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I know something important is happening for me when I react with gasps and strange noises rather than thinking. Such was the case when I received this amazing, two-foot-tall book called Goddesses of the Celestial Gallery by Nepalese artist Romio Sherestha, whom I met a couple of weeks ago at the Book Expo in Los Angeles. I met him with his publicist, the lovely Eileen Duhné. Eileen and I had corresponded on other projects, but there's nothing like personal contact.

I mean that for people, books, and I guess most everything. Something is lost in this age of digital pictures and email letters — something that can reach inside your gut and twist you in all directions, blessedly silencing your mind. When I first saw Sherestha's painting of Kali, my heart went into spasms, my arms flailed, and I emitted noises I cannot describe.

In the Hindu religion, Kali is known as the warrior goddess, the shadow slayer, the slayer of illusions. Associated with time, transitions, and the unpredictable, she is fierce and frightening with blue-black skin, fangs dripping blood, 10 arms, and pelts of human heads . . . and I've always been drawn to her.

This is a little surprising because I'm an absolute wimp when it comes to confrontations. I'll do anything to avoid them and have been criticized for my tendency to isolate. But I've been wondering, do I isolate because I adore this dark power and am afraid of unleashing it inappropriately?

Perhaps.

In the foreword to the book, Deepak Chopra suggests you use these paintings for meditation. Close your eyes and let the goddess dwell within you, he says. I've been doing this . . . and I feel a fire — her fire. My fire. And it feels good.  Read More »