| Laura Spriggs Thompson |

In February, I received a postcard marked “Summons for Jury Service” for the first week of May. “Oh great,” I thought. I mean, I know it’s our civic duty and all, but who wants to actually do jury service? I called each night hoping I would not have to go in. But my Wednesday evening call indicated I was to report to the City-County Building the next day. There were 36 of us and they were looking for a jury for a 2-day criminal trial. I kept hoping I would get dismissed. We went to the court room and were told that it was a child molestation case. You could feel the hearts of everyone in the room sink. I prayed – please, please do not pick me. I do not want to think about this ever happening to my girls. But in the end, I am on the jury.

After they selected the jury, we had a break for lunch. I was feeling overwhelmed with emotion. It was an imposition on my time, a stressor for getting childcare and my yoga class covered and for planning a dinner for guests coming Friday. And I did not want to be a part of this case – I did not want to hear the details. I was mad and emotionally distraught.

I was also just starting an online yoga studies program with my long-time favorite yoga teacher. Each module of the training is anchored by a different deity. Over my years of practice and study of yoga, I have been drawn to the deities and their rich symbolism and mythology, which hold much of the philosophy of yoga. I like to think of the multitude of gods and goddesses as different faces of the one great Energy/God/Spirit/Universe/Divine/Consciousness – however you relate to the concept. Sometimes the idea of that One Energy is hard to grasp in totality, we might not relate to it, we might feel separate from it, or we just don’t know where to begin.

The stories, symbolism, and characteristics of the deities help to make them more relatable to our lives....