This is a goddess that goes by many names and has many faces. She has several different personifications so you will see stories that sound a little like her character and you might be right. Let’s start with some basics. 

Kali is a Goddess in Hinduism often featured with blue skin and up to 10 arms! Most often shown in her fiercest battle ready form wearing a skirt of arms, a necklace of heads, and carrying various weapons and demon parts in her many hands. She is primarily associated with destruction but one of her main personifications is of a nurturing Mother. You may find her worshipped as the Divine Mother in some places, especially Bengal. Another thing often connected to her is knowledge that both lifts and liberates. 

Kali is a Goddess that personifies both/and – that tantalizing part of life that is right on the edge of things, holding space for more than what you see, that reaches across the lines and pulls the darkness closer to explore and create something completely new and free and beautiful.

There are many stories of how Kali came to be born. One version says she is the anger of Durga personified in battle to defeat an enemy. It is said that she took all the battle rage and went on a rampage causing much destruction in her wake until the God Shiva lay in her path and was able to calm her by bringing her back into herself. Another version is that she came into existence when Parvati shed her dark skin. Kali appeared, taking on the eternal darkness of both destruction and creation, leaving Parvati to be known as “The Fair One” or Gauri. Yet another version involves Parvati diving down the throat of Shiva to be transformed by a poison he had previously swallowed, she emerged as Kali and was then able to defeat the dread they were fighting easily. 

We may not know exactly how she came into being but she has gained in popularity in the last few decades because of her ability to be fully herself, to dance in the darkness, to hold the line, to protect those in need, to nurture with compassion and respect, to be fully in her body, and to feel every feeling. She is not light or dark, one thing or the other. She is both.

There are many ways to bring Kali into your own practice. Offerings of food out of gratitude is one way, in many cultures where they worship Kali Ma they offer food to a priest and then share it together there. Some creative ways to offer food to Kali could be to volunteer at your local community garden, or community fridge or food spaces. There is always work to do in a garden and connecting to our community is a beautiful way to show gratitude for what we have and are able to do and create.

Another way to honor her is with breath and body work. Practicing the art of being solidly in your own body and feeling all the feelings, moving to release the feelings back out into the Earth when they are overwhelming, and finding time to be still and breathe to be grateful for a body that breathes. There are many videos online on breathework, you can find some easy starting ones on free apps like Insight Timer. My favorite breathing practice is to stand outside with my bare feet on the ground for 5 minutes and breathe slowly, allowing my body to move as I need to like a tree shifts in the wind, connecting to my own body and energy.

One way I have added connection to Kali into my practice is by using tarot and oracle cards associated with her! I love the decks I’ve used and use them in my readings often. There are several card decks focused on Kali that are beautiful and easy to use for gaining connection, clarity, and guidance. My favorite deck is the Kali Oracle by Alana Fairchild.

More info can be found at https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kali & https://www.worldhistory.org/Kali/

Or for the TLDR version there’s always wikipedia