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My mother, who will be 99 in two weeks, was a nurse in the Coombe Hospital after returning from London at the end of WW2.
In 1825 two women, making an attempt to reach the Rotunda Hospital, perished together in the snow with their newborn babies. In 1826 The Coombe Lying-In Hospital was founded.
What you see in my photographs was the entrance until 1967 when the hospital moved to a new location.
The plaque at this site reads as follows:
“Towards the end of the 1825, two women in a vain attempt to reach the Rotunda hospital perished, together with their new born in the snow. When this became known, a number of benevolent and well disposed people founded the Coombe Lying-in Hospital in the year 1826 for the relief of poor women. Leading the charitable Committee was a Mrs. Margaret Boyle of Upper Street, Dublin.”
The old structure was retained and restored by Dublin Corporation as a memorial to the many of mothers who gave birth in the Coombe Lying-in Hospital and also to the generosity of the staff and friends of the hospital.
I was a bit annoyed to discover that this park, which was supposed to have opened to the public yesterday, was locked today when I visited.
I last gained entry to this park in April 2009 but I did manage to photograph some elements of it this January [2019] but it was effectively derelict then.
The ‘Tree of Life’ cast bronzes which were originally placed in the garden back in 1988 have been restored.
This public park on Nicholas Street was designed as a sunken garden so as reduce traffic noise at what is a very busy junction.
The park’s old main features include a bronze ‘Tree of Life’ statue, a fountain, and features biblical and quotes from Irish poets WB Yeats and Patrick Kavanagh have been retained but I could not confirm this to be true. A number of the elements from Dublin City Council’s 2017 Silver Gilt ‘Bloom’ garden including a fountain, granite paving and solid oak benches have been relocated here.
I did read in local newspapers that there is also an offer from the Government of Flanders to partner with Dublin City on a memorial to the 50,000 Irishmen who died in the Flanders fields but a number of councillors objected claiming that it would be inappropriate to have a war memorial in a ‘peace’ garden or park but my understanding is that the project went ahead.
This is dedicated to all of you, my dear wonderful flickr friends to let you know how much you all mean to me !
I took artistic liberties here & created art by adding these cherries to one of my favorite designed wrapping paper! I like the way it turned out, I hope you all do too...=))
The Liberties is an area in central Dublin, Ireland. The name derives from manorial jurisdictions dating from the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction (hence "liberties"). The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty).The modern Liberties area lies within the former boundaries of these two jurisdictions, between the river Liffey to the north, St. Patrick's Cathedral to the east, Warrenmount to the south and St. James's Hospital to the west.
The Liberties is home to many Dublin institutions, including Digital Hub Fm, a community radio station run by The Digital Hub Development Agency (and home to radio show The Buzz), the National College of Art and Design, Digital Skills Academy, Iveagh Market (currently awaiting redevelopment), Vicar Street music venue, St. Catherine's Church, St. James's Gate Brewery, Dublin Food Co-op, St. James's Hospital, St Patrick's Cathedral and Francis Street with a range of antique dealers. John's Lane Augustinian Church was designed by Augustus Pugin and opened in 1874; the twelve statues in the tower niches are the work of sculptor James Pearse, the father of Irish patriots Patrick and William Pearse.
Today I was a bit confused by this building. Everything on the outside indicates that it is a distillery but I have never seen any sign of industrial activity until today when I saw some construction underway. However, when I managed to get a view of the inside of the building it was only an empty shell.
The second issue was that I was convinced that the company was named the the Dublin Whiskey Company when I photographed the building a year ago. When I got home I checked my photographs and sure enough I was correct.
I then discovered the following: “Quintessential Brands has announced the acquisition of the Dublin Whiskey Company as part of a €10 million investment that will see it build a new Dublin whiskey distillery and visitor experience for its established portfolio of Irish whiskey brands including The Dubliner and The Dublin Liberties.”
I am beginning to believe that what are claimed to be distilleries are in fact ‘visitor experience’ sites and that the product is produced elsewhere at some unknown location.
Downtown Erie blazed rainbows on Saturday, August 29, as over 300 members of the LGBT community and their allies celebrated at the Pride Fest and Parade organized by NW PA Pride Alliance.
The day began with the Pride Parade, which stepped off from the Zone Dance Club, 133 W 18th St, Erie PA. Parade units included Erie Gay News, NW PA Pride Alliance, Erie Sisters & Brothers Transgender Support Group, reigning Miss Erie 2015 Valerie Valentino, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) NWPA Chapter, LBT Women, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality (GEAE), Community United Church, Ladyfest Erie, Northwestern High School GSA, Keystone Progress, and Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Erie.
The parade rolled north on State Street, ending at Griswold Park. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first "Family Portrait" in October of 1995 on the steps of the Erie County Courthouse, a group photo was taken.
The keynote speaker of the event was Pennsylvania Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine, the first openly-transgender state level cabinet member confirmed in the U.S. Dr. Levine was introduced by Pennsylvania State Senator Sean Wiley of the 49th Senatorial District. Both the Senator and Physician General spent the afternoon at the Pride Fest following their speeches, enjoying the Erie community and speaking to community members.
The event was hosted by drag queen Lovin' Heart and DJ Tony G, along with assistance from their stage manager Jessica Pierce. Entertainment was provided by a variety of performance artists: Drag queens Misty Michaels Kall (Miss Erie 2011 and host of the Zone Diva shows), Sasha Alexxander, Taylor Morgan (Miss Erie 2005), Angelica Arkett, and Valerie Valentino (current Miss Erie); local vocalist and songwriter Bob Bearfield played an acoustic guitar set, and the show concluded with electronic dance musician Billy Winn.
Following Winn's performance, a pair of young women became engaged with a surprise, on-stage proposal.
In addition to the entertainment, attendees had a variety of vendors and information tables to browse. The event was attended by representatives of many local health agencies, non profits, LGBTA groups and multiple vendors. Adagio Health, ACLU NW PA, Asexuality Visibility & Community Group (AVCG), Billy Winn, Community United Church, Equality PA, Erie Animal Network, Erie County Department of Health, Erie County Human Relations Commission, Erie Sisters & Brothers Transgender Support Group, Greater Erie Alliance for Equality (GEAE), Jamestown Pride Society, Karma Tattoo Studio, Keystone Progress, Ladyfest Erie, LBT Women, Lillis, McKibben, Bongiovanni & Co, Mental Health Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania, National Organization for Women: NWPA Chapter (NWPANOW), NW PA Pride Alliance, Pennsylvania Equality Project, Pennsylvania Youth Congress, Persad Center, Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents, PNC Bank, Safe Harbor Behavioral Health, Sam's Club, Unitarian-Universalist Congregation of Erie, Widget Financial, Ava Anderson Non-Toxic, Dragonfly Lake Scents, Ellie Ghost, Illustrated Time Photography, Jamberry, Jewelry in Candles, Ms. Zewe, Paparazzi Accessories, Rainbow Creations, Tastefully Simple, and The Cookielady.
Community Health Net and Erie County Department of Health, in partnership with NW PA Pride Alliance, were able to preform free oral and rapid tests for HIV.
Special thanks go out to board members and volunteers: Season Crannell, Chris Dye, Daniel Thomas, Diana Ames, Finu Lukose, Alex Sphon, Melanie Shubitowski, Kelly Kidd, Michael Mooney, Doug Anderson, Deb Spilko, Jodi Shay, Rex Apps, Kim, Andrea, Tammie, Tony Gressley, Johauna, and Adam. Apologies to anyone we may have missed... we were blessed with so many helpful people!
For more about NW PA Pride Alliance, browse to www.nwpwpride.org
I took some artistic liberties with my shot of a Great Egret in flight over Bombay Hook on 8-1-2009 and applied and blended several textures to give it a certain late afternoon/pre-sunset feel and cast it in some softer light.
Thanks to the following for their use of their texture files in this piece:
For more information on Great Egrets, visit the Cornelll Lab Of Ornithology.
Best viewed Large
Today I was a bit confused by this building. Everything on the outside indicates that it is a distillery but I have never seen any sign of industrial activity until today when I saw some construction underway. However, when I managed to get a view of the inside of the building it was only an empty shell.
The second issue was that I was convinced that the company was named the the Dublin Whiskey Company when I photographed the building a year ago. When I got home I checked my photographs and sure enough I was correct.
I then discovered the following: “Quintessential Brands has announced the acquisition of the Dublin Whiskey Company as part of a €10 million investment that will see it build a new Dublin whiskey distillery and visitor experience for its established portfolio of Irish whiskey brands including The Dubliner and The Dublin Liberties.”
I am beginning to believe that what are claimed to be distilleries are in fact ‘visitor experience’ sites and that the product is produced elsewhere at some unknown location.
The Joint Amnesty Committee called another amnesty demonstration at the White House November 27, 1922 after the death of Ricardo Flores Magon in Ft. Levenworth of tuberculosis.
Here two women hold a banner while in Pilgrim-style costume representing persecution for beliefs.
Magon was sentenced under the Espionage Act for publishing an anti-World War I article in his publication. He was one of several thousand people imprisoned during the war for antiwar speech or for simply being of German descent.
The four picketers on November 27th were Elizabeth Glendower Evans of Boston; Nathalie B Ellis of Baltimore; Marguerite Tucker of New York; and Mary La Follette Sucher of Washington, D.C.
The Joint Amnesty Committee released a statement that described the banners that would be carried:
“Riicardo Flores Magon. Political Prisoner. Died for Freedom, Leavenworth Prison, Nov. 21, 1922.” Another read, “Mr. President: Another Political Prisoner Released. Death is more Merciful Than the Administration. Magon Died in Leavenworth. Other Political Prisoners are Dying from Consumption (tuberculosis).”
