Or is it Mahodgaja-Gaṇapataye Namaḥ? So I asked Gemini to make a picture of Ganesha as a mammoth, rather than as an elephant. This was the result. Would you worship god if he was a mammoth? Interesting question, I suppose! And instead of venerating Baby Krishna, how about doing it with a dwarf elephant? I know, I should go to sleep...
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| - Gotta problem with pachyderms, huh huh? |
Why animal rights and veganism doesn´t work. The brains of our ancestors (Homo erectus again) became big thanks to hunting and feasting on primordial elephants...
Without "speciesism", no Man. Deal with it.
Is there a Bigfoot-like creature in South Africa? It´s called the Otang, and is only known from the writings of conservationist Gareth Patterson. He supposedly spotted it while looking for another elusive creature, the so-called Knysna elephants (of which only one remains today). So color me skeptical. But there you go!
I admit that I never heard of this particular Hindu sect before. It´s called the Community of the Many Names of God and has ashrams in Wales and Switzerland. Most members seem to be White, but the head is (was?) a Sri Lankan Hindu Tamil calling himself Guru Sri Subramanium.
He founded the Community together with a British Christian reverend and a Buddhist. Its monks apparently take the vow of Saint Francis, but otherwise the group has a strong Hindu flair and "Hare Krishna vibes". They worship the Hindu Tamil god Murugan plus Kali, Shiva and Ganesha.
The video above shows a procession (somewhere in the Welsh countryside) featuring a murti of Kali. Note the elephant! Supposedly a gift from Sri Lankan president J R Jayewardene. Hmmm...
I admit that this isn´t exactly my cup of chai, but there you go.
Yes, elephant trainers in Thailand are widely known as mahouts in English. However, if you were speaking Thai, you would use the local term Kwan-chaang (ควาญช้าง).
While "mahout" is the international standard, the Thai word provides a bit more insight into the role itself.
Kwan (ควาญ): Means "handler" or "driver."
Chaang (ช้าง): The Thai word for "elephant."
Together, a Kwan-chaang is literally an "elephant handler." While the English word "mahout" actually originates from the Hindi word mahavat, it has been adopted so thoroughly in global tourism that even Thai guides and sanctuaries will use "mahout" when speaking with international visitors.
The role of a mahout in Thailand is much deeper than a simple "trainer" or "job."
A Lifelong Bond: Traditionally, a mahout is assigned a young elephant when both are still very young. They grow up together, and the mahout often stays with that same elephant for their entire life.
Ethnic Heritage: Many of Thailand's most famous mahouts come from specific ethnic groups with centuries of elephant-handling history, particularly the Kui (or Kuy) people in the Surin province and the Karen people in the northern mountains.
The Tool of the Trade: You may see them carrying a tool called an ankus (or "bullhook"). While controversial in some modern contexts, in traditional mahout culture, it is viewed as a guide and a safety tool, used to apply pressure to specific sensitive points behind the elephant’s ear.
Today, the role is changing. In the past, mahouts worked primarily in logging (dragging heavy teak wood) or warfare. Since logging was banned in Thailand in 1989, many mahouts moved into the tourism industry. In high-quality ethical sanctuaries, the mahout’s role has shifted from a "driver" to a "caregiver" who ensures the elephant's health and safety.
Would you like to know more about where to see elephants ethically in Thailand, or perhaps more about Thai animal symbolism?
Are mahouts in Thailand Buddhists or Christians?
The answer is both, but it depends heavily on their ethnic background and which part of Thailand they come from.
While Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, the mahout community is actually a mix of Buddhists, Christians, and Animists (spirit-worshippers). To understand why, you have to look at the two main ethnic groups that traditionally work with elephants:
The Kui are the legendary "elephant people" of Northeast Thailand (specifically the Surin province).
Religion: Most Kui identify as Theravada Buddhists. However, their daily work with elephants is governed by a ancient Animism.
The Spirit of the Rope: They believe in Phra Khru Pakam, the spirit of the elephant-catching rope.
The Karen (or Karian) live in the mountainous regions of Northern Thailand (near Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son).
