The Hindu deity Ganesha is one of the most well known and revered in India. Ganesha is most often pictured as having an elephant head and a buddha body. There are many different myths and stories about how Ganesha came to be.
Ganesha is said to be the son of the god Shiva and goddess Parvarti. Shiva was a very important and busy man who often left his wife alone. Parvarti was lonely so she created a son out of clay and named him Ganesha. When Shiva returned home, he did not know this new being and became angry. So he cut off his head! After he realized what he had done and saw how sad Parvatti was, he tried to make amends. Shiva took the head of a pure being- a white elephant- and placed this elephant head on his son’s body. It is said that an elephant laid down his head as an offering for Shiva.
The energy of Ganesha is said to bring good luck and to remove energetic blocks. He is known as the remover of obstacles, and also is known to place obstacles in our path if we are going in the wrong direction. We can use the energy of Ganesha to help move those human emotions (fear, shame, guilt, anger, grief, feeling not enough) that tend to clutter up our hearts and minds and block the path to peace.
Elephants are very smart, strong, steady and they have emotions similar to humans. The elephant ears represent the ability to listen within, the big trunk represents discernment and the ability to be both strong and gentle. Ganesha is sometimes pictured with a bowl of sweets which represents embracing the sweetness of life.
Chanting to the energy of Ganesha is a tool to remove energetic blocks to inner peace. My favorite version is by Deva Premal. The mantra is chanted 108 times.
“Om Gum Ganapataye Namaha”
This chant translates as: Om: sacred sound of the universe and creation, Gum: the seed sound (beeja mantra) for Ganesha, Ganapataye: another name for Ganesha, Namaha: salutations
Click HERE to hear this chant.