By Akhanda-prana (8/07)
[Call and response style]
A1. Peace (English), Paz (Spanish), Pache (Italian, Romanian)
A2. Pax (Latin or Paix French), Axti (Avestan of Persia), Ashtee (Pashto, Farsi)
A3. Salam (Arabic), Shalom (Hebrew), Shalama (Aramaic)
A4. Shi (Gaelic), Shiwa (Tibetan), Shanti (Sanskrit etc.)
A5. Suhl (Old Turkish, Arabic, Urdu etc.), Solh (Persian, Farsi), Sola (Pashto, Afghan)
A6. Heian (Japanese), Heping (Manderine Chinese), Hoa Binh (Vietnamese)
A7. Hetep (Egyptian), Here (Mali-Bambara), Hae-a-na (Bolivia-Aymara)
B1. Irq (Ethiopia-Amharic), Eyuwi (Nez Perce), Eirene (Greek)
B2. Fred (Swedish, Danish), Vrede (Dutch), Friede (German)
B3. Mir (Russian), Miers (Latvian), Miru (Old Church Slavonic)
B4. Emem (Nigeria-Efik), Aman (Urdu, Malay), Amani (Swahili)
B5. Amniat (Persian), Amaithi (Tamil), Amahoro (Rundi, Kinyarwandu)
B6. Hozho (Navajo), Wolakota (Lakota), Skennenkoewa (Iroquois-Mohawk)
C1. Ament (Egyptian), Amen (Latin, etc.)
C2. Aymen (USA variant), Amiin (Arabic and Orthodox)
C3. Ameyn (Hebrew, Aramaic), Omeyn (Ashkenazi Jews of West Slovakia etc.)
C4. Uumeyn (Ashkenazi Jews of East Slovakia etc.), Aum (India, also OM)
Aum, Shanti, Shanti, Shantih
Peace, Peace, Peace be to all
Notes:
C1. Ament—Egyptain sacred ground of existence, the Underworld or place of peace where Goddess Maat or Maa looked into into the heart of the dead to weigh it against her feather of truth and to guide them onward. The ground of the earth was often a sign of affirmation, support, firmness, truth. The ancient feminine roots ma and am give "peace" a special inner meaning.
C1. Amen—Used as a sign of something sacred in the Christian world. It commonly comes at the end of hymns as a sign of affirmation—truly it is so. Jesus also used it (in Aramaic) at the beginning of phrases meaning "verily." This pronunciation is used in Latin (Roman Church), Modern German, Eastern Slovak, Hungarian.
C2. Aymen—This pronunciation has a long English "a" or "ey" sound (as in "they") and is found in the USA.
C2. Aamiin—This pronunciation is found in Arabic, Russian Orthodox and some Greek Orthodox.
C3. Ameyn—This pronunciation is standard Hebrew (including Ladino language or Sephardic Jews of Spain, North Africa, Turkey), Aramaic, written Greek.
C3. Omeyn—This pronunciation has the short "o" sound of Yiddish of the Ashkenazi Jews (Yiddish is 90% German plus Hebrew and other elements). It is found in Germany, W. Slovakia, the Czech Republic.
C4. Uumeyn—This pronunciation is found among Ashkenazi Jews of E. Slovakia and Poland.
C4. Aum (Om)—This mantra is found in Sanskrit and has spread to most languages of India. There are about 387 living languages in India. Much has been written about the meaning and use of this mantra. It is a universal holy word and can be used with any other holy words of any religion. It is also an affirming word. When chanted correctly, the sound vibrations will create a special mandala called Sri Chakra, which is a symbol in India of the evolution of life, of cycles and recycling and of the Motherhood of God, which ulitmately merges with the One without a second, all inclusive.
The roots maa, mater, meter, med can all mean "to measure." These roots have a primordial association with the Great Goddess of ancient times of many cultures from Africa, to Europe, the Middle East and across Asia and the Americas. Maa is also part of the archaic language of baby sheep, goats and cows, as well as humans. It can have a variety of meanings connected to "mother"—she who measures out to all her children; she who is the first teacher of fairness and goodness; she who creates order and structure both in the cosmos ("Mother Nature"), in the kitchen and in the back office! Jai Ma!
