Beware the Dancing Cat of Death!

Over at Daily Kos, one of the regular diarists has a semi-regular gig writing diaries about the origin stories of various mythical goddesses. As a fan of the history of woo (even if I think the woo itself is hogwash), I enjoy them. Today's entry is about the Hindu goddess Kali, who is, to use a phrase, a bitch on wheels:

The warrior Goddess Durga (or in some versions, Parvati) knit her brows in concentration, and a ball of fire burst forth, blinding with its white-hot radiance. From the center of the fire came Kali, a Goddess as black as the deepest night. She had four arms, each bearing a deadly weapon, and sharp fangs pulled into a hideous grin.

Kali walked onto the battlefield as if she was entering a party. She seized the first demon in her path and bit off its head. Then she held its body aloft and drank the blood as it poured out. Another demon attacked, but she casually killed it and drank its blood the same way.

It goes on like that, until Kali is triumphantly dancing on the chest of Shiva:


Quite fearsome, huh? (Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

Wanna know what's werid? I have a Kali in my world, too! And, indeed, my Kali is also "black as deepest night," has four appendages, and has a penchant for walking on, if not exactly dancing on, my chest:


Mental note - do not antagonize the girlfriend's cat. The world may not survive the repercussions!