During the Vigil Night of Shiva, #Mahashivaratri,

we are brought to the moment of interval between destruction and regeneration;

it symbolizes the night when we must contemplate on that which watches the growth out of the decay.

During Mahashivaratri we have to be alone with our sword, the Shiva out of us.

We have to look behind and before,

to see what evil needs eradicating from our heart, what growth of virtue we need to encourage. Shiva is not only outside of us but within us.

To unite ourselves with the One Self

is to recognize the Shiva in us.

—The Theosophical Movement, Volume 72[15]