The Hindu goddess Kali presents a truly terrifying specter in ancient Indic myth. Renowned for her rampage which threatened to destroy mankind, the goddess was distinguished by her abnormally protruding red tongue—which was expressly compared to the sword of sacrifice and described as miles-long in length.
In their analyses of ancient myth and religion, both David Talbott and Ev Cochrane emphasize converging patterns are key to discovery. A comparison with the Sumerian warrior-goddess Inanna/Ishtar offers the all-important clue. It is Inanna who, as the planet Venus, was described as warring against mankind and threatening to destroy the world.
Such otherwise inexplicable parallels seem to point to common observations—in this case the displacement of the planet Mars from the center of Venus. As Mars descended along the polar axis uniting the various planets, it appeared to take on the shape of a giant sword or knife beneath Venus.
Comparative mythologist and veteran Thunderbolts contributor Ev Cochrane is author of Martian Metamorphoses (1997), The Many Faces of Venus (2001), Starf*cker (2006), On Fossil Gods and Forgotten Worlds (2010), Phaethon (2017), The Case of the Turquoise Sun (2024), Egypt Under the Stars (2025), and Snapshots of Creation (2026).
