Goddess of the Week: Lakshmi

As Congress considers the largest government bailout in US history and as banks and financial institutions teeter on the brink of insolvency, let us look to Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity.  Actually, she is the goddess of many things.  She is the embodiment of love and represents the face of feminine spiritual energy.  She is depicted as a beautiful young woman with golden skin and four arms.  She is generally seen sitting on a enormous lotus flower.

As luck would have it, October is her special month, the time when she is celebrated most faithfully, and it looks like this October we will really need her.  She is said to favor those who work hard and keep a clean house.  So clean up your messes, big and small, domestic and institutional, otherwise we will have to deal with her sister Alakshmi, the goddess of misfortune.

Personal attributes: As the embodiment of love she is all that is good, but she favors the hard of work as opposed to the lazy and entitled.  Now that's a goddess I can get behind.

Channel this goddess when: Your purse is feeling squeezed or your bank is being taken over.