The Dark Goddess inspires a feeling of dread among many ... she is, indeed, a terribly frightening Deity ... who doesn't play many games when it comes to Death and its aspects. I hope in the following bits of information I have captured the power and depth of darkness that surround this awesome Goddess ... Wisdom and empowerment are the gifts of the Dark Goddess of Transformation. She is known to us as Kali, Hecate, Cerridwen, Lilith, Persephone, Fata Morgana, Ereshkigal, Arianhrod, Durga, Inanna, Tiamat, and by a million other names.
Charge of the Dark Goddess
Charge of the Dark Goddess
#2
Eris-- Goddess of Dis-cord
Kali, the Black Goddess
of Yore
Kali -- The Black Goddess
The Magic of Kali:
Inner Secrets of a Tantrik Goddess
Kali! Death of the
Ego
Kali Meditations
Lilith -- A story
And then there are the (few!) images:
The Charge of the Dark Goddess
The Dark Goddess speaks to us,
through the mouths of Lilith, Kali, Tiamet,
Hekate,
Nix, the Black Madonna, Nemesis and Morgaine..
I am the Darkness behind and beneath the
shadows..
I am the absence of air that awaits at the
bottom of every breath..
I am the Ending before Life begins again,
the Decay that fertilizes the Living..
I am the Bottomless Pit,
the never-ending struggle to reclaim that
which is denied..
I am the Key that unlocks every Door..
I am the Glory of Discovery,
for I am that which is hidden, secluded
and forbidden
Come to me at the Dark Moon and see that
which can not be seen,
face the terror that is yours alone..
Swim to me through the blackest oceans
to the center of your greatest fears--
the Dark God and I will keep you safe..
Scream to us in terror, and yours will be
the Power to Forbear..
Think of me when you feel pleasure, and
I will intensify it,
until the time when I may have the greatest
pleasure
of meeting you at the Crossroads Between
the Worlds.
copyright Lynne O'Connor
Please visit her website at: http://www.phatquarters.com/lilithscave/words.html
used with permission
Hear me child, and know Me for who I am.
I have been with you since you
were born, and I will stay with you until
you return to Me at the final dusk.
I am the passionate and seductive lover who inspires the poet to dream.
I am the One who calls to you at the end
of your journey. After the day is
done, My children find their blessed rest
in my embrace.
I am the womb from which all things are born.
I am the shadowy, still tomb; all things
must come to Me and bare their
breasts to die and be reborn to the Whole.
I am the Sorceress that will not be ruled,
the Weaver of Time, the Teacher
of Mysteries. I snip the threads that
bring my children home to me. I slit
the throats of the cruel and drink the blood
of the heartless. Swallow your
fear and come to me, and you will discover
true beauty, strength, and courage.
I am the fury which rips the flesh from injustice.
I am the glowing forge that transforms your
inner demons into tools of
power. Open yourself to my embrace
and overcome.
I am the glinting sword that protects you from harm.
I am the crucible in which all the aspects
of yourself merge together in a
rainbow of union.
I am the velvet depths of the night sky,
the swirling mists of midnight,
shrouded in mystery.
I am the chrysalis in which you will face
that which terrifies you and from
which you will blossom forth, vibrant and
renewed. Seek me at the
crossroads, and you shall be transformed,
for once you look upon my face,
there is no return.
I am the fire that kisses the shackles away.
I am the cauldron in which all opposites grow to know each other in Truth.
I am the web which connects all things.
I am the Healer of all wounds, the Warrior
who rights all wrongs in their
Time. I make the weak strong.
I make the arrogant humble. I raise up the
oppressed and empower the disenfranchised.
I am Justice tempered with Mercy.
Most importantly, child, I am you.
I am part of you, and I am within you.
Seek me within and without, and you will
be strong. Know me. Venture into
the dark so that you may awaken to Balance,
Illumination, and Wholeness.
Take my Love with you everywhere and find
the Power within to be who you wish.
~source unknown
Greco-Roman goddess of Discord and Chaos adopted in the 20th century by the Discordians. Eris was the personification of strife. Known to the Romans as Discordia, she was a sister of Mars and belonged to the retinue of Mars and Bellona. She is said to have a son known as Strife. In Greco-Roman mythology she was variously blamed for strife, deceit, contention, murder, wars, disputation, and rivalry. She has been associated with the Fool and Tower tarot cards (representing both her trickster and her destructive aspects).
She is most commonly known by the part she played in:
Myth of the Apple of Discord
(this version extracted from the Principia Discordia - it's more or less true to most versions of the myth except for the bit about hot dogs. And about Paris being French. But what do historians know anyway?)
Zeus was preparing a wedding banquet for Peleus and Thetis and did not want to invite Eris because of Her reputation as a trouble maker. This made Eris angry, and so She fashioned an apple of pure gold and inscribed upon it KALLISTI ("The Prettiest One", sometimes translated as "To The Prettiest One") and on the day of the fete She rolled it into the banquet hall and then left to be alone and joyously partake of a hot dog.
Now, three of the invited goddesses, Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite, each immediately claimed it to belong to herself because of the inscription. And they started fighting, and they started throwing punch all over the place and everything.
Finally Zeus calmed things down and declared that an arbitrator must be selected, which was a reasonable suggestion, and all agreed. He sent them to a shepherd of Troy, whose name was Paris because his mother had had a lot of gaul and had married a Frenchman; but each of the sneaky goddesses tried to outwit the others by going early and offering a bribe to Paris.
Athena offered him Heroic War Victories, Hera offered him Great Wealth, and Aphrodite offered him the Most Beautiful Woman on Earth. Being a healthy young Trojan lad, Paris promptly accepted Aphrodite's bribe and she got the apple and he got screwed.
As she had promised, she maneuvered earthly happenings so that Paris could have Helen (the Helen) then living with her husband Menelaus, King of Sparta. Anyway, everyone knows that the Trojan War followed when Sparta demanded their Queen back and that the Trojan War is said to be The First War among men.
And so we suffer because of the Original
Snub. And so a Discordian is to partake of No Hot Dog Buns.
Kali, the Black Goddess of Yore
Kali is not what one imagines a typical Hindu woman to be. She is neither gentle, bashful, nor subservient toward her husband. She moves around in the nude; her hair is disheveled; and she gets intoxicated from drinking the blood of demons..
