Friday, August 10, 2007 at 1:01am
The doggess of puppy love
Column: Outing the Goddess Within
In what has to be the most bleedingly obvious embodiment of "puppy love," a Japanese Chihuahua has been born with a large, clear, love-heart-shaped pattern in his coat. The reincarnation of a dyslexic god-of-love perhaps? Or a cutesy anime version of Jesus' bleeding/sacred heart? Or just a little dog wearing his heart on his spleen?
Whatever, the puppy has been named Heart-kun by his owner, Emiko Sakurada, a breeder who believes his unusual markings have brought her luck. According to Reuters, Sakurada said, "Since Heart-kun was born, not only I, but also many people who see him are getting luckier." One of the lucky people-by-association is Sakurada's sister, who won the lottery and a concert ticket and attributed the win to "the power of Heart-kun."
Now, Japan may be a dog-loving nation (they did open an old dogs' home earlier this year, as well as a canine gym, after all), but dogs have held a place in the human heart and psyche as symbols of luck, loyalty and love in all cultures for centuries. And they didn't even need a heart-shaped birthmark to achieve this status.
Back in the predynastic days of Egypt, for example, the ancient Egyptians honored a god-dog called Anubis (aka Anpu), a deity represented as a dog who was associated with funerary rites and the afterlife — rumor has it he was fond of burying the bones. Lesser known was the goddess (aka "doggess" for the sake of this column) Ninkharak, a dog-headed doggess of healing who was assimilated into Ishtar.
Dogs were also closely linked with the Greek goddess Hecate. At times she was depicted with the head of a dog, and was linked to the Dog Star, Sirius, the astronomical foundation of the Egyptian wheel of the year. Her special pet was Cerebos, a three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to Hades. Pity Reuters couldn't get a photo of that one, but we get the idea via Harry Potter's encounter with Fluffy, the three-headed dog who guarded the basement at Hogwarts.
Possibly the most famous dog-companioned goddess in mythology is Artemis (Greek) / Diana (Roman), the free-spirited maiden who hunted with dogs, ran with wolves, howled at the moon and (according to the gossips) visited hair salons with poodles.
Across the Atlantic, people in Central and South America honored the dog god Xolotl, the Toltec god of goodness and light (is that a commercial for Shmackos?). Head north and the Native Americans were revering the wolf and coyote. Some tribes, such as the Mohican, were known as Wolf People, Sirius was known as the "Wolf Star," and the wolf is a regular guest star in many totem poles.
In modern times we have Paris Hilton emulating Henry III, who was so enamored with the Bichon Frise breed that he carried the little yappies in a basket around his neck. Again, where were the Reuters photographers for that one?
And in the future, we have Doctor Who cavorting about with his robot dog, K9. I must have missed the episode in which real dogs were wiped out — possibly by the Daleks (in which case, why didn't the dogs just run upstairs?). Or perhaps travel in the TARDIS simply causes havoc with bladder control, and so real dogs have to be left at home with the Missus to lie down with fleas. Whichever it is, it seems a robot dog is equally capable of providing companionship to his owner as a real one.
Apart from the fact that dogs respect humans as their owners and almighty masters (while cats just treat us as staff), what is it about dogs that has them anchored in our heart space forever?
My good friend and animal shamanist, Scott Alexander King, says, "Dog medicine advocates unconditional love, loyalty, trust, companionship and absolute acceptance for others and one's self."
In other words, just like little Heart-kun, the Dog is a totem animal of the heart chakra, and as you know, the heart chakra is the seat of the Universe's greatest power — love.
For us modern goddesses, allowing Dog medicine to open our heart chakras means letting every dog have his say — make trust, loyalty and, above all, "melty puppy-dog bottomless pools of love" your key for achieving success and winning the lottery. After all, it is only right to let your karma give way to your dogma occasionally.
