Today marks the beginning of the Festival of Ganesha in Hindu culture. The festival, celebrating the birthday of Lord Ganesha, begins September 9 (this year) and lasts for up to 10 days. Ganesha is prayed to for wisdom, inner spiritual strength and success in all undertakings. After 10 days of dancing, feasting and revelry the Ganesha idols are carried to a body of water and submerged; symbolically seeing Ganesha off as he returns to his home taking all the worries and woes of man with him.
If you want to celebrate this time, decorate your alter in red. Swath it in red cloth and flowers. Place a statue or image of Ganesha on your alter. Add other items that hold meaning to you of success, prosperity and wisdom. Leave offerings of coconut and sweet pudding.
For the Kitchen Witches and Witchlings - you may want to try the traditional nan khatai biscuit recipe.
Ingredients
- 1/3 of a cup of plain flour
- 1/3 of a cup of semolina
- Half a cup of gram flour
- Pinch of baking soda
- 1/4 of a teaspoon of coarse cardamom powder
- Half a cup of unsalted butter
- 2/3 of a cup of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon of sliced pistachios
- Pre-heat your oven to 375F/190C.
- Mix the plain flour, gram flour, semolina, baking soda and cardamom powder in a large bowl, and set aside.
- Beat the butter (it helps if it’s warmed to room temperature first) and sugar in a small bowl, until it’s light and fluffy.
- Add the butter and sugar to the flour mixture, and knead into a dough.
- Divide the dough into 24 equal parts, and roll into balls, then flatten slightly with your palms.
- With a knife, mark squares into the surface of each piece of dough by drawing 2 horizontal lines and 2 vertical lines. Place the almonds and pistachios into each of these squares.
- Bake the dough on a greased baking tin for 12 – 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool, then serve.
Short essay on ganesh chaturthi festival in India by Atul Josh
For the multi-religious/spiritual family - take some time when reading the creation/birth story of Ganesha. I began this discussion in my previous article, 'Raising Witchlings: How to Introduce your Children to the Craft'. See any similarities with Christian mythology? Being created from dust (Adam)...sacrificed and resurrected to be worshiped as a god (Jesus), or the other birth story where his brother caused his death (ummm...Cain and Abel possibly) and resurrection by his father the god Vishnu (back to Jesus). There are innumerable similarities to find. I personally prefer the much older Christian mythology that states that BOTH man and woman were created in the image of God - at the same time. Thus showing that 'God' is in fact the embodiment of both the masculine and feminine. But that's another article all together...(coming soon to blogs and message boards near you!)
I don't point this out in order to 'stick it' to Christianity. I've always been fascinated by the evolution of religions. This is just one of the many mythologies that reflects this evolution in religious stories and beliefs. We have a great opportunity for teaching our children that regardless of the path, we all have similarities. What matters most is that we find the path that speaks to our souls, that we learn that coexistence is possible (and in fact, preferable by ANY God/Goddess/Saint/Angel or any other creative power or religious/spiritual being you can name - that includes human beings and all of creation), and in the end we are all trying to answer the same questions, we are all trying to seek our own unique form of nirvana. Use this holiday as a teaching tool for yourself, your family members and your children.
May Ganesha remove all obstacles to your spiritual growth and prosperity in the year to come!
Brightest Blessings!
the Witchy Writer
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