Haidakhan Babaji at the Maha Shakti DhuniBabaji reinstituted the Havan (fire ceremony) as one of his most prominent spiritual practices during his appearance from 1970 to 1984. He performed a Havan every single morning before sunrise at the dhuni near his room on his balcony, or if traveling, a dhuni was always provided. It was THAT important to him to keep it going every day. In addition, he performed hundreds of yagyas on special occasions or in special locations. In these, many others participated and offered at the fire. He made a few speeches about havan which tell some significant information.
In my personal experience with Havan, this has been the most significant of the spiritual practices in bringing about quick transformation and dissolving of negativity. There are many times when I have entered into a fire ceremony with a problem and come out of it without the problem. This happens more noticeably for those who are sponsoring and performing the ceremony than for those who are just casual observers, in general. The universal balance has to do with give and take.
There are many aspects to a Havan. There are hundreds of little details in the preparations, the offerings, the decorations, and the performance, as well as the proper clean-up and handling of everything involved, even down to the ashes left afterwards. As one learns about all these details and surrenders to the beauty and holiness of it all, the "ancientness" and all-pervading quality of the element of fire becomes something very special.
In almost every ancient religion on this earth, fire is an important element of prayer. The smoke of the fire takes the prayers up into the ethers to where the Gods reside. The offerings are transmuted into a form that is ingestible, or digestible, to these Gods.
A parallel in our bodies is that we swallow food and through the "fire" in our digestive tract, this food is made into energy usable by our bodies. Those with weak digestion have a cool-burning fire while those with strong digestion have a nice hot flame. By the same token, the fire ceremony takes the food offered, adds light to it in the form of fire, and makes it into energy to "feed" the Divine. When honored in this way, while reciting their names, it is their duty to offer blessings to us and to take care of us.
It is stated by ancient sages that the fire of the havan connects down into the core of the earth, where there is also fire, and up into the heavens to the sun, which is fire. This puts us in touch with our groundedness and our "spaciness" (0ut in the universe) at the same time, integrating us into wholeness and inner harmony.
Fire ceremony appeases the Sun. Without the sun, we have no life on this planet. We all know what "delicate little munchkins" we are, comfortable only within a very small range of temperatures and humidity and atmospheric pressures. It is the Sun that determines ALL of these aspects for this planet, and so it determines our ability to stay alive. To appease the sun is a very smart move if we wish to stay alive to do our chosen work, our spiritual purpose for being on this planet at this time. We also just FEEL good in honoring ancient traditions like this.
We begin our ceremony by thanking all of the many things that sacrifice themselves in order for us to make this prayer of fire ceremony: the wood, the incense, the fruits, the flowers, the perfume oils, the grains, the resins, the ghee, the yogurt, the milk, the sugar, the honey, and all of the sources of these ingredients and the people who helped get these things to us to offer to the Divine. All are given blessings for their part in this most ancient way of worshiping the Divine.
Once the ceremony begins, each of the words said is a Name of God. The different aspects are each called upon with reverence and given an offering. In another dimension, it is possible to see the named deity swoop in and take their offering as it is given to them. They are all lined up, waiting for their turn to partake. They, in turn, give of themselves: a blessing of assistance in life, a feeling of peace, an attitude of understanding or compassion.
More than 400 Names of God are said during a typical fire ceremony. Those attending a Havan will receive most benefit by keeping a silent, prayerful and respectful attitude, observing each thought, each picture, each emotion that comes to mind and offering that into the fire. With each offering is said "Swaha" (I offer). Swaha is also the name of the wife of the God of Fire, Agni. To honor his wife is to honor Agni in the highest way.
There are simple forms of the Sacred Havan that can be performed with just a concentrated training and a minimal amount of equipment and supplies. If you are interested in learning the Havan/Fire Ceremony, please let me know so we can make the training available.
Om Namah Shivaya
Love,
Marge
www.babaji.net
margdevi@yahoo.com or phone: 928-254-3177
