by Whitney Sparks
Sagittarius, the cosmic constellation, is filled with raspberry rum flavored alcohol, hundreds of proof.
This is Kali –SPACE MOTHER– inebriated as is written in the Vedas. Dancing, whirling, orbiting. Revolving (with all the worlds around herself).
She ardently wants your success, our success– despite whatever superficial opinions you may have formed of her– don’t dare refuse to listen to her!– she categorically, emphatically does not want you, or us, to fail! And she knows, what apparently you don’t, that you need her to win.
Kali takes the Empire State Building, August 2015 – Image Source
You need to know her (you know you need her!). You ought to try to get to know her, intimately, as possible.
Frightened, cowards try to trivialize her, (try to civilize her), her presence, her worth, her meaning. Her words, her advice, predictions, her actions– through slandering all of the above and, above all, her body.
They would reduce her; you would, too: from unknown to goddess, from goddess to god, from god in man’s image to man, and likewise from woman to girl to property to wife to daughter to slave to whore.
But she is not. None of that. She is nothing but Kali-Ma. Pure Black Time Space. The strongest emanation of Shakti, pure energy, pure feminine empowerment. She cannot be reduced.
Getting to know her, befriending her is worth everything. Everything she takes, everything she destroys, everything she blithely or passionately dances over. All she denounces or dismisses. Take this, Mrs.: she is worth way more than all that, any title, and any degree.
Way, way, way UP! She is blessed and blessing you in return. She is Sky-High literally, literally drunk, she with power with passion spins. She travels way faster than light, and she is very, very dark. She likes black humor and black cats. Her laughter makes the mountains move.
If only you could bear to listen beyond the boom of her bass line (ahem). Listen and take her words to heart, directly. Trust your instinct, above all, she says. Learn how to be wild. Be free, she insists. If you listen, all could be saved, ultimately, probably. Even the things she destroyed, stole, lost, discarded…
Kali speaks:
trust yourself. have patience. use persistence. follow through.
honor your word:
-say what you mean and mean what you say
-do what you say what you will do
ask questions. admit mistakes. hold your temper. speak your truth. listen to others. know your boundaries. never stop learning.
wash, rinse, repeat.
Kali-Yantra: Symbol of feminine energy, strength, power and clarity – Image Source
See yourself empowered. If anything, a survivor not a victim. Not because harm done to you and/or that you’ve experienced or enacted isn’t wrong, bad, or painful, but because we have more power– more energy to transform and heal from any injury when we remain undefined– unlimited– by them and their perpetrators.
Don’t victimize (let alone antagonize!) others in the struggle.
Empower others with your ability to see possibility.
Empower yourself and others in our ability to act.
Provide opportunities for survivors of the same or related or unrelated trauma (and/or conditioning) that you have overcome or are overcoming. Even if it’s just the chance to talk. Because in every life, shit happens.
Remember that this all is a process.
Nourish yourself and take care of your surroundings.
Keep learning. Never close your mind.
Think of the greater– the greatest– good you can possibly envision, as often as possible.
Imagine that nothing is impossible!
Try believing it. Believe in yourself.
Love when and wherever possible, now.
wash, rinse, repeat
To dwell in infinite possibility. That is Kali’s ultimate reality, her dream, her offer, her promise, her sentence to us, to all. To everything, through all time. Emily Dickinson is one of her voices. So is Audre Lorde. Anne Frank. Harriet Tubman.
She banishes profit, possession, prisons, slavery, and all manner of traps. She calls them out, every time. Kali, Persephone, Queen of Heaven and the Subconscious, endings, revolution, death, birth, beginnings, constant change– with her by your side– by her side– we ride in victory, possibility, through all time.
Fear not.
Nothing shall be impossible for you.
Park and know that I am Mom.
Make my heart a magnet: elemental space dust with gravitational force. metal, attractive, strong, irresistible. sensitive to temperature and electricity, virtually indestructible, potentially destructive.
Mantra:
I am a free spirit.
My home is in heaven.
My work is to dwell in the present–
Fresh and fragile, ancient, agile–
To find in life all that is pleasant.
About the Author:
Whitney Sparks wrote her first published essay for Freedom Challenge, a book about African American homeschoolers, when she was 9. In it she largely chose to focus on the subject of mythology (which continues to fascinate her). After growing up, going to schools (completing a Bachelor’s degree from Yale, a Master of Fine Arts in Switzerland, and becoming certified yoga teacher), dealing with heartbreaking loss, roaming the world, and moving to Berlin, she still retains an overactive imagination and wild spirit, which she likes to express in her visual artwork (mostly collage and film) as well as her writing.
Find her at her blog, her website, or at Coming Into Being, a collaborative project.
Show Comments (2)
Tiyani
Loved this!!! Kali has always been a special gem in my realm, so much love in her brutality. Thank you for this!!
Tiyani
Loved this!! Kali has always been a special gem in my reality, such brutal Love. Gratitude for the amazing article sis!! <3