Searching for Ganesha earns bestseller status and BookLife accolades
Posted on 22. Jun, 2022 by Paul Sochaczewski in News and Events
Paul’s book on collecting images of Ganesha, the Hindu elephant-headed god that is among the most treasured of all deities, quickly reached #1 international bestseller status on Amazon.
BookLife Prize judges rated the book 9.5 out of 10, noting it is: “Filled with countless gorgeous photos and interesting stories regarding Sochaczewski’s travels, Searching for Ganesha is a charming, unusual, read.”
Read MoreA Conservation Notebook
Posted on 17. Jul, 2022 by Paul Sochaczewski in Books
A Conservation Notebook Ego-Greed, and Oh-So-Cute Orangutans — Tales From a Half-Century on the Environmental Front Lines Publishing details Publication: June 28, 2022 ISBN: Trade Paperback: 978-2-940573-39-4 ISBN: eBook: 978-2-940573-40-0 310 pages Prices: Paperback: $18.95 eBook: $8.95 Note: The book is also available on order from independent booksellers Description Are you optimistic about […]
Read MoreWatch Paul’s Zoom presentation, February 22, 2022, on “Why Do We Collect” given to the Indonesian Heritage Society in Jakarta
Posted on 17. Mar, 2022 by Paul Sochaczewski in News and Events
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Watch Paul’s Zoom presentation, January 4, 2022, on “Why Do We Collect” given to the Royal Geographical Society Hong Kong
Posted on 13. Jan, 2022 by Paul Sochaczewski in News and Events
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Watch Paul’s Zoom presentation, March 03, 2022, on “Why Do We Collect” given to the National Museum Volunteers Bangkok (first two slides/first two minutes of presentation not recorded)
Posted on 11. Jan, 2022 by Paul Sochaczewski in News and Events
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Why Do We Collect?
Posted on 12. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
Barbie dolls. Porcelain chickens. Medieval armor. Stamps. Toothpaste tubes. Fossils. Butterflies.
What is behind this widespread need to collect? Does quantity matter? What do the psychoanalysts say – harmless pastime or dangerous obsession?
I was a semi-nerdy kid growing up in northern New Jersey. Like many youngsters, I suppose, I collected stuff – baseball cards, rocks, and North American arrowheads. (As an adult I run across many men of my Baby Boom generation who collected these artefacts. Were there really so many arrowheads floating around in 1950’s suburbia?)
Read MoreRodent Power
Posted on 12. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
The Lone Ranger rode a loyal white horse named Silver during his battles with Wild West outlaws. Batman drove the Batmobile to help him stamp out Gotham City villains. Santa has a sleigh, pulled by eight flying reindeer, to help him bring joy to countless children.
Ganesha, arguably a far more important global celebrity, has a mouse named Musika (also called Mooshikasura or Mooshika).
Why should such a majestic god have an insignificant mouse as his vehicle?
A common question, especially from folks unfamiliar with Hindu tradition.
The answer lies in two parts.
Read MoreHow Marketing Geniuses Created the Most Popular God in the Hindu Pantheon
Posted on 12. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity that is the most popular deity in the vast Hindu pantheon, owes his existence, and his status, to 5th-century religious marketing geniuses.
The problem they faced was that rural villagers felt under-appreciated by the Hindu gods that served the urban upper classes. After long nights of brainstorming, and after sacrificing masses of Post-It notes, they came up with several strategies.
The Hindu marketing folks needed the buy-in of the farmers, so they adapted a popular elephant-headed Animistic goblin-deity who was a creator of obstacles, and turned him into a well-dressed, positive, super-god who was a remover of obstacles.
Read MoreHow Ganesha Helped Me Find Hanuman’s Mountain
Posted on 12. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
“Much further?” I asked, breathing heavily. I was at about 3,500 meters high in the Indian Himalaya, and the sun was going down while the snow was coming in.
“Not far,” my friend Gopal-ji said, with the slight disdain that mountain people use when talking to out-of-breath city folks.
I was nearing the culmination of a quest I had dreamed of for some 20 years. I wanted to visit Hanuman’s Mountain.
Read MoreWhy Do Hindu Gods Rely on Nature Symbolism?
Posted on 11. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
Elephants and mice. Tigers and peacocks. Eagles, cobras, and an inordinate abundance of lotuses. Hindu gods are largely defined by their connection with nature symbols.
For instance, all major Hindu gods have animal vahanas, a term that might be interpreted as a vehicle, chariot, assistant, or complement.
Ganesha, famously, has a mouse named Musika.
Shiva, Ganesha’s father, is accompanied by a bull named Nandi.
Hi mother Parvati has Dawon, a lion, and his brother Kartikeya has Parvani, a peacock.
These animals were chosen by Hindu myth-makers because they represent memorable symbols that reflect the power and personality of each god.
Read MoreWhy Does Ganesha Have an Elephant Head?
Posted on 11. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
Like all superheroes, Ganesha has a memorable origin myth, and the story of Ganesha’s creation, and the reason he has an elephant head, is one of Hinduism’s great tales. Like many Hindu myths there are multiple variations, but here’s my favorite, which is also the most commonly cited. It shows Ganesha as an embodiment of the Lord of Beginnings – he is created intact, then rent asunder, and ultimately made whole, but in a modified form.
Read MoreRead eight short new articles about collecting and Ganesha
Posted on 10. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in News and Events
1. Why Do We Collect?
2. Rodent Power
3. How Religious Marketing Geniuses Created the Most Popular God in the Hindu Pantheon
4. How Ganesha Helped Me Find Hanuman’s Mountain
5. Why Do Hindu Gods Rely on Nature Symbolism?
6. Why Does Ganesha Have an Elephant Head?
7. Chubby, with an Insatiable Sweet-Tooth
8. Ganesha and Santa Claus
Chubby, with an Insatiable Sweet-Tooth
Posted on 06. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
If Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung had wanted just one Hindu god to study for symbolic complexity, it would have been Ganesha.
For a start, Ganesha has 74 different attributes, or physical symbols, that artists can feature.
And then there is Ganesha’s belly.
Read MoreGanesha and Santa Claus
Posted on 05. Dec, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in Ganesha and Collecting
Some people (well, me, primarily) have compared the generous Hindu elephant-headed god Ganesha to the similarly kind-hearted Santa Claus. They are remarkably similar, and anthropological taxonomists (a couple of my friends who took Anthro 101 at university) consider the two personalities to be at least first cousins, and possibly twin brothers, separated at birth. We await DNA analysis.
Here’s the evidence.
Read MoreSearching for Ganesha bestseller award, media coverage
Posted on 17. Nov, 2021 by Paul Sochaczewski in News and Events
During the first week of sales, Searching for Ganesha has become #1 Amazon international bestseller. It has also received a rating of 9.5 out of 10 from the BookLife Prize. The book is generating encouraging media attention. Some initial activities: “Why Do We Collect?” in News-Decoder. “My Personal Search for Ganesha” in Antiques Trade Gazette. Presentations […]
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