THE GODDESS KALI: Who is she?, her origin, meaning, and more

The Goddess Kali, a deity of Hindu beliefs, considered the divine Mother, Mother of the Universe and protective divinity; In this article we tell you everything about her and much more, do not read it, since the origin of her, her meaning and the entire cult of her based on her adoration are very interesting.

Introduction

The Goddess Kali is one of the main representations that within Hinduism is considered a symbol of death and destruction; representing in turn regeneration and liberation. This is part of the polytheistic religion that is native to India, which is witnessed through sacred writings.

Hinduism is characterized by having beliefs about reincarnation, and in the existence of a supreme being, who is recognized under the name of Brahma. In their religion, the soul of human beings aspires to be diluted, when the body is released, after death and thereby abandons its karma.

This is a religion that is widely followed throughout South Asia, and is represented by Hinduism as one of the oldest cults in the world, whose sacred writings date back to about 1400 years BC. The Goddess Kali is presented in this way, as one of the most prominent within this religion. (See also what Unalome represents)

Being considered that in this religion, the worship of the Goddess Kali is called Shaktirmo, since they consider her the Mother of the Universe, being in charge of destroying evil and the demons that attack humanity.

She is often associated with other Goddesses and even the God Shiva, and is considered the patron saint of the Indian city of Calcutta. For all this and much more we have considered writing this article, so that all our readers can properly know the Goddess Kali, who is associated with death but also with the regeneration of humanity.

Who is Goddess Kali?

The Goddess Kali is of Hindu origin and is represented with death. She is the wife of the God Shiva, and she is shown with a dark and violent appearance, as she is usually seen dancing on the god himself with knives and being splattered by the blood of all his victims; of which she keeps a hand as a garland.

This Goddess is usually called Kalika, apparently her original name being Kala, which means darkness or black woman and who is venerated in her temple called Kalighat, where animals are usually sacrificed to her as a cult in her honor. She has as her vajana or her vehicle, a tiger.

She is considered a Goddess with a very complex history, being considered a creature of annihilation, but at the same time she is considered a benevolent mother. She represents a tantric figure for Hinduism, that is, a deity consecrated both in her religious texts and rituals.

For this reason, her followers have considered that a coin has two sides, and that is how they see Kali, because she has a curse, and represents the terror of death; but at the same time they accept her blessings and maternal aspect of her. Since they understand that there is no death without life, and this is also true the other way around.

It’s like the saying that there is no evil that does not come through good; His followers consider that sometimes chaos must be faced in order to achieve wisdom, and therefore many of the sacred texts give this a deep metaphysical meaning.

For this reason, the early history of the Goddess Kali contemplates her as a figure of annihilation, which in Tantric or sacred beliefs, usually presents her with the ultimate reality and the very source of being. But considering that those she kills are demons, who attack the tranquility of humanity.

Origin

We can know the origin of the Goddess Kali through her legend, which begins in the middle of the second millennium BC; and who at that time was considered one of the seven languages ​​of Agni, which was the Hindu God who represented fire. Her personality being associated with her with the night goddess Ratri.

Kali is considered to be one of the forms of black goddess that the goddess Durgá adopts, in order to confront demons; and every time they were wounded, from each drop of the red liquid, a thousand of them emerged, just as powerful as the original, this being a great threat, which could bring darkness to the entire world at that time.

The Goddess Durgá unfolds into another Goddess called Chandi, who helps Kali in combat. Well, the latter took the blood of a giant, while Chandi gave death to him as well as to her guests, or lives that were created.

This is the reason why it is considered that this goddess originated with a triple version, where there is the base Goddess Durgá, from which Kali and then Chandi are born.

But their legends continue and there is therefore a version in which it is considered that the Goddess Kali, from her sweat gave rise to two men, called Trugs, with whom she was able to defeat the demons, each being armed with a handkerchief so that they could defeat the demons. They could strangle demons. So that they die without shedding blood, and with this no new evil beings are born.

They kept the handkerchiefs as a symbol of their victories, and a memory of the fight for the salvation of humanity. Thanks to this they could feed their families, since they considered that by divine command, they could steal and strangle their victims.

These sects were later eradicated, and are in no way representative of the principles of the goddess herself, who although she is considered a representative of violent justice, also has horrifying aspects of her feminine divinity of great Mother.

