Wizards don’t just exist in fairy tales…there are real ones…modern day Merlins who live among us as imperceptibly as the wizarding world lives among muggles in the Harry Potter Series. You may believe that what they do is magic or you may not. But from their perspective there are spirits, gods, and complex alchemical energies flowing through the world that only the trained mind can see. They are shamans that travel between the spirit worlds, using marijuana and alcohol as sacraments. Hindu wizards are known as sadhus, and among them possibly the most intriguing bunch that roam the earth these days are the Aghoris. They commune with the dead, living among them and practice rituals with corpses in order to make contact with the divine mother, Kali, to whom they pray. It all sounds very macabre till you read some of their philosophy. For them, nothing and everything is sacred. That is to say, excrement and corpses are as sacred as flowers. They see all things as a divine expression and the idea of matter as being impure, an illusion. By the way, I’ve always wondered why Shiva always seems to be depicted clean-shaved. He was a sadhu like the Aghoris, and would have had dreds and a beard.
Although the practice of taking all of one’s food and drink from a human skull is rare nowadays, certain sadhus, particularly the Aghori sub-sect, still hold to it as a daily reminder of human mortality and as a challenge to transcend the duality of life and death.These ascetics remain naked and often wear a rosary made of bones around their neck and carry a human skull in the left hand and a bell in the right hand. Their sectarian tilaka, forehead mark denotes unity of the Hindu triad.
I had long been fascinated by the Aghoris or “aughars” and my fascination was born out of the many weird and incredible stories that are associated with “aghoris”, their way of life and their supernatural powers. “Aghori” stands for and the origins of this aghor sect?The word “Aghor” when translated literally means “that which is easy or non-terrible” which is the underlying philosophy of the Aghor sect. Contrary to popular perception that “Aghoris” are human flesh eaters and urine-drinkers who practice black magic, “Aghor” philosophy is about absolute renunciation. However, the “Aghoris” do drink liquor and eat flesh as opposed to practitioners of other spiritual sects in India where these things are taboo. But for the “Aghori” these acts are a way of breaking all social conventions.The “aghors” believe that by breaking these social taboos, true realization dawns. Secondly, for the “aghor” their Lord Shiva is perfect and since he is responsible for everything hence everything that exists must be perfect and so for the “aghor” nothing is dirty or untouchable or unpalatable. So the “aghori” would wear the shroud taken off a dead body, or chose to remain naked or rub himself with ashes of the dead, or drink in vessels made of human skull only to negate the popular perception that these things are unholy or impure in a way emphasizing their core belief that nothing is impure as everything stands for Shiva and Shiva is perfect.
Inspiration : Tamil Movie (Nan kadavul)
Although the practice of taking all of one’s food and drink from a human skull is rare nowadays, certain sadhus, particularly the Aghori sub-sect, still hold to it as a daily reminder of human mortality and as a challenge to transcend the duality of life and death.These ascetics remain naked and often wear a rosary made of bones around their neck and carry a human skull in the left hand and a bell in the right hand. Their sectarian tilaka, forehead mark denotes unity of the Hindu triad.
I had long been fascinated by the Aghoris or “aughars” and my fascination was born out of the many weird and incredible stories that are associated with “aghoris”, their way of life and their supernatural powers. “Aghori” stands for and the origins of this aghor sect?The word “Aghor” when translated literally means “that which is easy or non-terrible” which is the underlying philosophy of the Aghor sect. Contrary to popular perception that “Aghoris” are human flesh eaters and urine-drinkers who practice black magic, “Aghor” philosophy is about absolute renunciation. However, the “Aghoris” do drink liquor and eat flesh as opposed to practitioners of other spiritual sects in India where these things are taboo. But for the “Aghori” these acts are a way of breaking all social conventions.The “aghors” believe that by breaking these social taboos, true realization dawns. Secondly, for the “aghor” their Lord Shiva is perfect and since he is responsible for everything hence everything that exists must be perfect and so for the “aghor” nothing is dirty or untouchable or unpalatable. So the “aghori” would wear the shroud taken off a dead body, or chose to remain naked or rub himself with ashes of the dead, or drink in vessels made of human skull only to negate the popular perception that these things are unholy or impure in a way emphasizing their core belief that nothing is impure as everything stands for Shiva and Shiva is perfect.
Inspiration : Tamil Movie (Nan kadavul)
