| "To let each impression and each germ of a feeling come to completion wholly in itself, in the dark, in the inexpressible, the unconscious, beyond the reach of one's own intelligence and await with humility and patience the birth-hour of a new clarity."
Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet |
Ganesh
The god of good luck, Ganesh is the son of Shiva and Parvati. Several stories tell how he came to have an elephant's head. In one of the most popular, Parvati wanted a son to guard her from troublesome visitors, so she created Ganesh out of scrapings from her skin and placed him outside her quarters. When Ganesh stopped Parvati's husband Shiva from entering, Shiva cut off Ganesh's head. Parvati was devastated, so Shiva replaced the head with that of the first animal to come along - the elephant. p. 40, Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology
Parvati would stretch out on her bed among heaps of cuhsions and dictate one long story after another. Stories of the world she had never seen. Curled up at her feet, Ganesha wrote them down. He was a fast and tireless scribe. As soon as she had finished, Parvati stroked the broken tusk and kissed his broad and wrinkled forehead. p.115, Roberto Calasso, Ka, Stories of the Mind and Gods of India
Here in the white world, a world made of foam, a world made of snow. I don't know what it's like here. Unfamiliar. I feel anxious. The white god was formed first. I'm not encouraged. It's a struggle to be here. The foam is insubstantial, but it holds its shape. Just like a day. It's not warm. No embroidery, no mirrors, no tassels. It's not red. I'm not attached. It's an entertainment. Just like a day. The guests seem to enjoy it. |