Kali is a Goddess who fights alone. And if she wants help, she accepts it from other females but does not seek it from men. Whenever the male Gods are unable to subdue the demons in battle, they ask the Great Mother Goddess for help, and not until after she has scored a victory can they go back in peace and perform their normal godly duties..
The fact that Ma Kali is black makes one wonder whether this Goddess originated with an ancient African super culture. Most scholars don't believe she is ancient. They call her a relatively "young" Goddess who did not reach full popularity in India until the 18th or 19th century. Their opinion is based on the Vedas which are perhaps the most ancient scriptures in the world. They hardly mention Kali. The earliest references to Kali are found in the Mundaka Upanishad, in the Puranas, dating back to the early medieval period--around A.D. 600..
But, one asks, what about the time before the Vedas were conceived? Could it be that God in ancient times was a She? According to Judeo-Christian tradition, this idea is "unthinkable," but if one seriously studies history with an open mind, one cannot exclude the possibility of a Great Mother Goddess that reigned long before the Father God appeared. Primitive man, observing women giving birth, perceived her as magic and prayed to her to make his tribe strong and give him more sons and daughters..
Dating back to Neolithic times, the most ancient images found were always female and depicted fertility. Many are black and mysteriously related. One can't help but ask, "Was the Black Goddess Kali at one time worshipped by peoples all over the world?" Modern research by Westerners certainly points in this direction..
We find Kali in Mexico as an ancient Aztec Goddess of enormous stature. Her name is Coatlicue, and her resemblance to the Hindu Kali is striking..
The colossal Aztec
statue of Coatlicue fuses in one image the dual functions of the earth
which both creates
and destroys. In different aspects she represents Coatlicue, "Lady
Of the Skirt of
Serpents" or Goddess of the Serpent Petticoat"; Cihuacoatl, "the Serpent
Woman"; Tlazolteotl,
"Goddess of Filth"; and Tonantzin, "Our Mother," who was later
sanctified by the
Catholic Church as the Virgin of Guadalupe, the dark-faced Madonna,
La Virgen Morena,
la Virgen Guadalupana, the patroness and protectoress of New Spain;
and who is
still the patroness of all Indian Mexico. In the statue her head
is severed from
her body, and from
the neck flow two streams of blood in the shape of two serpents.
She
wears a skirt of
serpents girdled by another serpent as a belt. On her breast hangs
a neck-
lace of human hearts
and hands bearing a human skull as a pendant. Her hands and feet
are shaped like
claws. From the bicephalous mass which takes the place of the head
and
which represents
Omeyocan, the topmost heaven, to the world of the Dead extending
below
the feet, the statue
embraces both life and death. Squat and massive, the monumental twelve-
ton sculpture embodies
pyramidal, cruciform, and human forms..
As the art critic
Justino Fernandez writes in his often-quoted description, it represents
not a
being but
an idea, "the embodiment of the cosmic-dynamic power which bestows life
and
which thrives on
death in the struggle of opposites." (1)
We find Kali in ancient Crete as Rhea, the Aegean Universal Mother or Great Goddess, who was worshipped in a vast area by many peoples..
Rhea was not restricted
to the Aegean area. Among ancient tribes of southern Russia
she was Rha, the
Red One, another version of Kali as Mother Time clothed in her
garment of blood
when she devoured all the gods, her offspring. The same Mother
Time became the
Celtic Goddess Rhiannon, who also devoured her own children one
by one. This
image of the cannibal mother was typical everywhere of the Goddess of
Time, who consumes
what she brings forth; or as Earth, who does the same. When
Rhea was given
a consort in Hellenic myth, he was called Kronus or Chronos, "Father
Time," who devoured
his own children in imitation of Rhea's earlier activity. He also
castrated and killed
his own father, the Heaven-God Uranus; and he in turn was
threatened by his
own son, Zeus. These myths reflect the primitive succession of
sacred kings castrated
and killed by their supplanters. It was originally Rhea Kronia,
Mother Time, who
wielded the castrating moon-sickle or scythe, a Scythian weapon,
the instrument
with which the Heavenly Father was "reaped." Rhea herself was the
Grim Reaper....
(2)
We find Kali in historic Europe. In Ireland, Kali appeared as Caillech or Cailleach, an old Celtic name for the Great Goddess in her Destroyer aspect..
Like Kali, the Caillech
was a black Mother who founded many races of people and
outlived many husbands.
She was also a creatress. She made the world, building
mountain ranges
of stones that dropped from her apron..
Scotland was once
called Caledonia: the land give by Kali, or Cale, or the Cailleach..
"Scotland" came
from Scotia, the same goddess, known to Romans as a "dark
Aphrodite"; to
Celts as Scatha or Scyth; and to Scandinavians as Skadi..
Like the Hindus'
destroying Kalika, the Caillech was known as a spirit of disease.
One
manifestation of
her was a famous idol of carved and painted wood, kept by an old
family in Country
Cork, and described as the Goddess of Smallpox. As diseased
persons in India
sacrificed to the appropriate incarnation of the Kalika, so in Ireland
those afflicted
by smallpox sacrificed sheep to this image. It can hardly be doubted
that Kalika and
Caillech were the same word..
According to various
interpretations, "caillech" meant either an old woman, or a hag,
or a nun, or a
"veiled one." This last apparently referred to the Goddess's most
mysterious manifestation
as the future, Fate, and Death--ever veiled from the sight
of men, since no
man could know the manner of his own death..
In medieval legend
the Caillech became the Black Queen who ruled a western
paradise in the
Indies, where men were used in Amazonian fashion for breeding
purposes only,
then slain. Spaniards called her Califia, whose territory was rich
in gold, silver,
and gems. Spanish explorers later gave her name to the newly
discovered paradise
on the Pacific shore of North America, which is how the
state of California
came to be named after Kali..
In the present century,
Irish and Scottish descendants of the Celtic "creatress"
still use the word
"caillech" as a synonym for "old woman." (3)
The Black Goddess
was known in Finland as Kalma (Kali Ma), a haunter of
tombs and an eater
of the dead. (4)
The Black Goddess worshipped by the gypsies was named Sara-Kali, "Queen Kali," and to this present day, Sara is worshipped in the South of France at Ste-Marie-de-la-Mer during a yearly festival..
