Night and Day Two:
Brahmacharini - She Who remains celibate
Brahmacharini begins at Sunset Sept. 30 and ends at Sunset, Oct. 1.
Kali only destroys that which was not created on a solid foundation.
Kali stood for Existence, which meant Becoming because all her world was an eternal living flux from which all things rose and disappeared again, in endless cycles. As a Mother, Kali was called Treasure-House of Compassion (karuna), Giver of Life to the world, the Life of all lives. She was the fount of every kind of love, which flowed into the world only through her agents on earth, women.
Some of Kali's older names found their way into the Bible. As Tara, the earth, she became Terah, mother of the Hebrew ancestral spirits called "teraphim". The Latin Terra, meaning "Mother Earth," said to be interchangeable with Venus.
Indo-European languages branched from the root of Sanskrit, said to be Kali's invention. She created the magic letters of the Sanskrit alphabet and inscribed them on the rosary of skulls around her neck. The letters were magic because they stood for primordial creative energy expressed in sound - Kali's mantras brought into being the very things whose names she spoke for the first time, in her holy language. In short. Kali's worshippers originated the doctrine of the Logos creative Word. Kali's letters magically combined the elements, which were previously separate as fiery-airy (male) or watery-earthy (female) forces. The former were "cruel"; the latter "benevolent. "
Though called "the One," Kali was always a trinity. Her three forms were manifested in many ways: in the three sections of the cosmos (heaven, earth, andthe underworld), the three stages of life, the three trimesters of pregnancy, and so on. Women represented her spirit in mortal flesh. "The Divine Mother first appears in and as Her worshipper's earthly mother, then as his wife; thirdly as Kalika, She reveals Herself in old age, disease and death."
Kali's three forms appeared in the sacred colors known as "Gunas": white for the Virgin, red for the Mother, black for the Crone, symbolizing birth, life, death. Black was Kali's fundamental color as the Destroyer, for it meant the formless condition she assumed between creations, when all the elements were dissolved in her primordial substance. "As white, yellow, and other colors all disappear in black, in the same way ... all beings enter Kali."
Kali is the Goddess who takes away darkness. She destroys all impurities, consumes all inequities, and purifies her devotees with the sincerity of Her love.
Now, the process of expressing a yearning for Kali truly manifests. Begin by entering with focused breath on the heart, and then call Her forth:
Om krim kalyai namah
(We call and bow to Kali, She who is all Life, with honor and respect)
Om hrim srim krim paramesvari kalike svaha
(Great Goddess Kali, by the power of your all-pervading nature and supreme perfection, She who is the mystery of life, death, and regeneration, we are One with you)
Om kali kali mahakali kalike papaharini dharmarthamoksade devi narayani
namo-stute
(Greatest of All, Kali, Great Goddess who is the revealer of Truth, Kali who is
with us in life, make our path one of peace and virtue, bring us your strength for liberation, for self-awareness, for the awakening of our spirit, our planet and all beings, Kali, you who are All, we bow to you!).