Diversity: Among the Karen, religious identity is split.
Christian Mahouts: Because many elephant sanctuaries and trekking camps are located in Karen territory, you will meet many mahouts who are devout Christians. They often attend church on Sundays and might have Christian crosses or icons in their homes, even while following traditional elephant-care practices passed down through generations.
Regardless of whether a mahout goes to a temple (Buddhist) or a church (Christian), almost all traditional mahouts share a foundation of Animism.
They believe that elephants have a "Kwan" (a soul or life force) and that the forest is inhabited by guardian spirits. Even a Christian or Buddhist mahout will usually:
Perform a "blessing" ceremony for a new elephant.
Avoid certain behaviors that might "offend" the spirit of the elephant.
Treat the elephant as a sentient being with a spiritual status higher than other livestock.
| Ethnic Group | Primary Region | Dominant Religions |
| Kui (Guay) | Northeast (Surin) | Buddhism & Animism |
| Karen | North (Chiang Mai) | Buddhism & Christianity |
Would you like to know more about the specific rituals mahouts perform to "bless" an elephant, or perhaps about the history of Christian missionaries in the Thai mountains?
Of course animals are religious. They worship their lord. You know, Pashupati...
HA HA HA, this is so confused that it becomes unintentionally funny. Erich von Däniken, come back, all is forgiven! So apparently the Hindu god Ganesha has evolved in a way similar to elephants. Or something. Or maybe something else.
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| - Yes, they seem to think that I´m you! |
And camelids, too! Not to mention over-sized specimens of the lutrine persuasion. I never been particularly interested in Nessie or the Loch Ness monster. In fact, the whole thing strikes me as rather silly. I mean, we´re talking about one bloody loch just south of a city with 63,000 inhabitants. Are ye telling me that a breedin´ population of please-your-soars can live there undetected for millennia?! Then, I have a fake tartan to sell you!
It´s a cultural phenomenon, no more. As proven by Karl Shuker´s entertaining article about the monster´s split personality. While a plesiosaur is the most common identification, others have been proposed. Some of them very strange! How about a long-necked seal, a gigantic tullimonstrum, an "elephant squid", an *actual* elephant, or a camelid with a plesiosaur-like head and neck (the latter seen on land?!). There´s also the mother of all otters, also seen on Ireland. Shuker doesn´t mention "a specter conjured by Aleister Crowley", but then, he´s more into the flesh-and-blood portion of the cryptozoology specter, er, spectrum.
Entertaining, I say. And probably not true either way.
This will never happen and is probably just another scam to part rich people and governments with their money. But nice try!
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| Credit: Pixabay (Pexels) |
I hope this isn´t a hoax. Elephants in India are said to bury their dead calfs. Could create problems for the theologians, I suppose. Should I or you tell them that corvids also bury their dead?
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| Credit: AbstractionBlue |
Not sure what to think of this, but here is a thought. Let´s say elephants or mastodons did live in the territory today called the United States during historical times (but before Columbus). Would it be possible to prove this in any other way than through Native stories or art?
After all, the elephantids wouldn´t fossilize, but nor would their soft tissues be preserved (as in the case of mammoths in the Arctic). Or am I wrong? But if I´m right, the purported eye-witness accounts and traditions is all the evidence we ever gonna get.
And that isn´t entirely conclusive...
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| Credit: Yathin S Krishnappa |
I wonder how long before some crazy person starts "identifying" as an elephant, since this is in California? But sure, the ordinance states that the animalid habeas corpus rights are limited to "the family Elephantidae", but isn´t that a reactionary and fascist form of essentialism? And who decides the limits of Elephantidae anyway? The United Nations?
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| Credit: Jim Jones1971 |
"So you think you solved the world riddle, kiddo? You don´t know half of it and probably can´t handle the other half. Take it from me, I´m an elephant!"
The founder-acharya of ISKCON (the Hare Krishna movement) was notorious for denying the moon-landing, but he had other interesting ideas, too. My source is "Prabhupada in his own words: Biology and Nature" by Willem Vandenberg, unfortunately only available if you register at the site Academia. I didn´t know the swamiji was making contributions to cryptozoology, but there you go!