Some gypsies appeared
in 10th-century Persia as tribes of itinerant dervishes calling
themselves Kalenderees,
"People of the Goddess Kali." A common gypsy clan
name is still Kaldera
or Calderash, descended from past Kali-worshippers, like the
Kele-De of Ireland..
European gypsies
relocated their Goddess in the ancient "Druid Grotto" underneath
Chartres Cathedral,
once the interior of a sacred mount known as the Womb of Gaul,
when the area was
occupied by the Carnutes, "Children of the Goddess Car." Carnac,
Kermario, Kerlescan,
Kercado, Carmona in Spain, and Chartres itself were named
after this Goddess,
probably a Celtic version of Kore or Q're traceable through
eastern nations
to Kauri, another name for Kali..
The Druid Grotto
used to be occupied by the image of a black Goddess giving birth,
similar to certain
images of Kali. Christians adopted this ancient idol and called
her Virgo Paritura,
"Virgin Giving Birth." Gypsies called her Sara-Kali, "the mother,
the woman, the
sister, the queen, the Phuri Dai, the source of all Romany blood."
They said the black
Virgin wore the dress of a gypsy dancer, and every gypsy should
make a pilgrimage
to her grotto at least once in his life. The grotto was described
as
"your mother's
womb." A gypsy pilgrim was told: "Shut your eyes in front of
Sara the
Kali, and you will
know the source of the spring of life which flows over the gypsy race.
(5)
We find variations of Kali's name throughout the ancient world..
The Greeks had a
word Kalli, meaning "beautiful," but applied to things that were not
particularly beautiful
such as the demonic centaurs called "kallikantzari," relatives
of Kali's Asvins.
Their city of Kallipolis, the modern Gallipoli, was centered in
Amazon country
formerly ruled by Artemis Kalliste. The annual birth festival at
Eleusis was Kalligeneia,
translatable as "coming forth from the Beautiful One," or
"coming forth from
Kali."
Lunar priests of
Sinai, formerly priestesses of the Moon-Goddess, called themselves
"kalu." Similar
priestesses of prehistoric Ireland were "kelles," origin of the name
Kelly, which meant
a hierophantic clan devoted to "the Goddess Kele." This was
cognate with the
Saxon Kale, or Cale, whose lunar calendar or kalends included
the spring month
of Sproutkale, when Mother Earth (Kale) put forth new shoots..
In antiquity the
Phoenicians referred to the strait of Gibraltar as Calpe, because it
was considered
the passage to the western paradise of the Mother. (6)
The Black Goddess was even carried into Christianity as a mother figure, and one can find all over the world images of Mother Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, depicted as a black madonna..
(1) Frank Waters, Mexico Mystique: The Coming
Sixth World of Consciousness, pp. 185-186..
(2) Barbara G. Walker, The Women's Encyclopedia
of Myths and Secrets, pp. 856, 857..
(3) See Sir J. G. Frazer, The Golden Bough:
A Study in Magic and Religion, p. 467..
(4) The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and
Secrets, p. 492..
(5) The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and
Secrets, pp. 890-891..
(6) The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and
Secrets, pp. 491-492..
taken from
Kali: The Black Goddess by Elizabeth
U. Harding
As children, we are taught to fear the dark. The bad guys wear black hats; we should stay away from dark places; the enemy of Christianity is the "Prince of Darkness." All our lives we are taught that the way to goodness is to strive towards the light, away from the dark which is bad..
But is the dark bad? Isn't it more likely that the dark is something that we need? There can be no light without the darkness; each day has a night in which we rest to refuel ourselves, to regain our energy. As such, the dark is represented as a place and time for renewal. Surely it would stand to reason, then, that we need the dark side of ourselves; but if that is the case, why do so many of us strive to rid ourselves of this aspect, to deny it and put it away? And in so doing, might we not be causing inner turmoil in ourselves as we deny something that is really needed by our souls, minds, and hearts? Repression of a thing is almost never good, and can perhaps lead to an eruption of our emotions and feelings, perhaps violently, as time goes by. Our Judeo-Christian society has tried to teach us to repress anger, not to be demonstrative in our sexuality, and not to show too many emotions; we need to be calm, cool and collected, and mold ourselves into a person that is accepted in today's society. But in so doing, have we not tried to push away aspects of ourselves that we need to express? Perhaps this is one reason why psychiatry is a booming business..
Any of us that really look inward at our spirits, our souls, know that we are not all goodness and light. We each have dark aspects and things that we hide from the world, since we have been taught that these things are bad. They are pushed away into the dark; death is considered the ultimate dark and bad circumstance. Yet many cultures do not look at death that way. They simply see death as a gateway to another life, a part of the natural cycle, the circle that never stops turning..
In recent years, however, more and more books
on exploring the "Dark Goddess" aspect of ourselves have appeared.
The Dark Goddess aspect is recognized as a product of ancient civilizations
that acknowledged death and darkness as being part of the whole..
The dark goddess lives in us all; suppressed and denied she will at some point leak out as hostility and sarcasm, nagging and put downs. Suppressed too far, she can manifest herself by turning her destructive energy inwards, creating depression and disease..
To bring dark into the light and light into the dark of our psyches can be a frightening experience. To acknowledge intense emotions such as anger, despair, grief and fear, especially if we relate this to mothering, can be earth-shattering. But if you remember your own mother, was she all sweetness and light? It can be terribly burdensome trying to live up to the expectations our society puts upon us as parents, to be perfect and raise the perfect well-behaved child. There is nothing really in our culture that validates the more intense emotions.
Some cultures, though, are not saddled with the uncertainty and feelings of failure that fall upon our shoulders when we cannot live up to our own and other's expectations. For example, the Hindu societies worship and adore Kali, who is a triple Mother Goddess of creation, preservation, and destruction. She is the ultimate example of the terrible mother as she gives life, but also takes it away..
'Kal' means darkness, which Kali takes away. As all colors of the spectrum mix into black, black still remains black. Kali, the Dark and Unknowable, takes darkness away, yet she herself remains unchanged..
She symbolizes the eternal night of death, a night that is free of illusion. She is formless void, yet full of potential. Her paramount place of worship is the cremation ground, usually in the dead of night during the waning moon. For those adept at her worship, the entire earth becomes the cremation ground, Kali the pyre.
