Hootin' Anni's Day Trippin'

Saturday, April 25th, 2009
12:40 A.M.


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PHOTO HUNT 2009 THEMES

PROTECTION


I had a very, VERY difficult time with this prompt! I just couldn't come up with any ideas at all. Something unique. I thought of cactus needles...which protect the plant. I thought of rose thorns, cat's claws and teeth, a lock, the alarm system keyboard in our home...things like that. But they just didn't really appeal to me for the subject this week. Too common, I think. Tho, still...what do I do? Well, I came up with an idea while going through my photo album and realized it was looking me right in the face...literally. So, here is the pair [one of three pairs] that we have in our yard/inside our home. They're called:




FOO DOGS [or Fu dog] Foo dogs are really lions. Behind their aesthetic appeal is a rich history of legend and tradition. The lion is known as the proud mater of the feline race. It is not indigenous to China, although lion artwork and sculptures were imported gifts to the emperor. The lion does not occur in Chinese primitive art, but was introduced later in connection with Buddhism as the defender of law and protector of sacred buildings. Lions are often placed at temple gates and porticos of houses. Sometimes, they guard tombs. Stone lions in front of official buildings were originally put there to scare demons. The conventional Chinese lion is sometimes called the "Lion of Corea" or the "Dog of Foo," because it was found at the threshold of Buddhist temples. The lion is sacred to Buddhism and is sometimes presented as offerings to Buddha. Some Buddhist deities are occasionally depicted mounted on this beast. It is an emblem of value and energy, those indispensable complements of wisdom, and was embroidered on the court robes of military officials of the second grade. The lions are always presented in pairs, with the female on the left and the male on the right. The male lion has his right paw on a ball, which represents the "Flower of life" The female is essentially identical, but has a single cub under her left paw, representing the cycle of life. Symbolically, the female fu lion protects those dwelling inside, while the male guards the structure. Sometimes the female has her mouth closed, and the male open. This symbolizes the enunciation of the sacred word "om". However, Japanese adaptions state that the male is inhaling, representing life, while the female exhales, representing death.

This pair is quite old. They've been 'protection' for over three decades. We've had them since Colorado. Bud had them anchored to our two gate posts on our long driveway where we lived. And they were then packed and moved to Arizona where he had them on our Oriental mini-bridge in our back yard...one on each side. Then, yet again, they were moved with us to Texas. They're now set out near the back yard gate under a potted fern on each side of the gate. Trust me, they're not in very good shape any more...they've been chipped, repaired, broken, repaired and touched up with blue enamel paint. But, they're still with us.