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8/8/15, 11:34 PM
Created by FireMaiden
Kali is one of India's most popular goddesses. Her picture hangs in many
homes. Calcutta is her temple city and derives its name from the
Anglicized phrase Kali-Ghatt or "steps of Kali." The Goddess of
Cemeteries was thought to thrive on blood. Goat blood rather than
human blood was sacrificed to her and is still is in some parts of India.
The Dark Mother and her children share a loving and intimate bond. The
devotee is Her child and Kali is the ever-caring mother.
SYMBOLISM
In Hinduism, all goddesses are ultimately one: Devi. She takes different forms to allow us to
comprehend Her multiple possibilities. One of the most powerful is Kali.
Kali's blackness symbolizes Her comprehensive nature, as in black all colors merge. Just as all colors
disappear in black, so all names and forms disappear in Her (Mahanirvana Tantra). Black can also
represent the absence of color, signifying the nature of Kali as ultimate reality. Either way, Kali's
color symbolizes Her transcendence of all form.
Kali's nudity has similar meaning. She is described as garbed in space or sky clad. In Her primordial
nakedness, She is free from all covering of illusion. Her nudity represents totally illumined
consciousness. Kali is the bright fire of truth, not hidden by the trappings of ignorance.
Kali is full-breasted. As our Mother, She creates endlessly. Her garland of fifty human heads, each
representing one of the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, symbolizes knowledge and wisdom.
Her girdle of severed human hands are the principal instruments of work and signify the action of
karma. The binding effects of karma are overcome by devotion to Kali. She blesses devotees by
cutting us free from the cycle of karma. Her white teeth are symbolic of purity and Her red tongue
shows that She consumes all things and enjoys tasting what society regards as forbidden, Her
http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/kali/Kali.html
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KALIGHAT IN CALCUTTA
The original temple was a hut. A small temple was
constructed by King Manasingha in the early 16th
century. The current temple was completed in 1809.
HISTORY
http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/kali/Kali.html
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Kali first appears in the Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), a fifth to sixth century text. With
this writing, worship of the Goddess took on dramatic new dimensions. She is not only the Source of
life, She is the very earth, all-creating and all-consuming.
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festival of light, greets their families and friends, forgetting and forgiving the wrongdoings of others.
They take an oil bath, prepare sweet meats and pray to Kali to destroy their ignorance as well as
grant boons. The night sky is lit with fireworks to chase away evil spirits.
Diwali is the harvest celebration for the farmers. They place oil lamps in the rice fields to kill
seasonal insects and offer fruit, flowers, fragrances and food to Kali, the Sustainer of Life. Also on
this day, Hindu merchants open their new account books and pray to the Divine Mother for success
and prosperity during the coming year. The Kali festival is Mother's Day in India, when Indian
women are presented with new clothes and jewelry and treated with great reverence.
Temples dedicated to Kali are freshly painted, decorated with neem and mango leaves and glow with
glittering lights at night. Offerings of cooked rice and curd are brought in pots for Kali.
KALI MANTRA
The mantra Om Kali Ma vibrates with Her power and transports you to Her domain. With every
inhalation say to yourself silently Om Kali Ma and feel Her infuse your body with Her power, radiance
and love. With every exhalation, silently breathe out Om Kali Ma and feel Her presence fill the
universe around you. Breathe in Om Kali Ma and drink in Her elixir. Breathe out Om Kali Ma and
float like a bubble in the ocean of the Divine. Allow your ego to sleep and the Divine to awaken
within you.
KALI'S LESSON
Kali teaches that pain, sorrow, decay, death, and destruction are not overcome by denying or
explaining them away. These are inevitable parts of life and denying them is futile. For us to realize
the fullness of our being and to realize our potential, we must accept these parts of existence. Kali's
gift is freedom. The freedom of the child to revel in the moment, obtained only after confrontation
with or acceptance of death. Kali is Mother, not because She protects us from the way things are,
but because She reveals our mortality to us and releases us to act fully and freely; She releases us
from the web of pretense, practicality and rationality.
Of all the Devi forms, Kali is the most compassionate because She provides liberation to Her
children. A soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali
as sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with love for Her children.
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RITUAL BODY:
Arrange the items how you see appropriate on your altar or the table where you will perform
this ritual.
Smudge the area.
Cast the circle in your preferred way.
Call the five directions in your preferred way.
Invite Kali to your ritual. Relate to Her as a child of the Dark Mother in need of Her assistance.
Light the black candle to honor and welcome Kali.
Ask Kali to burn away all illusion in Her Purifying Fires and to allow you to see truth and reality.
Light the white candle from the black candle to show Her Fires igniting.
Light the candle that represents you from the white candle to show illusion being cleared from
your mind and vision, and, to show the clarity manifesting within you.
Remain with the three candles burning in front of you for as long as you wish and meditate on
your issue or problem.
When you are ready, thank Kali for Her gracious assistance. Ask Her to remain, if She desires,
but to go if She must.
Thank the five directions for being present and contributing Their energies to your ritual.
Open the circle.
If it is safe to do so, allow the candles to burn out by themselves. Otherwise, extinguish the
candles. Take the remaining candle wax and ash from the incense and bury them, if it is
feasible.
Sources:
http://www.hranajanto.com/GoddessGallery/kali.html
http://hinduism.about.com/library/weekly/aa051202a.htm
http://www.sacredsites.com/asia/india/calcutta.html
http://www.thesoulsjourney.com/kali.html
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/kali.htm
http://www.mantraonnet.com/kali-text-images.html
http://www.goddess-kali-ma.com/
http://complit.rutgers.edu/swarner/myth99/kaliyantra.html
http://www.aryabhatt.com/occult/yantraTantraMantra/yantra.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2005/08/01/stories/2005080113710200.htm
http://www.newconnexion.net/article/11-99/Indian.html
http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/kali/Kali.html
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