Kali

The continuous, ongoing work of Creation is described as "the play of Kali".

Kali is considered to be the destroyer of evil spirits and the preserver of devotees. She is the consort of Shiva. Her name seems to be a female version of the word 'kala' (Sanskrit for 'time' or 'dark'); it also means Black Female, in contrast to her consort, Shiva, who is white; and Kali is the common name for Energy in her form as Shiva's wife, or Shakti. Her Many people also believe her to be the same as Durga, even though this is not true as Durga is the terrible aspect of Devi, not the Shakti of Shiva. Other names of Kali are: Bhowani Devi, Sati, Rudrani, Parvati, Chinnamastika, Kamakshi, Uma, Menakshi, Himavati, Kumari. These names, if repeated, are believed to give special power to the worshipper of Kali.

Skulls, cemeteries, and blood are associated with the worship of Kali. She is black and emaciated. Her face is azure, streaked with yellow, her glance is ferocious; her disheveled and bristly hair is usually shown splayed and spread like the tail of a peacock and sometimes braided with green serpents. Kali wears a long necklace (descending almost to her knees) of human skulls or severed heads. She may be shown wearing a girdle of severed arms. Children's corpses as earrings (representing natural infant mortality and childhood mortality from causes such as disease), and cobras as bracelets or garlands add to her terrifying adornments. Her purple lips are often shown streaming with blood; her tusk-like teeth descend over her lower lip; and her tongue lolls out. Kali is often shown standing on the inert form of her consort, Shiva. She is sometimes accompanied by she-demons. Her four arms hold weapons or the severed head of a demon: these objects symbolize both her creative and her destructive power, for Kali personifies the ambivalence of deity, which manifests itself, according to Indian tradition, in the unceasing cycle of life and death, creation and destruction.

At first Kali's form appears to be terrifying. However, once one becomes aware of the symbolic meaning of her image, one is entranced and inspired by her magnificent appearance. Her black skin represents her all-embracing all encompassing nature, because black includes and absorbs all other colors. "Just as all colors disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in her" (Mahanirvana Tantra). Her nudity signifies that she is free from all covering or illusion, and represents totally illuminated consciousness, unobscured by maya. Her chaotic hair represents a curtain of illusion which creates time and space. The garland of severed heads represents the repository of human knowledge and wisdom. Her girdle of severed human hands represents the means to do work, and thus create karma. Therefore, by devotion to Kaki, the binding force of karma is severed or overcome. Her protruding tongue represents the fact that she consumes all things, and her white teeth represent her purity. Her full breasts represent her nourishing and loving role as the mother of all things. In two of her four hands she holds a severed demon's head and a bloody sword which represents the destruction of ignorance and the dawning of knowledge. Her remaining two hands gesture lovingly to her children, her devotees.

Some of her greatest 'bhaktas' (loving devotees) are to be found in the West Bengal, South India and Kashmir traditions. Best known is the saint Shri Ramakrishna. A vast poetic tradition evolved around Kali as a loving albeit often unpredicatble mother, of infinite tenderness to her devotees. Among these greats of the Bengali literature on Kali are Ramprasad Sen.

Some of her biggest temples are to be found in the North-East of India, in particular in Kolkata, West Bengal: Kalighat and Dakshineshwar, and in the equally famed Kamakhya in Assam.

Her poor reputation in the West came from the cult of the Thuggee, Hindus who took the goddess Kali as their deity. They robbed and murdered travellers as sacrifices to Kali and were broken up by the British. The common English word thug is derived from this.

For her Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death.

    Adapted with permission from Wikipedia.