A third banner, “Mr. President: Charles W. Morse Did Not Die in Jail. Harry M. Daugherty Was His Attorney. Ricardo Flores Magon, Political Prisoner, Died in Leavenworth. Attorney General Daugherty Was His Jailer.”
This third banner referred to Morse, the first person sentenced to prison under the Sherman Anti-Trust Act allegedly faking an illness and bribing future Attorney General Daugherty to secure a pardon from President Warren Harding.
The committee statement also said, “The death last Tuesday of Magon, a citizen of Meico, serving twenty-one years iin Leavenworth for an article which he wrote in his paper, Rengeneration, has rallied the amnesty forces to redouble their efforts for the rlease of the remaining sixty-two prisoners.”
“The only crime ever committed by Magon was the writing of an article for which he was given the maximum sentence. The reason given for the failure to consider this case was on the grounds that Magon was not ‘repentant.’ In other words that he refused to renounce his views.”
Background and outcomes
The U.S. First Amendment protecting free speech was abandoned during World War I as several thousand people were arrested for speaking out against the war or conscription into the armed forces and these jailings in turn spurred an amnesty movement.
U.S. involvement in the war only lasted from April 2, 1917 until the armistice in November 1918.
An amnesty movement for all war resisters gained strength, particularly after the war was ended and after President Woodrow Wilson left office in January 1921.
Leading up to 1917 and the declaration of war against Germany, many labor unions, socialists, members of the so-called Old Right, and pacifist groups in the United States publicly denounced participation. However when the U.S. entered the war, most segments of American society rallied around the war.
However, left wing socialists, anarchists and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) denounced the war as an imperialist squabble between the wealthy of different nations over how to divide up the world. Quakers and other pacifists opposed the war on moral grounds
The military draft was introduced shortly after the U.S joined the war, which the anti-war movement bitterly opposed.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed to address spying but also contained a section which criminalized inciting or attempting to incite any mutiny, desertion, or refusal of duty in the armed forces, punishable with a fine of not more than $10,000, not more than twenty years in federal prison, or both.
Thousands of Wobblies (IWW members) and anti-war activists were prosecuted on authority of this and the Sedition Act of 1918, which tightened restrictions even more. Among the most famous was Eugene Debs, chairman of the Socialist Party of the USA for giving an anti-draft speech in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these prosecutions in a series of decisions.
An unknown additional number of people were prosecuted under state laws and jailed.
Conscientious objectors were punished as well, most of them Christian pacifist inductees into the armed services. They were placed directly in the armed forces and court-martialed, receiving log sentences and brutal treatment. A number of them died in Alcatraz Prison, then a military facility.
Vigilante groups were formed which suppressed dissent as well, such as by rounding up draft-age men and checking if they were in possession of draft cards or not.
Around 300,000 American men evaded or refused conscription in World War I. Immigrants, including naturalized citizens such as leading anarchist Emma Goldman, were deported, while native-born citizens, including Debs, lost their citizenship for their activities.
Perhaps 2,000 civilians convicted of sedition or under the Espionage law were held in military prisons at Fort Oglethorpe in Tennessee and Fort Douglas in Utah. They were mostly ordinary workers, including unemployed, and many whose only "crime" was to have been involved in radical politics or labor unrest. They were held along with German nationals suspected of disloyalty to the U.S. and German prisoners of war. Others convicted of political crimes were dispersed to the regular federal prison system.
After the war ended, other nations began to issue amnesty or commute the sentences of those convicted of political crimes during the war and pressure began to build in the U.S.
Delegations visited the White House in the ensuing years, including a 1920 group that included Basil M. Manly, former joint chair of the War Labor Board who said, “Washington pardoned the Tories and Lincoln pardoned the rebels. We believe President Wilson will not hesitate to grant general amnesty to the political prisoners of the world war.” Wilson, however, was unmoved.
The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but the Espionage Act remained, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions since then have substantially, but not explicitly, gutted the provisions used to squelch dissent.
Another delegation called on the White House April 18, 1921, along with meeting other top officials, marching by threes along the sidewalks and holding a mass meeting that evening at the Masonic Temple.
Among the delegation that met with President Warren Harding were Morris Hillquit of the Socialist Party; Rev. Norman Thomas, a later Socialist Party standard bearer; Jackson Ralston, attorney for the American Federation of Labor; and Albert DeSilver of the American Civil Liberties Union. A special appeal was made for Debs.
Debs, serving a 10-year sentence for sedition for his speech, had his sentenced commuted in December 1921 by President Warren Harding who had succeeded Wilson that year. Some 17 other prisoners also had their sentences commuted by Harding at that time.
The movement for amnesty began to gain steam as dozens of others remained imprisoned.
As 1922 began individuals and organizations around the country began to join the call for amnesty: the Georgia American Federation of Labor issued an appeal for amnesty, 50 member of Congress signed a petition for the same, socialist meetings demanding amnesty were held across the country while Quakers and other pacifists and socialists held public demonstrations.
In April 1922, the American Civil Liberties Union leader Roger Baldwin organized the Joint Amnesty Committee to coordinate activities across the country.
That same month, a million signatures on a massive petition gathered by the General Defense Committee of Chicago were delivered to the White House by Hillquit, who had also been an Socialist Party antiwar candidate for mayor of New York during the war in 1917 and drew 100,000 votes; the wife of Robert LaFollette, senator from Wisconsin; and James H. Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor.
A Children’s Crusade comprised of the wives and children of some of those imprisoned and their supporters staged a well-publicized train trip across the country ending in Washington, D.C. where they picketed the White House and held meetings with government officials for a four-month period from April through August of 1922.
In August, Harding issued a statement refusing general amnesty, but committing to an expedited case-by-case review of anti-war prisoners.
The White House statement said in part, “he would never, as long as he was President, pardon any criminal who preached the destruction of the government by force.”
The idea that people were permitted free speech unless they committed or advocated “overt acts” would not be accepted as law until the late-1950s through the mid-1960s U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the imprisonment of Communist Party members during the second red scare.
The Children’s Crusade suspended their demonstrations after Harding’s statement feeling they had won as much as they would win at that time. However, other protest continued.
In December 1922, Harding issued another series of pardons and commutations, but many contained conditions of deportation and loss of citizenship.
In December 1923, President Calvin Coolidge commuted the sentences of all prisoners who had been convicted for opposing the government and Selective Service during World War I. By this point that commutation affected only 31 prisoners.
In March 1924, Coolidge restored the citizenship to those who had been convicted of desertion between the time of the Armistice of November 1918 and the war’s official end by the U.S. in 1921.
Coolidge’s successor Herbert Hoover refused to pardon or commute the sentences of any remaining prisoners or restore former prisoners citizenship in a 1929 letter to social activist Jane Adams, saying that any such decision would result in “acrimonious discussion” within the country.
It wouldn’t be until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt, 15 years after the end of fighting, issued a proclamation restoring civil rights to about 1,500 war resisters. The proclamation applied only to those convicted of violating the draft and espionage acts. There was no reduction in prison sentences, however, because all had already been released by that time and no restoration of rights for those convicted under the Sedition Act.
After a nationwide campaign involving petitions and resolutions, Debs’ citizenship was restored posthumously in 1976.
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjzCcJd
This image is a National Photo Company photograph courtesy of the Library of Congress, Call Number: LC-F8- 21539 [P&P]
Crowabout week 51 collage
3.5" x 2.5"
Digital collage
First Collage I tried
A friend of mine saw this collage and wrote a story to go with it... I liked it so here it is:
This story is meant to accompany Ryan's Grimm Ghost. I admit to taking several creative liberties.
It was a cool, crisp day in October. The kind of weather that makes you want to pull out your sweaters and light a fire in the fireplace, but not so cold that you’re hoping you remembered where you stowed the snow brush last March. I was picking my niece up from the bookstore where she was being entertained by Story Time with Carlin. Carlin was reading The Princess Bride and I knew Anna Grace would want to hear it. Like most five year old girls, she is captivated by tales of fair princesses, dashing heroes and grim monsters. As we left the bookstore, we had to cross the street to avoid the construction that had blocked off part of the sidewalk. “What are they building?” asked Anna Grace. “A bank,” I said, “It looks like they are just refurbishing the old one, but it will be a bank.” “How do you know?” she asked. “It has to be,” I replied, “There must always be a bank there.” “Why?” she inquired. Normally, this is the point when her father would say “Just because” in an attempt to end her relentless series of questions. However, I thought Anna Grace had a point. I really didn’t know they were going to house another bank in that building, I assumed that they would because there had almost always been a bank there, perhaps for good reason. I debated whether or not to tell her why I thought they were building for a bank. Anna Grace had a penchant for telling stories, but it wasn’t clear that this was a talent that her mother wanted to encourage. However, Halloween wasn’t far away and who else would listen to my ghost stories? Certainly not my friends or colleagues. It was a long drive back to our cabin and a story seemed like a sensible way to pass the time.
“Well”, I proceeded, “Many people believe that the original bank was haunted by a man who died there many years ago. Local legend suggests that his ghost watched over the bank and has continued to do so with each new bank ever since his death. The city has tried putting jewelry stores and boutiques there, but those businesses tend to do poorly. The last three went bankrupt within a year. Locals seem to think that the only business that will prosper is a bank. Some believe that the ghost protects the bank from anyone who tries to rob it.” “Really? How?” Anna Grace asked. “His ghost appears to those attempting to rob the bank and scares them away.” “Wow,” she mused, “Why does he protect the bank?” “I think his spirit was somehow attached to it in death,” I said.
