Kali is said to be the goddess of time or the goddess of destruction.
At the heart of both of those things is ‘change’. And therefore, new beginnings.
Often referred to as Kali Ma, with Ma meaning ‘mother’, she brings with her, even in her destructiveness, the loving anger of a mother, punishing for the sake of correcting the wayward actions of her children who she loves dearly.
In the 18th century, Bengali (my father’s people) devotees of Kali did so by adopting the feeling of being a child, her child.
Almost always depicted with a smile on her face, this speaks not so much to her pleasure in wreaking havoc, but to her deep knowing that her actions are in alignment with what is right and needed.
In regarding the image of Kali, we often pay most attention to her multiple arms or sword which she uses to sever the heads of our many delusions and wrong actions. We are often drawn to her protruding tongue which represents her wildness, her embodiment of nature itself and therefore the unstoppable and untameable nature of Her. The tongue logo of the Rolling Stones was inspired by this, as Mick Jagger wanted something that represented unstoppable energy.
In these times, it seems that we are drawn to her crown and/or the crescent of light surrounding her head, representing the light and truth that is inseparable from her darkness.
"A corona (meaning "crown" in Latin derived from Ancient Greek κορώνη (korōnè, "garland, wreath")) is an aura of plasma that surrounds the Sun and other stars."
And so she carries now the severed heads of our delusions…
Our air is the cleanest it’s been in decades as our fossil-fuelled transportation has been halted.
Our perception and understanding of money is being shattered.
The 9-5, Monday-to-Friday rhythm of our industrialised living (that has been quietly killing us) has been disrupted.
We are forced onto the naughty-step of our lives and made to be present to that which we have been avoiding and numbing from. Some are ‘trapped’ with close family members, forced to sit with the old wounding that this proximity brings up. Some of us are alone, and forced to face what has been sitting quietly within.
Many of us will feel a need to go deeper into the various ‘drugs’ we have been using to avoid certain parts of ourselves – increased social media posting, internet or TV consumption, news addiction, ‘chatting’ with friends about everything except what we’re really feeling, food, alcohol, work (albeit from home now).
In the story of the Battle of Kali and often in paintings of her, is Shiva (the God representing the masculine pole of reality), lying beneath her feet. It is said that when she stepped on him, as opposed to the bodies of all the others she had slain, her massacre ceased.
Wilfully laying down in the path of her destruction, underlined by the smile we see upon his face (or sometimes playing the flute because he’s so chill!), Shiva’s power comes from his surrender.
Feeling underfoot this peace within him, his surrender to what is, his non-resistance to change, her anger is diffused.
It is not the Coronavirus we must fight. Scientists will tell you, it cannot be ‘stopped’. We are in isolation not because this kills the virus. We can only get out of its way. As a life-form, it will exist as long if not longer than human beings.
What we must surrender to are the changes that are happening in the world. What we are fighting is our own delusions.
Thoughts of prayers to those of us who have lost their loved ones to this cruel and beautiful and very real process we are all experiencing.
