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Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

topic posted Mon, July 23, 2007 - 10:37 AM by  Miss Boo
I have had many visions of Kali over the years... almost always after someone close to me has died. She's come to my visions, but never in a terrifying form, with an extended tongue. She comes with a smile, and a very serene look to her feminine face. And... she is always just a total vision of beauty.

I have been considering for years now, getting a tattoo of her on my left side... but... I can't find any images of her that portray her the way she looks in my visions. I saw one here that was close, but still too terrifying.

Are any of you artists... who might be able to help me bring her to life? Please? Or any suggestions where I can find someone who can help me get her drawn up?
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Miss Boo
offline Miss Boo
New York
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  • wolf
    wolf
    offline 36

    Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

    Tue, July 24, 2007 - 3:37 AM
    i have a stunning tatoo of kali (not finished yet) on my back , my tattoist and i discussed at great length, for a start she owns my whole back - it was important for my that she did not share the space of me (i didnt want my body to be a religious smorgus board) .

    Shes defiantly NOT a benevolent kali,
    in my book you want benevolent then look for another godess (paravati, lakshmi ,etc) but im very happy with my tat -i have photos -kalima.tribe.net/photos/07...72ef9a4af4
    but i don't want any one to copy her !!! shes mine and i am hers , however take some images to your tatooist they should be able to draw up something unique
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    • Petrus
      Petrus
      offline 0

      Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

      Thu, November 1, 2007 - 2:06 AM
      Hi Wolf,
      Can I ask a question? In terms of Kali "having your back," first of all...does that imply that you feel protected by Her, or am I misinterpreting there?

      If so though...Couldn't protection be defined as benevolence, at least from a certain point of view?
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      • wolf
        wolf
        offline 36

        Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

        Sun, May 25, 2008 - 4:31 AM
        yeah i guess, i feel she protects me, liberates me from my fear, by giving her a large portion of my body i feel i show her my commitment , shes in me already but now i have a literal reminder as well......
        she is both benevolent and violent simultaneously - that is her nature....for me - to divide her is to misintertprate her she is beyond divisons / beyond good- bad,night-day,benevolent-malevolent .....
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    • Rasa
      Rasa
      offline 18

      Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

      Mon, May 26, 2008 - 11:13 AM
      I beg to differ. IMHO even though the Mother gives tough love, there's nothing more benevolent then the kind of love that liberates you from fear, bondage, and the poison of existence. Also Parvathi is Kali in her raging form. The Mother Kali does not grant boons like financial security, or other wordly things, but she definatley does grant benevolent boons that are far more important than material wealth or benevolence of that kind. She may be a tough mommy but she still raises her right hand in the gesture of granting boons. The ego only sees her as terrifying because the ego fears it's own demise. But the Mother Divine when seen properly loses her terrible appearance when you approach her as Mother. To her child she becomes calm and serene as she did when she saw Shiva as a baby crying in the war zone... Which is why the only way to approach Kali without getting the ego scared right off your ass is as a crying and desperate child alone and in danger. She will become benevolent for her children but remains fierce to the ego and "demons" that threaten existence (and I use the word demon very loosely here).

      At the root, Lakshmi, Sarasvati and Kali are different emanantions of the same Mother Divine. You just have to learn to deal with the kind of benevolence that Mother Kali gives to realize that she is actually being as benevolent as she can be by taking away your false notions of reality, your fear and limitations. She gives supreme truth and liberation... What could be more benevolent than that?
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      • wolf
        wolf
        offline 36

        Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

        Tue, May 27, 2008 - 4:55 AM
        i see your point rasa and your right the gesture is a part of her image as muchas the sword, but ill stick to my guns nevertheless , benevolence is a human term stuck in some ways into a system of beliefs about good and bad as we define them,part of a human moral code lets say, (for my own part a very catholic world -but thats just my own experience..)

        she is beyond our morals we can choose to see her as fitting into our definitions , but thats like the blind men describing the elephant.....
        to see her like that is to define her by my own needs/wants -and i'm just not that important !

        so i repeat she is BEYOND the division of good bad benevolent/malevelent
        - and to wax a wee bit lyrical -she just is !
        , jai ma, eater of time,
        skin like the stars of night
        eyes flashing fierce,
        blood from my demons dripping from her blade
        may the sword of knowlege chop my ego off completly....
        along with it ,my fear, my silly little ape brain and my tiny human heart !
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        • Rasa
          Rasa
          offline 18

          Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

          Tue, May 27, 2008 - 9:14 AM
          Well it depends on if you understanding her in her most esoteric form or the form that we gather for her as human beings. Of course she is beyond human moral and code and human terms but she also takes form in a very human like manner with human like qualities so that we can relate to her. Further more I was not in anyway asserting benevolence in the form of the basic human understanding and preconceived notion as to what it is and what it should be. Divine Benevolence is the aspect of every deity that is always granting certain boons based on their power that they have and govern... The Mother is always freely giving us what we desire whether it's asked for directly or not, through one of the manifestations that has proper power to give it. People seeking truth, liberation from fear, and the ultimate reality of the Universe can be given this through Mother Kali. That is also why it's very auspicious to be a Kali Devotee. Mata Ji brings her devotees to her at the time that it is proper to start dissolving their karmas and transforming them back to their original state as a unified soul. She is the great alchemist and takes the desire of consciousness to be many and then through various incarnations starting from the bottom going all the way to the top, I believe she purifies the spark of the divine until it returns to it's original golden state, which is why I call her an alchemist.

          Through desire the whole universe functions with her play. She takes away the knowledge of being one so that the divine can be many, because it is what it desired in order to create the Universe. Through her power, she allows the divine to take many forms through her Shakti and by desire they attain karma to keep the play going until that piece of the divine returns to the source. She always freely gives, which is why she is the aspect of God called Mother. It's Benevolence at it's highest and pure state... Because she gives whatever is desired, unconditionally, even if it's not directly asked for.
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          • wolf
            wolf
            offline 36

            Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

            Thu, May 29, 2008 - 12:34 AM
            i hear you , its funny what she gives...., she really does look after me very well indeed.
            but like karma sometimes the pathway is not clear to me , i have become carefull when asking for 'boons" /gifts and favours -my mind it seems does not nessisary ask for what i think im askin -if you get my drift
            - i guess its a case of "be carefull what you ask for"
            but she in her wisdom gives me my hearts desires , she can see them even if i can not - as you said shes tough but loving ....
            -thanks wolf
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            • Rasa
              Rasa
              offline 18

              Re: Kali: comforting and serene... for tattoo work...

              Thu, May 29, 2008 - 9:12 AM
              Well that's the real trick with Karma is not only learning to stop self -identifying with the actions you perform but to always be fully aware of your desires. Every singe desire, even ones that are made sub-conciously are going to blossom into a whole web of Karmas. That is why I believe the Mother or Universe is said to be always freely giving, she is at the very root of the Universe as desire, and causes all desire to manifest, which becomes karma which keeps the play on the stage and the camera rolling. Her right hand granting boons does not just mean what you specifically ask for, and she is always content so she is always allowing desires to come to fruition. And if every form of the divine has Shakti and her power to manifest, everyone in turn is worshipping her, until you self identify with the formless. But that of course is just my theories that are prompted by the scriptures... It makes sense to me, but it could be entirely the product of my own self deulsion like anything I say, which is what I always remind people when I discuss things of this nature.
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