Ganesha: A Universally Loved Archetype
One of the most universally loved and recognized archetypes found in the various world cultures is the archetype of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of Hinduism. Ganesha is known as The Remover of Obstacles. Ganesha is invoked before beginning any activity, to remove all possible obstacles – seen and unseen, known and unknown, internal and external, spiritual and material, now and in the future. Those who connect with Ganesha will offer him devotion through prayers and a food offering. In return, Ganesha will bless the devotee by clearing their path of obstacles to whatever they are experiencing in their life.
I do not come from a Hindu background, but over the years through trips to various museums, Asian and Indian restaurants, Tibetan craft stores, through my own reading and study, and through a trip to India with Dr. Pillai, I have become familiar with the image of the archetype Ganesha. Because of his distinct likeness, an elephant head on the body of a man, he is hard to miss. I had been curious about seeing this elephant headed god ranging across so many distinct cultural borders. More recently, through the work of Dr. Pillar, I have become familiar with yet another Ganesha connection, this time with the archetypes found in Ancient Egypt.
During a recent trip to Egypt with some of his students, Dr. Pillar deepened his own connection with many of the archetypes of Ancient Egypt. One of the Ancient Egyptian archetypes that Dr. Pillai connected with during the trip, was Jehuti, who is also known as Thoth. According to Dr. Pillai, Jehuti or Thoth, who has the body of a man and the head of an Ibis, is also Ganesha When you see the images of Jehuti and consider that He is the same as Ganesha, the beak of the Ibis curving back under the head reminds one very strongly of the trunk of Ganesha. It is very interesting to see the connection between the various archetypes, across so many cultures. Through this study, you can begin to see deeper connections between the many aspects of the archetypes, for instance there are many aspects of the Divine Mother – Mother Mary, Isis, Parvati, Durga, Kali, just to name a few.
Ganesha’s Birthday is coming up in early September (September 10 in North America and September 11 in India). One of Dr Pillai’s teachings is to celebrate. Dr. Pillai’s Mind Science Center in Chennai, India is celebrating this exciting festival with some unique offerings for creating a joyous connection with this archetype:
I like the connections you make between the Egyptian archetypes and the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Lord Ganesha is my favorite Hindu Deity. His birthday is elaborately celebrated for a weekat the Ganesha temple in Flushing. I think their website is The Hindu Temple of North America or Ganesha Temple, Bowne Street, Flushing.