Thread by @Auro_Mere

On this day, exactly 141 years ago, our dear Mother was born in France.
Let us have a glimpse of Her life & Her presence throughout the world, until Her final stop in Pondicherry to join #SriAurobindo, after ~42 years.

1) The Eternal Birth:

On the morning of Thursday,
21st Feb. 1878,
at 10:15 AM,
the birth of Blanche Rachel Mirra Alfassa was registered at the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France.

Her Birth Certificate, as reproduced below, was read and approved 3 days later:

2) The Place of Her Birth:

The Mother was born at 41, Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, France. The Boulevard was named after Georges Haussmann, the famous prefect who had completely renovated Paris just a few years before Her birth!

But why France? The Mother answered years later:

3) The Time of Her Birth:

The Mother was born on 21st Feb. 1878, exactly 2016 days after the birth of #SriAurobindo on 15th Aug. 1872; perhaps to double the auspiciousness (1008) of the advent!

Of course the time of Their arrival couldn't have been without a great significance:

4) Her Grandmother:

Mira (Pinto) Ismalun was Mother's maternal grandmother. Born in Cairo in 1830, she got married at the age of 13 and had 9 children incl. Mathilde. In 1850, she would go out of Egypt & travel throughout Europe..

There is much that was common b/w Mira & Mirra:

5) Her Name:

We noticed a curious similarity in the names of the Grandmother & Granddaughter, Mira ('r') & Mirra ('rr'). The name has a significant meaning attached to it in numerous world languages.

Interestingly, Mother mentioned Her signature has no connection to this name!:

6) Her Mother:

Mathilde, Mira Ismalun's 2nd daughter, was born in Alexandria in 1857, interestingly on the same date as Mira (18 Dec.) She married Maurice in 1843, & had 3 children.

Her name, meaning "Mighty in battle", perhaps gives an indication why our Mother had chosen her:

7) Her Father:

Maurice Alfassa (5 Jul.1843—13 Sep.1918) was born in Adrianople, Turkey. A banker, he married also into a family of bankers. Mathilde avowedly selected him b/c he had a big library!

As with Mathilde, there was a reason for his being chosen as the Mother's father:

8) Her Brother:

After the death of their 1st child, the 2nd child of the Alfassa couple was born in Alexandria in 1876. Amusingly, Mathilde, who adored this child as a god, decided to give him an Italian name - Matteo!

Mother shared a really close relationship with Her brother:

Married in 1874*

9) Her Yoga starts:

#SriAurobindo had said that the Mother was 'born free'. So Her whole life had a Yogic character. But Her conscious memory of such experiences began from the age of 5..

The Mother had a little armchair which would be the first seat of Her Sadhana:

10) Her Childhood Milieu:

In Her early childhood, Mother grew up in a typical bourgeois family with an English governess—Ms. Gatliffe. Mother used to give the nanny a hard time whenever she tried to give Her cold baths!

Mother's family used to visit their friends, the Camondos:

11) Becoming Aware of the Falsehood:

"If we allow a falsehood..to express itself via our mouth or pen, how can we hope to become perfect messengers of Truth?" - Mother on the importance of being Truthful..

She had always keenly observed the artificiality & falsehood around Her:

12) The Sadhana progresses: 

As a child, the Mother had no interest in food or in ordinary games. And Mathilde found it impossible to punish her b/c she didn't care: being deprived of dessert was a relief for Her!

That's because She had much more interesting things to do:

13) Going to School (i):

The Mother was admitted to a reputed private school ~1887, since Mathilde considered it unfitting for a girl to be in a state school! & the Mother always proved to be a bright student..

There's an interesting story behind how the Mother learned to read:

14) Going to School (ii): 

The students who want to please their teacher or learn by heart so as to seem to know what they haven't understood - they are the ones generally considered as 'good' students.

But the Mother wasn't one of these. She liked only what She had understood:

15) Going to School (iii):

Apart from the regular subjects, as a child Mother was also interested in arts & sports. Her art training started under the guidance of the Bricka sisters when she was ~8. She also had a passion for playing tennis.

But Mathilde wasn't very impressed:

16) Going to School (iv):

During Her school days, Mother's literature teacher ('a boring fellow') had given Her a proverb to write an essay on, & as a response She composed her 1st known writing, "The Path of Later On".