— — —
Anita Ryan-Revel is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au, a content-rich website aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. She has incorporated her journey into hundreds of articles, countless websites and numerous books, one of which is "The Goddess Guide to Chakra Vitality." You can read more of her columns here. © Copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.
Whatever, the puppy has been named Heart-kun by his owner, Emiko Sakurada, a breeder who believes his unusual markings have brought her luck. According to Reuters, Sakurada said, "Since Heart-kun was born, not only I, but also many people who see him are getting luckier." One of the lucky people-by-association is Sakurada's sister, who won the lottery and a concert ticket and attributed the win to "the power of Heart-kun."
Now, Japan may be a dog-loving nation (they did open an old dogs' home earlier this year, as well as a canine gym, after all), but dogs have held a place in the human heart and psyche as symbols of luck, loyalty and love in all cultures for centuries. And they didn't even need a heart-shaped birthmark to achieve this status.
Back in the predynastic days of Egypt, for example, the ancient Egyptians honored a god-dog called Anubis (aka Anpu), a deity represented as a dog who was associated with funerary rites and the afterlife — rumor has it he was fond of burying the bones. Lesser known was the goddess (aka "doggess" for the sake of this column) Ninkharak, a dog-headed doggess of healing who was assimilated into Ishtar.
Dogs were also closely linked with the Greek goddess Hecate. At times she was depicted with the head of a dog, and was linked to the Dog Star, Sirius, the astronomical foundation of the Egyptian wheel of the year. Her special pet was Cerebos, a three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to Hades. Pity Reuters couldn't get a photo of that one, but we get the idea via Harry Potter's encounter with Fluffy, the three-headed dog who guarded the basement at Hogwarts.
Possibly the most famous dog-companioned goddess in mythology is Artemis (Greek) / Diana (Roman), the free-spirited maiden who hunted with dogs, ran with wolves, howled at the moon and (according to the gossips) visited hair salons with poodles.
Across the Atlantic, people in Central and South America honored the dog god Xolotl, the Toltec god of goodness and light (is that a commercial for Shmackos?). Head north and the Native Americans were revering the wolf and coyote. Some tribes, such as the Mohican, were known as Wolf People, Sirius was known as the "Wolf Star," and the wolf is a regular guest star in many totem poles.
In modern times we have Paris Hilton emulating Henry III, who was so enamored with the Bichon Frise breed that he carried the little yappies in a basket around his neck. Again, where were the Reuters photographers for that one?
And in the future, we have Doctor Who cavorting about with his robot dog, K9. I must have missed the episode in which real dogs were wiped out — possibly by the Daleks (in which case, why didn't the dogs just run upstairs?). Or perhaps travel in the TARDIS simply causes havoc with bladder control, and so real dogs have to be left at home with the Missus to lie down with fleas. Whichever it is, it seems a robot dog is equally capable of providing companionship to his owner as a real one.
Apart from the fact that dogs respect humans as their owners and almighty masters (while cats just treat us as staff), what is it about dogs that has them anchored in our heart space forever?
My good friend and animal shamanist, Scott Alexander King, says, "Dog medicine advocates unconditional love, loyalty, trust, companionship and absolute acceptance for others and one's self."
In other words, just like little Heart-kun, the Dog is a totem animal of the heart chakra, and as you know, the heart chakra is the seat of the Universe's greatest power — love.
For us modern goddesses, allowing Dog medicine to open our heart chakras means letting every dog have his say — make trust, loyalty and, above all, "melty puppy-dog bottomless pools of love" your key for achieving success and winning the lottery. After all, it is only right to let your karma give way to your dogma occasionally.
— — —
Anita Ryan-Revel is the creatrix of Goddess.com.au, a content-rich website aimed at helping you connect with your beautiful, sassy, intuitive, lovable, sacred and authentic self. She has incorporated her journey into hundreds of articles, countless websites and numerous books, one of which is "The Goddess Guide to Chakra Vitality." You can read more of her columns here. © Copyright 2007 by Anita Ryan-Revel.