Fireside_Hindu
Jai Lakshmi Maa
At one point in time in most of the world, the role of housekeeper was treated with a sense of respect. The job of making a house into a home - creating a space where Lakshmi (wealth, bounty, comfort, family and love) could thrive was as essential as the role of bread winner. The bread winners were also Lakshmi - they brought monetary wealth and physical comfort to a home, filling stomachs and allowing for the pursuit of non-survival based activities or goals.
Anyone can take up the banner of one of these Lakshmis .In my home (generally speaking), I take care of the house and my husband brings home most of the income.
At some point, the role of house keeper became synonymous with female suppression. It was something to be ashamed of. To stay home and not go make money made you seem weak willed or uneducated. Certainly, being forced to stay in the home when wider aspirations abound would be cruel and wrong. But if given a choice, why is it that when one choose to stay and care for the home, it is looked down on?
It is no longer about gender to be sure. Men can and do stay home and take care of the house while women go and earn the income. It can work either way (sometimes a couple will do both! I work from home, but manage to make enough money to pay for my art supplies - I am lucky enough to be able to pursue an "unnecessary" calling). But when we refuse to acknowledge the importance of the Home-maker, we deny a very important source of Lakshmi in our lives.
Bringing Lakshmi to a home is about creating a space that people want to spend time in. One thing that impressed me about the poorest women of India is that even though they had dirt floors and few possessions, they would rise every morning and sweep the trash and debris from their front doors and narrow alleys. These women take pride in creating a space worth coming home to. They know they are not impressing anyone. They do it for the simple fact that it is worth doing.
A home is where we welcome guests and family or where we celebrate and grieve. This multi-purpose space needs a caretaker, and that caretaker should be honored for the role they play in bringing Lakshmi through the door. We want to have a space people feel comfortable gathering in -a place fit for the God/ess we see in every soul that enters our homes. The difference between a lean-to and a home are the people who fill it/ care for it.
It is not about loving house work either. I don't necessarily enjoy laundry or cleaning. However, I enjoy the comfort of a clean and organized home and I know that takes work.
When I am sick or tired, or am gone for a few days, my husband become the Home-maker. He brings the Lakshmi. That feminine power lies within him and he is not afraid of it. He does not prevent me from seeking physical wealth outside the home either. For his own part, he works a stressful job so that we can pay loans down faster. His role deserves respect for that as well. Without it, things would be very difficult indeed.
This was just a reflection about the nature of Lakshmi as it relates to the home and caring for the home. I often feel that with Lakshmi worship a lot of emphasis is on the obtaining of physical wealth when that is not really her primary purpose at all. Lakshmi grants wealth, for sure, but what she also does is remind us that wealth is the most useful and pleasurable when it is shared and that things like feeling loved, and cared for cannot be purchased with gold - they are built by people.
Anyone can take up the banner of one of these Lakshmis .In my home (generally speaking), I take care of the house and my husband brings home most of the income.
At some point, the role of house keeper became synonymous with female suppression. It was something to be ashamed of. To stay home and not go make money made you seem weak willed or uneducated. Certainly, being forced to stay in the home when wider aspirations abound would be cruel and wrong. But if given a choice, why is it that when one choose to stay and care for the home, it is looked down on?
It is no longer about gender to be sure. Men can and do stay home and take care of the house while women go and earn the income. It can work either way (sometimes a couple will do both! I work from home, but manage to make enough money to pay for my art supplies - I am lucky enough to be able to pursue an "unnecessary" calling). But when we refuse to acknowledge the importance of the Home-maker, we deny a very important source of Lakshmi in our lives.
Bringing Lakshmi to a home is about creating a space that people want to spend time in. One thing that impressed me about the poorest women of India is that even though they had dirt floors and few possessions, they would rise every morning and sweep the trash and debris from their front doors and narrow alleys. These women take pride in creating a space worth coming home to. They know they are not impressing anyone. They do it for the simple fact that it is worth doing.
A home is where we welcome guests and family or where we celebrate and grieve. This multi-purpose space needs a caretaker, and that caretaker should be honored for the role they play in bringing Lakshmi through the door. We want to have a space people feel comfortable gathering in -a place fit for the God/ess we see in every soul that enters our homes. The difference between a lean-to and a home are the people who fill it/ care for it.
It is not about loving house work either. I don't necessarily enjoy laundry or cleaning. However, I enjoy the comfort of a clean and organized home and I know that takes work.
When I am sick or tired, or am gone for a few days, my husband become the Home-maker. He brings the Lakshmi. That feminine power lies within him and he is not afraid of it. He does not prevent me from seeking physical wealth outside the home either. For his own part, he works a stressful job so that we can pay loans down faster. His role deserves respect for that as well. Without it, things would be very difficult indeed.
This was just a reflection about the nature of Lakshmi as it relates to the home and caring for the home. I often feel that with Lakshmi worship a lot of emphasis is on the obtaining of physical wealth when that is not really her primary purpose at all. Lakshmi grants wealth, for sure, but what she also does is remind us that wealth is the most useful and pleasurable when it is shared and that things like feeling loved, and cared for cannot be purchased with gold - they are built by people.