‘Queering Kali -The Lovers’
This bold and bright take on The Lovers card of the Tarot adopts a Queer and Hindu twist in my penultimate painting for the Queering Deities project.
The challenger (model) is Avi Lago and his partner. Avi is a gay man from Glasgow, UK, and is a practitioner of blended Eastern and Western influences. A mix of Hindu/Shakta with Pagan/Wiccan overtones, Avi finds ultimate comfort in Maa Kali, who he chose to have depicted in this card. Unlike others in this series who embody their favoured deities in the paintings, Avi did not feel it appropriate to pose as a Hindu deity. Together we developed a way of showing Kali’s motherly grace and acceptance of all her children, whether they be heterosexual or queer, without depicting him in the role.
Like Avi, the painting is a mix of East meets West, referencing the well-known Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot card, The Lovers. Here, Kali takes on the role of the angel blessing the union of the two men. As light hits the yantra around her neck, it is refracted into a rainbow of colour. The trees are Banyan, signifying the resilience to overcome challenges. Behind them stands the sacred mountain Kailash, abode of Lord Shiva, partner to Kali. Beside the lovers is a black rooster, the vahana (mount) of the Goddess in her form of Bahuchara, who is particularly revered by the transgender community in India. She hails from Gujarat, the home state of Avi’s partner, and allows one to live their truth.
Some people, especially Westerners, are unfamiliar with the benevolent face of Kali the Mother. Avi, in his own words, says:
“As a Shakta, honouring Shakti in her many beautiful forms was natural. When growing up one would see Maa in her many guises and as an Indian born in the West, 4th generation Scottish Punjabi, when relating to the Gods this became a universal dance of the cosmos, layer upon layer, what would be seen as many fractions of my own identity and reality blended with culture, race, sexuality and relation to the deities, Kali and Shiva always played important roles.
In a place where people in countries where your voice could be suppressed or worse, one may be killed and destroyed, in a time where love in all its expressions still defies all odds there, I realised Shakti (power) is within me. Where being a Queer man of Colour in such spaces could be dangerous, we must cultivate and not hide this. Maa in the form of Durga and Kali stand in the times of destruction reminding us, just because you are different, hated, repulsed or feared in places, remember this is also your strength. Where you can stand strong and stand against adversaries remember we will always be with you! Words of Kali and Shiva reminding us in times of change stay calm. focused and unite.
I offer flowers, incense, wear my reds and golds, apply the Tilak on my forehead, sword wielding, flower garland mother I say take me, for I am yours. Queer and taboo and all as you dance clad and ashen covered of the past pains and deaths of what no longer serves us”.
Copyright Nic Phillips 2023
Nic Phillips Sacred Art 