A lot of Western occultists, especially but not exclusively those of a particular political bent, have adopted the Hindu concept of kali yuga. And just as they have done with such things as cakras, tattvas, Yoga, and Tantra, the occult understanding of kali yuga is, shall we say, idiosyncratic when compared to its source.
If you are not familiar, kali yuga is the fourth and final in a series of ages (the yugas) which are said to descend in spiritual virtue from the beginning a cycle to the end. Each yuga that goes by leads humanity further away from understanding the Absolute Truth. Correspondingly, society degrades, religions become decadent, and the people become less interested in spiritual things. Some interpretations even have it that we become physically degraded through this process, as well, with shorter lifespans, more health problems, etc. At the end of a cycle, we either return to sat yuga and the process begins again, or else we must go through an upward-moving reversion of the cycle (depending on school of thought). There are more details we could go into, but this is enough of the basics for our present purpose.
As to the frequent misunderstandings, to start with there is often an error out of the gate with the significance of the name of kali yuga. Because of sloppy English transliteration, it looks at first glance as if it were named for the infamous Goddess Kali — whose name is somewhat more appropriately rendered as Kālī. In reality, the age is named for Kali, a male demon. Both the Goddess and the demon have names implying darkness, but the connection ends there. Goddess Kali’s name refers explicitly to darkness, while the asura’s name is rooted in conflict and confusion.
While it may be that the kali yuga is characterized by spiritual decadence, such is not, and cannot be, uniform. Just as there can’t be a “mass awakening” or “group enlightenment”, the degree of spiritual darkness will vary by time, place, and individual. It is said in Manusmrti, the great bastion of Brahminical orthodoxy, that a political leader of great spirituality can make a sat yuga of their nation even in the depths of kali yuga, for instance. And this is taken to extend to different scales. So, householders of similarly great spirituality will make a sat yuga of their homes, etc.
The above puts the onus clearly on us as individuals and as units of increasing size, but it also emphasizes that we are all under the conditions of kali yuga. These are two important points to consider before declaring anything definitively about kali yuga. Much of the discussion in Western circles spins around the core mistake that there is some sort of “spiritual aristocracy” in kali yuga, an elite who are somehow immune to the spiritual degradation. Of course, those who speak in such terms are always miraculously part of that noble few… But, traditionally, even among those who hold to the varna (caste) system — which most Yoga and Tantra schools do not, it is worth remembering — there are no true “brahmins” in the age of darkness. We are all, to large extent, stained by the realities of the age and have to work from that deficit. Certainly nobody who spends their time and energy decrying others has proven themselves above the fray.
A traditionally very important aspect of kali yuga, too, is that, while it is more difficult to work ourselves into doing any sort of spiritual practice, that spiritual practice we do is correspondingly more effective even though it is far simpler work than people fortunate enough to be living in “higher” ages are able to do. This is because of the greater resistance; one can think of it as doing body weight training while wearing soaking wet clothing versus the same exercises done while naked.
It becomes clear, then, from even such a cursory examination, that living in kali yuga is neither cause for lamentation nor an excuse for feeling superior. If anything, kali yuga shows just what an even playing field we’re on, spiritually speaking. Only our actions (our karma) determine our position.
I have to admit that I am, and have long been, pretty skeptical of the yuga model. I don’t doubt that we’re in an age of relative spiritual and ethical darkness, but I have yet to be convinced that there was ever an age in which that darkness was lesser rather than merely qualitatively different. But if we are going to talk about kali yuga at all, we had better at least understand what we are talking about in context. I think that, just maybe, instead of worrying so much about great cycles of time which are meaninglessly abstract to our individual lives, we are far better served trying to model sat yuga in our own lives. Maybe that’s how the cycle rolls over from an age of darkness to one of light. And maybe the astronomically massive spans of time used in the yuga model are better taken as symbolic; they tell us that, however deep the darkness, however long it feels, it cannot last because there will always be those, hidden as they may be, working inwardly to alleviate it.