It is said that the methods used by Shiva to dominate Kali ranged from challenging her to the Tandava dance and even becoming better than her in this type of dance, although Kali herself used to dance on Shiva or both of them did it in a complete and crazy state of frenzy.

Meaning

The meaning of this Hindu goddess is associated with elements such as the death of people’s ego, an aspect that is represented or illusory, since she only kills demons, and is not associated with the death of men, since this has been granted to the Hindu god Yama, who is the god of death.

However, the Gods Kali and Shiva usually live in the places where bodies are burned when they die, fields that are specially arranged for this purpose, and where many devotees attend in order to perform prayers. Well, as has been mentioned, with these gods we do not worship death, but rather become aware that the human body is only a temporary condition.

It is for this reason that these Gods are in these places where the ego of humans is present, because it is precisely where they become attached to their body and do not want to abandon it. In this sense, the Gods allow us to help the liberation of souls, eliminating the illusion replanted by the ego.

They destroy the unreal, where the ego sees the Goddess Kali and trembles with fear, because she always manages to hide it. For this reason, those who understand the principles of this goddess feel that she is a sweet, loving mother who has great love for all of her children.

Well, they have learned that they are spirit and not body, which is why they usually accept death when it is presented to them, in an appropriate way, since they have prepared themselves for it, thanks to the teachings of Kali.

As for another significant aspect of this goddess, it is the fact that she represents pure consciousness, while Shiva is consciousness, but without pure form.

Physical aspects

The goddess Kali is usually represented as a woman with four or eight arms. According to what I know, the number of them also tends to change her appearance, because with four arms, she has the sword in one hand, in the other the head of the giant she killed, and with the other two they encourage all her faithful devotees.

She is also represented with tangled, loose hair of an intense black color, she wears skull necklaces and her earrings are corpses: her clothing is based on a sash, which is made with the hands of dead demons, and she is shown with the tongue hanging out of his mouth.

The eyes of this deity are haggard, as if she were a drunk, her breast and face are stained with blood, and she is a goddess who has black skin. She considers herself to be totally naked, as is the birth of the human mind, and in the end she returns to this nakedness again, when death comes.

This deity is considered to be black, because it is the threshold that is crossed into the void, as are the black holes of the universe, symbolizing the forces of the sun, the moon, lightning, fire and lightning. For she is present in three modes of time, which are the past, the present and the future.

Mother Kali is usually represented with three eyes, which mean control over the universe and the elements that we have named present in it. She is in some representations shown standing with one foot on the chest of her husband Shiva.

Which was a mistake made during the celebration of his victories, where Shiva pretended to be one of the dead, so as not to be devastated by the uncontained force of the Goddess, who when she realized that she was on Shiva, stuck out her tongue, for shame at the act committed with him.

Shiva in this situation is the representative of the passive power of creation, while Kali is the energizing force of all other divinities, especially Shiva, through being considered the universal feminine principle.

Prayers and rituals

Many people perform rituals to this Hindu Goddess, with the aim of giving them some special gift that will benefit them in solving any problem related to their daily life; This is done when you have faith in this type of deity, and therefore a ritual is performed, through which you can obtain the mental clarity necessary to resolve any situation.

This is a Goddess who makes it easier for her devotees to differentiate illusion and perceptions very clearly, because through this ritual she is asked in particular to have a clear vision of the path that must be followed.

Being advised that the ritual be on the Crescent Moon; but if it is an exile, it must be done on the Waning Moon and with a white candle.

Element for the Ritual

Black candle White candle Any color candle Smudge stick Incense (Any scent)

Procedure

This ritual must be performed in a discharge setting the previous items in them. The area is stained with the colored bar, representing a circle, with five directions that are called, and we invite the Goddess to the ritual, relating to her, lighting the black candle at this moment and welcoming her from it.

She is asked to consume the illusion and be able to visualize the truth, the reality, being the right moment to light the white candle, and then the other colored one that represents you. And with it, may the illusion be erased from your mind and vision, beginning to show the clarity within your person. (You may be interested in reading about The Symbols of Buddhism)

These candles are left to burn in front of your person for the time necessary to allow you to meditate on the situation that concerns you; and once he considers himself ready,…