29/08/2025
Champion of the sweet souls with fierce hearts who are underestimated and passed over. She who is gentle as the deer and ruthless as the lioness, who is the capacity within the awakened heart to rise, to overcome obstacles, to have faith without any evidence of victory and to rally the spirit until the right moment to act-and win!-is felt. She is non-conformity and the freedom to be one's true self. Recognise your own beauty and value, irrespective of whether another has the capacity to behold it at this time. You shall shine.
The Divine Feminine is often misunderstood. She is stereotyped as weak and passive, and therefore, underestimated or dismissed, or as devouring and castrating, so is feared or spurned. Yet, she is not one thing or the other she is the wisdom of what is needed. Gauri is the secret softness and light that is part of Kali. We could call her Kali's bright shadow. Gauri is domesticity and accessibility, where Kali is wildness and mystery. Gauri is bejewelled with gems, Kali with skulls. Gauri is dressed beautifully in sumptuous attire. Kali is naked, smeared in ash and blood. Gauri shows how to operate within social systems, whilst Kali rejects and disrupts social conditioning. Gauri creates harmony and connection, whilst Kali is autonomous and independent. Gauri is culture, whilst Kali is untamed. Gauri gives, and Kali takes away. Both work toward the same purpose of protecting and empowering the soul, by whatever method will work at that moment. Both are manifestations of the one
feminine divinity.
One story holds that Kali went to the river to wash and she emerged fair, as Gauri. Soon after, a demon lurked nearby. Her dark skin re-emerged and that was the end of the demon! One lesson from this story is that our fierceness is always within us. We can trust in that and relax into our gentler and more easygoing side. Fierceness in the context of Kali is fierce wisdom. We do not need to cultivate an inherently violent way of being, but rather, allow fierce wisdom to spontaneously arise when needed. This story also shows us there are times to embrace the darkness and times to shed it. We can move into a lighter mood as a way of growth and healing, knowing the dark wildness is within when needed to overcome a potential obstacle. It will destroy what threatens to compromise your light, and then it can be at rest once more. This is not something we have to contrive. Instead, we can practise allowing for instinctive wisdom to guide us.
In another story, a terrible demon attacked a royal city. None of the powerful local men could defeat it, and great concern arose amongst the local people. It was said that only a virgin woman could have the power to conquer this energy. None of the women could manage it until the responsible, kind, noble and courageous goddess, Sita, stepped forward. She transformed herself into Kali and destroyed the demon as if she were snapping a branch! She was so intimidating in her awesome power it is said her powerful husband, the magnificent god, Rama, begged her to return to her domesticated form. She obligingly did, donning her beautiful clothing and neat hair once more. Yet, beneath that kind mantle of a civilised and cultured woman is sufficient divine power and ferocity to be a complete badass when needs be.
There are times to allow and others to set clear boundaries, All can be an act of love. It is loving to communicate in a way others can understand. Some cannot understand gentleness and require a different language to know your boundaries and need for respect. There is a story from the Hindu saint devoted to Kali, Sri Ramakrishna. He speaks of a snake who was terrifying the villagers, biting and killing them with his venom. One day. a sage encountered the snake in the field and taught him about compassion. The snake no longer attacked the villagers and they no longer feared the snake as a consequence. One day, the travelling sage returned to the village only to find that it had been severely injured following an attack by some local boys. With compassion for the snake, the sage taught him that just because he no longer wanted to bite the villagers, didn't mean that he couldn't hiss! He had swung too far from Kali toward Gauri. He needed to find a way to accomplish his purpose, with compassion, but with wisdom, too.
When Gauri Devi arises in a reading, you are asked to check your boundaries and tune in to your capacity to hiss, to realise you are entitled to be kind but also to be respected. If you have seen yourself as a badass, it is time to embrace your softer side. If you have been soft and doubted your ability to stand up for yourself, you have simply forgotten that you are also Kali. Play with the balance, with what resonates, and know that if you allow for it, the Divine will spontaneously arise from within, and in whatever form shall accomplish the task. Take responsibility for the consequences of your actions while trusting in her methods that flow through you.
Kali - Alana Fairchild
