Bagalamukhi

Bagalamukhi

The Crane Headed One

ALSO KNOWN AS:

Bagala

ORIGIN:

India

Bagalamukhi is Queen of Witchcraft, poison, and deceit. She presides over language and the sacred power of words. Bagalamukhi controls the tongue. She blesses those she loves with eloquence and protects them from the devious, hurtful words of others. Bagalamukhi silences her enemies, human or Demon, by ripping out their tongues or otherwise rendering them mute. (Another favoured method is hammering pegs through the tongue.) Bagalamukhi also has the power to cause or alleviate illness.

She is sometimes described as an irritable, foul-tempered spirit who may incite people to torture one another, physically or emotionally, for her own enjoyment. In all fairness, it is not uncommon for powerful female deities associated with magical rites to be defamed by authorities. What has survived the centuries best are written texts by male scholars, not the oral Mystery traditions of ancient devotees. It would be ironic if a spirit associated with deceit, gossip, and slander was also its own victim.

She is the seizer of speech and the paralyzer of the tongue: she carries a big hammer with which she knocks enemies and the wicked out cold. She also protects those she loves, bestows courage, health, and prosperity, and watches over you so that you don’t say something really stupid. Invoke Bagalamukhi, if you dare, to stop gossip and slander.

FAVOURED PEOPLE:

Witches and sorcerers specializing in the magic power of words

MANIFESTATION:

Bagalamukhi has three eyes. She wears saffron-dyed robes and a garland of champaka flowers.

ATTRIBUTES:

Hammer, chisel, wooden pegs, and a noose

Bird:

Crane

Mount:

Lion

Number:

9

Flower:

Champaka (Michelia champaka)

COLOUR:

The yellow-gold spectrum; the shades of saffron (includes a deep red)

Consort:

Rudra

PLANET:

Moon

Sacred site:

The Temple of Jwalamukhi, approximately seventy kilometers from Dharamsala, is built on the site where the dismembered goddess Sati’s tongue fell to Earth.

OFFERINGS:

Incense, candles, yellow flowers; milagros in the form of mouths or tongues; miniature hammers; wooden pegs

SEE ALSO:

• Rudra
• Sati

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.