Twinn Swan

One of the vahanas of the Goddess Durga is the tiger. The other is the lion. Ma Durga has many other animal vehicles, but these are the two that jump to my mind when I remember the Goddess who is celebrated over the nine nights of Navratri. She is Ma: the Universal Mother.

The vertical stripes of a tiger are what distinguish it from other cats. The stripes range from brown to black. It is said that this patterning helps to break up the cat’s shape and size so that it blends in with the trees and the grass.

Unlike other many other animals, this is not a protective measure, but rather, something that allows the tiger to hide from the prey that it is about to jump on. Tigers are, indeed, excellent hunters. Mother tigers, in particular, even teach their own kids to hunt. For this reason, tigers may represent hidden danger. As tigers are feared for their strength and hunting prowess, they are associated with concepts such as: ferocity, independence and deadly focus. Unlike the lion, the tiger is not usually a part of a group. They tend to hunt alone.

According to scripture, the Goddess Durga only has the lion as a mount. But then again, icons often portray and describe aspects that do not conform to the stories. Oral traditions have value. Painters and iconographers express their creativity, their vision and even the general environment around them through these icons.

Some scholars have even argued that a half-tiger and half-woman figure is inscribed on an Indus seal. It is, of course, a prototypal goddess that existed before the mythology was consolidated and given a concrete form. Does the association with the tiger predate her association with the lion? Perhaps.

The tiger is, by instinct, an aggressive animal. It could point to a deep feeling of aggression directed towards you, especially by a fierce hunter. The tiger is an apex predator. It can pose a threat to everything around it when it is unleashed in a particular environment. It is both a potential threat and a call for the courage to face it head on. Tiger attacks were common and even remain common to this day.

What in your life is either dangerous or threatening to you? What is causing fear, anger or frustration in your life?

In many some Native American cultures, cougars are thought of as bad luck. They are a symbol of the dangers of witchcraft. The yowl of a cougar is sometimes thought to be a harbinger of death for those who hear it. Despite this, many other Native American cultures connect cougars with motherly love, independence and wealth.

Tigers symbolise hidden danger. It reminds us that we need to observe our situation very carefully before making a decision. If we allow ourselves to succumb to a hasty decision, the likelihood of regret will only grow more palpable by the minute…