The Goddess, the Powerful Female

[Rainbow Mage]

I have to say my personally favorite way of seeing the feminine is as strong and powerful. I'm not sure why.

I feel like something in me relates to the powerful goddess like Athena or Sekhmet.

Do any of you feel this way? Like something about the image of the goddess in power, the goddess ready to enter the midst of battle and fight, does it awaken anything in you?

I see Athena's image, head held high, spear and aegis in hand. Mother Kali with her necklace of skulls standing on some slain foe.

Its beautiful. I think to myself of the goddess, the female- now that's power!

 

[Breathe]

A sizeable chunk of of the incarnations of God I venerate are feminine manifestations: Kālī, Durgā, Lakṣmī, Māzǔ, Guānyīn, etc.

Not to say I worship them because they're feminine, or exclusively though... but I find them more approachable. :3

 

[Fireside_Hindu]

One of the aspects of MaaLakshmi that draws me in is her quiet strength. She is comforting, but also very protective.

:camp:

 

[kundalini_snake]

As a Mahalakshmi worshipped of many years I can agree. Well, those of Eastern bent know that Shakta is the worshipper of Shakti. Shakti means 'power.' So it's no surprise. But it's also no surprise that men who worship the Goddess would be more attracted to her power than to her mercy and frailty. Unless those are the qualities you seek. No surprise.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I'm the same way. Lilith is known for Her fierceness, vampirism and seductive qualities. The Queen of the Night is not to be trifled with.

 

[Cassandra]

Do any of you feel this way? Like something about the image of the goddess in power, the goddess ready to enter the midst of battle and fight, does it awaken anything in you?

Hi Rainbow Mage,

Like said above Goddesses are considered Shakti meaning power, The feminine aspect is power. Mother Nature is the awesome power of the Universe.

Funny video that illustrates this: Vishnu tries to kill Lakshmi

 

[Aupmanyav]

But it's also no surprise that men who worship the Goddess would be more attracted to her power than to her mercy and frailty.

Hindu Shaktas know about Mother's powers, but most are attracted by love, mercy, beauty and the abode of refuge - 'my mother is so beautiful'. Of course, she is not frail, her powers are the sum of powers of all Gods and Goddesses, that is how she was created.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Origin of Durga:
"As per Shiva Purana and Devi Mahatmyah, Mahishasura, the son of demon Rambha, unleashed reign of terror on earth. When gods intervened, Mahishasura defeated gods and banished them from heaven. Vanquished gods went to Trideva- Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.

As they narrated their woeful tale, immense mass of light manifested from Lord Vishnu's mouth, which was joined by similar rays that emerged from the enraged faces of gods. This mass of light transformed into a woman. Then all the Gods gave their divine weapon to that supreme power.

Adishakti re-manifested as Durga to slay Mahishasura. Armed with celestial weapons of all deities and decked with divine ornaments, Durga rode into the battle field and challenged demons for battle. Mahishasura's entire army, led by demons like Chikshur, Chamar, Asiloma, Vidalaksha, Durdhara, Durmukha, Mahahanu and many more attacked Durga at once. But Durga slew all of them with unparalleled cruelty. An enraged Mahishasura attacked Durga in guise of a buffalo. But Durga bound it with ropes. The buffalo morphed into a lion and leapt on Durga, but she beheaded it with her sword. At this, Mahishasura began to fight in form of a swordsman. Durga pinned him down with a torrent of arrows. Mahishasura now assumed form of a giant elephant and tugged at Durga's lion. Durga lopped off its trunk with her sword and freed her lion. The elephant turned into a buffalo and charged at Durga. Sipping from her wine cup, Durga flung her trident and beheaded Mahishasura, finally killing him." Durga - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Aupmanyav]

However, there is no uniformity about what Durga holds in her 8, 10, 12 or 20 hands. Wikipedia mentions all these (the bolded are more common):
trident, discus, scimitar, lasso, conch shell, mace, bow and arrows, spear, long-sword, pink lotus flower, battle-axe, thunderbolt, elephant goad,
snake, dagger, shield, bell, rod, spade, goblet, hammer.

