Dhumavati, the tantric crone goddess of disappointment and letting go, carries a winnowing basket. In yesterday’s post, I explored other elements of the story, but Dhumavati’s gnarled hand is upon my shirt, holding me back, until I consider the meaning of her basket.
Why does Dhumavati carry such a thing? What is its significance?
Winnowing comes from the same Greek word as ‘cradle’ (liknon), and in earlier times, Greek babies were actually laid in winnowing baskets. (So was the infant Zeus, according to myth.) In fact, the winnowing basket is associated with Dionysian rites, according to Wiki, but more on that another post, perhaps…
Winnowing is a process of separation, between what is waste, and what is food.
This seems important in a way I cannot yet grasp, in terms of the realm represented by Dhumavati: letting go, death, marginalisation. Dryness.
Perhaps, this is the realm we can slip into, when there is too much chaff in our life, and not enough nourishing grain?
A curious factor in the winnowing process, is that it uses wind as the separator. This seems significant, given the etymology of the word ‘spirit’, from the Latin ‘spiritus’ meaning breath, and wind. Wind also belongs to the origin of the term ‘winnow.’ So wind, or spirit, is an integral part of this process.
I wonder, how often do I use a process of spirit, to help me separate out what is waste in my life, from that which feeds my soul?
The question reminds me of Linda Kavelin Popov’s book A Pace of Grace. Forced to re-evaluate her driven, successful life due to exhaustion-caused fatigue, the book describes her journey to reclaim health, time and energy.
One process she used was the enquiry: What stresses me? What blesses me?
Struck by this query, I made lists to discover my own stressors and blessings, and realised for the first time how squashed full my life was of tasks that I had undertaken from a feeling of obligation towards other people, and organisations. So full, in fact, there was no room in my life for my passions. I had, in effect, winnowed them out!
A resolution snapped into place inside me, and within a few weeks those life-eating obligations had either dropped away or I had resigned from them. This created space for those neglected, patient, hopeful seeds that were deeply important to me, those things I had been neglecting while I looked after things that were important to other people.
It is years since I made those vital changes that brought so much life back into my experience. I remain grateful for the blessing of that book, at that time, and also for my own willingness to act on the suddenly revealed imbalance in my priorities.
Now, at the changepoint of the years, the start of 2014, perhaps Dhumavati is tugging at me to make use of her winnowing basket again… encouraging me to make another, reflective enquiry into my life.
What is the chaff that needs to be blown away, and what is the nourishing grain that remains?
creativeinnerspace 
Is this wonderful gift from my darling friend whom two years ago didn’t even have a computer? Grace all hail, what sweetly inspiring wisdom you share with us. The ‘what stresses, what blesses’ questionnaire is one I will be taking tomorrow, first thing.
Hari Om Tat Sat sweet friend xxxx