Unknown Kiwi

My all time favorite god is Ganesha — the elephant-deity riding a mouse. He has become one of the commonest mnemonics for anything associated with Hinduism. This not only suggests the importance of Ganesha, but also shows how popular and pervasive this deity Is in the minds of the masses. I love love love love love this deity. He means so much to me on such a personal level.. He’s really what keeps me going when times get rough, being that he is the destroyer of obstacles. His strength really encourages me to be as strong as I can be in every day life. Below, you find exactly what Ganesha stands for, how he got his elephant head, and what the symbolism surrounding him stands for. I really hope you enjoy his presence as much as I do.

The Lord of Success
The son of Shiva and Parvati, Ganesha has an elephantine countenance with a
curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. He
is the Lord of success and destroyer of evils and obstacles. He is also worshipped
as the god of education, knowledge, wisdom and wealth. In fact, Ganesha is one
of the five prime Hindu deities (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Durga being the other
four).

Ganesha’s head symbolizes the Atman or the soul, which is the ultimate
supreme reality of human existence, and his human body signifies Maya
or the earthly existence of human beings. The elephant head denotes wisdom and
its trunk represents Om, the sound symbol of cosmic
reality. In his upper right hand Ganesha holds a goad, which helps him propel
mankind forward on the eternal path and remove obstacles from the way. The noose
in Ganesha’s left hand is a gentle implement to capture all difficulties.
The broken tusk that Ganesha holds like a pen in his lower right hand is a
symbol of sacrifice, which he broke for writing the Mahabharata.
The rosary in his other hand suggests that the pursuit of knowledge should be
continuous. The laddoo (sweet) he holds in his trunk indicates that one
must discover the sweetness of the Atman. His fan-like ears convey that
he is all ears to our petition. The snake that runs round his waist represents
energy in all forms. And he is humble enough to ride the lowest of creatures,
a mouse.

How Ganesha Got His Head

The story of the birth of this zoomorphic deity, as depicted in the Shiva
Purana, goes like this: Once goddess Parvati, while bathing, created a boy
out of the dirt of her body and assigned him the task of guarding the entrance
to her bathroom. When Shiva, her husband returned, he was surprised to find
a stranger denying him access, and struck off the boy’s head in rage. Parvati
broke down in utter grief and to soothe her, Shiva sent out his squad (gana)
to fetch the head of any sleeping being who was facing the north. The company
found a sleeping elephant and brought back its severed head, which was then
attached to the body of the boy. Shiva restored its life and made him the leader
(pati) of his troops. Hence his name ‘Ganapati’. Shiva also bestowed
a boon that people would worship him and invoke his name before undertaking
any venture.

However, there’s another less popular story of his origin, found in the Brahma
Vaivarta Purana: Shiva asked Parvati to observe the punyaka vrata
for a year to appease Vishnu in order to have a son. When a son was born to
her, all the gods and goddesses assembled to rejoice
on its birth. Lord Shani, the son of Surya (Sun-God), was also present but he
refused to look at the infant. Perturbed at this behaviour, Parvati asked him
the reason, and Shani replied that his looking at baby would harm the newborn.
However, on Parvati’s insistence when Shani eyed the baby, the child’s head
was severed instantly. All the gods started to bemoan, whereupon Vishnu hurried
to the bank of river Pushpabhadra and brought back the head of a young elephant,
and joined it to the baby’s body, thus reviving it.

Ganesha is also the destroyer of vanity, selfishness and pride. He is the personification
of material universe in all its various magnificent manifestations. “All
Hindus worship Ganesha regardless of their sectarian belief,” says D N
Singh in A Study of Hinduism. “He is both the beginning of the religion
and the meeting ground for all Hindus.”

This week I figured that I would do something that hit close to home for me.

B is for Belial.

I will start with explaining exactly who Belial is. Before I go any further I want to state that I no longer believe that Belial is real, nor am I satanic in any way shape or form. Considering the fact that I don’t believe in Satan, Hell, Babylon, etc. it would be rather pointless for me to worship or believe these things. 

ACCORDING TO THE SATANIC BIBLE…
It’s stated in The Satanic Bible, written by Anton Szander Lavey, ”Belial means “without a master”, and symbolizes true independence, self-sufficiency, and personal accomplishment. Belial represents the earth element.” This supposed creature stands for the carnal side of man. Any form of  pleasure, sex, lust, the will to live and to make said living worthwhile. Belial is supposedly unrestrained by law or morality; lawless; immoral; dissolute; lewd; lascivious, Unrestrained; uncurbed; uncontrolled; unruly; riotous; ungovernable; wanton; profligate; dissolute; lax; loose; sensual; impure; unchaste; lascivious; immoral, dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure. From what I have come to understand, he is the most “boring” of the four crown princes(Satan, Lucifer, Leviathan, and Belial). Lavey is obscure in Belials past, so no one really knows much about him.

ACCORDING TO CHRISTIAN MYTHOLOGY DICTIONARY OF DEMONS

“The name Belial is taken from the Hebrew for ‘worthless one’ (e.g. 1 Samuel 10:27, 2 Corin. 6:15). Arguing from such references, theologians are inclined to see Belial as merely one of the many faces of Satan. The references in Judges 19:22 and the like have led to the suggestion that Belial is merely the tutelary spirit of licentiousness. Certainly in modern day demonology at least he has been transformed to fit Milton’s vision of him as the most lewd demon in Pandaemonium, as well as being representative of Sloth. Among the schoolmen of the medieval period it was argued (on slender evidence) that Belial was one of the fallen Virtues.In popular demonologies this is the demon who is said to have been created immediately after Lucifer himself; he appears as an angel in a fiery chariot, but his intention is to deceive all, including those who conjure him.He is one of the seventy-two Spirits of Solomon and, as one of the Enochian Demons, he is described as a ‘King, appearing as a beautiful angel … speaking fair, distributing prefrements … ‘In popular modern use the ‘sons of Belial’ are lawless or rebellious people, probably a reference to Deuteronomy 13. In the poetry of William Blake Belial remains a god, linked specifically with the horrors of Sodom and Gomorrha, an ‘obscure Demon of Bribes and secret Assassinations’ (Milton f.37 1. 30) - a somewhat personalized view of this favorite of the grimoires.””Dictionary of Demons”  by Fred Gettings (1988)

Now, these are just two different viewpoints that I found when researching. You can certainly do your own research, and find more, or even find different sources and info than what I have. I figured that it would be pretty beneficial for those of you reading to have a little knowledge before hand of what/who this Belial character is. Here comes the fun part. 

When I was younger, about 14, I attended a baptist church every Sunday. I was still pretty torn on my beliefs, like any typical teenager at that point in time. While attending church I met a guy named Neko, and we started dating. He was the first person to introduce me to what he called paganism. As time went on, things seemed to get weird. First, people were following him. He lived in a wooded area, and people would be “watching” him from just behind the tree line. Then things gradually progressed to him holding saonces. Not too weird right? Just a paranoid kid who likes to talk to dead people. No big deal. Well, things steadily progressed. He supposedly started “killing” the people that were following him; they were out to get him and it was either his life  or theirs. Then, there was this necklace that he called the Saber Tooth. It was a carved tooth mounted beneath a silver Saber cats head. The weird thing about it, was that when it was made someone had carved 666 into the Saber cats mouth. He told me that no matter what he did, he couldnt get rid of it. By this point I was pretty freaked out. I didnt know what to do about all of this information that was being pumped into my naive little head. Just when I thought it couldnt get worse….it did. One night after church, I told Neko of an unusual experience that I had when I was younger( I won’t go into detail, but I now believe that i saw a spirit). He immeadiately looked at me, and simply stated “You’re it”. I shot him a confused look and he proceeded to tell me. ” You’re the one he’s been looking for. You have been marked.” I swear to the gods, my eyes would’ve popped out of my head if it were possible. He went on to tell me that Belial was coming for me; that he wanted to take me as his queen. I shit you not. I was terrified.

A few weeks later, upon further inspection, it came to light that Neko was suffering from a mental condition called Schizoeffective bipolar disorder. Schizoaffective bipolar disorder has the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenia in varying severity, but also has the manic-depressive mood swings of all types of bipolar disorder. 

Long story short, a crazy, creepy ex-boyfriend of mine scared to dog snot out of me by telling me that I was basically Belials princess. 

Way to go for personal experiences. :)

Happy reading!

Hey followers…I just wanted to apologize for not being able to post for the past couple of weeks. Now that I’m getting into a rhythm with work, your dashboards might end up spammed with all of my posts lol.

Happy reading :)

Silver Ravenwolfs “To ride a Silver Broomstick” 

This was my first book that I read as part of this reading challenge. Personally I felt that this was a good choice for the simple fact that the author is so controversial. This book, written by a Wiccan, is just that: a book written by a Wiccan. It’s a book for beginners, starting at the basics and touching on many different topics. Where Ravenwolf touches on many topics, there are a few that she definitely could’ve improved on, such as her record keeping section. She provides reasons why it’s important and gives an example of ONE way to keep records, and then goes on to tell the reader to invent a way of their own if they don’t like hers. I’m sorry, personally I feel that if I were beginning my Wiccan path, I would want more than one way of doing things. I would want EXAMPLES. At least more than one. Also, she is very short in her references. She doesn’t really provide (in my opinion) adequate lists, charts, and compilations for her info; to be honest it’s quite disappointing. 

Another issue that I have is the fact that she’s all about the “Threefold Law” and living in light and love. If you believe that, then great. I’m extremely happy for you. However personally I don’t feel like there is any way for there to be good without the presence of bad. Can you honestly tell me that if your family was in jeopardy and they were being threatened, that you wouldn’t do anything about it? You would just turn the other cheek? I  call bullshit.. There can’t be a yin without a yang. She encourages positivity, which is a good thing, but she also inflates the readers head causing the reader to feel as if they know more about Wicca in general than even the elder members. The thought that light, love, and peace is the only route no matter what has caused people to deem the new comers who take her word to heart as “fluffy bunnies”. 

And while we are on the subject of “Fluffy bunnies” I would just like to say that I think the term is very derogatory; especially coming from a group of people (pagans in general) that strive for acceptance. We strive to be understood and accepted by people of other religions yet we can’t accept the people that follow our own?  It’s THIS type of disjointed thought that’s causing rifts in the pagan community! I don’t understand how people in our community don’t see that! Now please, don’t get me wrong. I know that some can be very over bearing, egotistical, and down right shitty, but that’s no reason..NO REASON.. To be derogatory. Flowing on into the next topic… I also feel that Ravenwolf encourages stereotypical thinking among new comers. One of the first things she says in “To Ride A Silver Broomstick” (pg xv. Of the intro, paragraph 1) states “It is an accurate statement that the followers of witchcraft do not usually prostelytize, which means you aren’t going to find us standing on your local corner, thumping our Books of Shadows. Nor do you have to worry about jumping out of the shower to answer our serene and smiling faces at the door with your clothes stuck to various uncomfortable places on your wet body.” 
I’m sorry but for someone who preaches love and light that sure does sound like a shot at Christianity. 

To sum things up, I feel like Silver Ravenwolf  does provide some good information (even though it’s not as extensive as it should be). However, I feel that her influences, contradictory statements, and one sided preaching out weigh the benefits of the information. I would not recommend this book to anyone other than a well seasoned pagan that knows that some things presented should be taken with a grain of salt.

Sorry Silver, but I just can’t bring myself to ride this particular broomstick with you.