Foot History, Literature and Reference

History, Literature and Reference: Footworship, Trampling, Podoerotica

Hello again foot fans. I thought seeing as this forum can take so many directions, it would be interesting to discuss, and bring about, the rich history and devotion humanity has had with it's women's feet. As I mentioned in several other areas within this forum, the immense volume of data on foot worship and foot/shoe fetishism through the centuries is staggering.
Here I have found a reference to a rather unusual trample scene, one from a story discussing the Goddess Aphrodite, the East Indian Goddess Durga-Kali and her apparent temper,

Here is some of that text... (link to full text) http://www.aeonjournal.com/articles/aphrodite/aphrodite.html

... it was the goddess' cries which shook the world:

"I rain battle down like flames in the fighting, I make heaven and earth shake with my cries, ... I, Ishtar, am queen of heaven and earth. I am the queen... I constantly traverse heaven, then I trample the earth, I destroy what remains of the inhabited world."

Ancient India presents the scholar with several examples of the warrior-goddess, the most interesting of which is Durga-Kali, who shares numerous characteristics with Ishtar. Witness the following hymn:

"Her anger grew so terrible that she transformed herself, grew smaller and black and left her lion mount and starting walking on foot. Her name then became Kali. With tongue lolling and dripping with blood, she then went on a blind destructive rampage, killing everything and everyone in sight, regardless of who they were."

Although Kali is occasionally described as beautiful, it is more common to find her presented in repulsive terms:

"Hindu texts referring to the goddess are nearly unanimous in describing her as terrible in appearance and as offensive and destructive in her habits. Her hair is disheveled, her eyes red and fierce, she has fangs and a long lolling tongue, her lips are often smeared with blood, her breasts are long and pendulous, her stomach is sunken, and her figure is generally gaunt. She is naked but for several characteristic ornaments: a necklace of skulls or freshly cut heads, a girdle of severed arms, and infant corpses as earrings."

As battle was described as the "dance" of Ishtar, so too does Kali dance during battle:

"Ever art you dancing in battle, Mother. Never was beauty like thine, as with thy hair flowing about thee, thou dost ever dance, a naked warrior on the breast of Shiva."

Kali's dancing, moreover, like that of Ishtar, threatens the foundations of the world:

"The dread mother dances naked in the battlefield, Her lolling tongue burns like a red flame of fire, Her dark tresses, fly in the sky, sweeping away sun and stars, Red streams of blood run from her cloud-black limbs, And the world trembles and cracks under her tread."

Here is an excellent link for more on Goddess Kali, who in many ways is so misunderstood. This article sheds a different light on her mood and place in the heavens.
http://www.goddess.ws/kali.html


Yes, indeed, the world trembles, I know I would under her feet!!! Perhaps this goddess was betrayed in her time, as are most women in that part of the world, which saddens me deeply. We can only try to absolve this with our new compassion and love of the woman and her delightful and sensitive feet. Anyone with interesting historic notes please feel free to contribute!
Cheers,
Davetone

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