"Kal" means time and "i" the cause; therefore, Kali is the Cause of Time and is beyond time; she activates our consciousness so that it may perceive. Her garland which is made up of human skulls is seen as the heads of impure thoughts which she has severed from her worshippers. She slices away conflicting thoughts and silences the loud roar of mental conflict; she cuts away the sorrow of egotistical attachments; she takes the things to herself and makes of them a garland. She wears all karma as an ornament, therefore, while ending the ceaseless myriad voices of the active mind, leaving her devotees to experience inner peace in the absorption of solitude. She places her worshippers in the balance of divine meditation. Giving up all their difficulties, their petty disagreements, their attitudes, even the ego itself to Kali, her devotees experience divine peace and delight..
Kali is most often depicted standing or dancing upon the corpse of Lord Shiva. She is the recognizable form of awareness or consciousness. However, consciousness is the observer of all action; this is why Lord Shiva is shown as a lifeless corpse, still, with fixed eyes, trained on the image of the Divine Mother. That Consciousness (Shiva) witnesses the dance of Nature (Kali)..
She dances to get Lord Shiva's attention, to attract him. However, Shiva does not forget that it is Nature that is dancing, and he remains the silent observer. Kali is nature personified; she is all of Nature, not just of the dark forces. As Mother Nature she dances upon the form of Consciousness. She is often associated with the Tamas, which means darkness, but not in the sense of ignorance. There is a darkness which exposes the light, and as personification of Tamas, Kali is the Energy of Wisdom. Her darkness spreads over the world to make seekers oblivious to the transient externals, to cover worldly desire. Pure Consciousness knows that the world continues according to its nature in a cyclical flow--the wheel of life continues to go on of its own accord. When one can reside within, and without attachment to the changing externals, then the supreme truth may be realized. When Kali takes away the darkness of the outside world, she helps to illumine the inner world. This is her Grace. With Kali's love we can become unattached and free..
**********
Kali is one of the most misunderstood of all forms of God. To the Western mind, she is terrible and hideous. While Christians believe in a God that is good and a Devil that is bad, Hindus believe in one Universal Power which is beyond good and evil. They use fire as an example to explain this concept. The same fire that can be used to cook our food can also burn down our house. Can you call fire good or bad?
Kali is the full spectrum of the Universal Power--she is Mother, the Benign and Mother, the Terrible. She nurtures and creates, but she also destroys and kills. The world and all we see is the play of Maya (illusion, our earthly existence), the veiling power of the Divine Mother, who is neither good or bad, nor both. She is beyond these aspects. She is viewed as all-powerful, as mysterious as night, fierce, passionately sensual and demanding. But to her devotees, she is the all-merciful Protectress, who is filled with sublime love and compassion, a granter of boons. Kali is Kali Ma, "Kali the Mother," the Cosmic Female Power who is always ready for her worshippers to remove their suffering, their fear of time and death, ready to bestow bliss and liberation.
As the limitless Void which has swallowed up everything without a trace, Kali is black. He beautiful hair is tangled and dishevelled, and symoblizes her boundless freedom. Another interesting interpretation says that each of her hairs is a soul or jiva, and all souls have their roots in Kali. She has three eyes, of which the third one stands for wisdom. Her tongue protrudes, which is a gesture of coyness. She has four arms, of which her right arms promises fearlessness and boons, and her left arms hold a bloody sword and severed head. She is naked (skyclad) except for a girdle of human arms cut off at the elbow and a garland of fifty skulls. The arms represent the capacity for work; the skulls the fifty letters of the alphabet, the state of sound from which all creation has evolved..
Kali's name begins with the first consonant of the Sanskrit alphabet. Tantric tradition believes that the whole universe is but an expression of certain primordial sounds or vibrations, which are expressed by the consonants and vowels of the Sanskrit alphabet, combined in different ways. "Seed syllables" (Bija Mantras), short combinations and "Spells" (Dharanis), long combinations of varying measures are the very "fabric" of which this universe is formed. Through Kali's seed-syllables, names and potent Mantras, we can transform ourselves and become one with Her..
Kali is Sound, the sound that created the universe. All knowledge is embedded in it. Name and form changes, but sound remain. Within ordinary people, three-fourths of this sound remain unmanifested; the only audible part is the gross sound which comes from our mouths. Yogis, though, can hear the hidden sound, which is the transcendental sound..
As the Mistress of Time, Kali consumes all
things. Everyone must yield to her in the end. Kali confronts
man with his pitiful finite attachments, devours them, and then spits them
back out in a different form in a different time. Thus the wheel
turns..
When a spiritual devotee forms a special relationship with Kali, she is no longer just an image in a temple or book. Her presence fills the person. A Tantric yogi sees the Great Mother present within his human body as the Kundalini. She lies dormant at the base of the spine, like a snake coiled and fast asleep. Through sadhana, the Tantric awakens the mother and arouses her to go upward, through the Sushumna channel; she pierces each of the chakras until she reaches the highest plane and unites there with Shiva at the crown of the head. At this point, the Tantric experiences bliss and his mind becomes illumined. It does not end there, though. The full realization of the Mother only happens when one experiences illumination in all planes, even the lowest..
Many people look down on Tantra as being blasphemous. The aim of Tantric practices, though, is to teach aspirants that the objects which tempt us and make us experience repeated births and deaths are none other than the veritable forms of God. Modern people have moved God far away, to Heaven. Tantric sadhana (spiritual discipline) helps seekers to bring God back into the human heart and into everything that concerns life--to adore God with body, mind and words. Every action should be done in glorification of the Divine Mother..
According to Tantricas, the human body is the best place for worship, the best medium for realizing the truth. This body is not merely a thing in the universe, it is an epitome of the universe, a microcosm in relation to the macrocosm. There is therefore nothing in the universe that is not contained in the body of man. The human body is thus the home of the truth of which the universe is the manifestation in infinite space and eternal time. A Tantric sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) believes that the truth hidden in the body is the same truth that pervades and controls the entire universe..
**********
The Dakshineswar Kali Temple is situated a few miles north of Calcutta. This temple was built by a devout woman in 1845; the image of Kali at this temple is called Ma Bhavatarini, the Savior of the World. Pilgrims from all over the world flock to this temple to worship Kali..
A saint that lived there for thirty years was Sri Ramakrishna. His intense worship awakened the image of Kali, and since then she has become known as a living Goddess..
