Havan Sadhana - fire for transformation

Personal Fire Ceremony for connecting with Divine Soul

                        
                         In this article you will find information for 
                          i) havan ceremony 
                         ii) havan preparation.

You will need:

1. a kund i.e. a small container suitable for fire, this can be bought at large Indian stores

2. wood which has been cut to fit inside the kund - this wood should be pure (untreated), dry and non-sparking

3. small pieces of camphor to ensure the fire lights easily (camphor a symbol of purity)

4. a small quantity of ghee (ghee is also a symbol of purity)

5. a long-handled spoon for ladelling ghee into the fire

6. samagri - a mixture of dried herbs such as lavendar and rosemary, and also dried rose petals or any other beautiful flower.

 Havan Ceremony

1. Close your eyes and mouth and become still, focus into the heart and mentally repeat the prayer you have in your heart 10 -20 times - and take a few moments to absorb the importance this prayer has in your life.

3. Open your eyes. Now apply a little tilak/vibhuti/ash to the eyebrow centre.

4. Light an incense.

5. Light a tee-lite or other candle, waving it in the shape of om, 3 times.

6. Light the Fire with the Fire Chant. Once it is fully alight scatter in a small handful of samagri to open your prayers and offerings.

7. Begin chanting at this point in the ceremony.

You can chant the Ganapati Stotram as an auspicious start to any havan theme. Chant it quickly.

Chant 11 Mahamrityunjaya mantra, 11 Gayatri mantra and 3 Durga Stotram as recommended by Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, of the Satyananda Yoga tradition. 
Followed by 108 rounds of your personal mantra.  All chants chanted quickly to increase their power. If you are in a devotional mood and you want the chants to increase devotion in your heart, then chant them slowly.

You can also chant any or all of the following:

27, 54 or 108 Mahamrityunjaya  

27, 54 or 108 Gayatri. There are many 

or

108 "aim hreem kleem om, svaha" 27 Mahamrityunjaya and 27 Gayatri.

8. During the ceremony you will need to ladle a little ghee fairly regularly with your left hand, and put on wood as is needed to keep the fire strong and inspiring. Ensure the fire is bright and strong when the chanting is complete. With your right hand you count the rounds on a mala.

9. After the chanting is finished there should be quiet contemplation for 3 or more minutes. Become still, tune in to the heart, that is the where the love for transformation lies.

10. Put prasad into the fire and scatter some more samagri there to finalise prayers.

11. Chant the Purnahuti mantra then Om three times, followed by Om Shanti Shanti Shantihi.

Havan Preparation

1. Samagri – get swathes of lavender and rosemary and/or rose petals if you know someone with a rose garden. Dry beautiful roses, not half dead ones.  Hang up till fully dried e.g. 2-3 months, then smooth all the lavender off the branches/twigs into a sealed container.  A pinch of samagri is offered into the fire to begin and end the ceremony. In a havan where there are many participants samagri is offered after every round that is chanted e.g. samagri is thrown into the fire 108 times when 108 Mahamrityunjaya mantras are chanted.  54 times when 54 are chanted, etc. On their own one person can only do so much so wood, ghee and mala are given priority.
2. Camphor to help light the fire – also symbol for purity.
3. Incense 
4. Kum Kum – ash/vibhuti
5. Colored powders, or flour or rice for decorating bricks
6. Tee-lites and main candle
7. Ghee (butter-size container, buy from supermarket) should come from an unopened bucket  not one that has already been used.
8. Decoration such as a little coloured powder and a flour, or a little circle or heart of rice and a flower. Can also put greenery around the kund to catch sparks if the only wood you have is sparky. 
9. Prasad which should not be eaten or tasted during preparation or before ceremony, it is offered to the god of transformation, Agni, first, before it is eaten by anyone.
10. Laying the fire.  Place the wood in layers. Begin with small twigs at the base i.e. lay two twigs on the base about two inches apart. On top of that, in the other direction, lay two more twigs also two inches apart. Like this build each layer using thicker sticks with each layer. Put little pieces of camphor here and there - not more than six little pieces as you build the layers. Lay the fire in a two on two fashion so that a clear centre is left through the middle of the fire and it will be able to burn brightly without smoking. Build it so that it is higher than the kund if you are using a very small kund.

MahamRityunjaya mantra – healing mantra.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XP-f7wPM0A    Chanted by Tina Turner and children.