God Series: Episode 6-God as Water!

Meady's Musings Production 2008

We return to the elements once more on the God Series as we explore the concept of God as Water. We also join in with our parent blog Meady's Musings as they mark Blog Action Day 2010(by discussing water and the need to get it world over) and Global Handwashing Day!

First of all let's recall past blogs on UCP about the concept of water as deity...as we did this before when we marked the Hindu festival of Kartik Snaan where we spoke about how Hinduism worships water as the Goddess Ganga (also the name of the largest and most powerful river in India.)

-Kartik Snan, Kartik Snaan or Kartik Nahan? Either Way an Ode to the Great Element Water!

-A Pilgrimage in the Month of Kartik

Water is also seen as an important conduit between the divine and man in most major religions...for example in Christianity it is often used in Baptisms.

In Greek mythology water was also deified as in Hinduism but unlike in Hinduism it was seen as masculine taking on the name Poseidon when seen as a king...so Poseidon is the King of the sea! Poseidon has a similar counterpart in the Roman God- Neptune.

There is another subtle difference from in Hinduism as well...because in Hinduism Ganga is see as a Goddess but she is also the Water itself...where as in these mythologies i.e. Greek and Roman Poseidon and Neptune are Gods of the Sea. So they aren't exactly the water itself but have power over it and so can manifest some of its attributes but still not the water itself like how Ganga is!

And that difference although subtle makes all the difference to us on UCP. You see to deify the actual element itself as Hinduism does...it takes on a whole different meaning...it tells us how much this element means to man directly...it is man's very life blood...without it he could not live...yet it can also destroy man if it goes rampant in nature...and on the spiritual side it is man's conduit to the divine...Oh WATER! No wonder we here at UCP have written more than one ode to you and poets everywhere have saluted you...and will continue to do so for eternity!

Jai Ganga Maa!