Gifts from Elephants

    This week I have completed some activities which began at Yule. I have indulged in spending a gift card and the items I chose are imbued with elephant energy.
    I love elephants and I have kept only those which are most precious to me and were sufficiently meaningful to be relocated when I moved to Western Quebec from Nova Scotia.
    I have added a Nepalese hand-made cushion and a small brass figure of Ganesha.
    The Hindu deity Ganesha has an elephant head which makes him easy to identify. He is the remover of obstacles; the deva of intellect and wisdom, and patron of letters and learning during writing sessions.
    There is a creation story which says that elephant power issued the first sound: OM, in which all hymns were born. As a focus for meditation, the elephant is a portal to many facets of life, seen and Unseen.
    The ancient power and strength of elephant energy holds the balance between force and kindness, power and beauty.
    Elephant power carries understanding of the limits of physicality. Elephants visit the bones of their dead, showing every sign that they honour memory, and are aware of something beyond the life of the flesh.
    Elephants come together in community for the benefit of all, they show that sharing the care of the young will strengthen the herd. They express affection for the young and the elderly, and they celebrate the wisdom that comes with age and experience.
    The trunk of the elephant is sensitive and gentle enough to manipulate a peanut, strong enough to lift a tree, it grows like an extension of the Third Eye. Pointing down it is a symbol of physical life, sexuality and procreation. Pointing up it links us to the Great Unseen, and provides a connection for our Soul.



    When we make a decision to connect with elephant power we can recognize many metaphors of life. As we shift into a Now that includes Elephant power, and process it mindfully, the lessons are many. The relationship between elephants and mice instructs us that we are never so big that we can ignore what appears small. We can know from their ears that some are from India, some are from Africa, and so we learn that when we use our own ears to listen we should honour the context, and seek to know where the speaker is from.
    The elephant embodies calm majesty that might be possessed by one who is on The Path: one who has discovered the Divinity within the Self.
    Meditating on Elephant invites internal balance as we absorb the lesson that personal connexion to divinity is magnified in a body with the humility to exist with four knees.
    During this season of the Equinox, adding new reminders into my familiar space is a way to deepen my appreciation for all things Elephant, all things Divine.
     
     Jo Leath has been supporting clients through change and growth since the 1980s.
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