Ishvari” in Sanskrit means “goddess” or “female power,” and the “AKHILANDA” means essentially “never not broken.” In other words, The Always Broken Goddess. Sanskrit is a tricky and amazing language, and I love that the double negative here means that she is broken right down to her name. But this isn’t the kind of broken that indicates weakness and terror. It’s the kind of broken that tears apart all the stuff that gets us stuck in toxic routines, repeating the same relationships and habits over and over, rather than diving into the scary process of trying something new and unfathomable. Akhilanda derives her power from being broken: in flux, pulling herself apart, living in different, constant selves at the same time, from never becoming a whole that has limitations. The thing about going through sudden or scary or sad transitions (like a breakup) is that one of the things you lose is your future: your expectations of what the story of your life so far was going to become. When you lose that partner or that job or that person, your future dissolves in front of you. Akhilandeshwari is not a well-known Goddess. She is said to originally be a Vedic Goddess and is Herself a repository of knowledge. She brings us close to Saraswati, Goddess of Wisdom and the Arts. She is also said to be the Goddess of the agamas (canonical texts also known as tantras). Like Sharada (another emanation of Saraswati), Akhilandeshwari is dark complexioned. She has a serene smile, carries a trident and rides Her crocodile through the rivers of life. Her crocodile assists Her with Her prey and Her trident represents Her union with Shiva as well as Her wrathful powers. One devotional song in praise of this Goddess, called Akhilandeshwari written by Muthuswami Dikshithar, describes Her as a form of Parvati and the daughter of the mountain God, Himavat. She is also associated with Durga. Like Durga, She can help us move through the very challenging difficulties in life. She helps us to find the light of our essence through the cracks from the chaos.