Mystic Fact or Sacred Fragrance? All Wings or all Eyes?

Contemporary Kali Puja in Bengal photo: @joel.bordeaux

⚔ Kali derives in part from the ancient deity of indigenous Tamil, India named "Kottavai" a warrior goddess. Kottavai rides a tiger, wears a necklace of tiger teeth, and shouts in victory kurava! on the battlefield where she comes to kill, eat flesh and drink blood. Kottavai embodies "ananku" an early conception of "shakti" the dangerous power inherent to the natural world, female humans, and deities. Ananku can be found in the breasts, loins, and genitals of living women, and manifests as both violent and sexual energy. In ancient cultures dramatic possession performances acting out the passionate and violent nature of this supernatural energy were essential to society, and yet always threatened to get out of control. These mother cults of old stress in their literature the importance of women warriors, shamans and oracles in religious life which made central evocation and management of these ambivalent powers through war, bloodshed, sexuality and possession performance. Devotees of Goddess Kottavai included female dancers who accompanied male warriors to battle singing, dancing, and drumming. Rituals performed on the battlefield were considered the most intense confrontation between man and divine, where Goddess Kottavai danced accompanied by a host ghosts and demon women [Sarah Caldwell, Tracing Kali Through Space, Time and Culture] ⚔
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