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| elephant t-shirt i made and wore at the benefit |
Certain animals hold symbolic meaning in individual cultures. For example, some Native Americans view coyotes as harbingers of bad fortune, while Chinese lore sees the crane as a carrier of departed souls. Across cultures and history, elephants have symbolized many different things.
Hinduism
In Hinduism, the elephant deity Ganesha, also known as Ganapati or Vinayaka, represents luck, wisdom, protection, good fortune and blessings.
Buddhism
Many Buddhists consider the elephant to be a symbol of grace, and therefore it is the only animal selected to carry relics in religious processions.
Judaism and Christianity
In the Torah (also known as the Old Testament), a creature is described that, according to 17th-century poet John Milton, could only be an elephant. The animal, which the Bible calls a "behemoth," is portrayed as both powerful and gluttonous.
Recently a dear friend of mine got very ill and a bunch of us friends pulled together and organized a benefit to raise money for her never-ending medical bills. She loves elephants so much....we decided to make that the theme of the event and there was a call to all artist here in Boise to produce an elephant to be put up for auction in our silent bidding portion of the evening.
Since I make bags and purses....I of course had to give it my best shot and I came up with my neutrally harmonious elephant shoulder bag (pictured below). The friend that we were having a benefit for was celebrating a birthday the following week so I also made her a bag in shades of red.
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| elephant bag made for auction |
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| elephant bag made for my dear friend |
