Goddess Kali, First Of The Mahavidya
Goddess Kali is the first of the 10 mahavidya, or wisdom goddesses in the tantric tradition. She is often portrayed as dancing on the dead body of her consort Shiva. She has black skin, 4 arms, wide open glaring eyes, a necklace consisting of severed heads and her tongue lolls wildly out of her big wide open mouth, laughing at the attachments of us mortal humans. Indeed a terrible spectacle to behold!
There exists a lot of symbolism in this gruesome iconography. It is a picture of our coming death and of our mortality. The symbolism also shows the transcendent nature of the masculine principle (symbolized by the dead Shiva upon who she dances) and the active chaotic nature of the feminine principle (Kali herself). Another aspect of this symbolism is Kali as wild, erotic energy. It is this aspect we shall touch upon in this article.
Goddess Kali and eroticism
We are drawn to the mysterious. Kali is like a dangerous sensual woman luring us, teasing us, and daring us to break out of the box created by our daily routine and to fully awaken our latent potential. Kali is powerful like a fully vital and sensual woman, who has the ability of fully enjoying life, her energy and knows the power of love.
Egoistic minds which are stiff and fearful cannot encompass such great feminine sexuality. Down through the ages men have feared this feminine power and the female power has been suppressed for centuries. As we fear the erotically awakened powerful woman, we fear life itself which is feminine and expansive.
So therefore Kali appears terrible for most of us who do not understand her deeper meaning.
Goddess Kali And Kundalini
In Tantra it is said that our spiritual development starts with an awakening of our sexual energy called Kundalini. Kundalini lies coiled up at the base of our spines. When awakened it will travel up our spines transforming itself to more refined kinds of energy such as wisdom, love, intuition, clairvoyance etc.
This potential energy of Kundalini is symbolized by a snake which lies coiled up sleeping at the base of our spine and which symbolically starts dancing up our spine when awakened.
Goddess Kali and tantric ritual
Kali can be worshipped by repeating her mantra which is given to the worshipper by his or her Guru. The worshipper can also use a continual gazing at the yantra of Kali to enter into a trance like state with the her. These are powerful methods to enter into a communion with the great Goddess.
For the more experienced, Kali can be worshipped through elaborate erotic tantric rituals. In such ritual the woman is first adored by the man as being Kali herself. Then follows the foreplay and lovemaking acts themselves which follow strict guidelines. After the ritual the man and woman split up and make their own sadhanas (spiritual practice) consisting of yoga positions, pranayamas and meditations with Kali.
If done correctly and at the right moments, these rituals will create deep processes of transformation in the hearts of the two lovers.
About the author: Hans Havasi is a teacher of tantra and yoga and a musician who has devoted his life to making music for the tantric goddesses. Together with his wife Mariah, he leads a tantric art and retreat center in the north of Copenhagen. Please read more about Kali here or visit their site www.ibismusic.net to download free music for Kali .
Kathak Dance Kali Mother goddess Pali Chandra Lucknow India