In her ferocious form of Kali, she holds the severed head of a vanquished enemy, a skull bowl to drink the blood of enemies, wears a garland of skulls and a skirt made of severed hands of enemies and is shown with one foot on the chest of a prostrate Shiva.

 

[SpentaMaynu]

is shown with one foot on the chest of a prostrate Shiva.

Never understood why Maa Kali is shown to be standing on the chest of Lord Shiva?

 

[SomeRandom]

Never understood why Maa Kali is shown to be standing on the chest of Lord Shiva?

Well Mata Kali is generally seen as pure primordial energy. Wild, limitless and unyielding.

The story goes (at least as far as my family's tradition) that Mata Kali was slaying demons. However grew drunk on her blood lust (symbolically this represents her unleashed force or her "wild" nature) and began dancing in victory. However such was her power that her dance began to destroy the earth. Lord Shiva, wanting to protect the earth, came down in human form and lay among the slain. Mata Kali accidentally stepped on him which killed his mortal form. Mata Kali calmed down immediately and she became ashamed at killing her husband so stuck out her tongue.

This depiction of Mata Kali standing on top of Shiva represents inertia and the importance of energy. Without energy even Lord Shiva was rendered dead. This also shows that Lord Shiva is the only one capable of taming Mata Kali, as he is not only her other half (literally) but that he is the only one who can match her wildness. Of course you can say that her dancing literally brought Lord Shiva down to earth, so it's not a one sided affair, so to speak.

There are multiple stories, of course, in relation to Mata Kali and like all her depictions. So forgive me if mine is not the only interpretation you encounter lol!

 

[vajhra]

Never understood why Maa Kali is shown to be standing on the chest of Lord Shiva?

I've always seen it as the inner spirit of Shiva without the karmic stains, released and revealed in closer to true nature. So Lord Shiva could be seen as sleeping or dead depending on the material finality of the release.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Funny video that illustrates this: Vishnu tries to kill Lakshmi

Thanks, Cassandra for the excellent video. After the second they inserted a political video. I would like to see what happened after Mahalakshmi left Lord Vishnu's heaven. But I think only Hindus can enjoy the contortions of the story. We still will love Lord Vishnu, Mahalakshmi, Bhrigu and Narada; all.

Never understood why Maa Kali is shown to be standing on the chest of Lord Shiva?

"From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali#Shiva_in_Kali_iconography

"Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali#Development

 

[Seven headed beast]

Ooh man!

You werent married to kali either. I did ten years of hard time with kali.

Shes pretty disordered and going to have her divine awakening in the very near future and i know it wil be hard for her.

The fact of the matter is that i wil soon marry gaia in the alchemical marriage. Its going to be a symbolic wedding. Ive known her for years and shes cool with it.

And wifey o mine is okay with it, because my wife is the etruscan goddess of war and wisdom and the matron goddess of the state of California, the great and wise Minerva.

The difference beyteeen a divine and a mortal is that the divine is not locked in to 10% of her or his brain. They have greater consciousness and where a mortal radiates at a single frequency and single color of the visible spectrum, a divines larger consciousness allows them to radiate across the entire spectrum and subsequently they radiate across the entire spectrum. And the colors combine to create white light. Thats a true "halo". The hemispheres of their brain are not kept out of sight of each other.

They think divine thoughts but reside in a mortal world.

Many of them slip over the edge into madness.

Some are just seemingly crazy because the divine if tough to deal with. The larger brain and greater consciousness bring larger appetites for pleasure and intoxicants.

And you need to toss the law of laws in there and realize that for every one that is light, there is one thats dark.

A literal Double edge that can cut both ways.

I know the embodiment of persephone and if you turn on a tv, she will go into a rambling almost chatter that just doesnt stop. When i sat and listened to her words she was telling me about something that i had in my reality that she had no wsy of knowing.

She not only told me about the issue i was deaping with, she told me the outcome with reasonable accuracy.

You can see the pantheon they belong to in their eye color.

Olympians are blue.
Titans are brown
Germanic/teutonic are gray
Celtic are green
Etruscan are hazel
Norse are bright blue
Gaelic are light brown