Today, worship at the Dakshineswar Kali Temple begins very early in the morning, when it is still dark outside. At shortly before 4 a.m., a priest opens the side gate to the Temple. There is already a small crowd of pilgrims waiting to see the Divine Mother Kali. At 4 a.m. sharp, the large iron doors are opened from inside. The pilgrims begin to chant, "Jai Ma, jai Ma, jai Ma, jai Ma" as she becomes visible..
The sound of a conch shell being blown signals the start of the mangalarati (early morning service). As they stand outside in the darkness, the devotees stare into the softly-lit inner shrine. They are the first to see Mother Kali on this new day about to begin. They pray, "Ma, may you always be on my mind."
The waving of a lit lamp before the Deity is called the arati, or aratrikam, and symbolizes the soul's surrender to God. This is perhaps the only ritual that allows participation, and the devotees chant the divine name, while clapping their hands or sing bhajans while the priest performs the rites..
So that he does not rudely awaken the Mother, the priest avoids touching the altar. He wakens her softly by rhythmically waving the pancha-pradeep (a brass vessel holding five ghee lights) in front of Kali. Devotees feel a direct communion with Kali at this time. After the five lights, the priest waves a conch filled with water, called pani sankha, in front of Kali, followed by a red cloth, a red flower, and a chamar (fan). These represent the five elements--fire, water, ether, earth, and air..
"Ma, you have given these 5 elements to me, so I am worshipping you with them."
The worship is completed by the priest offering ghee (clarified butter), rock candy and other sweets. This worship is relatively short-about ten minutes-and is ended when the priest blows the conch. The doors to the Temple close again for a couple of hours, as the Goddess is still resting. She officially wakes up at about 6 a.m., when a priest removes the mosquito netting from her bed and removes her picture which is lying upon the pillow.
The image of Kali stands only about 33 1/2 inches high, but she appears much taller. As she awakens at around 6 a.m., the Mother's vedi (altar) is cleaned. Then Ma Kali herself is bathed with water from the Ganges and covered with scented oil and perfume. One priest washes her, while another holds a pail to try and catch the bath water without spilling. Her bath water is called charanamrita--nectar from the feet of the Divine. It is precious. Worshippers believe that anyone who sips this sacred water will attain supreme love and Kali's grace..
Priests next dress her in a sari. Although
this Goddess's essential nature is nakedness, an explanation for the sari
may be that the priests look upon her as their real mother. Who would
want to see their mother exposed naked to the eyes of strangers?
Next, the priests offer flowers to her. They decorate her with these flowers of various colors by attaching them to her feet, head and body.
At around 6:30 a.m., Ma Kali is ready to receive the next group of devotees who are waiting at the main entrance. People squeezing through at this point will get to see a priest wave dhup (incense) in front of Kali for a few minutes until the inner shrine is filled with perfumed smoke..
At 8 a.m., her garland maker arrives to make her mala (garland), which is offered to her around 9 a.m. At this time, priests are exchanging faded flowers for fresh ones. These flowers are stuck in her hands and on her crown. At 9:30, the daily worship of Kali begins with the offering of seasonal fruits, sweets, and uncooked rice. These food items were prepared in Kali's kitchen, located behind the Temple. The offering of the food is put in front of Kali. Next, a lengthy purification ritual is performed..
Finally, the actual worship begins. Worshipping a conch filled with water, the pujari (priest performing the puja) invokes the Deity into the water. Next, uttering mantras, he sprinkles this holy water over himself and all other articles. Suddenly, the pujari knocks on one of the puja vessels, making a loud tinny sound. This symbolizes that the Deity has been invoked; everything is pure and ready for the puja to begin..
While the puja is going on, there are about four or five priests in the inner sanctum. They attend to the many pilgrims that come to the front and side entrances to worship Kali with their offerings. There is much noise in the small shrine..
People in the West have been taught to whisper in church. In India, though, the people do not equate respect with silence. They shout, sing, and clap as loud as they can. It is rarely quiet in the inner sanctum..
The conclusion of the morning puja is marked by an arati. After waving the panchadip, the pujari ignites a small bowl of camphor and chants. When the priest puts down the camphor light, an attendee picks it up and runs and carries it from person to person. All stretch out their right hands to touch the flame, then touch the crown of their head. Next a conch with water is waved before Ma Kali, then a red cloth, and then a flower. When he blows into a conch, the puja is over. All noise stops; all heads--pilgrims and priests alike--are on the floor, bowing down to the Divine Mother. They remain this way until the pujari stops blowing the conch..
Between noon and 1:30 p.m., Kali receives an offering of cooked food. As the cook shouts before he arrives with the food, priests jump up and move out of the way. After the food is appetizingly arranged, the priest offers it to Kali by uttering a mantra. Then, everyone vacates the inner sanctum. Kali eats alone..
After some time, the pujari claps his hands three times and shouts "Ma! Kali Ma!" He then pushes open the iron doors. The bhog arai now beings..
The five elements are once again waved in front of Kali, as attending priests and servants stand against the wall shouting "Jai Ma!" The sound of a conch shell being blown signals that the arati has ended, and it is time for Mother Kali to take her midday rest..
On the other side of the temple, pilgrims have lined up, waiting for the distribution of Kali's prasad (the offered sacramental food). Prasada is considered very sacred. Partaking of it helps one to purify the body and mind..
South of the Natmandir (the music hall) is the bali, the sacrificial pole. It is a two-forked wooden pole used during the ritual wherein an animal, usually a goat, is beheaded and sacrificed to Kali. Ma Kali is not cruel to animals, though. No leather is allowed in her temple, and after the sacrificial killing of an animal, it is cooked and distributed as prasad--a gift from the Goddess..
Ma Kali is awakened at 3:30 p.m. by being served coconut milk, fruit and sweets. Then the temple doors are opened. The stream of devotees does not end until the evening arati which is held at 6:45 p.m. in summer and 6:15 p.m. in winter. After the evening arati, the iron doors are closed again. The priests take the flowers off of Ma Kali and clean her altar. Around 8 p.m., Kali is served dinner consisting usually of fried bread, fried eggplant, milk and sweets. No meat is served at night. Ma Kali is put to bed before the temple is closed for the night. A picture of her is put on a small bed next to her altar; the mosquito curtain is pulled and tucked in..