“Once upon a time,” I couldn’t resist saying, “there was a man named James Ryan. James lived in New York with his wife, where he lived a simple, but respectable life as a newspaper clerk. Sadly, only a year after his wedding, his beautiful wife, Susanna died of consumption. Naturally, James was devastated. She was only 22 years old. They were going to build a life and a family together. It was such as shame that their dreams had been dashed barely before they could begin to fulfill them. James was inconsolable. Even months after her death he didn’t want to eat or sleep. His own health began to decline and, as a result, he lost his job. He prayed for his own death so that he could still be with her, but life was not so kind. His only hope was to escape. He could leave New York and try to start a new life somewhere else -- California perhaps. That was supposed to be the place to go. Not a week passed without some news about someone adventurer striking it rich in California. Of course, he had no experience as a miner, but surely he could make a living off the opportunities that such fortune brought.
Although it was James’s intention to travel directly to California, his meager savings only got him as far as Colorado. The increased demand to head west made it more difficult and more expensive to travel the farther west one wanted to go. His new plan was to take the train as far as South Park, Colorado, another mining town, and spend a week or two there earning enough money to buy passage by carriage to take him the rest of the way to San Francisco. However, as the train pulled into South Park, his prospects suddenly seemed gloomy. He hadn’t given much thought to how he would earn his living there. As he got off the train, he wandered towards the main part of town. Being completely unfamiliar with this outpost in the middle of nowhere, he needed to know where he could get lodging and seek employment. The large white building in the center of town with a sign that read “South Park Hotel and Saloon” seemed to be the most reasonable place to start. The saloon was bustling with rough looking men, half of them drunk. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized what real miners were. Sure, New York had its share of ruffians, but these guys were out-right boorish. Refusing to be intimidated, James Ryan approached the bar to inquire about renting a room. The bartender was distracted by a couple of drunks at the end of the bar.
William Tell, better known as Wild Bill, was a young man of thirty who looked almost as rough as his patrons and walked with a limp. He had been tending the bar for nearly five years after being forced to retire as a marshal’s deputy after getting shot in the leg. Wild Bill had a reputation for his less-than-heady decision-making skills. He faced outlaws with reckless abandonment. Thankfully, his father, the marshal of South Park, did not share his son’s impetuous tendencies. Marshal Tell was a diplomatic, savvy, and rationale man. In most cases, he was able to disarm his opponents via reason alone. It was almost amusing that he owned a gun at all. Despite their extreme differences, they made a good team until Wild Bill was attempting to enforce the no-firearms policy when he was shot by an unusually willful saloon patron who refused to handover his pistol. At his mother’s insistence, Wild Bill agreed to resign as a deputy on the condition that he could manage the saloon. His mother suspected that her son wanted to continue to keep an eye on potential ne’er-do-wells who frequented the scene of the crime. Despite her suspicions, Margaret Tell relented to her son’s request to tend bar. It was certainly not her preference for his employment, but she had to find some compromise. She was a sensible and patient woman. Expecting him to take a nice job as an architect was fool-hardy. Tending bar would not keep Wild Bill out of trouble, but his wounded leg should at least slow him down.
When James Ryan finally caught Wild Bill’s attention, he inquired about a place to stay for a couple of weeks. Noticing James’s more refined appearance, Wild Bill recommended that James try the boarding house on the east end of town. The boarding house would be less expensive and quieter – far more suitable for man of Ryan’s temperament and means. The boarding house was a large, elegant-looking estate far from the center of town. It was not a likely place to board strange travelers. The house was originally built as a residence for General John Scott and his wife, Paulina. General Scott was a retired officer of the U.S. Army. Although a well-decorated soldier, he was often away from his wife and daughter patrolling the newly annexed western states. Paulina was not the sort of woman to simply abide at home alone; instead, she made the most of her time, estate, and financial insight by turning their home into a boarding house. Initially, the General was not keen on discovering that much of his castle had been sublet, but overtime he relented. Before he retired, General Scott had commanded troops in the Mexican War. He had seen a lot of death and bloodshed, but beneath his rough exterior, his heart was filled with compassion, especially for fellow soldiers. Although it was not publicly advertised, the General would often ‘forget’ to collect rent from visiting soldiers. This was the most likely reason that the General agreed to let his home to strangers, though many thought it was because he was too tired to argue his wife. Others believed that it wouldn’t matter if he fought her, she would win anyway.
James passed Paulina’s criterion for suitable tenants and was soon situated in a well-appointed guest room on the second floor. Within a week he managed to find employment at a local bank. Unlike most of the prospectors who were converging upon South Park, James was educated and qualified for more intellectual posts. It was not a glamorous or exciting position by any means, but he earned a decent wage. Unfortunately, as was the case with most mining towns, banks were vulnerable to heists. Marshal Tell was able to prevent most of them before the villains entered the bank, often because Wild Bill held such a keen surveillance over the saloon. On the rare occasion that a robbery could not be prevented, Ryan could rely on the protection of the well-crafted teller counter to protect him from trigger-happy bandits. The few who ran from the bank with any money didn’t make it far from town before the marshal’s deputies caught them. Unfortunately, South Park’s luck was bound to run out.
On September 5th, 1862, Judith Scott and Ernestine Tell walked into the bank to make a deposit. On this rare occasion, Wild Bill had permitted his daughter, Ernestine, to make the daily bank deposit on the strict condition that she take Judith with her. Ernestine was only ten years old and felt privileged to have the responsibility of taking her father’s income to the bank. Unfortunately, when Ernestine approached the counter at the bank she was not tall enough to see Mr. Ryan behind it. Fifteen-year-old Judith offered to hand over the money for her, but Ernestine refused, adamantly insisting that she must make the transaction herself since her father had entrusted her with the money. Judith then offered to lift Ernestine up to the counter to see Mr. Ryan. Like her grandmother, Ernestine had a strong sense of propriety and indignantly refused to be lifted like a bag of potatoes. Not wanting Ernestine to compromise her decorum, James walk out from behind the towering bank counter so that Ernestine could hand him the deposit. Without warning, two men, Bert Kerry and Preston Johnson, barged into the bank and demanded money. Horrified that she might fail to safeguard her father’s money, Ernestine squealed and ran for the door. Kerry raised his gun and fired to keep the girl from fleeing. James threw himself onto the assailant giving the girls a chance to escape. In the ensuing struggle, Kerry shot James in the chest. Johnson ran behind the unlocked gate to the vault and stuffed fistfuls of dollars into a flour sack. Kerry, aptly named Crazy Kerry, lit the fuse on a stick of dynamite and threw it behind the counter. The back of the bank exploded; the roof collapsed on top of James as the small building was consumed by fire.
By this time Ernestine had alerted her father and grandfather about the robbery. Well-armed, Wild Bill met the bandits as they were fleeing from the bank and caught Kerry under the chin with the butt of his rifle sending him to the ground. Marshal Tell defiantly stood in the path of Johnson’s horse. While not a menacing man, Marshal Tell was a force to be reckoned with. As Johnson’s horse neared, Tell fired a shot into the air and startled Johnson’s horse. The horse reared and sent Johnson off the back. Wild Bill rushed into the blazing fire that had now charred most of the bank. Through the billowing smoke Wild Bill found James and pulled him from the flames. Unfortunately, James had lost a lot of blood from the gun shot and the fire had seared much of his body. He died shortly thereafter.
As an honor to James Ryan, the bank was rebuilt on the same location as the one where he perished. Shortly after the new bank opened, tellers would report strange occurrences, such as ledgers or keys being moved. The most peculiar of these occurrences happened when someone attempted to rob the bank. Shortly before a bandit demanded money, a chill would pass through the air and the figure of a man would appear near the threatened teller. Robbers would often report seeing an eerie man whose face was burned so severely they could see his skull. They would become so frightened, that they would abandon their heist. However, the bank tellers would report seeing a comely gentleman in his mid-twenties wearing an anachronistic suit. In time, veteran bank tellers could predict and advert bank heists by the warning of the chill and glimpse of Ryan’s ghost. To this day, no bank in that location has been robbed.”
Feeling very proud of my dramatic telling of the local ghost legend, I turned my head to catch a glimpse of Anna Grace’s reaction to my story. She was fast asleep in her car seat. Next time I’ll tell it to her sister.
Taking Liberties
Elvis Costello and The Attractions
Columbia Records/USA (1980)
1) Clean Money
2) Girls Talk
3) Talking In The Dark
4) Radio Sweetheart
5) Black And White World
6) Big Tears
7) Just A Memory
8) Night Rally
9) Stranger In The House
10) Clowntime Is Over
SIDE TWO
1) Getting Mighty Crowded
2) Hoover Factory
3) Tiny Steps
4) (I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea
5) Dr. Luther’s Assistant
6) Sunday’s Best
7) Crawling To The USA
8) Wednesday Week
9) My Funny Valentine
10) Ghost Train
Life in Medieval Dublin was very precarious. In 1348, the city was hit by the Black Death – a lethal bubonic plague that ravaged Europe in the mid-14th century. In Dublin, victims of the disease were buried in mass graves in an area still known as "Blackpitts". Though Archaeological excavations in the past ten years have found evidence of a tanning industry in this area, so the name "Blackpitts" may refer to the tanning pits which stained the surrounding area a deep dark colour. The plague recurred regularly in the city until its last major outbreak in 1649.
The area became the major centre for brewing in Ireland but most of the breweries in the area went out of business in the late eighteenth century when increased taxes made competition with bigger operations impossible. Buildings from late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century breweries, maltings and, to a lesser extent, tanneries, survive today, although they are rapidly disappearing. Examples can be found in Ardee Street, Newmarket and Fumbally Lane.
