Information on Arani?

[Guest guest]

My friend Alexei Kondratiev writes:

> In ancient Vedic ritual _arani_ is the name given to the two pieces

> of wood

> that are used as a chark to generate the sacred fire through

> friction. They are

> usually referred to separately as _uttararani_ and _adhararani_

> ("upper" and

> "lower" ones), and are made from the wood of the peepal tree (Ficus

> religiosa)

> and that of _Premna spinosa_, a kind of teak. Like all of the

> implements used

> in Vedic sacrifice, they tend to be personalised and to be treated

> as

> divinities in their own right. As an extension of this idea, the

> _Premna spinosa_

> tree is often called _arani_ and addressed as a goddess.

> In another, much later extension of the concept, I think Arani

> was made a

> specific divine figure in some Tantric traditions where the energy

> of fire

> and the energy of sexuality are linked. I suspect that this is

> behind the

> statements about Arani that Matthew found on the Web. Creating fire

> through friction

> invites an obvious sexual analogy.

 

 

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[Guest guest]

Thank you for this forwarded message. I always have this impression

that Trees are assocaited with The Goddess. I saw an archeological

pictures of A Goddess giving birth to a tree. Ganga Devi is said to

have emerged from a tree.