Working with Kali

[missinkblot]

For those of you who work with Kali, how did she call you? Do you start a devotional practice? What has your experience been?

I feel Kali called me to make an act for her and kind of commissioned it, set the stage where i would perform it etc. It is an act devoted to her. But it is also my first time working with a diety in this fashion, through performance art. She has been active in helping destroy some unhelpful things in my life.

Besides this act, i don't really do much as I am new to this whole diety thing and find it overwhelming since i feel it sprung on me. How do you develop a relationship to a diety, besides channeling her in art? Do you meditate on the image or name and wait for a response? Sorry if it is a bit of a silly question.

 

[Thee Nightfool]

I currently use the mantra provided to me by my Kaula guru. That's about it, really. A certain amount of "blade-sharpening" needs to be done with the mantra before a solid connection between Kalika and me can take place. 100,000 recitations is usually the standard; then you move on to yajna/agnihotra (fire offerings) to solidify the connection even more.

Once all that takes place (many moons later), then more in-depth practices are taught to the aspirant (yantra rituals, witchcraft/operant magic, etc). But to do the so-called good shit, you gotta submit fully to the Dark Goddess with all of these lengthy, fairly intensive practices. I probably won't ever reach that level, because I currently just seek connection with the Dark Goddess right now. This is but one Mask of many that she wears through history/time (my personal opinion).

 

[missinkblot]

I currently use the mantra provided to me by my Kaula guru. That's about it, really. A certain amount of "blade-sharpening" needs to be done with the mantra before a solid connection between Kalika and me can take place. 100,000 recitations is usually the standard; then you move on to yajna/agnihotra (fire offerings) to solidify the connection even more.

Once all that takes place (many moons later), then more in-depth practices are taught to the aspirant (yantra rituals, witchcraft/operant magic, etc). But to do the so-called good shit, you gotta submit fully to the Dark Goddess with all of these lengthy, fairly intensive practices. I probably won't ever reach that level, because I currently just seek connection with the Dark Goddess right now. This is but one Mask of many that she wears through history/time (my personal opinion).

Oh this is a good start! I feel she was clear in her purpose in my life and she is bringing me to places where i didn't expect, but i am kinda lacking a basic instructional manual haha. This gives me a good start to dive a bit deeper.

 

[Thee Nightfool]

Oh this is a good start! I feel she was clear in her purpose in my life and she is bringing me to places where i didn't expect, but i am kinda lacking a basic instructional manual haha. This gives me a good start to dive a bit deeper.

I'm not a guru or an expert, so I technically have zero authority here, but I've had years of study and practice + initiation via what is called mantra diksha, so I can kind of guide you in some direction, methinks. That said, I'd strongly suggest you find a teacher with a proper lineage of some kind. Depending on where you reside, that can be quite a challenge, but in the era of the internet, it can be closer than you think.

What do you currently do to connect with her? You mentioned performance art, which I'd be interested to hear about if you're comfortable sharing.

There are also some "open-source" mantras one can use to venerate her. For instance, her namah mantra (Om Kalikaye Namah) can be used with no initiation for a start. It effectively means "I bow to the goddess Kali". Or a simple "Om Ma Kali" if you are looking for a mantra that has a more "motherly" effect (if that is something you are seeking in your life... many aspirants come to her looking for a Mother than has been absent in their human lives... There is no shame in this).

Also, much like Hekate, the most powerful (and traditional) time to do puja (ritual) to Kali is during the Amavasya (new moon). Fitting since she is black as the Void-Moon itself!

 

[Keldan]

For context, I didn’t start through meditation or visualizing an image of her. I wasn’t even trying to initiate anything, she simply reached out with a message, and that was how it began for me.

Kali sent me a really beautiful message about how she wanted to support me in my life. Even so, I chose not to work with her, because our paths didn’t align. But I can still contact her. To me, she is a creation and destruction deity, and she often wants her followers to own their personal power.

If she’s been helping you in your life, the best thing you can do is go directly to her, appeal to her and ask how she wants you to connect. That’s usually the best option than trying to piece it together through other people’s opinions.

Also, try not to worry about not doing much. With the deities I work with, none of them demands devotion or offerings. If your capacity is low right now, it’s okay to keep things simple. If you feel called to do more, you can do more. Let it be natural, and let the connection develop in a way that fits who you actually are. Deities aren’t sitting around looking for reasons to punish you, they’re more understanding than people fear.

 

[missinkblot]

I'm not a guru or an expert, so I technically have zero authority here, but I've had years of study and practice + initiation via what is called mantra diksha, so I can kind of guide you in some direction, methinks. That said, I'd strongly suggest you find a teacher with a proper lineage of some kind. Depending on where you reside, that can be quite a challenge, but in the era of the internet, it can be closer than you think.

What do you currently do to connect with her? You mentioned performance art, which I'd be interested to hear about if you're comfortable sharing.

There are also some "open-source" mantras one can use to venerate her. For instance, her namah mantra (Om Kalikaye Namah) can be used with no initiation for a start. It effectively means "I bow to the goddess Kali". Or a simple "Om Ma Kali" if you are looking for a mantra that has a more "motherly" effect (if that is something you are seeking in your life... many aspirants come to her looking for a Mother than has been absent in their human lives... There is no shame in this).

Also, much like Hekate, the most powerful (and traditional) time to do puja (ritual) to Kali is during the Amavasya (new moon). Fitting since she is black as the Void-Moon itself!

Hi, that would be amazing to find some lineage!

I actually connected with her by happenstance. I was going through a crazy family thing where everything was exploding around me, pretty much, and I had an idea for an act of boots trampling and taking over a person, and there was a junction where things got very crazy, and I found the boots in a church sale the same day, and I felt an energy directing me to make the act, but also cut all contact with the family. it felt (in retrospect) like Kali, and it definitely felt 'outside' of me. When I was making the act itself, I kept getting coincidences of songs that came up about boots trampling, etc, and Kali's image came to my purview. I feel like I was working with her to figure out my family, and our relationship expanded beyond that.

I have a student/friend who owns a magical theatre circus company, where she does ritual magic via circus twice a year during the solstice, basically. I was telling her this idea, and how I felt Kali was calling me, and she said she was a devotee of Kali and she made me aware of one of the aspects of Kali I seemed to be channeling (this is all quite unlikely). She also said she wanted to buy the act for her show. This was all in a series of serendipities.

The actual making of the act was insane, as I felt it was 'beyond' me, like I was channeling an aspect of her through me. I read the cards, and the cards said Kali was using the act to clean out blockages, so my body was a clear channel for her (it was a very literal reading). I feel she has put me on a journey where I had to confront a lot of my own compulsive habits and 'purify' them, in order to do the act. It has been a bit of a crazy journey, and by no means easy. I recently asked her to cleanse some friendships that i felt were toxic in my life, and she did it in a dramatic way that left me in tears, but I was ultimately happier after, ha. Very Kali. This but for multiple aspects of my life.

There were more serendipities involved. I feel I have a bit of a direct line to talk to her, if it involves the creation of the act, especially (she is very clear). I feel she hands me the tools I need, and she doesn't hesitate in destroying things that don't serve me (oftentimes, it is a painful process).

All this happened while I didn't really know how to go about Kali worship, besides the performance of the act. I feel we have a relationship, and since then I have gotten into magic more. Learned how to meditate, read a bunch of books (Mat Auryn, Jason Miller, etc) that I kinda found along the way, and here we are.

Sorry that got long! It has been a lot, and I started magic because of all of this. I have always been a little psychic, but now I feel a calling to explore it further.

I will try the mantra you mention, and the new moon is coming soon, so maybe I can do something for her.