Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Mother, Pray For Us...

For my late night film, I was enjoying the movie, (The Beatles)HELP, (which I believe was filmed in India), and toward the end, the antagonist(s) invoke the Goddess Kali, (while they prepare to slit the throat of Ringo Starr, as the wearer of a sacred ring of a sacrifice...) In the ocean was a giant bronze or brass statue of what we assume is Kali... However, the statue had at least 8 arms, and looked male to me...
(This had to bug "The Quiet One" a bit, I am sure...)

Since he is no longer in bodied to set it strait, I thought I'd do a little on-line research on Kali to see what I could find... this of course, led me to looking at other Goddesses, and I have compiled, from the best of what I have found, info on three Goddesses, we in americA know little about...

Please hit the links, and make sure dig as deep as you can... after all, the Truth is about be revealed (once and for ALL), and readers of Groove Damage, should be, at least somewhat, prepared for what has been written, hidden, and restored... (and, in Latter-days, hidden again, by the media savvy politico-power mongers, rubbing elbows with Evil's host).

The following has been edited by me, and emphasis is mine, (but all the links are there to check my work by).


So, i ask ye... Who is this 'Goddess'?


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"...She is the divine creatrix who has manifested these dancing forms of consciousness as an adoration for Her beloved, the eternal formless Supreme Being - God the Father.

In truth these two timeless lovers are not two. Rather, they are inseparably bound to play out their cosmic dance of love for all eternity..."




#1- Kali


"Kali comes from the Sanskrit root word Kal which means time.

There is nothing that escapes the all-consuming march of time.

In Tibetan Buddhism Her counterpart is male with the name Kala.

Mother Kali is the most misunderstood of the Hindu goddesses.


The Encyclopedia Britannica is grossly mistaken in the following quote: "Kali; Major Hindu goddess whose iconography, cult, and mythology commonly associate her with death, sexuality, violence, and, paradoxically in some of her later historical appearances, motherly love."

It is partly correct to say Kali is a goddess of death but She brings the death of the ego as the illusory self-centered view of reality.

Nowhere in the Hindu stories is She seen killing anything but demons,

nor is She associated specifically with the process of human dying like the Hindu god Yama (who really is the god of death).

It is true that both Kali and Shiva are said to inhabit cremation grounds and devotees often go to these places to meditate.

This is not to worship death
but rather it is to overcome
the I-am-the-body idea, by reinforcing the awareness that, the body is a temporary condition.

Shiva and Kali are said to inhabit these places because it is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego.

Shiva and Kali grant liberation by removing the illusion of the ego.
Thus we are the eternal, I AM, and not the body.
This is underscored by the scene of the cremation grounds.

Of all the forms of Devi, She is the most compassionate because She provides moksha; or liberation to Her children. She is the counterpart of Shiva the destroyer. They are the destroyers of unreality.

The ego sees Mother Kali and trembles with fear because the ego sees in Her its own eventual demise.


A person who is attached to his or her ego will not be receptive to Mother Kali and she will appear in a fearsome form.

A mature soul who engages in spiritual practice to remove the illusion of the ego sees Mother Kali as very sweet, affectionate, and overflowing with incomprehensible love for Her children.

Ma Kali wears a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms because the ego arises out of identification with the body.

In truth
we are beings of spirit and not flesh. So liberation can only proceed when our attachment to the body ends.

Thus, the garland and skirt are trophies worn by Her to symbolize having liberated Her children from attachment to the limited body.

She holds a sword and a freshly severed head dripping blood.

As the story goes, this represents a great battle in which she destroyed the demon Raktabija.

Her black skin represents the womb of the quantum un-manifest from which all of creation arises, and into which, all of creation will eventually dissolve.

She is depicted as standing on Shiva who lays beneath Her with white skin (in contrast to Her black or sometimes dark blue skin). He has a blissful detached look.

Shiva represents pure formless awareness sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss), while She represents "form" eternally supported by the substratum of pure awareness.

By not understanding the story behind Mother Kali it is easy to misinterpret Her iconography.

In the same way, one could say that Christianity is a religion of death, destruction, and cannibalism... in which the practitioners drink the blood of Jesus and eat his flesh.

Of course, we know this is not the proper understanding of the communion ritual.

Attaching the idea of sexuality to Mother Kali has no basis in Her at all.

There is nothing that associates Her with sexuality in the Hindu stories. In fact it is just the opposite.
She is one of the few Goddesses who is celibate, practicing austerity and renunciation!

The notion that She is the goddess of death, sex and violence is simply utter nonsense. When we study the life of the great saint Ramakrishna or the great poet saint Ramprasad (both famous Kali worshippers), or listen to the traditional Hindu devotional songs to Kali, there is no hint of this death-sex-violence notion.

This can also be confirmed by going to any of the Hindu websites such as www.hindunet.com and reading about Mother Kali.
Also recommended is the book, Kali: The Black Goddess of Dakshineswar, by Elizabeth Harding.

Also there is a beautiful and genuine Kali temple in Laguna Beach, California and it may be visited on-line at www.kalimandir.org. Kali is the goddess of enlightenment or liberation."


The Picture of Kali



[The following is Reprinted from the Kali Temple web site]

Name: Kali is so called because She devours Kala (time), and then resumes Her own dark formlessness.

She is the embodiment of three gunas (qualities of nature): She creates with Her sattva guna (quality of goodness and purity), preserves with rajas (passion and activity), and destroys with tamas (ignorance and inertia).

Complexion: Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky. As the sky is limitless, so is She. From a distance one sees the ocean water as blue, but it is colorless and transparent when examined closely.

Crescent above the forehead: She is the giver of liberation.

