From omkali-owner Thu Sep 21 12:17:16 1995 Received: from nova.unix.portal.com (nova.unix.portal.com [156.151.1.101]) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) with ESMTP id MAA20156 for ; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:17:12 -0700 Received: from jobe.shell.portal.com (jobe.shell.portal.com [156.151.3.4]) by nova.unix.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) with ESMTP id MAA19259 for ; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:17:10 -0700 Received: (tyagi@localhost) by jobe.shell.portal.com (8.6.11/8.6.5) id MAA20138 for omkali@portal.com; Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:17:08 -0700 Message-Id: <199509211917.MAA20138@jobe.shell.portal.com> Subject: Kali To: omkali@portal.com (OmKali Elist) Date: Thu, 21 Sep 1995 12:17:07 -0700 (PDT) From: nagasiva@yronwode.com (nagasiva) Orientation: House of Kaos, St. Joseph, Kali Fornika, US -- Kali Yuga X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Length: 1819 Status: RO ky9509211 [cc'd to Succubus-L and Usenet's alt.fan.kali.astarte.innana] AUMKALI I was researching snakes and goddesses recently and found this tidbit: "Durga, or Kali (an impersonation of Bhavin, goddess of nature and fecundity) corresponds with the Mexican Tesyaomiqui, and is represented in a similar manner. She is a war goddess and her martial deeds give her a high position in the Hindu pantheon. As Kali, her representatives are most terrible. The emblems of destruction are common to all; she is entwined with serpents; a circlet of flowers surrounds her head; a necklace of skulls; a girdle of dissevered human hands; tigers crouching at her feet -- indeed every combination of the horrible and the loathsome is invoked to portray the dark character which she represents. She delights in human sacrifices and the ritual prescribes that, previous to the death of the victim, she should be invoked as follows: 'Let the sacrificer [tyagi :>] first repeat the name of Kali thrice, Hail, Kali! Kali! Hail, Devi! Hail, Goddess of Thunder! iron-sceptered, hail, fierce Kali! Cut, slay, destroy! bind, secure! Cut with the axe, drink blood, slay, destroy!' 'She has four hands,' says Patterson, 'two of which are employed in the work of death; one points downwards, allusive to the destruction which surrounds her, and the other upwards, which seems to promise the regeneration of nature by a new creation.' 'On her festivals," says Coleman, 'her temples literally stream with blood.'" _Serpent Worship_, (author?), by Tutor Press, 1980; p. 62. _________________________________________________________________ Some of this book and quote strike me as extreme and unfounded. It looks old, but I thought the above was interesting enough to pass on. ;> nagasiva@yronwode.com nagasiva