A few years ago a request for planning permission was submitted for a phased programme of works to reimagine [a word that now appears in every plan that I have seen recently] the central market space as well as a number of adjoining streets and associated structures, and to create a high-quality destination in The Liberties. During a visit in 2017 to the area I was surprised by the amount of development that has taken place and while much of the work was still underway some projects such as Weaver Park had been completed.
I must admit that I was totally unaware of the Newmarket area of Dublin 8 until I undertook a walk guided tour of the area and at the time I was disappointed to discover just how badly the area had been neglected and by the number of derelict buildings and sites. More recently two of the buildings, No 10 Mill Street and the nearby the Methodist Mission Hall have been transformed as part of a large student accommodation development. While the buildings will not accommodate students as they were made available as office space.
The family went with Jess and Huck to Northern LIberties for brunch. Once I saw these empty chairs, I knew this was going to be the shot of the day. Props go to Aurelia for bringing her signature attitude and her less than signature shades.
I can't deny having aspirations of documentary photography, of telling a story and communicating with imagery.The world has no common narrative, just billions of individual ones intertwined, and creating a piece of work that says something about a place is a deceptively ambitious task. It's not enough to merely present a location, even walking around a place can leave you bereft of any particular insight if you are distracted enough, there's just too much information.
Telling a story, for me, is about finding the lines that connect the many, many dots, the details, and above all, making it beautiful.
After a string of recent shootings i decided to take on a personal project of photographing one of Dublin cities most notorious neighbourhoods, the Liberties. These are 26 images from my first visit.
File name: 08_05_000147
Title: Belgium. Liege. "Perron" symbol of liberties
Created/Published: Brussels : Issued by the High Commission of Tourism for Belgium (Gouweloos Fre & Sr, s. a.)
Date issued: 1910-1959 (approximate)
Physical description: 1 print (poster) : color
Genre: Travel posters; Prints
Subjects: Tourism; Symbols; Monuments & memorials
Notes: Title from item.
Statement of responsibility: Photo Sergijsels
Location: Boston Public Library, Print Department
Rights: Rights status not evaluated
Meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights in the EU, in the EP in Brussels. Presentation in the presence of Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Professor Heinz BUDE, Sociologist, from the group of authors of the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights, Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE), Birgit SIPPEL (S&D, DE) and Jan Philipp ALBRECHT (Greens/EFA, DE).
Watch extracts here: audiovisual.europarl.europa.eu/Assetdetail.aspx?id=5c5188...
This photo is copyright free, but must be credited: © European Union 2016 - European Parliament. (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons license). If you need high resolution files do not hesitate to contact us. Please do not forget to send the link or a copy of the publication to us: photobookings(AT)europarl.europa.eu
The Liberties, Dublin.
September 2021.
Silberra Color 50.
Canon A-1.
Dev and scan by Take It Easy Lab, Leeds.
All Rights Reserved, as stated. Re-posts are with expressed permission only. You may not use this image, edit it or alter it in any way (and as a result, claim the image or the derivative as your own).
Nothing in Dublin is simple.
For a long time I had believed that the bell in St. Patrick's park was named after the Liberty Bell the iconic symbol of American independence but I was totally wrong.
It is known as ‘The Liberty Bell’ because it is located in an area of Dublin of Dublin known as "The Liberties". For those of you who are not interested in visiting public parks or churches there is a nearby pub known as the Liberty Belle.
One of my readers contacted me to draw my attention to the fact that the Liberty Bell is often confused with Dublin’s “freedom bell”, the first Catholic Church bell to ring in Dublin in breach of the Penal Laws 200 years ago.
Legend has it that The Liberator Daniel O’Connell rang the bell to celebrate emancipation in 1829, creating the crack in the bell which remains visible today. “This is Dublin’s, and Ireland’s, great freedom bell,” Smock Alley director Patrick Sutton said in an interview with the Irish Times. “In America the Liberty Bell is cased behind eight inches of plate glass, our bell was cased beneath eight inches of pigeon poop.”
The Liberties of Dublin, Ireland were manorial jurisdictions that existed since the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the 12th century. They were town lands united to the city, but still preserving their own jurisdiction. The most important of these liberties were the Liberty of St. Sepulchre, under the Archbishop of Dublin, and the Liberty of Thomas Court and Donore belonging to the Abbey of St. Thomas (later called the Earl of Meath's Liberty).Today's "Dublin Liberties" generally refer to the inner-city area covered by these two liberties.
(7DOS Macro Monday
I am taking some liberties here as it isn't quite a macro although the size of the chair makes me feel small, but I had a good laugh about what I wrote on my last trip and thought you might enjoy it)
A large percentage of welsh people speak the local variant of the Celtic language, a peculiar sounding and looking language for sure.
Bear with me for I have some tales to tell, and many photos below as I couldn't choose which to show.
As I drove into Wales in the late morning, there was a steady stream of cars leaving as is the English tradition of being anywhere else but home for a weekend when it isn't raining.
Despite the forecast, the day turned out very nicely indeed, and the countryside looked stunning especially after the confusing bowl of spaghetti that passes for the Birmingham road network.
I am booked into a very old looking pub, in the small town of Llangollen, pronounced like Ffanffgloflan as if you have a buildup of phlem in your throat.
The lady owner spoke good English, a plus as I was to find out. As her pub was closed on a Sunday, she upgraded me to the top floor room in the pub, which has a separate lounge room, and her last words to me on ascending the stairs were "Mind your head now". Yeah right I have heard that many times before as England was obviously populated by dwarfs in the olde days.
When I got to the top, the door height amused me so I propped the camera on my bag at the top of the stairs, and took my photo to show how the door height was level with my mouth, in case I needed to amuse someone later. Then, of course I reached for the bag on the floor, cap on head just to carry it, and turned to enter, forgetting the door height and heard a loud crunch as top of my head slammed into the door top, the cap saved me a bit, but the last words of my landlady were ringing in my ears.
Not a good start, as I tried to stem the flow of blood.
Collecting my thoughts, and what was left of my brains, I went looking for a quick bite and coffee before heading of for the long 9 mile return walk along the canal to see the impressive aqueduct at Pontcysyllte.
I went into a pub near the lovely river that runs through the middle of town, and said to the young girl behind the counter, "can I have a coffee please?". She gave me a blank stare, and said something unintelligible, so I returned the blank stare.
There was a toothless guy next to me at the bar, and he said something in Welsh and she started making me a coffee.
So going for a stretch target, I said "Are you serving food?" Not a big ask. Same routine. Blank look, gibberish, toothless translates, got handed a menu. I won't say it again, but ordered soup and etc etc.
The canal walk was truly impressive, and it is hard to imagine the work and cost that must have gone into it. Apparently, in general terms, the old disused canals around England fell into disrepair decades ago, but with the formation of the Canal Trust, restoration went ahead, and now they are very busy with tourism and recreation.
I saw many long boats along the way, and everyone will chat to you on the way past. I had a lady step off and walk with me for a way for a chat, the. Got back on. There were fishermen as well.
As I neared the end of my walk at the aqueduct end, and feeling a bit legsore, there was an old guy on the side of the canal, fishing. He had no teeth (of course) and a long thin fishing rod, so I had a chat as he was obviously a local, and he spoke some English.
When I return from the aqueduct, he was still there, so I stopped and said
Me You aren't wearing yourself out there, I hope
He No not at all
Me Getting any fish
He Not since I last saw you
Me That's a log rod (his line was sweeping right against the far bank)
He Yes
Me Is that where the fish are on the far bank
He Yes
Me Always been there
He Been fishing on that side for years, that's where they be
Me You aren't getting any
He No no no
Me Do you think they know you have fished there for years and now live on the bank next to your feet
He (silence)
He You might have a point
I left and wished him a good day, enough damage done.
Feeling a bit dehydrated, I realized that medical intervention was needed, and had been warned that there 3 pubs along the walk, in which to imbibe. I had responded, that if I did that, I may not reach the aqueduct.
But in the interests of establishing good relations with the locals, I got the phone out, and set up my iPhone Translater ready for the challenge.
I entered the bar of this fine establishment, with chairs designed to stop you falling out of them if you stay too long, as you can see in th top photo, and the bartender said "what'll it be sir"
I held up my finger and pulled out the iPhone, and hit the speaker button and watched them listen to "Sal Wedi Beint Os Gwelwch Yn Dda"
When they got off the floor from laughing, I showed them what I typed in "I'll have a pint please"
They never did say how accurate it was, or whether I had just said "I just kissed a sheep in the field" but it went across well.
Enjoy the photos below, while I nurse my head and feet.
This drawing “It’s got to be uprooted” shows Uncle Sam looking angrily at a “The Treason Weed” that has handguns, an anarchist bomb, a German Pickelhaube helmet and a skull and crossbones referring to what Rogers believed were domestic enemies that would undermine the U.S. war effort.
The illustration was apparently drawn shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I in April 1917.
The anarchist bomb represents the so-called Galleanisti anarchists who believed in the propaganda of the deed and planted a number of bombs in first third of the 20th Century to spark revolution. But it also refers more broadly to the Industrial Workers of the World, other anarchists and left-wing socialists who opposed WWI as a contest between the ruling classes of different countries for world domination where the only people dying were workers.
The Pickelhaube referred to German nationals who Rogers believed would act as German agents within the U.S.
During World War I, the U.S. enacted the Sedition Act, the Conscription Act and Espionage Act that were used to suppress dissent during the war resulting in the imprisonment of thousands, and/or deportments and/or revocation of citizenship—overwhelmingly because of speech and not any overt acts. As with those of Japanese descent in World War II, several thousand people of German descent living in the U.S. were also rounded up and put into camps and prisons without charges against them.
Background and outcomes
The U.S. First Amendment protecting free speech was abandoned during World War I as several thousand people were arrested for speaking out against the war or conscription into the armed forces and these jailings in turn spurred an amnesty movement.