After she is officially put to bed, the priest in charge of locking up purifies the inner shrine by sprinkling Ganges water all around. He waves incense in front of Kali, and bows to her, his head touching the marble floor. He then closes and locks the inner and outer doors to the Kali Temple. Now she will sleep until awakened at 4 a.m. by a priest..
**********
Kali Ma, the Dark Mother, holds the double-edged
sword; she has the power to kill as well as to be compassionate.
At some point, it seems necessary to take Kali's sword and cut through
the illusions that protect us from seeing and acting upon the truth..
It would benefit us all to explore ourselves, warts and all, and to accept the dark side of ourselves. This dark side is a necessary part of a complete and whole life. To deny it, we risk never becoming integrated, and never discovering our true and complete essence, never becoming who we are truly meant to be. Kali, or one of the other Dark Goddesses, can help in this endeavor. Do not be afraid of the dark..
"Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar"
by Elizabeth U. Harding
"The Shadow Knows" by Evelyn Henry
"The Bitch from Hell" from yOni Webzine
"Kali: Understanding the Divine Mother"
by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
"The Goddess Kalika" by Mike Magee
"The Vira Sadhana" by Mike Magee
"Tantra Goddess, Kali: The Primordial
Goddess" by ? , found on web
"Kali: The Feminine Force" by Ajit
Mookerjee
My humble thanks to The Hindu Tantrik Home
Page at: http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/gthursby/tantra/
BTW, if anyone would like to learn more Sanskrit
words <G>, try this page: http://reality.sgi.com/atul/sanskrit/dict/
The Magic of Kali:
Inner Secrets of a Tantrik Goddess
by Michael Magee
please see next page (click on title)
Kali! Death of
the Ego
From a ritual by Victoria of Luna Circa
and the Rainbow Connection, 1994..
Introduction
Kali! To the Western mind, her image
is frightening: a wild, black-skinned
woman with a huge black cloud of disheveled
hair, nude except for a necklace
of gleaming white human skulls, and a skirt
of human heads and human arms..
Kali herself is multi-armed. In her
hands she bears a trident, a severed
head, and a bowl full of blood. This
is Kali Ma, the Great Mother, super-
ficially a figure of pure terror..
Yet millions of people worship her as a tender
and loving mother. She is
a primary Goddess of Tantra, where she is
experienced as pure ecstasy. In
some of her images, some of her many hands
make mudras, gestures which
convey meaning; with her mudras, she dispenses
gifts and dispels fear..
So - who and what is Kali? That is
what this journey will (hopefully) help
you to discover!
One of Kali's greatest gifts is to enable
her devotees to see the truth..
Another is to help us to heal our spiritual
ills.
The World
Turn away from the outer world. Turn
inward, and feel the
Kundalini that arises in you.
The World as it is. Let it be..
You are in India. You have come to
find illumination, but all you see is
the world. All around you, children
cry out with hunger, their chests
shrunken, their bellies bloated. A
woman lies under a leafless tree,
barely moaning, weak with fever, too weak
to call out for help. The
sickness, and the pain, and the hunger are
palpable. You begin to feel
sick. You too are in pain. You
too are hungry. You feel an urge to
run away from all of these people who press
you on all sides, pushing on
you with their agonies..
You walk past the crying, bloated children,
past the moaning woman,
through the whole throng of people.
You keep walking, further and
further away. Now the cries and the
moans are barely audible. As you
walk, the sun falls behind the hills.
Night comes, and a few tentative
stars begin to shine. As you watch,
the moon rises. She is a tiny silver
crescent like the horns of the sacred cow.
She is surrounded by glittering
stars..
Now you pass through empty streets.
You have no goal in your mind. You
let the Goddess direct your steps, taking
you where she will. Ahead is a
deserted area, surrounded by a high stone
wall. The stone is dark, and
the stone wall is cold and moist, yet you
feel a warmth and a light coming
from inside the walled area. In front
of you, you see a gate..
Suddenly you feel a gust of fear, as if you
have been touched by an icy
cold wind. But it is not your body
that has been chilled. Slowly, with
growing sense of dread, you pass through
the gate..
Cremation Ground
You are in a cremation ground, a place where
bodies are taken for burning..
All around you are partially decomposed
bodies, which have not yet been
fed to the flames. This is an ancient
place, and the ground is covered
with bones as far as you can see, countless
bones, gleaming white bones,
heaps of bones, human bones. Human
skulls grin at you in the moonlight,
as if they share a secret that you do not
know..
Your heart pounds as you walk slowly through
the cremation grounds..
Ancient, brittle bones crunch under your
feet. They splinter, and the
splinters pierce your skin, and you begin
to bleed as you walk. You are
only distantly aware of this. You
keep walking as if you are possessed..
Around you the night air is also pierced,
pierced with the eerie cries of
feeding jackals, the throaty laugh of feasting
hyenas. The air is filled
with the soft, gentle sounds of black feathers
brushing against the black
night. The air is filled with the
harsh croak of carrion crows, the cries
of ravens, the deep-throated rumbling of
vultures with blood on their
feathers, blood on their bald heads..
Your gaze is drawn to one of the partially
decomposed bodies, and you see
that amongst the rotting flesh, there are
millions upon millions of
teeming white maggots. The lesson
is obvious, if you think about it..
The living feed on the dead. Life
feeds on death. There is no escape
from this truth..
If you live, you live on the life force of
the dead -- whether it is
another animal, or a living, respiring plant.
This is the inescapable
truth. But it is hard to see yourself
as a source of food for another
being. These are not deer or cattle
being consumed here in the cremation
ground. They are people. Ultimately,
they are you..
How can you live knowing this?
How can you live well without knowing this?
The World as it is. The truth is what it is..
You continue to walk through the bones.
The jackals slink away as you
approach; the hyenas threaten before melting
away, the ravens look at you
with yellow unblinking eyes as they fly
away into the night. You realize
that you,and the jackal, and the hyena,
and the raven are all one, are all
sisters. They no longer seem so alien,
or so disgusting, or so fearful..
The Fire
Curious, you approach a cremation pit in
which the fire is still burning..
A partially burned corpse lies upon a bed
of glowing red-orange coals..
Here the air is filled with the smell of
burning flesh, burning human flesh..
The fire will remove the remaining physical
body. Fire is purification..
Soon only the pure white bones will remain
to glisten in the moonlight..
