Kali, The Supreme Power

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Tantra views the whole universe as a composite of the quiescent

transcendent, Shiv and the kinetic verb of creation, Shakti. In

tantra, Kali, one of the esoteric manifestations of Shakti, is

considered the supreme power. Kali is the first and foremost of the

ten mahavidyas. Kali worship is the doorway of the mysterious world

of tantra.

 

Primarily, there are nine forms of Kali - Dakshin Kali, Bhadra Kali,

Shmashan Kali, Kaal Kali, Guhya Kali, Kamkala Kali, Dhan Kali,

Siddhi Kali and Chand Kali. Kali is also worshiped as Chintamani

Kali, Sparshmani Kali, Santatiprada Kali, Hans Kali, Maha Kali and

Maha Maya.

 

Kali has a unique appearance. Those who do not understand actual

meaning of her appearance may find her horrific and terrible. She is

black because everything ends in her. She is naked because she is

nature and devoid of all coverings of illusion. Her ear rings are

made of corpses of two children which means she always listens to

the child in us. She wears a garland of fifty freshly severed, human

heads which represent the fifty alphabets of Sanskrit language and

thus, represent knowledge. The blood, dripping from those heads,

represents creative force of nature. She wears a girdle of human

hands which emphasizes the importance of accumulated deeds for

salvation. She has four hands. In her lower left hand, she holds a

freshly severed head symbolizing the annihilation of evil forces. In

her upper left hand, she carries the sword of physical extermination

with which she cuts the thread of bondages. Her right hands gesture

to dispel fear and grant strength.

 

Kali is the wife of Lord Shiv, the destroyer. She destroys

everything so that the new can be created. She brings death to life

so that the life in death can continue. She also kills miseries and

misfortunes of her worshipers freeing them from the cycle of life

and death. In Sanskrit, Kali is the feminine form of the word for

Time. Thus, she is eternal.

 

For method of this ritual, visit

http://www20.brinkster.com/tantrashakti/showritual.asp?ID=1