Since Earth Day is in April, this month's full moon altar honours the Tibetan Buddhist bodhisattva Green Tara. An ancient deity of compassion, healing and regeneration, Tara ("Star") manifests herself in 21 forms, each of which is a different colour. In the 21st century, Green Tara has become a powerful symbol of environmentalist concern and activism for the Earth because of her colour, which has brought her widespread new recognition and popularity.
My Green Tara is a small, meticulously hand-painted canvas mask from Tibet. She is richly adorned in an elaborate headdress, necklace and earrings. Like all bodhisattvas and buddhas, her earlobes are extremely elongated as evidence of her innumerable reincarnations in this world. I got my Green Tara about 20 years ago in an Edmonton spirituality store.
In front of Green Tara on the altar cloth depicting a beautiful green succulent sits a pair of brass Tibetan bells. With a single reverberating chime, they clear negative energy from any space and signal the presence of the Divine. I also got my Tibetan bells a couple of decades ago and used them for many years to begin each drumming and chanting circle which I held.
Speaking of chants, Tara's sacred mantra of healing is Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha. Here's a beautiful version recorded by Deva Premal who has long been one of my favourite devotional singers. This music was playing as I set up and photographed my Green Tara altar.
[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks 2023]
32 comments:
Green Tara then seems to be the perfect choice for the month then. I love it...and I love the bells. I can almost hear them.
Stunning altar display! And a perfect choice for this month. That mask is simply gorgeous.
I like your continuing altars. I hadn't realized that you consider setting them up to be a ceremony in itself, but yes, of course. Thank you.
I enjoy seeing the altars you have, Debra! So interesting! Green Tara is so appropriate for this month.
Green Tara has kind of a standing bitch face. Perhaps she is a little peeved at the mistreatment of her planet.
Beautiful! I never knew that about the ear lobes. My Aunt Florence must have lived many lives.
That's a beautiful altar. I love her face.
Love,
Janie
Oh, this is pretty!
Love Green Tara (I did not know about the elongated ears, natch!) And I've always wanted to have one of those brass Tibetan bells. Really.
XOXO
Another beautiful and meaningful altar. This one feels perfect for Spring. Thanks, as always, for sharing these with us.
xo
She is beautiful, Debra! And, as always, I love the story behind them ~
bobbie
I love your alter display, and the video is beautiful.
My brain wouldn't read Green Tara. It kept seeing Green Tea.
I always wondered why my earlobes were so short.
I used to have a pair of Tibetan bells..I wonder what happened to them???
Interesting post..Happy Easter
All hail Green Tara!
Beutiful but very stern-looking, like she takes no crap from anybody!
Love your Green Tara mask and the little bells with their single reverberating chime clearing negative energy sound devine.
The chant is beautiful.
Such a beautiful altar.
I love this.
Love this.
Your altar looks fabulous and I like your Green Tara a lot, Debra. I also was unaware of why the earlobes were elongated so thanks for sharing that detail. Happy weekend.
Thank you that is a lovely altar. I always get a boost from the full moon altars that you share with us. I always learn something.
Alas, i fear that my own earlobes are also a little on the short side, but i can feel them growing.
That is a nice color of green.
Coffee is on and stay safe.
I wondered about the elongated earlobes you often see on some deities so thanks for that information. We've been blessed with clear skies the last few days so the Moon, Mars and Venus have been brilliant in the sky.
Do not eat the peeps! We do not have time to deal with red#3.
People are saying not to use that color, we have plenty others.
Who even eats peeps anyway. After dealing with these christians and random assholes,we do not know what to say.
So basically, if red#3 is dangerous, stop it.
I forgot it was easter.
It is a nightmare trying to do easter this year.
Thank god i am a pagan. I never forget my friends.
We are not doing Easter this year.
Probably they will bomb us.
Hello Debra, Designing such beautiful altars and so carefully choosing the elements makes you aware of different influences and things to be grateful for or concerned about, and we you readers benefit by enjoying it and learning about it all vicariously. --Jim
one of these days's I'd like to see your entire collection together ...
I, like Mike, saw Green Tea as the title first. The altar set-up is beautiful though. I have a set of bells like that too.
Lovely !
wow she looks divine and captivating !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i imagine your home full of such pretty and meaningful things ;)))
no doubt that today world needs the strength and fertility of her .
i think in far far future when people will move to other planets many of them will know and feel that no other planet is like our earth :)
she is our provider and we must be aware of the consequences of our actions
blessings
Tara's sacred mantra of healing, by the artist Deva is mesmerizing. I loved it very much.
This altar is a lovely choice for Earth Day. (which should be every day, right?)
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