Thread by @sereneloud

Homa/ Yagna Vidhi- When a man becomes Agnihotri, a fire worshipper in true sense, no one is allowed to sit with him in a Homa/Yagya except his wife. Before starting the Homa, Mother Earth is saluted first who supports us in executing this divine intervention. 1/n

After you sit down you start with Ganesha stuti followed by creating a Yantra in the pit. Yantra can be of so many types depending upon the Homa but most of them will be based on triangles to contain the divine energies within the enclosure.

Triangles are very imp in life, the human body is so full of triangles, an upward pointed triangle represents man s pubic hair and the downward triangle a female pubic hair; she is responsible for duality (Dvaitvad) by creation while a man is supposed to overcome duality 3/n

through control. The flame of fire is also a triangle which burns all dualities into ash- the Advait. Even the 3 eyes are in the form of a triangle: the lower two eyes of duality merge into the non-duality of 3rd eye.4/n

Once the Yantra is prepared,it is time to worship the Maa (Goddess).One has to worship Shakti because she as a woman is creator and merges with Shiva when the fire is ignited.Sadhus living in Himalayas light the fire with Vishnu Sudershan Mantra (They don’t carry matchsticks) 5/n

Since fire is the essence of Homa, the fuel needs to be very clean, esp the wood and havan samagri should not have dirt or insects. The choice of offering depends upon the type of Homa but essentially contain ghee, wheat, barley, sesame seeds, guggul, loban, dry and 6/n

fresh fruits, honey, sugar combined in a specific proportion. Sometimes Sugarcane is also there. All are sweet because we want fire to give us prosperity. We also add certain herbs to add to the medicinal value of ash. The process begins with remembering your cosmic mother 7/n

followed by your own mother. Then u propitiate your Kulguru followed by the 7 Rishis – Pulaha, Pulastya, Devala, Asita, Kratu, Bhrigu & Angirasa. Next are saluted the Gods, Demigods, planets and other ethereals and then finally Yakshas, Gandharvas, Kinnaras and Vidhyadharas. 8/n

And then you turn towards fire and request it to enter your Bhutagni-the fire of the subtle body which transcends u into spiritual progress. If I really want the fire to enter me I have to disappear to create a spiritual vacuum. I offer all my Gyanindriyas to achieve divinity9/n

In Khandmand yoga (pic) you offer your real sense organs. Then I request the deity to enter the pit and then I start my offerings. A coconut is added into the fire in the form of worshipper s head, a form of offering self consciousness to transform into divine consciousness 10/n

Even Tapas is a form of Homa where a physical fire is not used but you create a friction of our penances and old habits to burn a fire within you; the word tapas comes from Tap which means heat in Sanskrit.
Dedicated to @mamatarsingh @manjunatraj