When Tracy, Bonnie and Jacquie set out to find an inspirational goddess to act as mentor to our writings, we had no idea we’d uncover one as perfect as Arya Tara.

Each time we discovered new bits of information we became more and more excited about having her represent what we wanted to achieve for ourselves and for the girlfriends who visit our site.

The story goes that Tara came into existence when a tear from Avolokitesvara, the Buddha-to-be, the human counterpart being the Dalai Lama (I know, stay with me, here) fell to the ground and formed a lake. Out of the lake bloomed a lotus which then opened to reveal the Goddess Tara. It may seem really confusing but I like to simplify as much as possible for my own sake. She’s a really special goddess who governs the underworld, the earth and the heavens, birth, death and regeneration, love and war, the seasons and all that lives and grows. Talk about a multi-tasker! It’s almost insane what this Goddess can do but she is a woman, and we can do anything we set our minds to, right?

Tara is known as The Compassionate One, the Fierce Protectress and the Mother of all Buddhas.  According to Tibetan mythology she is also considered to be the archetype of Inner Wisdom. Oprah would call this your feminine intuition. You know, that little voice that tells you stuff that you sometimes choose to ignore but usually wind up regretting.

By studying Tara you can begin a ‘transformation of consciousness, a journey to freedom’. We interpret this to mean that as you learn more about yourself and the world you reach a new level of understanding and compassion for others and gain more confidence in your own decisions and this allows you the freedom to let go of jealousy, material possessiveness, anger and guilt. When your mind lets go of negativity it becomes open to all the good and all the beauty that’s around. Feel free to create your own interpretation because, well, you have the wisdom to do so.

A universally revered goddess, Tara is found in some form or another in many cultures around the world. The Druids had a Mother Goddess named Tara and an old Finnish saga tells the story of Tar, the wise woman. In Latin she is Terra, or Mother Earth, and in the South American jungle the people there have a goddess known as Tarahumara. The Cheyenne tell stories of a Star Woman, I read somewhere that Tara means ‘star’ in Sanskrit. Now I just have to find out what Sanskrit means. Just kidding. Anyway, this woman/goddess apparently fell from the heavens to provide food for the Earthlings and somehow wound up endowing us with the capacity for wisdom. Coincidence? I’m just saying that it feels like there’s more going on here than Tara being on the top of the ‘names for baby’ list for goddesses a few thousand years ago.

Out of all the manifestations of Tara I think we love the Tibetan one the most as she is often described as the Protectress of Earthly Travel as well as the Goddess of Spiritual Travel along the road to Enlightenment. How cool is that! Just picture a pageant scene with ‘Miss Goddess of Spiritual Travel along the road to Enlightenment’ emblazoned down the sash. Who wouldn’t want to be her! She Rocks!

Tara Tidbits

There are 21 incarnations of Tara but here are the most popular ones.

Green Tara ~ known for compassion

White Tara ~ also known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity

Red Tara ~ a fierce personality associated with magnetizing all good things.  She’s a go-getter.

Black Tara ~ associated with power

Yellow Tara ~ associated with wealth and prosperity

Blue Tara ~ associated with anger, like a mother bear gets angry protecting her cub

Tara’s animals are the Sow, Mare, Owl and Raven

Artwork by  Jacquie Janzen Yee

Tara’s Mantra is Om Tare Tuttare Ture Svaha

The syllable OM, or Aum, is a sound that represents the life breath of the Universe. It can literally mean ‘to make a humming sound’ or, as in Tamil, to simply mean ‘Yes it is’. In Hinduism it is said that ‘God’s voice is Aum’. That one gives me chills. Try making the OM sound for yourself. What does it remind you of? When I tried it I thought of the hum of my computer and the subtle buzz emanating from my refrigerator. These are some of the sounds that are all around us filling in all the empty spaces in our heads with constant energy. They’re the sounds of life that let me know my stuff is plugged in and working! We are living in a modern world, after all.

The next three words are different variations of the name Tara with a traditional explanation being that the vibrations of the name represent three progressive stages of Enlightenment. The first Tare asks for protection against worldly dangers like floods or traffic accidents. Tuttare goes a step further and offers personal protection from spiritual dangers like greed, hatred and delusion – the three biggest causes of individual suffering. The final Ture brings us to the path of Enlightenment where we learn that true spiritual progress involves having compassion for others.

The Sanskrit dictionary gives the definition of Svaha to mean ‘Hail’ or ‘May a Blessing Rest On’. This final blessing could be saying that once you’ve reached Enlightenment you have, in fact, become Tara, a symbol of your inner potential. It’s a beautiful goal.

- Jacquie