Kali
Kali, dark-skinned and garlanded with skulls, dances on battlefields to destroy demons and ego alike. Both terrifying and protective, she devours what must end so life and freedom can continue.
Story beats
- 1) Born from Durga’s brow to slay Raktabija, she drinks every drop to stop his multiplying blood.
- 2) In frenzy she dances destruction; Shiva lies beneath her to still the dance, reminding her of balance.
- 3) Devotees seek her to cut attachments, overcome fear, and defeat internal demons.
- 4) She wears severed heads and wields weapons—symbols of severed ego and protection.
Context & symbolism
Kali personifies time’s devouring force and radical liberation. Her gruesome imagery is a teaching: impermanence and the need to destroy ignorance. She is mother and warrior, feared and adored.
Her iconography challenges comfort, insisting that compassion sometimes takes fierce forms to end injustice.
Motifs
- Skull garland and severed head
- Tongue out, drinking blood
- Dancing on Shiva to still frenzy
- Weapons that free from bondage
Use it in play
- Call Kali to end a curse—offer ego or attachment as sacrifice.
- Stop a frenzied goddess by invoking balance through devotion.
- Fight a foe who multiplies from spilled blood; contain and absorb it as Kali did.
- Seek empowerment from a fierce deity who demands facing fear head-on.