The goddess Kali is described as black, fierce, fanged, and fond of blood. Her name means "she who is black." She has disheveled hair, wears a garland of severed human heads and a girdle of severed arms, and dwells in cremation grounds, where she seats herself on a human corpse. In appearance and habit Kali reminds us of certain inevitables from which the order of Sharma is incapable of protecting us: death, especially untimely death; old age; sickness; and suffering. In Hindu mythology, Kali usually is mentioned in the context of fierce battles in which passions have reached great intensity. She is the embodied wrath of the divine, which unleashes itself in a fury of violence and anger. Kali is often described as gulping down the hot blood of her victims and then dancing out of control, threatening to destroy the cosmos itself.
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---In the dry, thin air of central Colorado, where the vast high plains come to an abrupt end in the harsh sagebrush foothills of the Rockies, the Goddess Kali reigns supreme. There, in the chill shadow of the Flatirons, her minions train for battle. Glorying in the sounds of battle, the disciples of Kali are a fierce and savage tribe whose love for victory is surpassed only by their love for their fellow warriors. And above all, their devotion to Kali, that black-hearted, many-armed, flesh-eating mistress, gives them the power to conquer. In winter, when the arctic gales sweep down from the desolate peaks of the continental divide, Kali's minions stoke the fires in their hearts and dream of victory. During those long, bitter-cold months, they fortify themselves with feasts of rusty nails, garlic, and organic wheatgrass smoothies. When the breezes finally warm, they rejoice to be practicing again.
---Error on the training grounds are rare, for Kali's High Priestesses indulge no weakness, and their harsh judgement is as swift as it is final. But the life of a Kali warrior is rewarding, as she watches her foes fall before her like wheat before a scythe. On rare occasions, as well, the initiate is rewarded with a sacrificial offering of a male warrior's body, on which she can perform a ritual known as "body shots." As the piercing gaze of vengeful Kali watches over all, her warriors know they must run the fastest, cut the hardest, pass without error and catch without fail. They have vowed never to despair and never to relent, a sacred promise to Kali which they dare not break. The consequences of the black goddess' displeasure are unknown, but this much is certain: Kali is not known for her mercy.
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