Advent Calendar:5th Day of Christmas-Guardian Angels or Ishq Devata

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On this 5th day of Christmas on all my blogs I am talking about angels in some form or fashion. To me the equivalent of angels in Hinduism is devata(s). (I'm making a Hinglish work there by pluralizing devata but you get my drift.) The rough translation of devata into English is deity. And then here's the thing like many Hindi-English translations I encounter...because I grew up in a culture or religion I know the word in its original language (Sanskrit/Hindi)and practice but by the time it makes it to English well although English is my mother tongue I am clueless! Clueless I tell you as to what it means! I often see this word deity and deities being used to refer to things in Hinduism and goodness I haven't a clue what it means! So here it is according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary the English word deity means:

'Deity-1 a: the rank or essential nature of a god : divinity bcapitalized : god 1 , supreme being2: a god or goddess 3: one exalted or revered as supremely good or powerful'

And according to the Hindupedia a devata or deity is
Devata

By Shankara Bharadwaj Khandavalli

'Devata or deity is a multifaceted concept in Sanatana Dharma. There are very many different aspects of devata. Apart from object of worship, devata is a symbol representing different things in different forms of knowledge.

Commonly we see that devatas are described as having consorts, weapons and vehicles. And they have number of heads, hands and feet. They are also associated with different sets of numbers. All these have different meanings in different senses, when we talk of different aspects of the devata. Some of the symbols become more important or less important based on the aspect we are talking of.

Then there are different likes and dislikes for each devata. Not having a form and qualities in the human sense, likes and dislikes do not apply to devata the way they apply to humans. They represent methods that make the devata easily reachable or in other words, they are the means to realize the devata.'

So here is the thing as a girl taking part in Universal Collective Prayer I personally find that to me a devata can also be like an angel. And since I was a girl born into Hinduism and growing up in it I've been told (dunno according to the astrological charts of Vedic culture or this or that)...that my ishq devata is Ganesh...Ganapati! Now ishq means love and so in this case it can also roughly be translated then that my beloved devata or my much loved one...or how I see it...my guardian angel is...Ganapati! But in practice I like to play around with all of them...had a crush on Krishna:)...hug Hanuman Baba all the time when I see him bowing with such humility at the feet of Shri Ram and then always ask him for his strength when needed too...such a strong monkey he is! :) Then, with much respect and reverence and to be honest sometimes awesome fear I sit at the feet of Shiv and become a Shiv Bhakt learning the ideas of meditation straight from the super one himself...my super yogi..and so I become a Shiv Bhakt then...But yep officially I'm supposed to be giggling about and playing with my belly giggling, ladoo munching elephant headed incredibly wise friend-Ganapati the most! He is the ishq one for me! :) He is nice too though so don't mind but I like to practise free love and so like that I can move from one to the next...and can even be seen hanging out with the guardian angels of the Catholics...after all I only answer one call and that is the one for Universal Collective Prayer! :)


According to the Catholics and their Catholic encyclopedia New Advent:
'Guardian Angel

That every individual soul has a guardian angel has never been defined by the Church, and is, consequently, not an article of faith; but it is the "mind of the Church", as St. Jerome expressed it: "how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it." (Comm. in Matt., xviii, lib. II).
This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity; pagans, like Menander and Plutarch (cf. Eusebius, "Praep. Evang.", xii), and Neo-Platonists, like Plotinus, held it. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians, as their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, says: "He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub) of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed."
In the Bible this doctrine is clearly discernible and its development is well marked. In Genesis 28-29, angels not only act as the executors of God's wrath against the cities of the plain, but they deliver Lot from danger; in Exodus 12-13, an angel is the appointed leader of the host of Israel, and in 32:34, God says to Moses: "my angel shall go before thee." At a much later period we have the story of Tobias, which might serve for a commentary on the words of Psalm 90:11: "For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways." (Cf. Psalm 33:8 and 34:5) Lastly, in Daniel 10 angels are entrusted with the care of particular districts; one is called "prince of the kingdom of the Persians", and Michael is termed "one of the chief princes"; cf. Deuteronomy 32:8 (Septuagint); and Ecclesiasticus 17:17 (Septuagint).
This sums up the Old Testament doctrine on the point; it is clear that the Old Testament conceived of God's angels as His ministers who carried out his behests, and who were at times given special commissions, regarding men and mundane affairs. There is no special teaching; the doctrine is rather taken for granted than expressly laid down; cf. 2 Maccabees 3:25; 10:29; 11:6; 15:23.
But in the New Testament the doctrine is stated with greater precision. Angels are everywhere the intermediaries between God and man; and Christ set a seal upon the Old Testament teaching: "See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10). A twofold aspect of the doctrine is here put before us: even little children have guardian angels, and these same angels lose not the vision of God by the fact that they have a mission to fulfil on earth.
Without dwelling on the various passages in the New Testament where the doctrine of guardian angels is suggested, it may suffice to mention the angel who succoured Christ in the garden, and the angel who delivered St. Peter from prison. Hebrews 1:14 puts the doctrine in its clearest light: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?" This is the function of the guardian angels; they are to lead us, if we wish it, to the Kingdom of Heaven.
St. Thomas teaches us (Summa Theologica I:113:4) that only the lowest orders of angels are sent to men, and consequently that they alone are our guardians, though Scotus and Durandus would rather say that any of the members of the angelic host may be sent to execute the Divine commands. Not only the baptized, but every soul that cometh into the world receives a guardian spirit; St. Basil, however (Homily on Psalm 43), and possibly St. Chrysostom (Homily 3 on Colossians) would hold that only Christians were so privileged. Our guardian angels can act upon our senses (I:111:4) and upon our imaginations (I:111:3) -- not, however, upon our wills, except "per modum suadentis", viz. by working on our intellect, and thus upon our will, through the senses and the imagination. (I:106:2; and I:111:2). Finally, they are not separated from us after death, but remain with us in heaven, not, however, to help us attain salvation, but "ad aliquam illustrationem" (I:108:7, ad 3am). '

So I guess you can see why my only call is to that of Universal Collective Prayer because sounds kinda similar in some way no?:)

Thing is whatever their origin, look or place of being I like to play and pray with them and learn from them and for sure I feel them about and I really do think they protect me daily! :) 'Love is all around me and so the feeling grows...it's written on the wind its everywhere I go':)...and because my mum and I watched 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' together last night and this YouTube clip is exactly 4:44 long as in 4 mins and 44 secs and some people say it is the number when our guardian angels are around us! :) Here it is Wet, Wet, Wet singing 'Love is All Around!' and I bet angels and ishq devatas are too! ;)