White witches and their obsession with Kali
Western people or rather the white people as we usually refer to, stealing and appropriating Indian and Hindu culture and practices to claim it as their own is nothing new to us. This has been going on for centuries since the colonial times and keeps on continuing even today.
From Yoga, Chakras and Ayurvedas to Scandinavian scarfs, Turmeric Latte and now even Kolhapuri Chappals and Budhagirl Bangles they have stolen many things from us. Repackaging and selling them with a huge amount of whitewashing, sometimes claiming they invented these themselves like the clean girl aesthetic and other times appropriating the original meaning of it all like Tantric sex. All while ignoring and denying the original roots of all these things.
Because of course they cannot say these are from the east, especially from a country like India. Or else how will they sell their products in their market. And live with this realisation themselves, that easterners better as Indians whom they perceive as dirty and uncultered are better at something than them?
But is that stopping them from stealing our stuff? Absolutely not. Because once a thief always a thief.
Today we will look more into this very same thing again. Where westerners again appropriate and disrespect our culture and Gods for their own pleasure and fun all while being utterly disrespectful and idiotic in the process.
Wicca (English: /ˈwɪkə/), also known as "The Craft",[1] is a modern pagan, syncretic, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esotericism, developed in England during the first half of the 20th century, and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner, a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon ancient pagan and 20th-century Hermetic motifs for theological and ritual purposes. Doreen Valiente joined Gardner in the 1950s, further building Wicca's liturgical tradition of beliefs, principles, and practices, disseminated through published books as well as secret written and oral teachings passed along to initiates.
Many wiccans also practice witchcraft, and they worship a large pantheon of deities, from different beliefs, like Aphrodite, Hades, Loki, and characters such as Lilith and Asmodeus. They claim to "work" with these deities. Recently we discovered that these people have begun worshipping Maa Kali as well. Before we begin talking about the witches and Kali, let's talk about who exactly she is.
Kali, or Mahakali, is the Goddess of time and death. She is revered as the Parabrahman in Kalikula Shaktism, and is Adi Shakti. In hinduism, Kali is seen as the fierce aspect of the goddess (her saumya roop being Parvati), and her consort is Shiva. Kali has many different forms, but is usually depicted with black skin, four arms and open hair, her tongue lolling out. She is naked, dressed in nothing but a skirt made of severe hands, and wears a garland of skulls. She is one of the most revered goddesses of Hinduism.
Kali is also a part of 10 Mahavidyas, who are goddesses worshipped in Tantra. These goddesses have very fierce energies, which is why most of their mantras should not be chanted without initiation. Kali, as well as many other Hindu deities have specific mantras called beej mantras, which shouldn't be chanted without initiation either.
Our point in mentioning Kali and giving a brief insight to her aspects and role as a Goddess, is because we discovered the rabbit hole of women who call themselves “witches” and their weird and downright unhealthy obsession with Kali.
These people, chant these beej mantras and try to invoke Kali without proper training or initiation, not even knowing the actual processes or effects of how these rituals are carried out.
Their way of practicing is rather disregarding of the Hindu cultures and rituals and opens a bigger door to further appropriation for Hinduism and Goddesses like Kali (mainly), Durga, Dhumavati and many others.
It isn't just a worry about appropriation or wrong practices though. Many times these so called witches say downright offensive things about Kali without proper background research or knowing the context. which honestly should be the lowest of their actions but they stoop lower by going as far as to sexualize Kali.
Just because she is depicted to be naked, it does not mean that Kali is a sexual goddess. These people have made tantric sex into something horny, when it's a form of sadhana. They say that Kali is called a whore, but who calls her that? We Hindus have never called her a demon or a whore. It's these people who keep on sexualizing her, calling her demonic. They claim to love her, but they clearly don't.
In the links below, you'll see the way in which they describe her. They say that her vulva is devouring Shiva as she rips his intestines. That she embodies sexual energy. That she (and other Yoginis) receive the offerings of male body fluids with their mouths.
This might sound disturbing, because it is.
It is not cool to misrepresent a goddess from someone else's religion. It's not cool to peddle wrong facts about the said goddess, and completely ignore the rituals and manner of worship followed by thousands of her devotees. It is especially not cool, since these people were the ones who forced many of us to convert, and called our gods and rituals demonic. And now, they've suddenly developed a fetish for everything Indian (or pagan).
The so-called "witches" of tiktok are insulting the practices of hinduism. It's just plain disrespect and beyond frustrating. It irks me the way they word it; "work with" or "working with". It is insulting to say "oh I'm work with Kali", "I work with Lakshmi," "I just began working with Dhumavati" (yes there is legit a post like that. Screw you, they are not yours to work with. They are not props for your aesthetic. They are from the oldest surviving religion, and is it not appropriation if they take a few practices from hinduism and do not follow the rest properly? And if an actual hindu corrects them, they are like, no I am right and are disrespectful and entitled. They keep sexualizing Kali and calling her goddess of Sexuality. Not to mention that they get and make half baked facts about our gods.
It is disrespectful, it's not about gatekeeping, its about honoring traditions of a religion that managed to survive through years of conversion and persecution. They keep overlooking hindu practices as if Kali isn't worshipped. She isn't some goddess you can reinterpret however they like as she is still a part of a living, breathing religion with traditions, hymns, rituals and communities dedicated to her.
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276205422_Ecstasy_and_Danger_Yogini_Woman_Witch_and_Whore
• https://witchesofthecraft.com/2018/04/19/the-study-of-pagan-gods-goddesses-kali/
• https://badwitch.es/she-devils-and-white-witches/
• https://www.reddit.com/r/hinduism/comments/1l7wq0e/western_witchcraft_practices_involving_hindu/?share_id=Uvw_aPCPX3WAIZlLOqLEU&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=1
• https://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/2014/12/goddesses-of-witches.html?m=1
• https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1057020734/kali-goddess-box-waltar-tools-kali
• https://www.lion-of-judah-prophetic-worship-center-inc.org/blog/understanding-kali-witchcraft
• https://www.youtube.com/live/GHwc0nShyvY
• https://www.etsy.com/listing/1470169981/kali-goddess-kalima-altar-ritual
• https://www.ebay.com/itm/362982603914
[These are taken from Tiktok, where there is a whole genre of search related to Witchcraft and Kali]
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-0N17Pzqh-jR-0LQOrCZv_wb_ZYtPwZl
[For more Tiktoks, since Tumblr doesn't allow us to put more than one video per post]
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