By Juraj Sipos
Who is Kali?
Kali is a form of Mother Divine in Her fiercest attributes. The purpose of this vicious form of Shakti is to show Her absolute supremacy over evil - that is, over attachment of matter (ego) to matter. Goddess Durga created Her as a form of Supreme Goddess - an invisible aspect of God masked off at a certain time in history of the Creation, yet the one that has always remained black (masked). Mother Divine is the basic concept of Shaktism, which is a Hindu denomination that recognizes the Female Principle as the Supreme Rule of the universe.
Kali is depicted wearing garlands of human skulls and dismembered parts of bodies, which often gives a wrong impression that She is an evil form of God. Ideas, beliefs and history, too, may be easily deformed - does it imply that Christians are racists only because Ku Klux Klan members bow to their cross? Any god can be strangled with the same burning cloak within the fumes of which superstitions and misconceptions can only prevail.
Destruction of time and matter
The crucifix represents the Christ's victory over death (matter). Kali with skulls gives us the same message. The dismembered parts of human bodies in Her hands only symbolize the transience of the material world. It is our ego which gets always attached to the material world and Kali's fierce depictions simply show importance of destruction of ego's attachment to the body (matter to matter dependence), not death. She destroys What Is Not - the unreality.
Perception of Kali was also deformed in India by several cults; one of them was the so-called "thugee" cult, which traced its origin to seven Muslim tribes. No one knows when the cult had started, but the first authenticated record originated in about 1356 AD. Some historians say that - even though "thugees" did really exist - British colonists blew up this story with purpose to justify executions of their adversaries. Kali in the thugee cult had allegedly a robust resemblance to Muslim Fatimah, the youngest daughter of the greatest Islamic prophet. This information comes from British officers who discovered this during their interrogations and executions. There are Islamic sects that raise the cult of Fatimah, the beloved daughter of the Prophet.
Deformation also comes from superstitions and the way the Western media present them - a man in Nepal, for example, cut off his hand and dedicated it to Kali. Something similar, too, happens every year in the Philippines when "followers of Christ" get publicly crucified before the eyes of thousands of followers and visitors. The effects of crucifixion, before which a "Christ" is flogged until his skin and flesh hang down in shreds, may easily result in severe health problems or even death, but the Western media present such "Christs" and Christianity in two separate sleeves only. On the other hand, if there is any link to anything bad in relation to Kali or any other Hindu God, the media almost always associate Hinduism with it. Islam, too, is not any exception.
The medieval Europe's Inquisition (under the supreme power of Christians) used practices of the most unthinkable forms of tormenting - pouring red-hot lead into the vagina with other sadistic "exercises". However, some say that much of the above we believe is based only upon myths and none of us, not even the best historians today, have ever dealt with the Inquisition or the thugees firsthand.
A very important aspect of Kali worship is Kali Puja - the Night of Kali. It occurs on the night (in the lunar calendar) when the veil between the light and darkness is the thinnest - the dark moon.
Matter and light also disappear in Black Holes, which are observable astronomical locations in the universe where everything dissolves to nothing. The seventh chapter of Devimahatmya (Devi Mahatmya, also known as Durga Saptashati, or "Glory of the Goddess", is a Hindu scripture) describes Kali springing forth from the furrowed brow of Goddess Durga.
Kali, clad in tiger's skin, is black, sometimes dark-blue. Her possessions are veneered with skulls; temples and personal things too. Accepting Her blackness and skull-like omnipresence means that we - the terrestrials living in duality, must unconditionally subordinate to the Oneness of God.
A famous Bengali mystic and poet - Ramprasad Sen (1720-1781), wrote superb poems showing zealous devotion to Kali. Another famous follower of Kali was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa.
Kali has many names like Maha Kali (or Kaali), Nitya Kali, Smashana Kali, Raksha Kali, Kalikamata, Kalaratri, Vyaghracharmavrita (wearing tiger skin), Elamma or Kottavei (Tamil). She is depicted with eight arms, but also with two or four arms, of which the latter is most commonly seen. Of the Puranas, the Kalika Purana (Upapurana) is the most important work for the Kalika (Kali) worship. Kali has also Her "ghost sisters" in many ancient cultures around the world; for example, in Mexico, there is an ancient Aztec Goddess, a "monster goddess" - Coatlicue, which is decorated with a necklace made from human hearts and dismembered hands. This may also explain why the Aztec and Inca priests were encouraged to practice such notoriously cruel religious ceremonies - they seemed to have misinterpreted a visual depiction of God the ancient history had somehow given them as a bequest. Kali is also observable in Caledonia, which is a Latin word the Roman Empire used for northern part of Great Britain because of its ancient Caledonia tribe which worshiped a black Mother Goddess - Caillech. A Finnish goddess of death, Kalma, lives allegedly in the underworld. In Slavic mythology, we have Nav - the fearsome goddess of death, but also Chernobog - a black god (goddess).
Kali, if approached with love and open arms, promises unconditional love to Her devotees regardless of race or sexual orientation. She does not care about social status either. Her blackness is the power that absorbs everything - that is, all dualities will cease. She is beyond time. Kali is therefore ONE and She wants to keep it that way.
The ultimate truth is that if you want to come nearer things you cannot usually see, the sunniest daylight in a hypocritically happy and smiling world is not always the correct passageway to secret castles of wisdom.
AUM KRING KALIKAYE NAMAH AUM
Kali is the goddess of destruction