In Praise of Adya Kali: Approaching the Primordial Dark Goddess Through the Song of Her Hundred Names

Wonderful. Inspiring. And a rich discovery of mantras to this primordial goddess darkness and light that I can actually sing. I loved it!

I love this book. It is very good read for the misinformed or those that need help understanding this particular belief. Great work.

Just what I needed. Great book that is full of information from a practitioner and someone who's been to India. Recommended.

Aditi Devi is not only knowledgeable on this subject...it's obvious that her personal practices root her deeply into the actual Wisdom of the Primordial Goddess. Her energetic connection to the subject matter shines through. Grateful for her writings and presence.

The best book on Kali Ma

The author seems to me to have a more than thorough understanding and experience of the subject and is a genuine devotee of theDevi. However, the tone of the entire commentary is colored by a hardcore feminist tonality which I found distracting. I prefer to leave my sandals and politics outside the temple door.

Not what I expected. But interesting.

Aditi Devi is an accomplished scholar and former professor of Anthropology, an initiated yogini, and lineage holder in the tantric tradition of Kali Practices. She offers this book from expertise, experience, embodiment, and ability to transmit deep mysteries. The book is not a light, enjoyable read. It is a lived experience. The pages on ritual and sadhana are not descriptions so much as invitations and the images more like icons. It is a devotional text, most powerful when the daily meditation on each of the 100 names is accompanied by the daily practice of devotional recitation. One may read, understand, even analyze the information in the book, as there is plenty of information to be had. However, transmission of spiritual reality is the true gift of this author and her work. For those who desire background and rich depth, there are sections that wonderfully express some of the details of the Kali-centric worldview, some cultural and spiritual context for The Names as a specific practice within and for cultivating that worldview, guidance for preparing ritual space and items, mudra instruction, and Sanskrit original text along with the English translations. Truly, it is an excellent foundation for anyone who, although a complete or near novice has a desire to dive into this spiritual practice and get the fullest experience of it, as well as for anyone has an established practice and wishes to take on The Hundred Names and simultaneously sink into Her darkness and be set ablaze by Her fire. This book can serve as excellent and necessary guidance along that path if you so choose.

Fantastic book in that it is communication of a living experience which is how it should be when writing about spiritual practices. Can be read for want of knowledge about Kali as a tantric path or by anyone interested in spirituality, particularly Eastern spirituality because the author conveys spiritual insight on couple of levels, that of the physical body, emotions and material word, that one of symbolic and energetic meaning and a little bit of the final one of non-dual ultimate reality. I have read a lot about Eastern spirituality and even though many of the things mentioned in the book are not new to me since they are conveyed in such an inspiring way the book was a joy to read.