Ganapati Bappa Morya!

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Tomorrow (or today, depending on where you are), September 10, marks

the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi – the birthday of Lord Ganesha.

Ganesh is the son of Parvati, our new Goddess of the Week.

 

According to Hindu myth, Parvati wanted to begin a family, but Shiva

had no interest in children. In spite of Shiva's reluctance, She

decided to conceive a child. She did this in a most unconventional

manner. It consisted of scrubbing Herself in the old Indian method of

bathing, amassing the sloughed-off skin and dirt, blending it with

clay, and shaping the clay into an idol, to which she then gave life.

This was her son, Ganesh.

 

Parvati gave Ganesh the task of guarding the door to her quarters,

and told him not to let any strangers enter. Since he had never seen

Shiva, Ganesh would not allow the God entrance when He came to visit

Parvati's cave. Gravely offended, Shiva decapitated Ganesh. When She

learned of Ganesh's death, Parvati was beside herself with grief. She

threatened to destroy the entire world unless Shiva brought Ganesh

back to life. Shiva consented, and said that he would give Ganesh the

head of the first animal he saw.

 

That animal, as we all know today, was an elephant. Ganesh became

known as the remover of obstacles -- He is the one who can grant you

access to Devi and Her boons. Whenever Hindus start any sort of new

endeavor -- the initiation of prayer, say, or the construction of a

new house -- they invoke Ganesh. Images of Ganesh are often put above

the entrance of homes, where they ward off evil spirits. The patron

saint of eduction, Ganesh typically appears as red, with a swollen

belly, four arms, and a broken tusk, and He rides a rat.

 

A more mystical interpretation of Ganesh further explores his

connection to the Divine Feminine:

 

"Ganesha ... is essentially a feminine symbol. In the Tantric

traditions of India, Ganesha and his swastika are regarded as being

symbolic of the yoni (vulva) of the Great Goddess. The elephant ears

of Ganesha are likened to the lips of the vulva, his trunk is seen as

symbolic of the passageway up to the uterus, and the discharge of

musk from his elephant head glands ... is synonomous with the

intoxicating love-juice exuded by the Goddess. The association of the

elephant with the vulva is also found in the Kama Sutra, in which a

woman with large vulval lips is called a hastini (elephant woman).

 

"The association of the female vulva with Ganesha is underlined by

the central myth of this boy-god, namely his role of guardian of the

door to his mother's bathroom in which she bathes. The bathroom is of

course symbolic of the hidden watery essence of the goddess, with the

doorway being the symbolic vaginal entrance into this domain.

In Indian religious thought, the vulva of the Goddess is seen as the

doorway into her cosmic body and veneration of her yoni (vulva) is an

integral part of Indian religion."

 

Sources:

 

* About the Ganesh Chaturthi celebration:

http://www.blessingsonthenet.com/temple/currfestival.asp?

festivalid=F0694

 

* About Parvati and Ganesh:

http://www.pbs.org/edens/anamalai/master.html

 

* About Ganesh's feminine symbolism:

http://www.swastika.com/india.html