Hindu Pantheon

Rati, Mistress of Desire

Mistress of Desire

The Invocation of Sweet Longing

Rati, consort of Kama, you who season the world with longing, I bow before your bright and restless grace. Teach me the difference between desire that gives and desire that devours. Let my love be attentive, my delight unashamed, my devotion steady as the lotus that opens each dawn to the same sun.

Offer at dusk with a ghee lamp, and a flower placed on the palm before it is set down.

Ideas for Offering

  • Light a ghee lamp and let it burn out fully rather than snuffing it
  • Offer sweets you have made yourself, then eat a portion as prasad
  • Anoint the shrine with sandalwood paste on Fridays
  • Write the name of a beloved on a leaf and leave it beneath the lamp

Accepted Offerings

  • Lotus, jasmine, and champaka flowers
  • Ghee lamps and camphor
  • Sweets: laddu, kheer, jaggery, sugarcane
  • Sandalwood paste, rosewater, and attar
  • Red and saffron cloth, small bells, anklets

Offering Taboos

  • No beef, and no meat or alcohol upon her altar
  • Do not approach in unwashed clothes or with unwashed hands
  • Never place her image on the floor or step over an offering
  • Do not ask her to bind or coerce another's will