Ashlesha, Ketu, Dhumavati, Tara, the Nagas, and the True Mysteries of Patala Loka (Hag Version)
Today we’re gonna be looking at the actual core of the feminine, with regard to a nakshatra we’ve all heard so much about.
Ashlesha is nakshatra that you’ll see a lot in New Age circles and Vedic Twitter and tumblr as being one of the main lunar mansions of “feminine mystique”, whatever the f*ck that means. Yin, magnetic, seductive eyes, frigid sexuality, paralyzing power of the kundalini, tantra queens, makeup, glamor, prostitution, channeling erotic female Lilith energy, etc etc etc etc.
Very much of this is due to what that uwu princess female adept woman has put out into the world, and I have to say… the feminine mystery part is true—just not in the way that one would think, and certainly not in the way that ms. nócty thinks.
Ashlesha is said to be the birth nakshatra of Ketu, which I ruthlessly dragged in another one of my posts. But today we’re going to look at the other side of Ketu. Ketu is associated with strīm̐ (स्त्रीं), the strī bija, which directly translated means the “woman root syllable”. As you may know, Ketu is associated with excavation, spiritual knowledge, looking past superficialities, and the “root” of things. And these significations are of the utmost importance when a woman wants to know her true spiritual power.
Ketu is associated with 2 vidyas: Dhumavati and Tara. Tara is the concept of strī, woman, itself. Both of these goddesses are described as absolutely horrifying to look at; Dhumavati (me, lol) is ugly, old, haggard, frightening, wrinkled, and nasty, and Tara is fat, disheveled, pot-bellied, and described as extremely awkward to look at. And yet… they are the only goddesses who have the ability to save. Not Lakshmi, not Kamala, not Tripura Sundari, not Bhuvaneshwari. Dhumavati brings about Daruna Ratri, which brings about the end of the corruption of the world, and Tara comes from the Sanskrit root word tṝ, which means to cross over or to transcend. Tara is commonly referred to as a boat that takes one over the sea of samsara, and this is confirmed even further by Tara’s association with the Matsya (fish) avatar of Vishnu.
Tara and Dhumavati, along with their yantras
To understand the freeing power of Ketu, especially for women, we have to look at the mythology of the Nagas, the rulers of Ashlesha. They are said to reside in the lowest realm, buried deep (Ketu) under all the others. This realm is known as Patala Loka. Patala Loka is unique in that it is not illuminated by solar bodies like the other realms; it is illuminated by the jewels worn by the Nagas of Patala Loka, each of them having their own brilliance and luster.
“There is no sunlight in the lower realms, but the darkness is dissipated by the shining of the jewels that the residents of Patala wear.”
Ashlesha, according to ms. nǒckty, is characterized by external “feminine mystique” and makeup and glamor that creates the “yin” to attract solar energy to it, since feminine beings—again according to her—are unable to produce their own light.
But if you dive into the deepest realm, characterized by the feminine powers of the Nagas, you’ll see that they have no need for a Sun to provide illumination. Their own gems are enough to bring light to the entirety of Patala Loka. And for all the nǒckty worshipers who by now still haven’t gotten the point: a woman in her most profound state of existence does not need a man to give her anything for her to spiritually progress. What she needs is already within her. All she needs to do is to dive deep within herself to find these gems that are inherent to her. As women, the brilliance of our own consciousness is Tara herself, who is herself Dhumavati, the one who has no consort because she is enough for herself.
This is the true core of the feminine and is the essence of my messaging here. You as a woman have the gift of unimaginable spiritual clarity, and the way to get there is not by dolling up your temporary physical vessel in order to attract a “virile solar being” who will simply reduce you to a physical object to be used and cast aside. You as a woman do it by excavating deep into yourself and finding the mysteries within. You as a woman do it by realizing that YOU are the true virile solar being. And this is how you as a woman cross the ocean of samsara and into liberation.