U.S. involvement in the war only lasted from April 2, 1917 until the armistice in November 1918.
An amnesty movement for all war resisters gained strength, particularly after the war was ended and after President Woodrow Wilson left office in January 1921.
Leading up to 1917 and the declaration of war against Germany, many labor unions, socialists, members of the so-called Old Right, and pacifist groups in the United States publicly denounced participation. However when the U.S. entered the war, most segments of American society rallied around the war.
However, left wing socialists, anarchists and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) denounced the war as an imperialist squabble between the wealthy of different nations over how to divide up the world. Quakers and other pacifists opposed the war on moral grounds
The military draft was introduced shortly after the U.S joined the war, which the anti-war movement bitterly opposed.
The Espionage Act of 1917 was passed to address spying but also contained a section which criminalized inciting or attempting to incite any mutiny, desertion, or refusal of duty in the armed forces, punishable with a fine of not more than $10,000, not more than twenty years in federal prison, or both.
Thousands of Wobblies (IWW members) and anti-war activists were prosecuted on authority of this and the Sedition Act of 1918, which tightened restrictions even more. Among the most famous was Eugene Debs, chairman of the Socialist Party of the USA for giving an anti-draft speech in Ohio. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld these prosecutions in a series of decisions.
An unknown additional number of people were prosecuted under state laws and jailed.
Conscientious objectors were punished as well, most of them Christian pacifist inductees into the armed services. They were placed directly in the armed forces and court-martialed, receiving log sentences and brutal treatment. A number of them died in Alcatraz Prison, then a military facility.
Vigilante groups were formed which suppressed dissent as well, such as by rounding up draft-age men and checking if they were in possession of draft cards or not.
Around 300,000 American men evaded or refused conscription in World War I. Immigrants, including naturalized citizens such as leading anarchist Emma Goldman, were deported, while native-born citizens, including Debs, lost their citizenship for their activities.
Perhaps 2,000 civilians convicted of sedition or under the Espionage law were held in military prisons at Fort Oglethorpe in Tennessee and Fort Douglas in Utah. They were mostly ordinary workers, including unemployed, and many whose only "crime" was to have been involved in radical politics or labor unrest. They were held along with German nationals suspected of disloyalty to the U.S. and German prisoners of war. Others convicted of political crimes were dispersed to the regular federal prison system.
After the war ended, other nations began to issue amnesty or commute the sentences of those convicted of political crimes during the war and pressure began to build in the U.S.
Delegations visited the White House in the ensuing years, including a 1920 group that included Basil M. Manly, former joint chair of the War Labor Board who said, “Washington pardoned the Tories and Lincoln pardoned the rebels. We believe President Wilson will not hesitate to grant general amnesty to the political prisoners of the world war.” Wilson, however, was unmoved.
The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, but the Espionage Act remained, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions since then have substantially, but not explicitly, gutted the provisions used to squelch dissent.
Another delegation called on the White House April 18, 1921, along with meeting other top officials, marching by threes along the sidewalks and holding a mass meeting that evening at the Masonic Temple.
Among the delegation that met with President Warren Harding were Morris Hillquit of the Socialist Party; Rev. Norman Thomas, a later Socialist Party standard bearer; Jackson Ralston, attorney for the American Federation of Labor; and Albert DeSilver of the American Civil Liberties Union. A special appeal was made for Debs.
Debs, serving a 10-year sentence for sedition for his speech, had his sentenced commuted in December 1921 by President Warren Harding who had succeeded Wilson that year. Some 17 other prisoners also had their sentences commuted by Harding at that time.
The movement for amnesty began to gain steam as dozens of others remained imprisoned.
As 1922 began individuals and organizations around the country began to join the call for amnesty: the Georgia American Federation of Labor issued an appeal for amnesty, 50 member of Congress signed a petition for the same, socialist meetings demanding amnesty were held across the country while Quakers and other pacifists and socialists held public demonstrations.
In April 1922, the American Civil Liberties Union leader Roger Baldwin organized the Joint Amnesty Committee to coordinate activities across the country.
That same month, a million signatures on a massive petition gathered by the General Defense Committee of Chicago were delivered to the White House by Hillquit, who had also been an Socialist Party antiwar candidate for mayor of New York during the war in 1917 and drew 100,000 votes; the wife of Robert LaFollette, senator from Wisconsin; and James H. Maurer, president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor.
A Children’s Crusade comprised of the wives and children of some of those imprisoned and their supporters staged a well-publicized train trip across the country ending in Washington, D.C. where they picketed the White House and held meetings with government officials for a four-month period from April through August of 1922.
In August, Harding issued a statement refusing general amnesty, but committing to an expedited case-by-case review of anti-war prisoners.
The White House statement said in part, “he would never, as long as he was President, pardon any criminal who preached the destruction of the government by force.”
The idea that people were permitted free speech unless they committed or advocated “overt acts” would not be accepted as law until the late-1950s through the mid-1960s U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the imprisonment of Communist Party members during the second red scare.
The Children’s Crusade suspended their demonstrations after Harding’s statement feeling they had won as much as they would win at that time. However, other protest continued.
In December 1922, Harding issued another series of pardons and commutations, but many contained conditions of deportation and loss of citizenship.
In December 1923, President Calvin Coolidge commuted the sentences of all prisoners who had been convicted for opposing the government and Selective Service during World War I. By this point that commutation affected only 31 prisoners.
In March 1924, Coolidge restored the citizenship to those who had been convicted of desertion between the time of the Armistice of November 1918 and the war’s official end by the U.S. in 1921.
Coolidge’s successor Herbert Hoover refused to pardon or commute the sentences of any remaining prisoners or restore former prisoners citizenship in a 1929 letter to social activist Jane Adams, saying that any such decision would result in “acrimonious discussion” within the country.
It wouldn’t be until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt, 15 years after the end of fighting, issued a proclamation restoring civil rights to about 1,500 war resisters. The proclamation applied only to those convicted of violating the draft and espionage acts. There was no reduction in prison sentences, however, because all had already been released by that time and no restoration of rights for those convicted under the Sedition Act.
After a nationwide campaign involving petitions and resolutions, Debs’ citizenship was restored posthumously in 1976.
For a PDF of this approximately 18” x 24” drawing, see washingtonareaspark.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/1918-t...
For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHBqjzCcJd
Illustration by William Allen Rogers. Published in: America's Black and White Book / W. A. Rogers. New York : Cupples & Leon, 1917, p. 45. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights in the EU, in the EP in Brussels. Presentation in the presence of Martin SCHULZ, EP President and Professor Heinz BUDE, Sociologist, from the group of authors of the Charter of Digital Fundamental Rights, Monika HOHLMEIER (EPP, DE), Birgit SIPPEL (S&D, DE) and Jan Philipp ALBRECHT (Greens/EFA, DE).
Watch extracts here: audiovisual.europarl.europa.eu/Assetdetail.aspx?id=5c5188...
This photo is copyright free, but must be credited: © European Union 2016 - European Parliament. (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons license). If you need high resolution files do not hesitate to contact us. Please do not forget to send the link or a copy of the publication to us: photobookings(AT)europarl.europa.eu
Minecraft-themed MILS Module, taking some liberties with the idea and scale.
Technically this would be track resting on Oak Slabs.
© Diana Yakowitz 2012 All rights reserved.
"There is no 'slippery slope' toward loss of liberties, only a long staircase where each step downward must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders." - Alan K. Simpson
The Dakshinkali Temple is located 22 kilometers from Kathmandu next to the village of Pharping. It's one of the main temples in Nepal. Twice every week thousands of people come here to worship the goddess Kali by sacrificing life animals, particularly cockerels and uncastrated male goats.
GODDESS KALI
Kālī (/ˈkɑːli/; Sanskrit: काली & Bengali: কালী; IPA: [kɑːliː]), also known as Kālikā (Sanskrit: कालिका), is the Hindu goddess associated with empowerment, or shakti. She is the fierce aspect of the goddess Durga. The name of Kali means black one and force of time; she is therefore called the Goddess of Time, Change, Power, Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. Her earliest appearance is that of a destroyer principally of evil forces. Various Shakta Hindu cosmologies, as well as Shākta Tantric beliefs, worship her as the ultimate reality or Brahman; and recent devotional movements re-imagine Kāli as a benevolent mother goddess. She is often portrayed standing or dancing on her husband, the god Shiva, who lies calm and prostrate beneath her. Worshipped throughout India but particularly South India, Bengal, and Assam, Kali is both geographically and culturally marginal.
ETYMOLOGY
Kālī is the feminine form of kālam ("black, dark coloured"). Kāla primarily means "time", but also means "black"; hence, Kālī means "the black one" or "beyond time". Kāli is strongly associated with Shiva, and Shaivas derive the masculine Kāla (an epithet of Shiva) from her feminine name. A nineteenth-century Sanskrit dictionary, the Shabdakalpadrum, states: कालः शिवः। तस्य पत्नीति - काली। kālaḥ śivaḥ। tasya patnīti kālī - "Shiva is Kāla, thus, his consort is Kāli".
Other names include Kālarātri ("black night"), as described above, and Kālikā ("relating to time"), and Kallie ("black alchemist"). Coburn notes that the name Kālī can be used as a proper name, or as a description of color.
Kāli's association with darkness stands in contrast to her consort, Shiva, whose body is covered by the white ashes of the cremation ground (Sanskrit: śmaśāna) where he meditates, and with which Kāli is also associated, as śmaśāna-kālī.
