Ten days ago - Nine Nights - Arya Akasha undertook a combined operation for Kali Puja. As the name for the occasion should appear to suggest, this was oriented toward the worship for Kali. And I have already shared some limited photography pertaining to the major 'fulcrum' Rite centered in a Smashana in West Bengal … Continue reading The Kali Puja Contribution Of Our More Westerly Co-Religionists
Smashana
Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration [Extract 2]: Part Two – The Dread Deifics Of The Catuspatha
Part Two: The Dread Deifics Of The Catuspatha [Art by Rupam Raaj R.; and we are having Rudra in amidst a Smashana because we are unable to find good art of Him at the Crossroads directly. Yet for reasons we shall get into in due course - well, the two spaces are somewhat coterminous] Now, … Continue reading Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration [Extract 2]: Part Two – The Dread Deifics Of The Catuspatha
Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration
It fascinates me how our various Indo-European religions 'interlock'. Both in terms of the way that the same (or highly similar) elements co-occur in recognizable format across various of these, even separated by millennia or many thousands of kilometers; yet also in the way that a fulsome understanding of one can help to 'unlock' the … Continue reading Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration
On The Army of Kali
Finger-Snapping Intensifies Kali - and Dakinis , striding forth from the Smashana (Cremation Ground). We would, perhaps, suggest that this is a 'Smashana *krewh₂-' As in a 'Crew' … but using that particular Proto-Indo-European term which stands for 'Cold Blood' (in contrast to *h₁ésh₂r̥ - 'hot-blood', 'alive-blood'). This informs Sanskrit 'Kravya' (क्रव्य - 'raw flesh', … Continue reading On The Army of Kali
The Crows Of Kali
For Kali Jayanti - a Crow. Now, of course, I am indulging myself here by presenting a Crow as Devotee to Her … yet there is actually a comparatively little-known suite of resonant conceptry for the Corvid in relation to Kali. She is, after all, Kakamukhi - The Crow-Faced One. This is as we should … Continue reading The Crows Of Kali
Somavati Amavasya – Worship of Shiva and the Ancestors on the Monday of the Dark Moon
Today is Monday - Lord Shiva's Day; however it is also Amavasya - a day with special significance and potential for observances for the Dead (as we have covered in some of our previous pieces looking at the Libations to the Ancestors). What Amavasya means is the 'Dark' point of the Moon's 28-day cycle - … Continue reading Somavati Amavasya – Worship of Shiva and the Ancestors on the Monday of the Dark Moon
A visage less commonly depicted – White Kali and the Cremation Cranes of Metempsychosis
Now, while the unexpectedness of a White Kali is remarkable in and of itself (indeed, in a certain sense, it might even be thought of as 'oxymoronic' - Kaal, after all, means 'Blackness', inter many alia); what makes this fine 17th century painting a worthy Friday Night Devotional (A)Art(I) posting goes rather beyond that. Take … Continue reading A visage less commonly depicted – White Kali and the Cremation Cranes of Metempsychosis
Dhumavati – The Smoke That Clouds, Reveals, Remains
Today, I think, is a Day for Dhumavati. A Mahavidya ['Great Wisdom/Revelation' - you can see the coterminous linguistic particle there with "Vidya", connected to the idea of "seeing", of truths being "revealed"] Aspect of Devi, this form of the Goddess is often regarded as being of somewhat baelful portency. And, with a poignant array … Continue reading Dhumavati – The Smoke That Clouds, Reveals, Remains
arya-akasha 