Fertility Idols

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I'm no expert on Hinduism- is Ganesh typically invoked for fertility?

Ganesh is about removing obstacles, not fertility. For instance, it's common for Hindus to have a Ganesh idol on their dashboard in order to get them out of traffic jams.

Infertility might be seen as an obstacle:

"Let us praise Lord Ganesh;
 He is the one whose mother is Goddess Parvati
 and father is Lord Mahadeva (Shiva)
 He is Ek dant - one who is single toothed
 He is dayavant - the one who is kind and merciful
 He is char bhuja dhari - one who has four hands
 He is the one who always bears tilak on his forehead
 and can ride even a mouse;
 Let us praise Lord Ganesh.

He is the one who blesses blind with vision and diseased with healthier skin;
 He blesses Infertile with children and loves and cares [for] poor people.
 Let us praise Lord Ganesh."

I really hope some of our Protestant friends don't read the last post and get what can only be described as a really bad idea of how Orthodox Christians (at the very least as a whole) feel about prayers to Ganesha, Apollo, the Tooth Fairy...

I don't think anyone here is advocating prayers to non-Christian Deities, but simply describing in what ways Ganesh is venerated.

We're Protestant, not dumb. I've been following that convo for a while and I understand what they meant.

[sprtslvr1973]

I'm no expert on Hinduism- is Ganesh typically invoked for fertility?

Ganesh is about removing obstacles, not fertility. For instance, it's common for Hindus to have a Ganesh idol on their dashboard in order to get them out of traffic jams.

Infertility might be seen as an obstacle:

"Let us praise Lord Ganesh;
 He is the one whose mother is Goddess Parvati
 and father is Lord Mahadeva (Shiva)
 He is Ek dant - one who is single toothed
 He is dayavant - the one who is kind and merciful
 He is char bhuja dhari - one who has four hands
 He is the one who always bears tilak on his forehead
 and can ride even a mouse;
 Let us praise Lord Ganesh.

He is the one who blesses blind with vision and diseased with healthier skin;
 He blesses Infertile with children and loves and cares [for] poor people.
 Let us praise Lord Ganesh."

I really hope some of our Protestant friends don't read the last post and get what can only be described as a really bad idea of how Orthodox Christians (at the very least as a whole) feel about prayers to Ganesha, Apollo, the Tooth Fairy...

I don't think anyone here is advocating prayers to non-Christian Deities, but simply describing in what ways Ganesh is venerated.

We're Protestant, not dumb. I've been following that convo for a while and I understand what they meant.

I never meant to insuate the Protestants were dumb; rather that some people would think that we fall into the "many ways to God" heresey

[brandb]

I'm no expert on Hinduism- is Ganesh typically invoked for fertility?

Ganesh is about removing obstacles, not fertility. For instance, it's common for Hindus to have a Ganesh idol on their dashboard in order to get them out of traffic jams.

Infertility might be seen as an obstacle:

"Let us praise Lord Ganesh;
 He is the one whose mother is Goddess Parvati
 and father is Lord Mahadeva (Shiva)
 He is Ek dant - one who is single toothed
 He is dayavant - the one who is kind and merciful
 He is char bhuja dhari - one who has four hands
 He is the one who always bears tilak on his forehead
 and can ride even a mouse;
 Let us praise Lord Ganesh.

He is the one who blesses blind with vision and diseased with healthier skin;
 He blesses Infertile with children and loves and cares [for] poor people.
 Let us praise Lord Ganesh."

I really hope some of our Protestant friends don't read the last post and get what can only be described as a really bad idea of how Orthodox Christians (at the very least as a whole) feel about prayers to Ganesha, Apollo, the Tooth Fairy...

I don't think anyone here is advocating prayers to non-Christian Deities, but simply describing in what ways Ganesh is venerated.

We're Protestant, not dumb. I've been following that convo for a while and I understand what they meant.

I never meant to insuate the Protestants were dumb; rather that some people would think that we fall into the "many ways to God" heresey

Fair enough.

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OrthodoxChristianity.net > Moderated Forums > Orthodox-Other Christian Discussion > Orthodox-Protestant Discussion (Moderator: PeterTheAleut) > Topic: Fertility Idols