ORIGINS
Hugh Urban notes that although the word Kālī appears as early as the Atharva Veda, the first use of it as a proper name is in the Kathaka Grhya Sutra (19.7). Kali is the name of one of the seven tongues of Agni, the [Rigvedic] God of Fire, in the Mundaka Upanishad (2:4), but it is unlikely that this refers to the goddess. The first appearance of Kāli in her present form is in the Sauptika Parvan of the Mahabharata (10.8.64). She is called Kālarātri (literally, "black night") and appears to the Pandava soldiers in dreams, until finally she appears amidst the fighting during an attack by Drona's son Ashwatthama. She most famously appears in the sixth century Devi Mahatmyam as one of the shaktis of Mahadevi, and defeats the demon Raktabija ("Bloodseed"). The tenth-century Kalika Purana venerates Kāli as the ultimate reality.
According to David Kinsley, Kāli is first mentioned in Hinduism as a distinct goddess around 600 CE, and these texts "usually place her on the periphery of Hindu society or on the battlefield." She is often regarded as the Shakti of Shiva, and is closely associated with him in various Puranas. The Kalika Purana depicts her as the "Adi Shakti" (Fundamental Power) and "Para Prakriti" or beyond nature.
WORSHIP AND MANTRA
Kali could be considered a general concept, like Durga, and is mostly worshiped in the Kali Kula sect of worship. The closest way of direct worship is Maha Kali or Bhadra Kali (Bhadra in Sanskrit means 'gentle'). Kali is worshiped as one of the 10 Mahavidya forms of Adi Parashakti (Goddess Durga) or Bhagavathy according to the region. The mantra for worship is
Sanskrit: सर्वमङ्गलमाङ्गल्ये शिवे सर्वार्थसाधिके । शरण्ये त्र्यम्बके गौरि नारायणि नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
ॐ जयंती मंगल काली भद्रकाली कपालिनी । दुर्गा शिवा क्षमा धात्री स्वाहा स्वधा नमोऽस्तुते ॥
(Sarvamaṅgalamāṅgalyē śivē sarvārthasādhikē . śaraṇyē tryambakē gauri nārāyaṇi namō'stu tē.
Oṃ jayantī mangala kālī bhadrakālī kapālinī . durgā śivā ksamā dhātrī svāhā svadhā namō'stutē.)
YANTRA
Goddesses play an important role in the study and practice of Tantra Yoga, and are affirmed to be as central to discerning the nature of reality as are the male deities. Although Parvati is often said to be the recipient and student of Shiva's wisdom in the form of Tantras, it is Kali who seems to dominate much of the Tantric iconography, texts, and rituals. In many sources Kāli is praised as the highest reality or greatest of all deities. The Nirvana-tantra says the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva all arise from her like bubbles in the sea, ceaselessly arising and passing away, leaving their original source unchanged. The Niruttara-tantra and the Picchila-tantra declare all of Kāli's mantras to be the greatest and the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra all proclaim Kāli vidyas (manifestations of Mahadevi, or "divinity itself"). They declare her to be an essence of her own form (svarupa) of the Mahadevi.In the Mahanirvana-tantra, Kāli is one of the epithets for the primordial sakti, and in one passage Shiva praises her:At the dissolution of things, it is Kāla [Time]. Who will devour all, and by reason of this He is called Mahākāla [an epithet of Lord Shiva], and since Thou devourest Mahākāla Himself, it is Thou who art the Supreme Primordial Kālika. Because Thou devourest Kāla, Thou art Kāli, the original form of all things, and because Thou art the Origin of and devourest all things Thou art called the Adya [the Primordial One]. Re-assuming after Dissolution Thine own form, dark and formless, Thou alone remainest as One ineffable and inconceivable. Though having a form, yet art Thou formless; though Thyself without beginning, multiform by the power of Maya, Thou art the Beginning of all, Creatrix, Protectress, and Destructress that Thou art. The figure of Kāli conveys death, destruction, and the consuming aspects of reality. As such, she is also a "forbidden thing", or even death itself. In the Pancatattva ritual, the sadhaka boldly seeks to confront Kali, and thereby assimilates and transforms her into a vehicle of salvation. This is clear in the work of the Karpuradi-stotra, a short praise of Kāli describing the Pancatattva ritual unto her, performed on cremation grounds. (Samahana-sadhana)He, O Mahākāli who in the cremation-ground, naked, and with dishevelled hair, intently meditates upon Thee and recites Thy mantra, and with each recitation makes offering to Thee of a thousand Akanda flowers with seed, becomes without any effort a Lord of the earth. Oh Kāli, whoever on Tuesday at midnight, having uttered Thy mantra, makes offering even but once with devotion to Thee of a hair of his Shakti [his energy/female companion] in the cremation-ground, becomes a great poet, a Lord of the earth, and ever goes mounted upon an elephant.The Karpuradi-stotra clearly indicates that Kāli is more than a terrible, vicious, slayer of demons who serves Durga or Shiva. Here, she is identified as the supreme mistress of the universe, associated with the five elements. In union with Lord Shiva, she creates and destroys worlds. Her appearance also takes a different turn, befitting her role as ruler of the world and object of meditation. In contrast to her terrible aspects, she takes on hints of a more benign dimension. She is described as young and beautiful, has a gentle smile, and makes gestures with her two right hands to dispel any fear and offer boons. The more positive features exposed offer the distillation of divine wrath into a goddess of salvation, who rids the sadhaka of fear. Here, Kali appears as a symbol of triumph over death.
BENGALI TRADITION
Kali is also a central figure in late medieval Bengali devotional literature, with such devotees as Ramprasad Sen (1718–75). With the exception of being associated with Parvati as Shiva's consort, Kāli is rarely pictured in Hindu legends and iconography as a motherly figure until Bengali devotions beginning in the early eighteenth century. Even in Bengāli tradition her appearance and habits change little, if at all.
The Tantric approach to Kāli is to display courage by confronting her on cremation grounds in the dead of night, despite her terrible appearance. In contrast, the Bengali devotee appropriates Kāli's teachings adopting the attitude of a child, coming to love her unreservedly. In both cases, the goal of the devotee is to become reconciled with death and to learn acceptance of the way that things are. These themes are well addressed in Rāmprasād's work. Rāmprasād comments in many of his other songs that Kāli is indifferent to his wellbeing, causes him to suffer, brings his worldly desires to nothing and his worldly goods to ruin. He also states that she does not behave like a mother should and that she ignores his pleas:
Can mercy be found in the heart of her who was born of the stone? [a reference to Kali as the daughter of Himalaya]
Were she not merciless, would she kick the breast of her lord?
Men call you merciful, but there is no trace of mercy in you, Mother.
You have cut off the heads of the children of others, and these you wear as a garland around your neck.
It matters not how much I call you "Mother, Mother." You hear me, but you will not listen.
To be a child of Kāli, Rāmprasād asserts, is to be denied of earthly delights and pleasures. Kāli is said to refrain from giving that which is expected. To the devotee, it is perhaps her very refusal to do so that enables her devotees to reflect on dimensions of themselves and of reality that go beyond the material world.
A significant portion of Bengali devotional music features Kāli as its central theme and is known as Shyama Sangeet ("Music of the Night"). Mostly sung by male vocalists, today even women have taken to this form of music. One of the finest singers of Shyāma Sāngeet is Pannalal Bhattacharya.
In Bengal, Kāli is venerated in the festival Kali Puja, the new moon day of Ashwin month which coincides with Diwali festival.
In a unique form of Kāli worship, Shantipur worships Kāli in the form of a hand painted image of the deity known as Poteshwari (meaning the deity drawn on a piece of cloth).
LEGENDS
SLAYER AND RAKTABIJA
In Kāli's most famous legend, Devi Durga (Adi Parashakti) and her assistants, the Matrikas, wound the demon Raktabija, in various ways and with a variety of weapons in an attempt to destroy him. They soon find that they have worsened the situation for with every drop of blood that is dripped from Raktabija he reproduces a clone of himself. The battlefield becomes increasingly filled with his duplicates. Durga, in need of help, summons Kāli to combat the demons. It is said, in some versions, that Goddess Durga actually assumes the form of Goddess Kāli at this time. The Devi Mahatmyam describes:
Out of the surface of her (Durga's) forehead, fierce with frown, issued suddenly Kali of terrible countenance, armed with a sword and noose. Bearing the strange khatvanga (skull-topped staff ), decorated with a garland of skulls, clad in a tiger's skin, very appalling owing to her emaciated flesh, with gaping mouth, fearful with her tongue lolling out, having deep reddish eyes, filling the regions of the sky with her roars, falling upon impetuously and slaughtering the great asuras in that army, she devoured those hordes of the foes of the devas.
Kali consumes Raktabija and his duplicates, and dances on the corpses of the slain. In the Devi Mahatmya version of this story, Kali is also described as a Matrika and as a Shakti or power of Devi. She is given the epithet Cāṃuṇḍā (Chamunda), i.e. the slayer of the demons Chanda and Munda. Chamunda is very often identified with Kali and is very much like her in appearance and habit.
DAKSHINA KALI
In her most famous pose as Daksinakali, popular legends say that Kali, drunk on the blood of her victims, is about to destroy the whole universe when, urged by all the gods, Shiva lies in her way to stop her, and she steps upon his chest. Recognizing Shiva beneath her feet, she calms herself. Though not included in any of the puranas, popular legends state that Kali was ashamed at the prospect of keeping her husband beneath her feet and thus stuck her tongue out in shame. The Devi-Bhagavata Purana, which goes into great depths about the goddess Kali, reveals the tongue's actual symbolism.
