Kali's fierce appearances have been the subject of extensive descriptions in several earlier and modern works. Though her fierce form is filled with awe- inspiring symbols, their real meaning is not what it first appears…

Iconographically, they (Mahavidyas) are individually shown dominating male deities. Kali and Tara are shown astride Shiva, while others like Shodashi sit on the body of Shiva... By subverting... conventional social norms, the adept seeks to liberate...

...art which has evolved out of tantra... is especially intended to convey a knowledge evoking a higher level of perception, and tapping dormant sources of our awareness...

...the originator of families, the preserver of the established order and the perpetuator of traditions...As the Great Goddess rules the heavens, her earthly counterpart, the woman, rules the home...

...The word Tantra itself is derived from the verbal root tan, meaning to 'weave'...Often the mother is shown in a posture with both legs around the father's waist...refer to the union of a lotus and vajra...

The earliest term applied to the divine feminine... is Shakti... Specifically, Shakti means power, force and feminine energy. She represents the fundamental creative instinct underlying the cosmos, and is the energizing force of all divinity, of...