Revisiting the Deities

Hello, Sanctuary community!

It is my honor to reintroduce you to the deities that dwell in our physical space. I wrote a blog post in June of 2022 entitled “Why the Deities?” and many of the reasons hold true today. But I wish to expand on what I wrote, because the collective of people we hold has evolved. 

In many Western yoga studios, the display of deities can feel exotic, especially if their presence is not properly explained; and that does harm to the tradition. It’s the difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation. Because we are a yoga studio that exists in the Western world, it is impossible for us not to take part in some form of cultural appropriation. And yet, we can always do less harm, and we can learn to relate to our practice with nuance and complexity. As we often hear in class, we are spacious enough to hold it all. We have teachers and students in our community who have studied the yogic mythic stories in depth, and relate to the deities with reverence.

While we hold diverse perspectives to yoga and somatic practices in our community, and are honored to do so, the primary purpose of a yoga practice has always been sacred. It is a means of connecting us with something greater than ourselves. For a physical asana practice, the body and breath are gateways to experiencing the divine in our bodies. In meditation and other reflective practices, we access sweet presence in our minds and heart. This approach grows out of the democratization of yoga that happened with the start of the tantric lineage, which is the primary lineage we teach at Sanctuary. Meaning that, even though we are householders, it is possible for us to access, embody, and receive the sacred in our everyday lives.

The deities of yoga are manifestations that began in very, very old Indus Valley devotional practices. This diverse collective of people valued the women as creators of life and cared deeply for their animals, as is evident in the artifacts that have been found. The sacred practices from the region evolved into Vedic literature, the oldest Indian scripture (1500 BCE); the Upanishads, written in response to the Vedas (900–300 BCE); to the Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana (600 BCE–600 CE) which tell the story of the Great War; to the traditions that we find lineages of in the West: Classical Yoga (100 BCE–500 CE), Tantra Yoga (500–1300 CE), and Hatha Yoga (500–1300 CE). It is important to note that before the colonization of India by the British Empire, different regions would worship different deities and maintained regionally distinct devotional practices; these deities and practices were not grouped together under the title of “Hinduism” until simplified by the West.

And yet, we can still harness glimmers of the older, complex traditions. Over thousands of years, the people in this region of our earth considered life’s most important questions: How do we best form a human life? How do we sanctify birth and honor death? How do we educate our children? How do we initiate our children into adulthood? How do we create a society that is stable, secure, and loving? These are the answers that yoga seeks to answer. And these questions are woven into yoga’s mythological tradition.

The deities of the yogic tradition represent the multifaceted aspects of the divine, and also ourselves. Yoga is not a polytheistic tradition; rather, it is an expansive conversation, with stories, sounds, and visuals that portray the complexity of the One. Ganesha is sweetness that holds us at the threshold of consciousness. Lakshmi expresses refinement, beauty, and abundance. Saraswati inspires our creative projects, flowing in the waters. Hanuman compels us to take a chance, and reminds us that sometimes what breaks us is also what makes us most powerful. Natarajasana invites us into the cosmic dance—concealment, revelation, creation, preservation, and dissolution—which is the dance of life itself.

The deities are not simply representations; they are real. Lakshmi glows in the fall leaves. Hanuman in the courageous leap you take when life is difficult. Ganesha is the sweet person who cares for you as you begin something new. Saraswati guides you as you sing, write, paint. The point is, you can witness and call upon these very real energies in your life. 

I hope you continue to learn about the deities as you practice in our space, and form your own relationship with each character in the story. The deities are our helpers, and I love being reminded of all of the ways that the Divine shows up for us in the everyday.

With love,

Lindsay