Who are aghoris and why they worship Goddess Kali?

Though this is a dark and controversial aspect of Mother KALI, as her children we need to get to know this face of HER too.

Aghoris and other Tantrik cults worship Goddess Kali as the main deity along with Lord Shiva. Almost all the Tantrik cults in India refer to their presiding deity as the 'The Mother' by which they mean Goddess Kali.

Kali represents the wild and the crude embodiment of Shakti or the primitive energy present in all of us. Worship of Goddess Kali and Lord Shiva demands a lot of unconventional practices. Kali is representative of the Cosmic Power and of the totality of the universe. She is the destroyer who makes way for creation and is therefore seen as harmonising all pairs of opposites.

Aghoris believe that nothing in this world is impure. Everything comes out of Shiva and His female manifestation, Kali and goes back into them. Therefore, everything existing in the world is pure. Goddess Kali manifests an amazing display of power and might, shattering all stereotypes of women as only feminine. As a divine warrior, She fights equally beside men and defeats them in battle. She is the destroyer of 'Kal' or time which actually means She is beyond the concept of material time.

Aghoris worship Shiva or Mahakala - the destroyer, or its female manifestation: Shakti or Kali, the goddess of death. Meat, alcohol and sex are three things that are banned for other sadhus. But for Aghoris the world is practically different. To eat meat actually means to eat everything. To have no limits, because all is one. By eating anything, Aghoris try to gain awareness of the oneness of everything and eliminate discrimination.

Therefore they consume feces, human fluids and human flesh. There is also a practice of having sex with the corpses prevalent among a few Aghoris. They also drink alcohol and offer it during their puja to the deities.Thus, the Aghoris strive towards extreme Kali Sadhana to realise the Absolute Divine Being.

Reposted from FB, Kali - bevelovent mother

Om Krim Kali

The Goddess Kali and Her Manifestations

Keshab (with a smile): "Describe to us, sir, in how many ways Kali, the Divine Mother, sports in this world."


Sri Ramakrishna (with a smile):
"Oh, She plays in different ways. It is She alone who is known as Maha-Kali, Nitya-Kali, Smasana-Kali, Raksha-Kali, and Syama-Kali. Maha-Kali and Nitya-Kali are mentioned in the Tantra philosophy. When there were neither the creation, nor the sun, the moon, the planets, and the earth, and when darkness was enveloped in darkness, then the Mother, the Formless One, Maha-Kali, the Great Power, was one with Maha-Kala, the Absolute.

Syama-Kali has a somewhat tender aspect and is worshipped in the Hindu households. She is the Dispenser of boons and the Dispeller of fear. People worship Raksha-Kali, the Protectress, in times of epidemic, famine, earthquake, drought, and flood. Smasana-Kali is the embodiment of the power of destruction. She resides in the cremation ground, surrounded by corpses, jackals, and terrible female spirits. From Her mouth flows a stream of blood, from Her neck hangs a garland of human heads, and around Her waist is a girdle made of human hands.

After the destruction of the universe, at the end of a great cycle, the Divine Mother garners the seeds for the next creation: She is like the elderly mistress of the house, who has a hotchpotch-pot in which she keeps different articles for household use. (All laugh.)

Oh, yes! Housewives have pots like that, where they keep 'sea-foam', (The Master perhaps referred to the cuttlefish bone found on the seashore. The popular belief is that it is hardened sea-foam.) blue pills, small bundles of seeds of cucumber, pumpkin, and gourd, and so on. They take them out when they want them. In the same way, after the destruction of the universe, my Divine Mother, the Embodiment of Brahman, gathers together the seeds for the next creation.
After the creation the Primal Power dwells in the universe itself. She brings forth this phenomenal world and then pervades it. In the Vedas creation is likened to the spider and its web. The spider brings the web out of itself and then remains in it. God is the container of the universe and also what is contained in it.

Is Kali, my Divine Mother, of a black complexion? She appears black because She is viewed from a distance; but when intimately known She is no longer so. The sky appears blue at a distance; but look at it close by and you will find that it has no colour. The water of the ocean looks blue at a distance, but when you go near and take it in your hand, you find that it is colourless."

See more in the Gospel of Ramakrisna:
http://www.rkmhq.org/gospel/