G is for Ganesh

I'm 5 days early as far as the Pagan Blog Project prompting is concerned but I'm in the middle of a big move so I'd rather be early than super late...

Ganesh (aka Ganesha or Ganesa, Ganapati, Vinayaka, Pillaiyar) is one of my Patron deities and is one I go to whenever I have a goal I want to achieve of a change that I desire in my life. He is known as the Lord of Beginnings or Lord of Obstacles.

Ganesh is the son of Shiva and Parvati. He is depicted as having the head of an elephant, which sets him apart from the other Hindu gods. How he obtained the elephant head is up for debate as it seems each story of his conception has a different way of explaining it. Some say he was born with it, some say he was born with a human head that disintegrated due to the evil eye or was cut off. Some stories and depictions even show him with multiple elephant heads. Either way, he obtained the elephant head and it, along with his big belly are very distinctive.
Ganesh is shown in many poses. Sometimes he is with his family, other times alone. He is shown standing, dancing, fighting demons, reclining, playing, sitting, elevated, holding a number of objects to show his many aspects, etc. So many depictions and views reflect the fact that Ganesh is one of the most recognizable and widely worshiped deities in the world.

I was first introduced to Ganesh by my dear friend Edward. He suggested I do a mantra to Ganesh 108 times a day for 108 days with a specific goal in mind. I did so and counted the days. To aid my mantra I used a string of rose beads I had bought at an antique store months before that had 110 beads exactly on it. These became my prayer beads.
108 days later of continuous mantras - my goal came through. Not only did it work automatically, Ganesh became an important symbol and figure in my life and I now go to him for any goal and new path I want to take.


I later had a dream of Ganesh. He was truly so large I could not comprehend him. His size was not all that was large about him, his very presence would bowl you over. It was one of the most intense and realistic dreams I ever had. He was golden in color and such a happy, mellow vibe came off of him. I'll remember the dream for as long as I live.


Ganesh Mantra Videos

Traditional Ganesh mantra with beautiful video by Sonu Nigam


Techno mantra (my favorite)

Random Meme Monday

Spring is in the Air

I took some pictures yesterday in the garden. I won't get to see it in full bloom this year as I'll be moving at the end of this month but I'm glad I got to see it as it is now, still a lil wild with daffodils and dandelions bloomin'

The Witch's Tea Party/Birthday Party

So I had to, for sake of time, combine my Witch's Tea Party with my friend's birthday party - which she was all for and loved the idea.

I baked the cake and did a few of the decorations.

The little witch hat candy bowls were my friend's party favors for us ^_^

Its me all pretty in my lace hat ^_^

31 Days of Samhain: an over view 11-18

Since I've missed 13 days of the 31 Days of Samhain fun posted by Salem Witch Child...I'll do an overview of some of the posts in the next few blog posts. I don't have kids, so I wont be doing the posts regarding them and I don't put my cat in costumes so I'm skipping Day 15 as well...
That leaves...

Day 11: What's your favorite recipe for Samhain Dinner?
Pumpkin pie of course but there are a few other pumpkin recipes I would like to try and share, most are from
www.PumpkinRecipes.org including
Pumpkin Curry
Pumpkin Stuffed with sausage - I would use a sweet and spicy sausage for this, preferably one that was apple smoked...mmm

And this recipe is not form that website: Pumpkin Risotto


Day 12: How do you celebrate Samhain/Halloween?

I normally go to a party or a club night thats local (there's usually one in Knoxville, TN that has a good goth crowd for Halloween). This year I'm hosting a birthday party for a friend of mine in Halloween style - a Witch's Tea Party ^_^ I'll also be making the cake

For the Samhain part of that, I celebrate alone. I normally set up a small altar, thank my ancestors, specifically my Aunt Venus and my great-grandmother Bertha and my grandfather Walter.
I ask for guidance form the Crone, my patron, and do some divination for the coming year.


Day 13: Favorite Halloween Movie

Oooo...thats tough as I am a major horror movie fan...
I suppose i would choose Nightmare on Elm Street (original), Pet Cemetery 2, Salem's Lot, Dracula...yea i can't pick one...sorry

Day 14: Favorite Costumes for Adults:

I will say I love group costumes

Day 17: What's your favorite scary monster?

Day 18: What God/dess do you invoke on Samhain?

The Crone. She is my patron deity and has been with me since birth. I dedicated my divination to her since i was 14, when she showed herself to me.

More to come in next post...

31 Days of Samhain: Day 8 (belated)

Day 8: What sorts of things do you put on your Samhain altar?

Sadly, my altars are usually pretty sparse and simple, so this post won't be all that elaborate.

For Samhain, I am usually alone in my celebration and will decorate either a blanket on the floor or a small table with black candles in candle holders, a small pumpkin, maybe some maple leaves, a pentacle, my athame, and a black bowl with water for scrying. Also available will be the ritual written out on parchment nearby for me to work off of.

Sorry for the simple and short post. In order to make this post a little more pleasing to read, I'll include some photos of beautiful Samhain altars I've found through a search engine.

31 Days of Samhain: Day 6 and 7 (belated)

I am skipping Day 6: If you're a parent, how do you involve your children in Samhain celebration? as I do not have any children of my own, yet.

Day 7: What is your favorite design for a jack-o-lantern?

I actually prefer nicely painted pumpkins to jack-o-lanterns as they last much longer than carved. I've painted most of my own, though I sadly have no pictures of these.

I will show some carved jack-o-lanterns I like though for the sake of having an aesthetically pleasing blog post ^_^

31 Days of Samhain Day 4 (belated)

Day 4: A favorite picture that represents Samhain

I couldn't choose...BUT I did find an old post by witchy woman, Celtic Lady that list several Samhain-y pics that feature the Crone along with a good article about her HERE. The crone is a patron deity of my own and I love to celebrate her this time of the year.

I hope that satisfies (^_^) <- my attempt at a jack-o-lantern smiley.

Pagan Prompts: Artwork (Body Art)

For the Pagan Prompt I thought I would do something a little different and share some Pagan Bodyart that I found appealing and inspiring:

I just love the coloring!

Very simple but beautiful

Gorgeous tree work

I just love this one, its like the YinYang gone Wiccan

I love the whimsy of this one, makes me want one similar to it