November's full moon altar celebrates the Hindu Goddess Kali, Great Mother of All and Destroyer of Evil. She is one of several divinities honoured during Diwali, the joyful Festival of Lights which was marked earlier this month. So on this altar I have surrounded Kali with a string of mini-lights, a pair of white lotus votive holders and two ever-changing lotus devotional lamps displaying a sequence of bright fibre-optic colours.
With her golden diadem, necklace of human skulls, arsenal of weapons and fearsome visage, Kali dances the eternal dance of creation and destruction on top of the prone body of her husband, Lord Shiva the Destroyer. Wielding her Sword of Truth, Kali cuts through all illusion. People often seek her assistance when they want to overcome their worst fears.
My statue of Kali is carved from black stone. I bought her years ago in my favourite South Asian variety store here in Edmonton.
[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, November 2021]