A chant by Akhanda-prana
Ma - Aum1 - 3X
Sri Sar-ada Devi, namo nama
Essence—of existence, namo nama
Jai Ma jai Sri, namo nama
Blessings—of Lakshmi, namo nama
Jai Ma Sarada, namo nama
Wisdom—of Saraswati, namo nama
Jai Ma Devi, namo nama
Durga—the Light of Life, namo nama
Jai Ma, Maha Maya, namo nama
Kali—the inner strength, namo nama
Order of the Universe, namo nama
To all—you measure out, namo nama
Universal Mother, namo nama
The One—the ever-present, namo nama
By Akhanda-prana
["Mother" in many languages—also names of goddesses]
Maa (Egyptain etc.), Maat (Egyptian), Maatri2 (Sanskrit)
Ma (Asturian etc.), Maw (M. Eng. Dialect), Mat (Russian)
Mawu-Lisa3 (Fon—African )
Maataa (Hindi, Gujarati etc.), Mater (Latin), Madre (Spanish, Italian)
Moeder (Dutch), Mutter (German), Mutti (German colloquial)
Matka (Czech, Slovak, Polish), Majka (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian), Makuahine (Hawaiin)
Mama4 (almost universal), Mami (Babylonian-Iraq), Mommie (USA)
Umm (Arabic), Amm (Aramaic), Ama5 (Babylonian, Basque, S. Indian, Japanese, Nepalese)
Uma (Sanskrit), Amba (Sanskrit), Umama (Zulu)
Ana (Turkish, Old Irish), Anna (Old Irish), Danu (Old Irish, Sanskrit)
Mai (Galician), Mae (Portuguese, Thai), Mayr (Armenian, Vietnamese)
Mari6 (Celtic, Basque), Mere (French), Meyte'ra (Greek)
Maat (Egyptian earth goddess), Nut Ma7 (Egyptian sky goddess)
Ishtar (Babylonian sky goddess of light), Ereshkigal8 (Babylonian earth goddess)
Damatiir9 (Greek earth goddess), Persephone (Greek sky goddess of light)
Hel10 (Germanic sky goddess), Holle Ma (Germanic earth goddess)
Ushas11 (Hindu sky goddess of light), Ratri Ma (Hindu goddess of night and darkness)
Durga (Hindu Devi or shining goddess), Kali Ma (Hindu black and innermost goddess)
Ma - Aum - 3X
Notes:
1 Aum or Om is closely connected to the Creator-Nourisher-Recycler of all life—the Mother of the Universe. At some point in history, these three functions were taken away from her and given to a male god (or God). When Aum is correctly chanted, the vibrations create the Sri Yantra geometric symbol of creation, in an appropriate medium like sand. The Sri Yantra is predominantly associated with the Goddess, and the male aspect is contained within it as well.
2 In Sanskrit there are two roots (1) maa—to measure, to cry, and (2) mah—to be great, to be liberal, to bestow (William Dwight Whitney’s Roots and Verb Forms...). Both of these are characteristic of the ancient goddess. To measure out can also mean to bestow or to share. Sharing is the root of all ethics and religion, and mother (ma) feels the oneness of all. The "heroic age" of conquering, grabbing and classifying later developed. It will take human civilization a long time to recover from the "heroic trend."
3 This deity includes both female and male aspects, but is commonly referred to as "she." The predominate female aspect is Mawu. In West Bengal a similar village deity Tushu Ma or Tushi-Tusha has been worshipped for eons. Tushi is predominate female.
4 Swahili, Tswana, Xhosa, Quecha, much of Eastern and Western Europe, Ukranian, several Native American tribes, Turkey, Mandarin. In Latin mamma means "breast" (mammal). In Old Babylonian Mami was the wise mid-wife of the gods whose name meant, "she who responds to cries."
5 Amaterasu is national sun goddess of Japan (seen on the national flag). South Indian languages include Tamil, Telugu and Kannada.
6 Martta in Bengali language means one of the "three worlds": earth. Swarga is heavens or upper worlds. Paataala is nether worlds. This may relate to the story about Mary and Martha in the life of Jesus. Andre Mari of the ancient Basques was sky goddess/sun goddess and very other-worldly.
7 Also, Ua Zit—cobra goddess of the earth, Nekhebt—vulture goddess of the sky.
8 The dark goddess is traditionally considered to be older than the light goddess.
9 Damatiir is Greek Doric dialect for "Demeter." She is the primordial goddess who measures out, and goddess of agriculture and of civilization. The words "metric," "meter," etc. are related to her name. Persephone was her daughter.
10 Hel is the name of the ancient Germanic sky/sun goddess whose name means "shining, clear, bright, intelligent and sacred." Her sister Holle was goddess of the nether worlds. Odin subjugated Hel and forced her to live in the nether worlds. Odin’s heaven was exclusively for wounded soldiers. Even in the Christian era, it was said that Holle took care of deceased unbaptized babies in the nether world.
11 Ushas, the dawn goddess—shining, bright and sacred—was vanquished by Indra. She was the most frequently mentioned goddess in the Rigveda who then became completely insignificant due to her powerful enemies.