The Goddess Herself

Welcome to the first issue of the Women of Kali online magazine. If you visited the site before the change, don't worry, you'll still find great information on rape, pornography and misogyny in the media.

Kali is a Hindu/Tibetan/Nepalese Goddess of destruction and creation. She is the womb and the tomb. Reguardless of religion, women can look to her has a symbol of female power and be inspired by all aspects of this complex Goddess.

Kali is the destroyer of demons. We must work to destroy the "demons" that are the result of patriarchy. This might sound a bit dramatic, but the effects of a male culture eat at women's souls just as surely as mythological demons.

For those who worship Kali, each woman is a representative of the Goddess. Violence against women is forbidden, and that is exactly what this magazine is about. Pornography and misogyny in the media promote and encourage violence against women, including rape.

Kali was depicted with four arms (some of her other aspects had many more), dark skinned or black, with bare breasts. In most common images of Kali she holds a sword in one hand and a head in another while her other two hands encourage worshippers. In one carving she stands on the prone body of her husband/son Shiva.

Her more benevolent nature is something overlooked by many Westerners. She is a creator as well as a destroyer. "Her rituals... are intended to put the worshipper in tune with the feminine essence at all levels." This magazine is not just about focusing on the negative. We also hope to put the reader in tune with the "feminine essence," to empower women by giving them a sense of what they can accomplish, and to give women tools to fight the effects of patriarchy.

For more about Kali visit these sites:

www.ascension-research.org/kali.html
www.sculb.edu/~persepha/kali.html

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Source:The Witches' Goddess by Janet and Steward Farrar. Phoenix Publishing, 1987.

© 1997 womenofkali@yahoo.com