Om Agni...

...Swaha-a

I thank George Breed for sending me back to a subject of meditation - talking about a part of myself which gave me this name from my Guru, Swami Akshara. I just browsed through various sites searching for the name Swaha. They all speak of the same mythological story of the celestial nymph who is also the daughter of Daksha, who became immortal when she married Brahma's eldest son Agni. They also say that Skanda, the Hindu war deity is her son.
Swa-ha - also means 'I offer.' Swaha is the feminine shakti or energy of Agni, the god of fire, who manifests as the sun in space, lightning in the sky and fire on earth. Her nature is to absorb negativities and purify. In Yagnyas of oblations and offerings of all kinds - cloths, cereals, grains, fruits, flowers and also prayers, made to fire created in a pit called 'Homa Kund' amid sacred chants of Mantras, end each time with 'Swaha-a'. It requires the feminine energy of love and compassion to decimate the gross offerings into the fire, convert them into subtle vibrations that will unite the one who offers to the Universe to which it is being offered. Just as heat converts water into vapour, Swaha makes the gross offerings and turns them into subtle foods fit for consumption of the gods. She is the silent being that connects the gross world of matter to the subtle world of the spirit.
The mantras to all gods - like Om Vada Vada Vakvadinyai Namah Swaha - to Saraswati, the Goddess of Learning, Om Namo Bhagavate Dhanvantraye Amrutakalasha Hasthaya Sarvamaya Vinashanaya Trailokya Nathaya Vishnave Swaha," to Dhanvantri, an avatar of Vishnu and the Lord of Medicine, many mantras from the Upanishads - they end with Swaha, who takes the chants to the gods decimating them into subtle vibrations.
But just pronouncing the name 'Swa-ha' as a chant, contains in it tremendous energy, opening the channels that connect the mind to the cosmos.