Kali - Origin and history of the goddess of destruction and rebirth
For Hinduism, Kali is the goddess of destruction and rebirth, also known as the Dark Mother or Devouring Mother. Despite the names by which she is recognized, the goddess is well loved by her devotees, maintaining a very close bond with them. However, she also has traces of death and revenge, as well as love and delicacy.
Her name comes from Kal, the Sanskrit root word, and it means time. On the other hand, in Tibetan Buddhism, the goddess is a man, known as Kala. The goddess is the complement of Shiva, the god of destruction. However, they are destroyers of unreality.
The ego sees its own death when looking at Kali, and therefore is afraid of it. That is, someone who clings to the ego will not be open to the goddess. In return, it will appear to that person in a scary way. On the other hand, if the person has a mature soul and works on spiritual practice to free himself from the ego, the goddess appears in an affectionate, sweet and full of love for her children. In this connection, the person who adores Kali becomes a child, while she becomes a caring and concerned mother.
According to legend, Kali was born from the forehead of the goddess Durga, while Durga was in a battle against a demon. Durga invoked the goddess Kali for the purpose of helping her in the fight. Kali became so involved in the battle that he began to destroy everything that was within her reach. Shiva threw himself at her feet in an attempt to stop her and bring her back to reality. Surprisingly, the strategy worked. The goddess was so startled by the sight that she showed her tongue in astonishment and stopped the attack.
It is because of this event that the most common image of the goddess is illustrated with her calm, standing while one of her feet is on Shiva's chest and her entire tongue is showing out of her mouth. In addition, she appears as a woman with dark or bluish skin, her hair is black and her face stained with blood. Finally, she always has four or eight arms, where they are carrying weapons from the gods. In addition to a human skull necklace around his neck.
Despite all the destruction, the goddess is also seen as rebirth. That's because, one day everything needs to be destroyed so that it can start over. In other words, it is she who makes the wheel of time spin. Just as the combination of all colors creates white, they say that Kali is the union of the entire universe, becoming the beginning and the end.
Like the other Indian gods, she is also venerated during festivals. The most common is the Kali Puja, where devotees of her offer rice, lentils, hibiscus flowers and meditate on her behalf until dawn the next day. The goddess has three striking symbols: the serpent, the red triangle with the tip down and the human skull.
