On a Pilgrimage to Know Devi

While I'm on a roll...

 

We've been seeking out temples that honor goddesses, and today we will go visit the Kali temple nearby.  Kali is a goddess of destruction, somehow related to the goddess Durga.  Just this morning I read the following story that feels powerful to me:

 

There was a powerful demon who won a huge war, and usurped the power of all the lesser gods.  These gods were upset at their loss of privilige and power, and went to the three main gods--Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva--to complain.  These three got incredibly angry at what the demon had done, so angry that their anger shone light a bright light.  Soon, this light took the form of the Goddess Durga; so impressive was she that all the main gods and the lesser gods bowed down to her and gave her gifts, which she held in her many hands.  With these gifts, Durga went on to engage in a great war against the demon, and of course, she won!  So Durga, who was birthed through the light of anger, is now worshipped by all the gods for saving them from the demon...and is seen with her blood red sari sitting atop the lion.

 

It is also common, I read, for goddesses to take on the name of the demon they kill.  There seems to be a deep wisdom, here...perhaps mythology is telling us that once we wrestle, and overcome, various darknesses inside and outside of ourselves, we are transformed in a way that INCORPORATES the darkness, rather than simply destroying it.  Oh wise readers, do any of you have another interpretation of what these goddess myths might mean?