouring your love and intentional energy into what matters to you most deeply.
One of the deepest secrets in feminine manifestation, which is what this energy relates to is that the outside doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter whether you are successful yet or not, you keep going; it doesn’t matter what the external world is showing yet, if you keep deep in your core you love what you do and it is contributing to the betterment of others, you keep going. It doesn’t matter the followings, the material success, the opinions of others, their two cent opinions – all that matters is that you keep aligned to your strong spiritual core, you know your why, and stay aligned to your heart and virtue. Align to your immovable.
Gate 52 Archetypal Energy: Parvati
~ Love, devotion, feminine strength and inner power, feminine manifestation, nurturing, divine grace, fertility, marital bliss and trust in divine timing ~
Gate 52 aligns to the archetypal energy of Parvati, and I personally find that the love story between Parvati and Shiva is what describes the deeper spiritual aspects of this gate energy most beautifully. So let’s dive in more deeply by first understanding the nature of goddess Parvati.
Parvati is Shiva’s breath, and she resides in his heart; Parvati is that which joins in union. Parvati is the part within you which is of deep and undivided devotion towards something or someone.
Ever since she was a young girl Parvati always felt drawn towards Shiva and being devoted to him; dreaming of him, praying to him, feeling like she was meant to be with him, made for him, and always felt a voice within her, and an inner knowing, undeniable knowing, that this was her destiny. Many suitors desired to marry Parvati, but she refused them all, telling her father that all she wanted was Shiva.
This made no sense to anyone, especially her father, because at that time, Shiva was an old dirty reclusive man living in a cave in the mountains. He was an ascetic, in deep meditation, being a recluse and essentially not wanting to speak nor see anyone. Nonetheless, throughout her life, Parvati kept dreaming of him feeling like she was already his, and against her father’s wishes and all of the city’s wishes and naysayers, she made her choice and went up the mountains to Shiva.
Once there, Shiva didn’t pay attention to her at all. He kept being in his deep meditation and rarely even opened his eyes. She cleaned, washed his feet, made him food, with her inner flame of desire that he may open his eyes and at least look at her. Years went by, and no matter what she did, nothing seemed to change.
Finally frustrated and overwhelmed, Parvati left the cave and basically retreated into another cave on the still sacred mountain. There, after her tears, she began to meditate.
And the more she meditated, the more awareness she gained, the more her inner worlds and gates to her heart opened and the more awareness entered her. And eventually she realized: Shiva is her, and she is him, and they are one, together, already.
The moment she realized this, an old dirty bearded man entered her cave. He challenged her on her devotion to Shiva, telling her how he is ugly and doesn’t pay attention to her, so why is she still devoted to him; but Parvati remained grounded in her inner truth that she is devoted to him because of her and how she feels, not because of what he may or may not do for her, or how he appears externally.
At this moment, the bearded man transformed into Shiva, in all his glory and beauty; the lovers embraced, married as husband and wife on earth, in love, passion and devotion. It is said that the mountain then shook in fiery passion for many days, as the two lovers were indeed quite passionate in their love making!
One of Parvati’s main qualities is fearlessness. She is absolutely fearless, and despite what others say, she does what is right in her heart.
And what is fearlessness?
It is freedom of heart.
There are many names of Parvati throughout the ancient texts, and two that I’ll discuss today are Mahatapasa and Nivrtti. I invite you to do your own research for the rest.
Mahatapasa is a word meaning to have the ability to burn, and refers to her yajna i.e. fire sacrifice, described in the mystical texts. But what she actually burns is the bondage, so that she reaches her freedom and the freedom of her heart. Knowing what we must let go of that is no longer valuable to us, while accepting and pulling in what matter to us, are part of our spiritual gift of discernment.
The other name Nivrtti is a word that has various translations, but the one that refers to Parvati is the meaning of nivrtti that means an inward moving breath. It is essentially an inward moving energy negating the superficial external; in other words, Parvati shows us the importance of and willingness to move inward – and connect to the subtle senses.
There are manu distractions in our outer world, but what Parvati reminds us in the connection to and trust within and in the divine. Parvati was attracted to Shiva through her subtle senses, and this is how she chose him. And she also realized she was actually seeking freedom all along, because he is freedom, Shiva is freedom, and she already carried that within her own heart also; we can’t possibly have a desire towards something we are not meant to experience. She was seeking freedom from what isn’t true in our world, and was seeking union with what is real and trust – which is what the energy of Shiva is in its essence.
To tune into our inner truth and learn to listen and understand the language of our subtle senses we need to turn inward – which is what Parvati did when she retreated in her own cave. She was no longer motivated by her external desire nor validation nor desperation for his attention; her only motivation now was the inner connection and trust within. Self knowledge entered her, more awareness entered her, and the lights of it lit her inner wisdom and knowing, deepening her into love. There in her heart she realized the union was already.
