Supreme Primordial of all manifestations. Creatrix, protector and destructor, both subtle and gross, manifested and veiled, formless, yet with form. I call to thee, O Divine Mother Kali, for your consciousness to shine a light beyond the veils of limited existence.

Kali-Ma is the enigmatic Hindu Goddess and Dark Mother. Her often monstrous depictions often leave her greatly misunderstood. Her name can be translated to mean ‘the dark one’ or ‘time’. She holds the fates of life, death and rebirth in her hands. She has always been. It is said that offerings mean nothing to Kali-Ma, as anything that you could offer has been gifted by her. So, your devotion alone is all that you can offer of any true significance.

We honour her by making a commitment to shine a light on injustice and to trust in the brutality of nature, in the realisation that everything is temporary. Kali commands the three gunas - creation, preservation and destruction, but also past, present and future. She is the most powerful face of the Mahavidyas - the ten forms of Shakti (Divine Feminine energy) - where she is all and all are her.

“Within Hindu mythology, Kali came into being after Brahma, the god responsible for all creation, granted a boon to the demon Raktavij in that for every drop of his blood that fell on the ground, hundreds of demons like him would be produced. Therefore, the only way of slaying Raktavij was by not allowing any of his blood to touch the ground. One day the giants Sumbha and Nisumbha, equipped with powerful armies, marched against the demigods. In terror, the demigods approached Lord Shiva for help. However, as the giants were also his devotees, he was not able to assist. Instead Lord Shiva suggested that his consort, Parvati, be approached. To aid the demigods, Parvati appeared as the ferocious warrior goddess Durga and quickly vanquished the giants’ army. Sumbha and Nisumbha then marched with a second army led by Raktavij. Durga fiercely attacked the demon. However, from each drop of Raktavji’s blood that touched the earth, a hundred more demons, just as strong, appeared. Nearing defeat, Durga desperately split herself in two and the part that became Kali drank the drops of blood before they touched the earth. Soon Raktavij was dead and the rest of the army, including Sumbha and Nisumbha, were defeated. Kali, however, had developed a taste for blood and a blind lust for destruction. In order to stop the world from being destroyed, Lord Shiva had to intervene. Seeing no other way of dissuading her, Lord Shiva threw himself amongst the bodies of slain demons at the feet of Kali. Upon sensing her consort beneath her feet, Kali stopped her dance of destruction, and by returning to her guise as the passive Parvati, the world was saved. According to other myths, Kali and Lord Shiva were the originating couple of the universe. However, Kali is also considered to be the unique source of everything. In this latter version, Kali is the full spectrum of universal power – both the benign and terrible mother. She nurtures and creates, yet she also destroys. As the Kalika (the Crone), Kali governs every form of death but also rules every form of life. She represents the three divisions of the Hindu year, the three phases of the moon, the three sections of the cosmos, and the three stages of life. There are even three types of priestesses who attend her shrines: Yoginis or Shaktis (the “Maidens”), Matri (the “Mothers”); and Dakinis (the “Skywalkers”).”Guin, Madhuri, “Kali the Goddess: Gentle Mother, Fierce Warrior“

- Frances Billinghurst, [Book] Encountering the Dark Goddess: A Journey into the Shadow Realms

Depictions of Kali show her standing in an aggressive manner, having black skin that turns blue in anger, wearing a skirt made of severed hands, a necklace made of skulls and dancing on the corpse of her consort. This terrifying image has generated a considerable amount of fear; however, when we dive deeper, it all has meaning. Her nakedness represents truth, her wild hair - freedom. Her crown represents careful control and responsibility. In her hands, she holds a trident representing the three gunas (energies of nature), the severed head representing the demise of ignorance and ego, and a bowl that is used to collect the blood, showing reverence for the essence of life. Her scimitar (curved sword) represents divine knowledge, slaying the ego to attain liberation from samsara. She is adorned with slain demons that she wears as earrings and a necklace containing 54 skulls, all of which are smiling due to being liberated from the constraints of the ego. She is also a Goddess of purification, transmuting any negative energies into positive ones.

OM KREEM KALIKAYAI NAMAH

Hail to the Goddess Kali, bless us with insight, wisdom and consciousness.