The characteristic icons that depict Kali are the following; unbridled matted hair, open blood shot eyes, open mouth and a drooping tongue; in her hands, she holds a Khadga (bent sword or scimitar) and a human head; she has a girdle of human hands across her waist, and Shiva lies beneath her feet. The drooping out-stuck tongue represents her blood-thirst. Lord Shiva beneath her feet represents matter, as Kali energy. The depiction of Kali on Shiva shows that without energy, matter lies "dead". This concept has been simplified to a folk-tale depicting a wife placing her foot
on her husband and sticking her tongue out in shame. In tantric contexts, the tongue is seen to denote the element (guna) of rajas (energy and action) controlled by sattva.
If Kali steps on Shiva with her right foot and holds the sword in her left hand, she is considered to be Dakshina Kali. The Dakshina Kali Temple has important religious associations with the Jagannath Temple and it is believed that Daksinakali is the guardian of the kitchen of the Lord Jagannath Temple. Puranic tradition says that in Puri, Lord Jagannath is regarded as Daksinakalika. Goddess Dakshinakali plays an important role in the 'Niti' of Saptapuri Amavasya.
One South Indian tradition tells of a dance contest between Shiva and Kali. After defeating the two demons Sumbha and Nisumbha, Kali takes up residence in the forest of Thiruvalankadu or Thiruvalangadu. She terrorizes the surrounding area with her fierce, disruptive nature. One of Shiva's devotees becomes distracted while performing austerities, and asks Shiva to rid the forest of the destructive goddess. When Shiva arrives, Kali threatens him, and Shiva challenges Kali to a dance contest, wherein Kali matches Shiva until Shiva takes the "Urdhvatandava" step, vertically raising his right leg. Kali refuses to perform this step, which would not befit her as a woman, and becomes pacified.
SMASHAN KALI
If the Kali steps out with the left foot and holds the sword in her right hand, she is the terrible form of Mother, the Smashan Kali of the cremation ground. She is worshiped by tantrics, the followers of Tantra, who believe that one's spiritual discipline practiced in a smashan (cremation ground) brings success quickly. Sarda Devi, the consort of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, worshipped Smashan Kali at Dakshineshwar.
MATERNAL KALI
At the time of samundra manthan when amrit came out, along with that came out poison which was going to destroy the world hence on the request of all the gods, Lord Shiva drank it to save the world but as he is beyond death he didn't die but was very much in pain due to the poison effect hence he became a child so that Kali can feed him with her milk which will sooth out the poison effect.
MAHAKALI
Mahakali (Sanskrit: Mahākālī, Devanagari: महाकाली), literally translated as Great Kali, is sometimes considered as a greater form of Kali, identified with the Ultimate reality of Brahman. It can also be used as an honorific of the Goddess Kali, signifying her greatness by the prefix "Mahā-". Mahakali, in Sanskrit, is etymologically the feminized variant of Mahakala or Great Time (which is interpreted also as Death), an epithet of the God Shiva in Hinduism. Mahakali is the presiding Goddess of the first episode of the Devi Mahatmya. Here she is depicted as Devi in her universal form as Shakti. Here Devi serves as the agent who allows the cosmic order to be restored.
Kali is depicted in the Mahakali form as having ten heads, ten arms, and ten legs. Each of her ten hands is carrying a various implement which vary in different accounts, but each of these represent the power of one of the Devas or Hindu Gods and are often the identifying weapon or ritual item of a given Deva. The implication is that Mahakali subsumes and is responsible for the powers that these deities possess and this is in line with the interpretation that Mahakali is identical with Brahman. While not displaying ten heads, an "ekamukhi" or one headed image may be displayed with ten arms, signifying the same concept: the powers of the various Gods come only through Her grace.
ICONOGRAPHY
Kali is portrayed mostly in two forms: the popular four-armed form and the ten-armed Mahakali form. In both of her forms, she is described as being black in color but is most often depicted as blue in popular Indian art. Her eyes are described as red with intoxication, and in absolute rage, her hair is shown disheveled, small fangs sometimes protrude out of her mouth, and her tongue is lolling. She is often shown naked or just wearing a skirt made of human arms and a garland of human heads. She is also accompanied by serpents and a jackal while standing on a seemingly dead Shiva, usually right foot forward to symbolize the more popular Dakshinamarga or right-handed path, as opposed to the more infamous and transgressive Vamamarga or left-handed path.
In the ten-armed form of Mahakali she is depicted as shining like a blue stone. She has ten faces, ten feet, and three eyes for each head. She has ornaments decked on all her limbs. There is no association with Shiva.
The Kalika Purana describes Kali as possessing a soothing dark complexion, as perfectly beautiful, riding a lion, four-armed, holding a sword and blue lotuses, her hair unrestrained, body firm and youthful.
In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector. When the Bengali saint Ramakrishna once asked a devotee why one would prefer to worship Mother over him, this devotee rhetorically replied, "Maharaj", when they are in trouble your devotees come running to you. But, where do you run when you are in trouble?"
According to Ramakrishna, darkness is the Ultimate Mother, or Kali:
My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda;
indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black.
The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark.
This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali.
—Sri Ramakrishna
This is clear in the works of such contemporary artists as Charles Wish, and Tyeb Mehta, who sometimes take great liberties with the traditional, accepted symbolism, but still demonstrate a true reverence for the Shakta sect.
POPULAR FORM
Classic depictions of Kali share several features, as follows:
Kali's most common four armed iconographic image shows each hand carrying variously a sword, a trishul (trident), a severed head, and a bowl or skull-cup (kapala) catching the blood of the severed head.
Two of these hands (usually the left) are holding a sword and a severed head. The Sword signifies Divine Knowledge and the Human Head signifies human Ego which must be slain by Divine Knowledge in order to attain Moksha. The other two hands (usually the right) are in the abhaya (fearlessness) and varada (blessing) mudras, which means her initiated devotees (or anyone worshipping her with a true heart) will be saved as she will guide them here and in the hereafter.
She has a garland consisting of human heads, variously enumerated at 108 (an auspicious number in Hinduism and the number of countable beads on a Japa Mala or rosary for repetition of Mantras) or 51, which represents Varnamala or the Garland of letters of the Sanskrit alphabet, Devanagari. Hindus believe Sanskrit is a language of dynamism, and each of these letters represents a form of energy, or a form of Kali. Therefore, she is generally seen as the mother of language, and all mantras.
She is often depicted naked which symbolizes her being beyond the covering of Maya since she is pure (nirguna) being-consciousness-bliss and far above prakriti. She is shown as very dark as she is brahman in its supreme unmanifest state. She has no permanent qualities - she will continue to exist even when the universe ends. It is therefore believed that the concepts of color, light, good, bad do not apply to her - she is the pure, un-manifested energy, the Adi-shakti.
Kali as the Symbol of Creation , Freedom , Preservation and Destruction
The head that hangs in Kali's hand is a symbol of Ego and the scimitar which she is holding represents power and energy.It is believed that Kali is protecting the human race by that scimitar and also destroying the negativity and ego within human being. The body lying under Kali symbolizes ruination, is actually a form of Shiva. Kali steps her leg on the chest of the body and suppress ruination . Since she is standing on the pure white chest of Lord Shiva who, as pure primal awareness, lays in a passive reclining position, peacefully lies with his eyes half open in a state of bliss. Her hair is long, black and flowing freely depicting Her freedom from convention and the confines of conceptualization. The white teeth which Kali has stands for conscience and her red tongue represents greed. By pressing her white teeth on her tongue Kali refers to control greed.The goddess may appear terrible from outside but every symbol in Kali signifies truth of life. Since the earth was created out of darkness, the dark black color of Kali symbolizes the color from which everything was born. Her right hand side arms she shows the Abhaya mudra(gesture of fearlessness) and Vara mudra (gesture of welcome and charity) respectively . But on the other arm in left side she holds a bloody scimitar and a severed head depicting destruction and end of ego.
Kali as the Symbol of Mother Nature
The name Kali means Kala or force of time. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, there was only darkness and everything was created from the darkness. The Dark appearance of kali represents the darkness from which everything was born. Her complexion is deep blue, like the sky and ocean water as blue. As she is also the goddess of Preservation Kali is worshiped as mother to preserve the nature.Kali is standing calm on Shiva, her appearance represents the preservation of mother nature. Her free, long and black hair represents nature's freedom from civilization. Under the third eye of kali, the signs of both sun, moon and fire are visible which represent the driving forces of nature.
SHIVA IN KALI ICONOGRAPHY
In both these images she is shown standing on the prone, inert or dead body of Shiva. There is a legend for the reason behind her standing on what appears to be Shiva's corpse, which translates as follows:
Once Kali had destroyed all the demons in battle, she began a terrific dance out of the sheer joy of victory. All the worlds or lokas began to tremble and sway under the impact of her dance. So, at the request of all the Gods, Shiva himself asked her to desist from this behavior. However, she was too intoxicated to listen. Hence, Shiva lay like a corpse among the slain demons in order to absorb the shock of the dance into himself. When Kali eventually stepped upon Shiva, she realized she was trampling and hurting her husband and bit her tongue in shame.
The story described here is a popular folk tale and not described or hinted in any of the puranas. The puranic interpretation is as follows:
Once, Parvati asks Shiva to chose the one form among her 10 forms which he likes most. To her surprise, Shiva reveals that he is most comfortable with her Kali form, in which she is bereft of her jewellery, her human-form, her clothes, her emotions and where she is only raw, chaotic energy, where she is as terrible as time itself and even greater than time. As Parvati takes the form of Kali, Shiva lies at her feet and requests her to place her foot on his chest, upon his heart. Once in this form, Shiva requests her to have this place, below her feet in her iconic image which would be worshiped throughout.
This idea has been explored in the Devi-Bhagavata Purana [28] and is most popular in the Shyama Sangeet, devotional songs to Kali from the 12th to 15th centuries.