Soon this skull will be liberated from the
bounds of the flesh. Soon it
will join the other skulls, grinning in
the moonlight..
As you watch the flames, you become aware
that you are not alone here..
Another woman is walking here at night,
here in the cremation ground..
This woman is old. She walks slowly,
and painfully, as if cripped with
arthritis. She is clothed in a red
sari with silver trim. Her unbound
hair is long, and as white as the gleaming
bones. She comes near you,
looks carefully straight into your eyes,
and she smiles radiantly. But
she says nothing at all..
As you watch, she turns away from you and
walks straight into the fire pit..
Her bare feet step lightly over the glowing
crimson coals. As she walks,
her steps become less slow and painful.
Her steps are sure. She reaches
the very center of the fire pit..
The woman steps on to the burning body.
You see her standing on the remains
of the corpse. She turns back to face
you. She is still smiling. She
lowers herself into the lotus position and
begins to meditate. The fire
creeps up to her, eagerly, like fat little
puppies wanting to play. Little
flames begin to fondle the silver trim of
her red sari. Soon the sari
catches fire, and the little flames begin
to dance up her body. She is
still smiling, deep in meditation, deep
in bliss. The flames creep higher..
They ignite her flowing hair, and the pure
white mass turns flaming red and
orange. Flames wreathe her smiling
face, for she is still smiling, still
deep in unbroken meditation. Her skin
begins to smoke, and to blaken. Her
sari is completely consumed; she is naked
under the moonlight. A black
cloud of smoke settles around her head.
It forms a mass of black, tangled,
disheveled hair. She lifts her arms
to the night sky, and you see that she
has four. Each hand carries a familiar
symbol: a trident, a severed head,
a sword, a bowl full of blood..
As you watch, transfixed, Kali rises to her
feet and dances among the
flames, dancing upon the blissful, prostrate
body of her husband, the
Lord Shiva. Watch Kali dance.
This is what you have come so far to see..
With an open hand, Kali beckons you to join
her. You are drawn irresist-
ibly to the Terrible Mother. You walk
forward. Your bare foot touches a
live coal. Pain shoots through your
whole body. But Kali is inside you
now as well as outside of you. You
find that the pain does not really
matter; it is only physical, only a limitation
of this Earth, only one of
Maya's illusions. You take another
step, and then another. You walk
straight into the burning heart of the fire.
Your own sari catches fire,
yet your heart remains calm. Your
sari burns away, and now you too are
naked like Kali, free, like Kali.
Your own hair catches fire, and turns
into smoke. Your own skin begins to
blacken. And you know..
Now you too _are_ Kali. Know this,
and dance among the flames. Dance
with the Terrible Mother, here in the cremation
ground..
The dance is over. Kali takes your
hand, and together you walk out of
the fire pit. The woman Kali is no
longer old. Her steps are easy and
light, no longer halting. Her hair
is a glossy rich black. She is
transformed into a beautiful young woman.
You feel that Kali's fire
has transformed you as well. What
is it that you transformed into? Do
you need a mirror to see it? Then
look deep into Kali Ma's three eyes..
You will see yourself mirrored within..
Slaying the Demon
In the distance you hear bells, drums, sweet
music. Women are chanting
the praises to Kali, and praises to Durga,
the mother of Kali. You are
drawn to this powerful sound. Kali
bids you to follow your heart, and
to go and seek the truth about yourself.
The Terrible Mother bids you
to go from her side and find healing..
You are loathe to leave Kali Ma, but you
know that you must. You turn
away from her radiant blackness, her terrible
beauty. You seek the source
of the chanting. It comes from the
South, from a vast temple. As you
go closer, the music becomes louder, sweeter,
the drum beats more insistent..
You feel the holy ecstasy of the chanters..
The chanters are women, dressed all in red.
Love shines out of their eyes..
Power radiates from their hearts.
They are priestesses of Kali Ma. One of
them looks up and sees you..
"Ah, you have come at last! Mother
told us to expect you. Sit down and
listen to my words..
"Kali deals in death, but she is not evil.
Often, it is evil which she
kills. The severed head that she carries
belongs to an evil Demon whom
she slew in battle when none of the Gods
could defeat him. Now the Demon's
head is a symbol of the death of evil..
"The severed head is also a symbol for the
slaying of the human ego. Are
these two symbols so different? What
does your ego do for you? What does
your ego do _to_ you? Your ego may
block your spiritual evolution. This
is when Kali steps in, sword in hand.
She is here to help you..
"But Kali seldom uses her sword herself;
it is you who must pick it up and
use it. Kali offers healing.
But her healing is not the gentle administra-
tion of herbs, not the gentle binding of
wounds. Kali is like the surgeon
facing a patient with a gangrenous leg.
The patient is attached to her leg;
she does not want to let go of it even if
it is clearly rotten, even if it
is black and bloated, even if it is spreading
poison and death throughout
the rest of the body..
"Letting go of such ego-bound attachment
is such a difficult decision! But
if the woman will not let go, she will die.
She will be reborn of course,
but she will not progress up the great spiral;
she will merely be sent back
to the same level to try again. How
many life times will she refuse this
challenge? How many life times will
she refuse to learn this lesson? How
many life times will she refuse to let go?
"Think! What part of you is rotten?
What part of you is black and bloated,
spreading poison that is eating up your
spirit, bit by bit, so slowly that
you do not even see it? What is the
source of the poison that courses
within you?
"Which of Maya's illusions holds you in thrall?
Is is material wealth?
Is it pride? Is it another human soul?
Have you bound yourself to another
so tightly that your own self is lost?
"Seek the source of the poison! Find this source!
"And when you find it, Kali's sword stands
ready to heal you."
The Mountain
The Priestess of Kali continues speaking
to you. "Here is a lesson that
may help you. Sit and meditate: You
have decided to climb a mountain. At
first the going is easy; the trail is well-marked
and you walk over gentle,
nearly flat ground. You walk up and
up, journeying higher and higher. As
you ascend, the trail becomes less well
marked, the ground rockier, the
scenery more intense, the air thinner.
Now walking requires exertion. You
feel your muscles cramp and protest; your
lungs strain, your head aches..
"Still, the mountain continues to rise.
Still, you must continue to climb..
Now the trail has disappeared entirely and
you must scramble up over the
rocks, making your own path, seeking only
to go higher and higher. Your
route becomes steeper and steeper.
