Guest guest Posted July 22, 2002 Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 The Hindu calendar is Lunar. Each month begins with the New Moon. Because 12 Lunar months is considerably less than 365 days, every 2nd or 3rd year, a 13th month is added. Ganesha's Birthday is celebrated on the fourth day after the New Moon beginning the month of Bhadrapada, which often occurs around August, but not always. The numbers associated with Ganesha are 4, and multiples of 4. 8 symbolizes the swastika, which has four arms, each of which is bent in two. In the Puranas, there is a list of 16 sacred names of Ganapati (Ganesha); and another source doubles this list to 32 names. Note that all these numbers are multiples of 4. In some numerological systems, 4 is sacred to planet/ element Earth. Ganesha rules the root chakra, associated with the Earth element. Other systems see 4 as sacred to Rahu, the Moon's north node which causes eclipses. Rahu was beheaded, as was the divine child of Parvati who eventually was given an elephant's head and became Ganesha. -- Len/ Kalipadma On Fri, 19 Jul 2002 22:19:33 -0000 "aqesa" <aqesa writes: > I thought Ganesha´s number was the 8 and that maybe August was his > birthday month but I haven´t checked out there...can anyone give > some > feedback? > > Thanks very much beloved friends in the path > ______________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2002 Report Share Posted July 22, 2002 The numbers associated with Ganesha are 4, and multiples of 4. 8 symbolizes the swastika, which has four arms, each of which is bent in two. In the Puranas, there is a list of 16 sacred names of Ganapati (Ganesha); and another source doubles this list to 32 names. Note that all these numbers are multiples of 4. Nice to see your great observations there. It's funny how in ancient Greek myth the god Hermes, or the Roman Mercury was considered the lord of gates and doors and was worshipped before other Gods, just like Ganesha. His holiday was on the 4th day of a lunar month and he was worshipped at crossroads (4) given offerings of money and sweets. His symbol was the Caduceus which is now known popularly as a symbol of medicine. It is a rod with two serpents entwined about it. This perfectly symbolises the three nadi's Ida Sushumna and Pingala. I studied Voudou for awhile and in their system you must first worship Legba whose number is 4!!! He is left offerings at crossroads and is said to transcend duality being the lord of Loa (angels) and the Demons. All belief-systems ultimately show the same trends. The energy is the same although the names and forms may be different, but not by much! Ganesha himself obviously shows us to transcend duality in how he is both the Elephant (great) and the Mouse (small) he weilds both the Noose (restraint) and the Goad (action) When we free ourselves from the limitations of clinging to false personalty traits, mental habits and such we can become anything we want because truly we are free. I feel that when I invoke Ganesha I tap into this formless aspect of myself which knows no limit. Then, if I invoke another God it is easy to unite with that God! Ganesha does indeed open the gates for us. The number 4 like the Swastika, his holy symbol leads us back to the center of all things. It is a perfectly balanced number and to unite with the divine, I feel it would be important to connect with the divine in all things and be perfectly balanced ourselves. For me at least, Ganesha shows a way to that balance. Just some thoughts............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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