KALI

A reflection on Kali , Hindu goddess .   Kali means Kala or force of time, as she pierces the veil, beyond mortality , birth & death . She is known as the dark blue or black one, like the night sky , her darkness is the void from which everything emerged & will return.  She is fierce, the destroyer of evil forces, and cuts off the root of fear , anger & all negativity in the human ego , symbolized by the demon with the severed head . Thus she is the great liberator, freeing us with divine knowledge to attain Moksha. Through all her fury, she is a compassionate goddess , also known as the Divine mother & protector in her creative & preservation aspects .  Pictured here in her 10 armed form as Mahakali , legend has it she was called into being by Durga to defeat demons in battle.  She then went so wild with bloodlust she couldn’t stop raging & started killing the humans & Gods, so her consort, Shiva, lay beneath her peacefully to calm her down.  The sight of him , her love, pacified her.

The real story of this piece’s creation is a strange & deep tale…
This time last year , 23rd April 2019, 69 Pilgrims on a double decker bus traveled from the Cern Abbas Giant …to CERN in Switzerland , to Immanentize the Eschaton . Mainly folk were from The Cosmic Trigger Play ,https://cosmictriggerplay.com  headed up by Daisy Campbell & associated friends , & inspired by Robert Anton Wilson & Ken Campbell. We travelled via Damunhur , the community of sacred painted temples of humankind in Italy , to put on a play , The Pilgrims Opera, & there was a simultaneous missive to travel from Liverpool to Jungs garden at Bolligen , as Jung had a dream about Liverpool being “ The Pool of Life “ . We were guided by dreams & synchronicitys, making art , music , & possibly history along the way .  Kali first appeared as part of preparations for this adventure in a strong synchronicity involving Aldous Huxley & a severed head , which we took to be a clear sign she should be written into the play to unite with the Shiva at CERN , ( myself & 2 other ladies played her . ) Mission accomplished , we returned. Later that year, the same crew , on November 23rd were involved in the JAMS latest project , Toxteth day of the Dead . ( i.e the KLF , the band that burned a million quid ) They are building a pyramid of bricks , with great ceremony , each containing 23 grams of a cremated individual , in Toxteth , Liverpool . Dont ask WHY. https://www.mumufication.com  Now this is all significant to me , as my Grandfather died in the tragic sinking of the Thetis submarine in Liverpool bay, just before WW2 , killing 100 men . Thetis is the name of the Greek Goddess, mother of Achilles , who dipped her son in the River Styx to make him invulnerable to death , & at who’s wedding Eris threw the Golden apple. ( Theres the link to Cosmic Trigger . ) Clearly I must write another ritual to do the next day with a gang of discordians , to resolve the soul of my grandfather. Loosely based on the book The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary & Ralph Metzner & Ram Dass, ( who died exactly a month later ) … we staged a ritual play ,at The Priory , a ruined church with a tall tower & 100 steps , a mans name above each step , overlooking the Shipyard. We had 8 Timothy Leary’s calling to the dead souls guiding them through the Tibetan bardo afterlife states to release to peace. We were also guided by Greek psychopomp Hermes , and Hagbard Celine , the renegade Submarine Captain from RAWs Illuminatus Trilogy. Just before the ritual , on a hunch, I turned her on her side…& lo …all along , without knowing it , completely subconsciously …I had been painting a submarine , with a man at peace , under her heel ! Spooky .And just before the ritual the guy playing Hermes , Peter , had an accident & pierced his lung ! I realised the river looked like a giant lung ( my Father , who was a submarine Captain died eventually of Pneunomia in 1997, coming up for 23 years ago )I continued to paint on her over the winter . In the corner is a wizard , like the Hermit tarot card ( which Alan Moore had picked for Daisy as a reading for the Pilgrimage ) , holding up a lantern to shine upon the fear , guilt , sadness & demons lurking in the shadows. Kali chops the head off the identity & attachment to all storys & wounding , which is a compassionate act , to release us to the void , pure consciousness . I kept painting…In spring …Corona hit. And all became clear why I was painting this piece now , she took on a whole new meaning . Is Kali the force of nature … ruthlessly slowing humanity down to avert a greater environmental catastrophe ? Or is she fighting the virus , & the fear created ? Is the wizard holding up a lamp of love to the matrix of fear & isolation ? Is it a conspiracy on a par with the Illuminatus trilogy …or is that simply a rabbit hole of Chapel Perilous to fall down ? Is this the Kali Yuga ? Is the Eschaton indeed …immanentized ? Who knows. As I finished the piece , on the 23rd April , Daisy instigated another ritual , this time in the psychic ethers, “ To birth a Magical Childe “ . Strangely that night , I was hit by the inspiration to paint the stars above her , Venus in the heart. And I discovered , that “ Corona “ is actually a constellation ! It means crown. So that went in above the severed head. Last few days finishing her , I was reminded that the answer to resolve everything , is in the heart , as I painted the blue trident piercing Shivas heart.  Thanks to Bang Crosby of the punk band ” Bad Fractals ” for the severed head , & Tom tejas Olesker for Shiva .