Earrings: Images of two little babies hang from Her ears; this means that She favors childlike devotees.

Smiling face: She is ever-blissful.

Tongue: Kali's white teeth symbolize, sattva or serenity; Her red tongue, rajas, symbolizes activity; and
Her drunkenness, tamas or inertia.

(The meaning:) tamas can be conquered by rajas, and rajas by sattva.

Full breast: She is the nourisher of all beings.

Terrible form: She is the mother of the universe as well as the destroyer. When a mother spanks her child, it does not mean that she is cruel; she disciplines her child for its own good.

Necklace: It consist of fifty skulls that represent the fifty letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, the origin of sound.
She is Shabda Brahman (Sound-Brahman), or Logos-the source of creation.

Two right arms: The upper right arm grants fearlessness, and the lower right arm offers boons. She protects Her children from danger, and She fulfills their desires.

Two left arms: She holds a sword with the upper left arm and a severed head with the lower. She can cut human bondage with the sword of knowledge, and She imparts wisdom to the head, the receptacle of supreme wisdom.

Naked form: She is called digambari, "clad in space." She is infinite, so no finite dress can cover Her.

Waist: Kali's waist is encircled with a girdle of severed human arms that represent action. All human actions, and their results, go to the Divine Mother. At the end of a cycle all souls merge with Kali; during creation they again evolve with their respective karmas.

Shiva is under Her feet: Shiva and Shakti are always together. He is the changeless aspect of the Supreme, and She the apparently changing aspect of the same. Shiva is pure cosmic consciousness, and Kali is cosmic energy.

No creation is possible without their union. Shiva cannot manifest without the power of Kali, and Kali cannot function without the consciousness of Shiva.

Dakshina Kali and Vama Kali: If Her right foot is forward, She is Dakshina Kali (benign form); and if Her left foot is forward, Vama Kali (terrible form).

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#2- Isis


"The Goddess Isis originated in Egypt.

Inscribed on Her temple is the phrase, "I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever me unveiled."

By the period of the Roman Empire, she had become the most prominent deity of the Mediterranean basin.

She was a formidable contender with the newly founded Christian religion and Her worship continued well into the 6th century AD until persecution pushed Her into the shadows of religiosity.

In Egyptian She is named Aset, (or Eset), She is one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt.

Her name is the Greek form of an ancient Egyptian word that is perhaps associated with a word for "throne."

Little is known of Isis' early cult.

In the Pyramid Texts (c. 2350-c. 2100 BC), she is the mourner for her murdered husband, the god Osiris.

In her role as the wife of Osiris, she discovered and reunited the pieces of her dead husband's body, was the chief mourner at his funeral, and through her magical power, brought him back to life.











Isis hid her son, Horus, from Seth, the murderer of Osiris, until Horus was fully grown and could avenge his father. She defended the child against many attacks from snakes and scorpions. But because Isis was also Seth's sister, she wavered during the eventual battle between Horus and Seth, and in one episode, Isis pitied Seth and was beheaded by Horus during their struggle.

Despite Her variable temperament, She and Horus were regarded by the Egyptians as the perfect mother and son.

The shelter She afforded her child gave Her the character of a goddess of protection.

However, Her chief aspect was that of a great magician, whose power transcended that of all other deities.

Several narratives tell of Her magical prowess, with which She could even outwit the creator god Atum.

She was invoked on behalf of the sick, and, with the goddesses Nephthys, Neith, and Selket, she protected the dead.

She became associated with various other goddesses who had similar functions, and thus Her nature became increasingly diverse.

In particular, the goddess Hathor and Isis became similar in many respects.

In the astral interpretation of the gods, Isis was equated with the dog star Sothis (Sirius).

Isis was represented as a woman with the hieroglyphic sign of the throne on her head, either sitting on a throne, alone or holding the child Horus, or kneeling before a coffin.



Occasionally She was shown with a cow's head.

As mourner, She was a principal deity in all rites connected with the dead; as magician, She cured the sick and brought the dead to life; and, as mother, She was herself a life-giver.

The cult of Isis spread throughout Egypt. In Akhmim she received special attention as the "mother" of the fertility god, Min.

She had important temples throughout Egypt and Nubia.

By Greco-Roman times She was dominant among Egyptian goddesses, and she received acclaim from Egyptians and Greeks for Her many names and aspects.

Several temples were dedicated to Her in Alexandria, where She became the "patroness of seafarers."

From Alexandria Her cult was brought to all the shores of the Mediterranean, including Greece and Rome.

In Hellenistic times the mysteries of Isis and Osiris developed; these were comparable to other Greek mystery cults."
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(Check out a list of Symbology for Isis from Goddess Gift)



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#3- Minerva






"In Roman religion, Minerva is the goddess of handicrafts, the professions, the arts,
and, later, war;


She was commonly identified with the Greek Athena.



Some scholars believe that Her cult was that of Athena introduced at Rome from Etruria. This is reinforced by the fact that Minerva was one of the Capitoline triad, in association with Jupiter and Juno.








Her shrine on the Aventine in Rome was a meeting place for guilds of craftsmen,
including at one time dramatic poets and actors.








Her worship as a goddess of war encroached upon that of Mars.


The erection of a temple to Minerva, by Pompey, out of the spoils of his Eastern conquests, shows that by then She had been identified with the Greek Athena Nike, bestower of victory.












Under the emperor Domitian, who, claimed her special protection, the worship of Minerva attained its greatest vogue in Rome."







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So there you have it Beloved... very interesting, yet, leaving ME wanting to know more, more, more, on these and the other Goddesses throughout antiquity...

Study!

La Vie Boheme!!

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