by Gail Dennehy

Created on: July 31, 2009   Last Updated: August 06, 2009

Durga stood on the side lines of the battle. Since the demons had seized control of the three worlds, she had been fighting Raktabija. She struck him with every manner of club and sword, but each piece that she knocked off became another demon. Durga listened to the clash of swords and the cries of the dying. Her head ached with frustration and anger. The pain was intense. She looked deep down inside herself for more strength and energy for the fight. With a blinding flash, her forehead split open and a figure jumped out fully formed. It was Kali.

Naked except for a skirt of human hands and a belt of human skulls, Kali sprang out. Her black skin glistened and, in two of her four arms, she held a sword and club. Looking over the battlefield, she fell into a berserker rage. Her eyes glowed red as she danced across the bodies of the dead and dying. Swinging the club and sword, she killed everyone and everything in her path.

The tide of battle turned. Kali kept dancing until all the enemy died. Still, she danced and the world shook. The gods begged her to stop, but in her rage, she was deaf to their cries. Finally, her consort, Shiva, threw himself at her feet and pretended to be dead. As Kali placed her foot on his breast, she stopped. In consternation, she bit her tongue and it fell from her mouth dripping blood.

It is this moment in time that artists usually choose when portraying Kali. But, there is so much more to the Great Mother. For she is Mother, one who nurtures and liberates her children.

Kali is the feminine of kala, meaning black or dark-colored. Her blackness consumes all colors and destroys all fears. She is "the appointed time." She is Death and the freedom from fear that comes with the acceptance of death.

Her name has also come to be associated with kala, time. She was in the beginning and will exist long after the end. From her, all gods spring.

She is the mate of Shiva, the I in his name. Without her, he would be shava or inactive. She is the active- force in the Universe. She is action to Shiva's consciousness. Recognized, like Shiva, as Brahman or "Ultimate Reality", she is his other half. Together they dance and worlds come into being and are destroyed. Her home is in the cremation grounds and Shiva's skin is gray with its ashes. Neither can exist without the other. After one great battle, when Kali could not stop her rage, Shiva came to her as a crying infant. She stopped to nurture him, displaying her maternal side. Only he can control her.

From the 7th to the 12th century, she is depicted as a warrior goddess who chooses the dead in battle. During this period, she loves human sacrifice and is worshiped by low caste and tribal people. Later in the 18th century, near Bengal, she began to be worshiped without her usual violence.

According to Tantric wisdom there are two kinds of absolute reality. The first is a plane of pure consciousness called Sat-Chit-Ananda. The second plane is the universe as we know it, a place of matter and action. It is also known as Sat-Chit-Ananda. They are one. When Tantric worshipers call on the first, they meditate on Shiva. In the second, the form of reality is known as Kali.

Today, New Age followers worship Kali as the Great Mother. Often they neither know nor can understand the culture she springs from. This raises questions about the appropriateness of borrowing other's gods.

Call on Kali at your peril for she doesn't give the expected, but her refusal to do so may help you reflect on yourself and the natural world.

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