You reach a place where there is only
a solid wall of rock, a steep cliff face.
Still you must climb higher..
"You feel for cracks in the rock face where
you can find a foothold, or a
handhold. Each move must be thought
out; each move seems to take forever..
Though your progress is slow, and your heart
pounds, you are still rising..
The rock wall looms steeper yet. You
must strain to find a space for even
a toe or a single finger to grip.
You begin to wonder: how long can I
continue upward? Still, the mountain
continues to rise, so you must
continue your climb..
"You look down. Below you there is
only space. The ground so far below,
so lost in the gray mist that it might not
even be there anymore. You look
up. Above you there is only rock,
overhanging rock, sheer rock with no
place for you to grip with even a single
finger..
"You are frozen to the rock face. You
cannot climb up. You cannot climb
down. For a frozen time you hang,
suspended, terrified. There seems to be
no end to this mountain. Perhaps there
_is_ no end to this mountain..
"What can you do? Slowly, very deliberately,
you let go your hold on the
mountain. The feeling of release when
yu finally do let go is pure bliss..
"Ask yourself: What mountain are you still
trying to climb?"
The Dakini Temple
You are back in the temple of Kali, back
with the chanting priestesses..
Your priestess motions for you to be silent,
and to look around the
temple. It is time for you to do pooja,
which is personal worship..
You approach an image of Kali, a great bronze
statue, huge, ornate,
well-detailed. Kali is trimmed in
gold. Her image is nearly covered
with mounds of flowers left by other worshippers:
red roses, scarlet
hibiscus, crimson opium poppies. Brightly
colored malas wreath Her
image..
The air is so heavy with the scent of incense,
rose, nag champa, and
patchouli, that you can scarcely breath.
You choose an incense, and
offer it to Kali. You lay flowers
at her feet, beside an ornate sword..
ali herself is a blue so deep as to be seen
as black. All of the colors
of the rainbow are lost within her radiant
blackness..
Her three eyes stare deeply into your spirit
as you light the ghee lamp
and offer the five sacred flames to the
Goddess. It is said that one of
Kali's eyes gazes upon the past, her second
eye gazes upon the present,
and her third eye, the eye in her forehead,
gazes into the future. Kali
can see all time at once. Her name
itself means "time", and like time
she devours all things, and yet Kali herself
is timeless. She can see
into your heart: how you came to be, what
you are now, what you may
become. She sees what part of yourself
that you offer her now, as you
pick up the sword of Kali and begin to dance..
Your dance done, your pooja complete, you
spiral away from the center
and examine the rest of the temple.
You see that this is a Dakini Temple,
for all around Kali, the gray stones walls
are alive with dancing images
of Dakinis, embodiments of female power
and wisdom. The breasts and hips
of the Dakinis are carved full and round.
Their scupltured eyes glint,
their mouths smile, their bodies seem to
writhe in the fire light. There
are 64 Dakinis here, each one an expression
of an archetypal energy found
in all women, each one found in you.
You are in the Center, you _are_ the
Center. The 64 Dakinis circle around
you. They dance and spin around
you, faster and faster still. Their
forms shimmer, and become a blur..
They dissolve into gray mist. The
Dakini temple itself dissolves. And
you yourself dissolve..
The Lady watched the Men and Women, looking
thru the eyes of a myriad
of Women, children, young girls, mothers,
daughters, wives,
lovers....all of the Women there were in
the World. And She saw that, in
many places, the Men had forgotten that
the Women were to walk by their
side as equals and partners, working as
a team, but regarded Women as
not-equal, and as possessions.
"This must not be," she said. "What shall
I do to teach them?" She
thought, and remembered that the Fool would
teach Men and Women, in His
own way, and that Way might work for Her,
too. She turned, and was the
Maiden, and was in the World.
A Man saw Her beauty, and seeing not Her
Divinity caught and raped
Her. Another took Her, and put Her in chains,
and set Her to serving
him. In the midst of the night, a band of
men broke into the house,
killing the slave-maker, and took Her away.
They forced Her to serve
them as a prostitute, and took the money
she was paid for themselves.
On and on it went, with humiliation and degradation
piled higher and
higher, until, on a still, dark night She
spoke, and said, quietly,
"Enough!" And the quiet coldness of the
Word was enough to freeze the
Moon in its path, and the singing insects
of the night stilled their
song. And the Maiden turned, and moved to
the other side of the Coin,
and became Lillith.
She embodied the pleasures of the flesh,
and the animal wildness of
the wilderness; the lust of the bitch-in-heat
and the fierceness of a
mother defending her young was Hers, and
Her eyes were mad. And She
enslaved the men in Her turn, enslaving
them to Lust and Passion, making
them mad to possess Her, She that cannot
be possessed, and fettering
them in silken chains of desire.
She showed the women Herself, and taught
them Freedom, and Wildness,
and all the secret places where Wildness
lives, and the Mystery of being
Woman. She was Lillith and Diana, Artemis
and Athena, Scatach and
Morrigan, and all the Wildness of Woman
was in Her. She took the women
to the secret places within themselves,
and looked back out at them with
feral eyes. She ran with the wolves, and
howled. She flew with the hawks
and ravens, and hunted with the owl. She
crawled with the serpent, and
stalked Her prey with the lioness, and all
of this was put into Her
Dance.
"Know you that you are free," She cried to
the women, "And let none
put chains upon you not of your own making.
Live as you will, not as
another would force you. You are partners
with Man, not his slave, and I
am in you forever!" And the Wild was in
the women, singing in their
blood, and, so long as they remembered,
they were free.
"That was pretty spectacular." said the Fool.
"A bit severe for my
style, though."
The Lady grinned at Him, and said, "Well,
you're not the only Teacher
around here, You know."
The Fool rolled over on His back and swatted
at a stray piece of
dandelion fluff that had settled on His
ear, and said, "Never thought I
was!" He seemed a bit huffy.
"I just hope they can handle it," said the
Lord. "They sure can make
simple things complicated fast."
"Oh, they'll mess it up a bit, as usual,"
said the Lady, "But it will
all come out right eventually."
"I hope so," said the Fool. "They sure can
get balled up in non-
essentials. By the way, I just invented
ice-cream. Want some?"
"Sounds interesting," said the Lord and the Lady.
And They all smiled at each other.
Thus it was, and so it is, and evermore shall
be so!
