Introduction to Navaratri

An Introduction to Navaratri, fasting during Navaratri, and the nine days of Navratri. Navratri means “nine nights.” These nine nights are counted from the day after the new moon day or Amavasya. These first nine days of the lunar cycle are considered feminine. This is a special time for Devi, who represents the feminine nature of the Divine. The ninth day is called Navami. The one-and-a-half days around the full moon are a neutral time. The remaining eighteen days are masculine in nature. The feminine phase of the month is about Devi. That is why in the tradition, all worship up to Navami is dedicated to Devi.
When we say “masculine” and “feminine,” we are not talking about gender; we are talking about the basic qualities in the existence, the polarities. The physical world can only exist between polarities – day and night, darkness and light, masculine and feminine, and male and female. Male and female is a manifestation of masculine and feminine qualities, not a quality by itself.
In any given society if feminine moves into the background, they will become conquerors. That means they will sit on an empty shell of a life. They will conquer the whole world, and find that they have no taste in the world. This is the plight of the masculine that they reach the top of the world and then feel miserable right on the top.