Shiva is the embodiment of freedom. He is the burner of the false and the burner of what is illusion and bondage. So it wasn’t necessarily him as a man she was seeking, it was freedom she was attracted to all along – and it is freedom, and thereby Shiva, that was her devotion all along also. This is the path that led her to him, because throughout her life she was devoted to the freedom of her heart, freedom of her will and mind and choices, and she aligned to that each time she made a choice and decision based on her inner truth rather than pressure from others.
Devotion is powerful, and it is fearless. You cannot be devoted if you hold fear, just as you cannot love truly if you have fear; love too is a kingdom reserved only for the brave and fearless and authentic.
The sacred knowledge, the inner beloved, or the one you get close to when you enter the cave of your heart – is what you reach through devotion.
This is how she attained her desire. When she sat in her own cave meditating, until realizing that he and she were one, she was him and he was her, and they were already married despite the external circumstances.
This is the secret of feminine manifestation: know thyself, and then stay rooted in your true self. The feminine attracts to herself and waits for the right one. The feminine doesn’t stress nor act of desperation; she doesn’t “change” to fit not does she chase or shift from one to another – she stays rooted in its core essence and true self.
She knows that all beneath heaven has its timing and season, just like the cycles of the land, the seasons and the sacredness of the waiting phases. But she knows that all will unfold in its divine timing. She trusts this, and focuses her energy on embodying more love, so that she can radiate this love, express it, create it and embody love for others also, making a loving contribution to their lives.
That which joins is yoga.
On their wedding night, Parvati asked Shiva to teach her yoga, so that she may teach it to the world. She carries freedom in her heart, she carries Shiva, and yoga frees people from the bondages that starve them and sadden them; so naturally she desired to gift them freedom.
Parvati, being the dynamic feminine energy of Shiva and essentially being his breath, out the compassion desired to take this knowledge to the people. Out of the compassion in her heart she knew and understood the suffering of humanity – she understood that no one was free and were all bound; and to free them from their bondages, she desired to teach them yoga.
At first Shiva was concerned and hesitated. He did not want people to know these spiritual secrets, because he knew that if one isn’t prepared or ready to take in such esoteric knowledge, this may be to their detriment. He wasn’t sure that humans can handle the subtle power that may arise as a result of these spiritual practices, and he didn’t want people to misuse it.
Nowadays unfortunately many people get access to knowledge shared through memes, social media etc., but their minds aren’t prepared or they aren’t properly taught by having a spiritual teacher and guide, and eventually this causes them problems.
And what is yoga anyway?
There are many descriptions in old classical texts, and I invite you to research and explore them. As a starting point, here are some: “Yogah Chitta vritti Nirodhah“ “Manah prashamanah Upayah yoga ityabhidhiyate“ “Yogah Karmasu Kaushalam” ” Yogasthah kuru karmani sangam ‘tyaktva dhananjaya Siddhyassiddhyoh samo bhutva samatvam yoga uchyate“ ‘“Ujyate anena iti yogah“.
The one I’ll dive in is “Ujyate anena iti yogah”, which translates to “that which joins is yoga”. Some people would explain it by saying that yoga is the joining of individual consciousness to the universal consciousness. But yoga isn’t just about a traditional practice, as for many people yoga may take a different form. Essentially, it is a devotional path.
Parvati is the part of you that is of undivided devotion towards something.
For some people yoga could be sitting on a bench in the park each day; for others it may be listening to music. There are 112 ways of yoga in the Shiva Sutras, some of which I’ve already written on in depth, such as the center of the lotus in The Warm Heart, Blessed One, and the entering of the caress in While being caressed, sweet princess, enter the caressing as everlasting life. Yoga is where the boundaries dissolve, and you “lose” yourself in a way that you fall into union with all around you. It is an understanding of the interconnection of everything, and how we are in union with all already.
Gate 52 reminds us of the beautiful wisdom of Parvati and invites us to trust in the natural rhythm of life, stay aligned to our higher values, know ourselves, be discerning, and have the wisdom of the awakened heart to know when to act and when to pause. If you have an undefined root center, you may need to pay more attention to the conditioned pressures you may have, as you may often feel the need to act and move forward as a way to release accrued pressure from your environment.
With this gate it is of vital importance to understand that you should understand your body’s natural rhythm and follow your unique authority and strategy; generators, reflectors or projectors etc. all have their own rhythms, and as with anything in human design, the foundation and what matters first and always is alignment and attunement to your energy type, authority and strategy.
The essence of this gate is act when time is right; so it is important to tame impulsivity, and learn to master your energy with the needed discernment, self knowledge and self control. Patience is a virtue, patience opens the soul of matter. Learning to tune into the wisdom of our body, our true heart and building our spiritual core are the greatest gifts we may give ourselves.
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