In Praise of Adya Kali: Approaching the Primordial Dark Goddess Through the Song of Her Hundred Names
Aditi Devi
(Author)
Description
This book details the goddess Kali and the culture of devotion to her in West Bengal and South Asia. The term Adya means primal, original or archean. Adya Kali is the primordial energy, the shakti, that creates, preserves, and transforms/dissolves all existence. She is the womb that births all, and the tomb that swallows all. In Praise of Adya Kali is different from most contemporary books about Kali because it offers a liturgy of worship, a type of spiritual practice (sadhana) that the reader (both male and female) can use over the course of days, weeks, or months, to cultivate a direct devotional relationship to Kali. But, beyond that, In Praise of Adya Kali is a context-setting guide. Rather than simply recommending that we recite these sacred names, each one a prayer, the author establishes this practice as a general orientation to life. Furthermore, and most compelling, the text and Commentaries on this liturgy contain an intimate revelation of how the goddess establishes herself in her devotees' bodies and thus intervenes, by unconditional love and acceptance, in their lives.
A lengthy Introduction, both scholarly and personal, describes the goddess and the possibilities that these prayers will offer. Aditi Devi guides us in how to build a shrine to Kali, various types of offerings to make to her, and suggests a schedule for how to use this liturgy with a long-term commitment over the course of 108 nights.
This book presents a serious practice, not for the faint-hearted. It requires courage, strength and joy to permit the goddess's energy to slowly, sensuously and irrevocably be invoked-conceived, allowed to gestate, birthed according to her will. And while the orientation here is toward realizing her sacred presence in the "womb" of the devotee, the practice can be undertaken by anyone. The physical form of the body is not a limitation, as the author notes: "In this lineage we practice into the depths of whatever form we have, & arise from within that, knowing that we are her, male or female. This Song of the Hundred Names is a powerful teaching that all forms are her forms." Male, female or other gendered, we are presented with the possibility to experience the depths of our own internal feminine energies & thereby come into greater healing & wholeness, more readily able to express this often neglected part of ourselves.
Aditi Devi's long study & spiritual practice within living tantric lineages in South Asia has made this book possible.
Product Details
Price
$29.95
$27.85
Publisher
Hohm Press
Publish Date
April 01, 2014
Pages
224
Dimensions
6.0 X 8.9 X 0.6 inches | 0.7 pounds
Language
English
Type
Paperback
EAN/UPC
9781935387541
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Become an affiliateAbout the Author
began the study & practice of South Asian Tantric traditions over 24 years ago. As an initiated yogini, ritualist, and lineage holder, she is authorized to teach the Kali Practices focusing on the reverence of women as embodiments of the divine. Aditi earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology and was a Fulbright scholar and college professor before turning full-time towards the ways of the yoginis and dakinis. Based in Boulder, Colorado, USA, she teaches privately, offers regular Kali Puja and Kirtan, yoga, meditation, and has established The Shala: A Classical Tantric Mystery School. www.aditidevi.com
Reviews
Aditi Devi beautifully bridges the world of scholar-teacher and Kali devotee to offer a potent and accessible way into the great mystery of the Dark Mother through the revelation of Her namavali (100 name) sadhana. A gift to all.-Shiva Rea, yogini, author Tending the Heart Fire
In Praise of Adya Kali is a deep dive, it's Tantra in all its stark magnificence. The Song of Her Hundred Names has ignited all my practice and revealed to me a love that can be neither divided nor diminished. -Dawn Cartwright, internationally known teacher of Tantra. http: //www.dawncartwright.com
Reveals with sensitivity and deepening insight the hidden mysteries of the Dark Goddess, luring us into a love affair of consciousness that has a beginning but no end. The tradition of Kali worship shimmers with renewed aliveness in this precious book.-Ma Ananda Sarita, author Divine Sexuality.
"Reveals with sensitivity and deepening insight the hidden mysteries of the Dark Goddess, luring us into a love affair of consciousness that has a beginning but no end in this shimmering precious book." -- Ma Ananda Sarita, Divine Sexuality
In Praise of Adya Kali is a deep dive, it's Tantra in all its stark magnificence. The Song of Her Hundred Names has ignited all my practice and revealed to me a love that can be neither divided nor diminished. -Dawn Cartwright, internationally known teacher of Tantra. http: //www.dawncartwright.com
Reveals with sensitivity and deepening insight the hidden mysteries of the Dark Goddess, luring us into a love affair of consciousness that has a beginning but no end. The tradition of Kali worship shimmers with renewed aliveness in this precious book.-Ma Ananda Sarita, author Divine Sexuality.
"Reveals with sensitivity and deepening insight the hidden mysteries of the Dark Goddess, luring us into a love affair of consciousness that has a beginning but no end in this shimmering precious book." -- Ma Ananda Sarita, Divine Sexuality