The Tantric interpretation of Kali standing on top of her husband is as follows:
The Shiv tattava (Divine Consciousness as Shiva) is inactive, while the Shakti tattava (Divine Energy as Kali) is active. Shiva and Kali represent Brahman, the Absolute pure consciousness which is beyond all names, forms and activities. Kali, on the other hand, represents the potential (and manifested) energy responsible for all names, forms and activities. She is his Shakti, or creative power, and is seen as the substance behind the entire content of all consciousness. She can never exist apart from Shiva or act independently of him, just as Shiva remains a mere corpse without Kali i.e., Shakti, all the matter/energy of the universe, is not distinct from Shiva, or Brahman, but is rather the dynamic power of Brahman. Hence, Kali is Para Brahman in the feminine and dynamic aspect while Shiva is the male aspect and static. She stands as the absolute basis for all life, energy and beneath her feet lies, Shiva, a metaphor for mass, which cannot retain its form without energy.
While this is an advanced concept in monistic Shaktism, it also agrees with the Nondual Trika philosophy of Kashmir, popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism and associated most famously with Abhinavagupta. There is a colloquial saying that "Shiva without Shakti is Shava" which means that without the power of action (Shakti) that is Mahakali (represented as the short "i" in Devanagari) Shiva (or consciousness itself) is inactive; Shava means corpse in Sanskrit and the play on words is that all Sanskrit consonants are assumed to be followed by a short letter "a" unless otherwise noted. The short letter "i" represents the female power or Shakti that activates Creation. This is often the explanation for why She is standing on Shiva, who is either Her husband and complement in Shaktism or the Supreme Godhead in Shaivism.
To properly understand this complex Tantric symbolism it is important to remember that the meaning behind Shiva and Kali does not stray from the non-dualistic parlance of Shankara or the Upanisads. According to both the Mahanirvana and Kularnava Tantras, there are two distinct ways of perceiving the same absolute reality. The first is a transcendental plane which is often described as static, yet infinite. It is here that there is no matter, there is no universe and only consciousness exists. This form of reality is known as Shiva, the absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda - existence, knowledge and bliss. The second is an active plane, an immanent plane, the plane of matter, of Maya, i.e., where the illusion of space-time and the appearance of an actual universe does exist. This form of reality is known as Kali or Shakti, and (in its entirety) is still specified as the same Absolute Sat-Chit-Ananda. It is here in this second plane that the universe (as we commonly know it) is experienced and is described by the Tantric seer as the play of Shakti, or God as Mother Kali.
From a Tantric perspective, when one meditates on reality at rest, as absolute pure consciousness (without the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to this as Shiva or Brahman. When one meditates on reality as dynamic and creative, as the Absolute content of pure consciousness (with all the activities of creation, preservation or dissolution) one refers to it as Kali or Shakti. However, in either case the yogini or yogi is interested in one and the same reality - the only difference being in name and fluctuating aspects of appearance. It is this which is generally accepted as the meaning of Kali standing on the chest of Shiva.
Although there is often controversy surrounding the images of divine copulation, the general consensus is benign and free from any carnal impurities in its substance. In Tantra the human body is a symbol for the microcosm of the universe; therefore sexual process is responsible for the creation of the world. Although theoretically Shiva and Kali (or Shakti) are inseparable, like fire and its power to burn, in the case of creation they are often seen as having separate roles. With Shiva as male and Kali as female it is only by their union that creation may transpire. This reminds us of the prakrti and purusa doctrine of Samkhya wherein prakāśa- vimarśa has no practical value, just as without prakrti, purusa is quite inactive. This (once again) stresses the interdependencies of Shiva and Shakti and the vitality of their union.
Gopi Krishna proposed that Kali standing on the dead Shiva or Shava (Sanskrit for dead body) symbolised the helplessness of a person undergoing the changing process (psychologically and physiologically) in the body conducted by the Kundalini Shakti.
DEVELOPMENT
In the later traditions, Kali has become inextricably linked with Shiva. The unleashed form of Kali often becomes wild and uncontrollable, and only Shiva is able to tame her just as only Kali can tame Shiva. This is both because she is often a transformed version of one of his consorts and because he is able to match her wildness.
The ancient text of Kali Kautuvam describes her competition with Shiva in dance, from which the sacred 108 Karanas appeared. Shiva won the competition by acting the urdva tandava, one of the Karanas, by raising his feet to his head. Other texts describe Shiva appearing as a crying infant and appealing to her maternal instincts. While Shiva is said to be able to tame her, the iconography often presents her dancing on his fallen body, and there are accounts of the two of them dancing together, and driving each other to such wildness that the world comes close to unravelling.
Shiva's involvement with Tantra and Kali's dark nature have led to her becoming an important Tantric figure. To the Tantric worshippers, it was essential to face her Curse, the terror of death, as willingly as they accepted Blessings from her beautiful, nurturing, maternal aspect. For them, wisdom meant learning that no coin has only one side: as death cannot exist without life, so life cannot exist without death. Kali's role sometimes grew beyond that of a chaos - which could be confronted - to that of one who could bring wisdom, and she is given great metaphysical significance by some Tantric texts. The Nirvāna-tantra clearly presents her uncontrolled nature as the Ultimate Reality, claiming that the trimurti of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudra arise and disappear from her like bubbles from the sea. Although this is an extreme case, the Yogini-tantra, Kamakhya-tantra and the Niruttara-tantra declare her the svarupa (own-being) of the Mahadevi (the great Goddess, who is in this case seen as the combination of all devis).The final stage of development is the worshipping of Kali as the Great Mother, devoid of her usual violence. This practice is a break from the more traditional depictions. The pioneers of this tradition are the 18th century Shakta poets such as Ramprasad Sen, who show an awareness of Kali's ambivalent nature. Ramakrishna, the 19th century Bengali saint, was also a great devotee of Kali; the western popularity of whom may have contributed to the more modern, equivocal interpretations of this Goddess. Rachel McDermott's work, however, suggests that for the common, modern worshipper, Kali is not seen as fearful, and only those educated in old traditions see her as having a wrathful component. Some credit to the development of Devi must also be given to Samkhya. Commonly referred to as the Devi of delusion, Mahamaya or Durga, acting in the confines of (but not being bound by) the nature of the three gunas, takes three forms: Maha-Kali, Maha-Lakshmi and Maha-Saraswati, being her tamas-ika, rajas-ika and sattva-ika forms. In this sense, Kali is simply part of a larger whole.
Like Sir John Woodroffe and Georg Feuerstein, many Tantric scholars (as well as sincere practitioners) agree that, no matter how propitious or appalling you describe them, Shiva and Devi are simply recognizable symbols for everyday, abstract (yet tangible) concepts such as perception, knowledge, space-time, causation and the process of liberating oneself from the confines of such things. Shiva, symbolizing pure, absolute consciousness, and Devi, symbolizing the entire content of that consciousness, are ultimately one and the same - totality incarnate, a micro-macro-cosmic amalgamation of all subjects, all objects and all phenomenal relations between the "two." Like man and woman who both share many common, human traits yet at the same time they are still different and, therefore, may also be seen as complementary.
Worshippers prescribe various benign and horrific qualities to Devi simply out of practicality. They do this so they may have a variety of symbols to choose from, symbols which they can identify and relate with from the perspective of their own, ever-changing time, place and personal level of unfolding. Just like modern chemists or physicists use a variety of molecular and atomic models to describe what is unperceivable through rudimentary, sensory input, the scientists of ontology and epistemology must do the same. One of the underlying distinctions of Tantra, in comparison to other religions, is that it allows the devotee the liberty to choose from a vast array of complementary symbols and rhetoric which suit one's evolving needs and tastes. From an aesthetic standpoint, nothing is interdict and nothing is orthodox. In this sense, the projection of some of Devi's more gentle qualities onto Kali is not sacrilege and the development of Kali really lies in the practitioner, not the murthi.
A TIME magazine article of October 27, 1947, used Kali as a symbol and metaphor for the human suffering in British India during its partition that year. In 1971, Ms. Magazine used an image of Kali, her multiple arms juggling modern tasks, as a symbol of modern womanhood on its inaugural issue.
Swami Vivekananda wrote his favorite poem Kali the Mother in 1898.
KALI IN NEOPAGAN AND NEW AGE PRACTICE
An academic study of Western Kali enthusiasts noted that, "as shown in the histories of all cross-cultural religious transplants, Kali devotionalism in the West must take on its own indigenous forms if it is to adapt to its new environment."[60] The adoption of Kali by the West has raised accusations of cultural appropriation:
A variety of writers and thinkers have found Kali an exciting figure for reflection and exploration, notably feminists and participants in New Age spirituality who are attracted to goddess worship. [For them], Kali is a symbol of wholeness and healing, associated especially with repressed female power and sexuality. [However, such interpretations often exhibit] confusion and misrepresentation, stemming from a lack of knowledge of Hindu history among these authors, [who only rarely] draw upon materials written by scholars of the Hindu religious tradition. The majority instead rely chiefly on other popular feminist sources, almost none of which base their interpretations on a close reading of Kali's Indian background. The most important issue arising from this discussion - even more important than the question of 'correct' interpretation - concerns the adoption of other people's religious symbols. It is hard to import the worship of a goddess from another culture: religious associations and connotations have to be learned, imagined or intuited when the deep symbolic meanings embedded in the native culture are not available.
INCARNATIONS OF KALI
Draupadi, Wife of Pandavas, was an avatar of Kali, who born to assist Lord Krishna to destroy arrogant kings of India. There is a temple dedicated to this incarnation at Banni Mata Temple at Himachal Pradesh. The vedic deity Nirriti or the Puranic deity Alakshmi is often considered as incarnations of Kali.
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