On finishing school, She had received the prix d'honneur:

17) The Powers Carrying Her:

Mother's life was filled with what we would call Miracles, but for Her it was completely natural. Perhaps the awakened soul had a spontaneous trust in its power & destiny.

Mother later narrated some of these interesting incidents from Her childhood:

18) The Financial difficulties:

With the successful completion of the Suez canal in 1869, there was much activity on the Panama canal front. But then a major scandal erupted along with the financial ruin of Banque Ottomane & Maurice Alfassa (~1889)

And so life became difficult:

19) The Revolution of the Atoms:

The Hard Sciences are not what people normally associate with psychical experiences, but for the Mother, the scientific facts could also lead to great psychological truths..

She had described one such experience from Her childhood:

20) Correcting History:

"Since the beginning of the earth, wherever and whenever there was the possibility of manifesting a ray of the Consciousness, I was there"  - The Mother

So it is quite natural that She would also have the most accurate knowledge of History!:

21) On 'God':

Both Mathilde & Maurice shunned religion & were materialists, atheists & positivists. This was in a way beneficial for the Mother to avoid the mental & vital trappings of the religious influence..

She detested the idea of a God who wanted to be the one & the only:

22) Occult Faculties:

In Her childhood, The Mother had many experiences which She couldn't explain. She meditated w/o even thinking about it, & many a times went into trance in the middle of a sentence or gesture.

She started practising occultism ~12, but she was never afraid:

23) Her Compassion:

The Mother was once being scolded by Mathilde for a mistake She didn't commit. Suddenly the Mother looked at her & "felt all the human misery", & then "silently the tears fell".

As #SriAurobindo wrote, "The whole world could take refuge in her single heart":

24) Conscious Nights:

The Mother's OBEs during the night started getting accompanied by sleepwalking, but not of the ordinary kind, She would write poems during these sleepwalking sessions!

In Her sleep She would meet several 'teachers', including one whom She called 'Krishna':

25) Joining an Art School:

When She was 14, the Mother participated as an artist in the International "Blanc et Noir" Exhibition of 1892 in Paris. She was also teaching painting every Sunday to a class of small children..

After passing school (~1893), She joined an art studio:

26) Aesthetic Interests:

The Mother had an all-absorbing curiosity for anything to do with art, with beauty — not only for painting, but for music & singing also. She had learnt to play the piano and to sing at an early age..

She had a powerful experience at the age of 14:

27) Memory of a Past Life in Italy:

The Mother had many memories from past lives (psychic memories, not mental fabrications). In such memories, the psychic feeling is at the front, rest forms the background..

At the age of 15, while visiting Venice, She relived one such memory:

28) The Artistic Milieu:

Though She was the youngest one at Her art school, The Mother was the most mature one amongst Her peers, who were naturally drawn to Her. She remained there from the age of 15 till 19..

At the time, A major revolution was going on in the artistic world:

29) Memories of the Past:

One common misconception about the Mother and #SriAurobindo is that they were such or such person in their past life, for the WHOLE of that life; which is not true.

The Mother cleared this while narrating an experience of Hers from when She was ~18/19:

30) Her First Marriage:

At the age of 19, the Mother married Henri Morisset, a well known Parisian artist. Thereafter She moved from 3 rue Square du Roule to Her new address - Atelier, 15 rue Lemercier (Paris)
It was through Her Grandmother, Mira, that the Mother met Henri:

31) Travels through France:

Shortly after Her marriage, The Mother's travels with Her husband in France led to some interesting experiences which She narrated in Her later years..

Perhaps it is noteworthy that the couple was already recognized as 'true artists' by their peers:

32) Birth of Her Son:

Andre was born on 23 Aug.1898. Shortly after, Mother suffered from the floating kidney disease & was bedridden for months.

During the time She read 100s of books (not surprising, by the age of 14 She had already read ~800 books from Her father's library!):

33) Illnesses & the Remedy:

The 'floating kidney disease' was not the only disease that the Mother took upon Herself, there is a long list of them. Illness, like every other subject, was a field of study for Her..

And Her remedy was also the most effective of all: