Ganesh

Lately I've been researching the Hindu deity Ganesh, also called Ganesha. He's really interesting, and I think an interesting facet in what makes up what I feel to be one "larger" consciousness. Ganesh is, for all intensive purposes, the god of obstacles. While he removes them, he also places them; usually to teach a lesson. For example, if everything was running smoothly on a research paper and then all of a sudden you couldn't find the last two resources you needed, it could be said by some that Ganesh was trying to teach you something, perhaps that sometimes in life we have to look in unlikely spots to find what we need, and that doing so requires an opened mind.
And the idea of Ganesh 'teaching' goes right in line with the fact that he presides over higher education, which in my little realm of existence would mean college. In fact, one of his names is Buddhipriya, the "husband of learning".
Also, Ganesh is associated with the sound 'aum', which in some divisions of Hinduism it is said that "AUM is the reflection of the absolute reality, it is said to be "Adi Anadi", without beginning or the end and embracing all that exists. The mantra "AUM" is the name of God, the vibration of the Supreme."

I find it very interesting that in Hinduism, the 'first' deity is manifested physically in sound, which suggests to me that people thousands and thousand of years ago saw sound as a physical thing, even though you can't really touch acoustic energy being propagated via air particles. huh.

anyhow,

Ganesh is also associated with the first chakra, muladhara. "The First Chakra, Muladhara or root chakra is related to instinct, security, survival and also to basic human potentiality. This center is located in the perineum, which is the region between the genital and the anus. Although no endocrine organ is placed here, it is said to relate to the gonads and the adrenal medulla, responsible for the fight-or-flight response when survival is under threat. There is a muscle located in this region that controls ejaculation in the sexual act of the human male. A parallel is charted between the sperm cell and the ovum where the genetic code lies coiled and the kundalini. Muladhara is symbolized by a lotus with four petals and the colour red. Key issues involve sexuality, lust and obsession. Physically, Muladhara governs sexuality, mentally it governs stability, emotionally it governs sensuality, and spiritually it governs a sense of security"

I think that its interesting that a god of higher education, often considered to be based heavily on logic, is associated to a chakra of gut feelings and intuition, which is often thought to be illogical.

anyways. that's just the surface.

anyways, I think he's really cool.