The Symbolism of the Name
,
KALI
Kali,
also known as the Dark Goddess and Kali the Destroyer, is the dark mother
of the Hindu pantheon. She
represents freedom, but one can only be free through acceptance of their
own mortality. In accepting
death, one can delight in life; for death cannot exist without life, and
life cannot exist without death.
Kali is the giver and taker of
life. She is "the womb" and the "tomb".
She is often depicted black, because time has no color.
Her presence terrifies demons and she is shown wearing a necklace
of skulls, a girdle of severed arms, and in her four arms she holds a
severed head and a bloody sword. She stands in a battlefield of
death, accidentally stepping on her Husband, Lord Shiva, in her fit of
Battle Rage.
She remains a Divine Mother of Protection and takes the personality of
Terror to induce fear and terrorize demons and evil. She is related
to (Kal) time, and stands as a representation of time's destructive power
on all creation. She is a destroyer of the material world, which is
the cause of all suffering and the illusion that all seek to be liberated
from. It is very important to understand that Kali is not Evil. She
does not represent destruction as a negative force but as a positive
blessing of change. She liberates Evil forces and provides the new
by destroying the old.
