Kali the Divine Mother Fleece Blanket

The fleece blanket features a lightweight, pill-free microfiber fleece that is not only supremely soft, but warm & cozy.

• Full Print Top With White Underside

• Machine Wash, Tumble Dry Low

'Kali (“the black one”) is the Hindu mother goddess, symbol of dissolution and destruction. She destroys ignorance, maintains the world order, and blesses and frees those who strive for the knowledge of God. In the Vedas the name is associated with Agni, the god of fire, who had seven flickering tongues of flame, of which Kali was the black, horrible tongue. This meaning of the word has meanwhile been replaced by the goddess Kali, the grim consort of Shiva.

Her appearance is fearsome: baleful eyes, a protruding tongue, and four arms. In her upper left hand she wields a bloody sword and in her lower left hand she holds the severed head of a demon. With her upper right hand she makes the gesture of fearlessness, while the lower right hand confers benefits. Draped around her is a chain of severed human heads and she wears a belt made of dismembered arms. As the Divine Mother she is often represented dancing or in sexual union with Shiva. As Bhavatarini, the redeemer of the universe, she stands upon the supine form of her spouse. She is also known as Kalikamata (“black earth-mother”) and Kalaratri (“black night”). Among the Tamils she is known as Kottavei. Kali is worshipped particularly in Bengal. Her best-known temples are in Kalighat and Dakshineshvara."

THE CULT OF KALI

This excerpt is taken from the booklet Cult of Kali, which in its whole is taking up many more aspects of the dark hindu goddess, and the cult surrounding her.

Kali means ‘The black one’ or ‘the black’. In Vedic days this name was associated with Agni (meaning fire) a personification of the sacrificial fire, who had seven flickering tongues of flame devouring oblations of butter (ghee). The seven tongues or flames of Agni, alluded to as the ‘Seven Red Sisters’. Of these seven Kali was the black or terrific tongue. This meaning of the word is now lost, but has developed into the goddess Kali, the fierce, jet black and bloody consort of Siva (Shiva). The concept of the great goddess is called Sakti (Shakti), the word itself means ‘power’, a personification of the female principle and lifeforce in universe. As her male counterpart she is a both destructive and creative and appears in many aspects and shapes, under various names. Two ancient Hindu symbols is the phallus (linga), which can be found outside temples, it is surrounded by a circle which represent the vagina called yoni.

Siva is linga, Sakti is yoni. The symbols express the creation of the world, and thereby a much deeper meaning than just the sexual act. Sakti is the incarnated femininity, working as guru for male gods, a timeless archetype, mothergoddess, risen to the highest dignity in Hindu cosmogony.

Because of Saktis despotic situation, she appears in many shapes. In the shape of Parvati and Uma, daughter of Himalaya, she is a personification of the towering mountains at Indias northeast borders. Parvati is the beautiful wife of Siva and mother of his children, filled of grace and femininity, while Durga is wild and protective, Kali is cruel and destructive. Other names of Sakti is Devi meaning ‘great goddess’ (notice the similarity between Devi and devil), Mahadevi, Sati, Bhavani, Bhairavi, Chandi, Hariti, Shashti, Mariyamman, Minakshi, Sitala (the goddess of smallpox), Manasa (snake goddess) and thousand more… With Kali follows seven Matrikas (little mothers) which form her armies in battle." - The Cult of Kali, Karl NE