Great Black Mother, I Invite You to the Dance . . .

[omimouse]

Owing Kali a lifedebt is starting to look like a good option, here.

Yes, I read the most recent news on Iraq, why do you ask?

(And before anyone starts to think that I'm considering murder and/or suicide here: I'm a fertile female. Life for life is the price that Kali tends to ask, and it doesn't need to be a life lost. Never forget that Kali Durga is also Kali Ma.)

Comments

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

OK... ummm. forgive my stupidity but... "Never forget that Kali Durga is also Kali Ma." ... the difference being?
I thought Kali was the Goddess of destruction and death- a destroyer of men and worlds.

[omimouse.livejournal.com]

Kali Durga is the Destroyer. Kali Ma is the Mother.

They are one and the same, yes, but those are the most common names I've heard used for those two aspects of Kali.

She is the Great Black Mother. She is terrible and loving; both a destroyer and a giver of life.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Sounds almost like a description (by some) of the Christian God...
"Fear God!- but remember- God is a God of Love."
Why do I need to Fear my God?(Or Goddess?)- Wouldn't that be fairly crippling to the whole growth process- if you're always scared of what God/dess might do?
It's very confusing to me...

[omimouse.livejournal.com]

Hinduism gets pretty bloody confusing at times, yeah.

As far as I can tell, they believe that creation and destruction are integral to each other. Like a forest fire, destruction must occur for new growth, new creation.

Argh. I'm doing a lousy job of trying to explain. Okay, I didn't write this, but it sums her up for me:

Wild black mother,
how can I not love you?
Your dancing hair.
Your dancing feet.
Your dancing eyes.

Wild black mother
how can I not fear you?
Your savage mouth.
Your savage throat.
Your savage hands.

Wild black mother,
how can I not run to you?


Do I personally fear her? No. Do I think that she is 'safe'? Hells no! Kali is fierce, loving, wild, and a powerful force to be reckoned with. I would not call on her lightly, but I would not call on her with fear in my heart, either.

warinbear? She's one of your Patrons; help me out, here?

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Sort of like Cerridrin - giver of Life and Death with her Cauldron. Neither to be feared or worshipped, but to be respected and honored. Hindu Deities have similar dualisms that Celtic Deities have. Which is one reason I cannot see the world in Absolutes, but shades of grey.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

I don't recall Cerridwen as being a taker of life with her Cauldron, I do remember the Cauldron being the place where the fighters of the Tuatha went to be dipped and rise, restored for the next fight...
When did She take life with Her cauldron?

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/celtic.htm

CERRIDWEN / CARIDWEN / CERIDWEN ((Wales)) *Goddess*
Goddess of nature. Death, fertility, regeneration, inspiration, magick, astrology, herbs, science, poetry, spells, knowledge.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

There's also- Same page...

RHIANNON (Hri-an-non) ((Wales)) *Goddess*
The great Queen. Goddess of birds and horses. Enchantments, fertility and the underworld.
But- even as Queen of the Underworld where souls go to rest between lives- It doesn't intimate that she destroys those lives- or rips them away from people the way the Kali is said to do...

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

yeah, thank you.

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Just doing my best to re-train your thinking patterns from black and white to shades of grey. Bad habit you picked up in that there Xtian schoolin' of your youth.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Well, while I agree that much of my thinkin needs to be... adjusted, I think there are still times when things are- if not black and white- then certainly a VERY Dark Gray and a VERY Pale Gray...

A goddess whose most common representation is that of a multi-armed dark blue or black woman, wearing a skull necklace, each arm bearing a bloody weapon or a severed head, and dancing on the back of a baby or corpse- tends to be in the really - REALLY Dark gray area for me...

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Electricity is scary too -- think about what lightning can do, or the threat of a downed high-tension wire. Does that mean you avoid it altogether, or that you take due care about it?

IMO any major deity has both a light and a dark side. Kali's dark side is just a little more overtly recognized than most.

[ladyfox7oaks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but with electricity, we have tamed it, and know something of the rules that govern it. How can we ever say that of the Gods?

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Electricity is as tame as an animal in a zoo.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

No shit. People have been KILLED by just the electricity in their house wiring. And even "tame" animals frequently aren't; ask anyone who's been attacked by a poorly-trained dog, or even picked up a pet hamster the wrong way!

[warinbear.livejournal.com]

On request, my comments.

I do not see Kali as 'evil,' or as destruction incarnate -- though She can look like them when viewed from the right direction. Neither do I see Her in the same sense that the modern Churchian church [1] portrays their God, that being the confusing combination of 'love Me' and 'fear Me' referenced above, which is in itself different from how I as a Christian view my God.

Kali is Change. She can be, or represent, change that most see as for the better (creation, motherhood, dance and art) or for the worse (death, battle, dismemberment), but She is not static. When I talk to Her, I embrace Change. She's not just the start and/or end of life; She's the whole unbroken circle.

I don't love Kali, nor do I fear Her. I respect Her. I understand Her -- not in Her entirety, but enough so that I am more comfortable with Change than many, and certainly more so than I used to be. I don't hate Her, and I wouldn't try to put Her out of my life; She is one of my metaphysical Patrons, but as personal as our relationship is, it's not one of a deity and a worshipper.

This is probably a bit disjointed, but that's okay. Trying to explain how I feel about Change is likely to be a bit chaotic even when I'm not just coming off a twelve-hour shift.

[1] If that isn't either a contradiction or redundant.

Can you tell I'm way behind in my comments? I thought so...

[fernblatt.livejournal.com]

That's one of the best descriptions I've ever heard insofar as personal perspectives go. :-)

[two more months to go and I'll be caught up...]