Day 9: Kali

My favorite Hindu goddess is Kali.  She's known to be the goddess of death, but she doesn't go around killing people, she brings death of the ego.  She helps us overcome the I-am-the-body idea by reinforcing the awareness that the body is a temporary condition.  It is our attachment to the body that gives rise to the ego.  Kali removes the ego and liberates the soul from the cycle of birth and death.

My fear of death seems to follow me everywhere that I go.  That's how Kali became a character in my book.  I recently stumbled across my first attempt at drawing her.  She's so beautiful in my imagination.  Naked without inhibition.  Skin so dark black that it's blue.  Hair so ferosciously wild that it has a life of it's own.  These characteristics stood out most in my head.  I started to wonder what she would look like as a teenager and came up with this drawing back in the day.

In my story, she has to have wings so I remodeled and updated her a bit using my handy dandy watersoluble crayons.  I thought since her hair is so wild and long, and has a life of it's own, it can actually form into wings!

I gave her a veil, because I figured her to be self conscious about her non traditional beauty.  She was probably an awkward teenager who didn't start off knowing what she came to know as a full grown woman about the body.  So she's modestly trying to cover up her private parts, instead of letting it all hang out.  As a young girl, she's in the process of becoming, she's not fully aware of her power and purpose yet.  So she is probably as awkward and shy as the rest of us!  At least in my mind, she is. 

She's going to make a beautiful ball jointed doll when I get around to making her.  I can't wait!  She'll be covered in jewelry from head to toe, as you can see with her awesome foot bracelets.

She has a lot to learn about herself, but an awful lot to teach.  I love this girl!  I can't wait to write her story and turn her into a doll.

She's gonna show me how to keep my third eye OPEN!