SB 5.23.3, purport
Regarding the great eagles mentioned in this verse, it is understood that there are eagles so big that they can prey on big elephants. They fly so high that they can travel from one planet to another. They start flying in one planet and land in another, and while in flight they lay eggs that hatch into other birds while falling through the air. In Sanskrit such eagles are called syena. Under the present circumstances, of course, we cannot see such huge birds, but at least weknow of eagles that can capture monkeys and then throw them down to kill and eat them. Similarly, it is understood that there are gigantic birds that can carry off elephants, kill them and eat them.
SB 1.8.34, Mayapur, October 14, 1974
There are very, very big, big birds. They are floating in the air, very, very big eagle. They fly from one planet to another. Their resting place is… They start from one planet, and they go and rest in other planet. And they lay their eggs while flying. That eggs also become a bird simply by air cohesion. That’s all.
SB 6.1.45, Laguna Beach, July 26, 1975
There is a big eagle bird. We have no information. They are very big bird. They are flying in the sky, and their rest is from one planet to another. Just like here you find the birds, they are flying from one tree to another. Similarly, there are so big birds… They are called garuda. So garuda, these birds, they start their flying from one planet and sits in another planet. Just try to understand what is their flying. Not only that, they also lay eggs while flying, and the eggs, while falling down, it becomes another bird. And these birds can pick up elephants for eating. So this is God’s creation.
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| Credit: Jonathan Chen |
"Mystery of the Ice Giants" is a German documentary about the relatively sudden disappearence of the Paleolithic megafauna at the end of the "Ice Age". Was it due to naturally occuring climate change? Or did humans hunt the mammoths and other megafaunal species to extinction? The film team follows a group of paleontologists as they trek around the world, trying to shade some light on the mystery. White Sands in New Mexico, the Yukon in Canada and Dolni Vestonice in the Czech Republic are visited. The culprit is soon identified: yes, it was Stone Age human hunters.
The megafauna had already survived several periods of severe climate change. When a glacial period ended, the so-called mammoth steppe where most of the megafauna lived shrank considerably, replaced by huge forests. However, the animals dependent on a steppe habitat simply moved to the few refugia where such an environment still existed, staging a comeback when the interglacial was over and the steppes became great again. Why didn´t this happen again at the end of the latest glaciation? The new factor simply must be Homo sapiens. At Dolne Vestonice, virtual "mass graves" filled with mammoth bones (usually from young specimens) have been found. There is also evidence from North America that humans hunted ground sloths and cave bears. Personally, I was fascinated by the Yukon, where the paleontologists can simply pick up fossils as they walk around the riverside, including well preserved mammoth tusks!
Mammoths were hunted for the meat, but also for the fat, apparently a necessity in a cold climate with very little plant-based food available Over 60% of the food intake of Paleolithic humans was mammoth meat. One of the scientists featured speculate that the Paleolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe were dark-skinned (they were originally from Africa, after all) and therefore couldn´t produce enough vitamin D naturally from the sun light. This made it even more necessary to hunt mammoths, presumably to harvest the fatty tissue. (I suppose somebody somewhere might find it uncomfortable that Blacks and the ancestors of the American Indians were behind the first mass extinction in human history, but there you go.)
When mammoths and other large herbivores were gone, the carnivores preying on them also went extinct. The sabre-toothed tiger known as smilodon was evidently specially adapted to hunt and kill such animals. With them gone, the weird-looking feline with its huge canines (sorry, couldn´t help myself) was doomed. Climate change also played a role, however. What made the impact of human hunters extra severe was that the end of "the Ice Age" reversed the climate yet again, dramatically shrinking the traditional grazing and hunting grounds of the megafauna. A few mammoths actually survived in Siberia, but where stuck on Wrangel Island when sea levels rose, eventually starving to death when food sources got scarce.
But I´m sure "primitive" peoples have something important to teach us about "conservation ethics", right? Right.
