Day 24: Kali

I’m pissed off today (okay, I know, what else is new?). So instead of trying to delve into something deep and meaningful, I thought it would be a good day to talk a little about my favorite Hindu goddess, Kali.

Kali is a goddess of destruction. Sometimes called “the Dark Mother,” she is depicted with blue or black skin and a big red tongue sticking out of her mouth. She has four arms and she carries a sword in one hand and a demon head in another. Around her neck she wears a long chain made up of human skulls, and her girdle is made out of cut-off human hands. She’s scary-looking—and she looks about as pissed off as I feel most of the time, which is probably why I like her so much.

Hindu mythology says that the fearsome Kali was born because of a huge battle. The tale goes that the world had been overrun by demons (that sounds a lot like my town). The gods were doing their best to fight off the evil forces, but even all together, they were losing the fight. They breathed all their power at once and, from that great roar, a warrior goddess named Durga was born.

She was a mighty force, but even she couldn’t hold back the demons. Upset at her lack of success, she frowned, and from her knitted brow the goddess Kali sprang forth, with a weapon in her hand and a lust for demon blood in her heart. With Kali’s help, Durga pushed back the demons and restored peace to the world.

Another story says that Kali got a little carried away during the battle. She started destroying not just demons but everything in sight. The god Shiva became alarmed and threw himself on the ground in front of Kali to stop the rampage. She was shocked to see him and stuck out her tongue—which is why most images of Kali show her with a jutting tongue and standing on top of Shiva.

With the mood I’m in, the image of an angry goddess kicking some demon ass is rather appealing to me. But, unlike me, Kali has a softer side. Besides just being a force of destruction, she has been depicted as a mother and as a lover. And even as the goddess of destruction, she has a positive motive: to protect the world from evil.

Kali’s scary appearance actually holds deeper meaning, too. The sword she carries in one of her four hands is intended to cut through our illusions and help us see what’s really important. She has two empty hands. One of them blesses her followers and the other is held up to tell us “Fear not!” The girdle of disembodied hands she wears around her waist symbolizes how we can use our work in the various yogas to achieve liberation from the cycle of karma and reincarnation.

Kali isn’t necessarily a pleasant image—probably because she reminds us a little too much of death. But she also reminds us, as writer Patricia Monaghan explains, that “As long as we are unconscious of the presence of death, we are unconscious to life itself.”

Kali isn’t just a destroyer. She brings us freedom—freedom from our slave-like attachment to the world and our petty, everyday concerns, and the freedom to focus instead on the more important things, the things that last, like beauty, kindness, and love.

I like that. But for now, I think I’ll stick with the destruction. There are a few demons out there that I’d like to get my hands on.