Kali is a ferocious form of the Divine Mother, who sent her Shakti, the Mother Gauri, to free the gods from the dominion of the demonic forces Shumbh and Nishumbh, who had conquered the 3 worlds of earth, the astral plane and the celestial plane.

Kali is the goddess of time and of the transformation that is death (Kala). Lord Shiva and Mother Gauri in their destructive form are known as Mahakala and Mahakali or Kali.

Kali is the Kundalini energy that paralyses the attachments produced by the solar and lunar currents (both demons mentioned above). This attachment causes fear of death. In the ignorant ones she creates fear, while for others Kali removes the avidya (ignorance) that makes us fear death, the basic insecurity of the First Chakra , a fear rooted in the brain stem or primitive brain.

The Hindu goddess Kali is the first of the ten Mahavidyas - the others are Tara, Shodashi, Bhuvaneshwari, Bhairavi, Chinnamasta and Dhumavati, Matangi, Kamala and Bagla Mukhi. Therefore Kali is also known as Adya, the firstborn.