Goddess of the Week

Nü Kua, the primaeval Chinese Goddess credited with creating the human race, is another repeat Goddess, last seen here on the 11th of January in the middle of the winter hibernation season, that time of preparation for the coming spring. She appears here, again, as close to an even half-year as is about possible. Interestingly enough, that means the southern hemisphere is in the same place, cycle-wise, as the north was when She was last here, which I find a marvelous bit of symmetry and balance.

And yes, She is in a lot of ways concerned with balance; but it's not so much a black-and-white-and-shades-of-grey sort but a rounder, fuller one.

In the legend Nü Kua was the one to repair the sky after a great battle had ripped it apart. She put to right what had been broken, so that the world could begin anew. To do so She used stones of five colors, symbolising the five elements, the Wu Xing, of the Chinese system: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. The five elements of the Chinese are commonly thought of as a cycle, of movement or stages; and so this is a balance that is three-dimensional, in motion and always changing.

(And yes, given that it is five elements interacting a lot of the diagrams of the Wu Xing are pentacle-shaped; I'm not sure if that is traditional, though, or a more Western interpretation. Still, it certainly resonates with a Witch and a Pagan such as myself.)

So, then: something has been torn down or broken, something of a rather basic sort. This something can be repaired, but you can't just patch it; it will need to be remade from the basic stuff of it, its elements. Now is the time to judge just what elements are before you. What do you have? What do you lack? What must be added at the start of remaking things to ensure it will be a balanced venture from the start?

Keep in mind that Nü Kua was often depicted in serpent-form, that ancient symbol of renewal. What is this skin you are shedding, or have already shed? What will you not make use of in your rebuilding efforts?

Now last week for whatever reason the young Norse Goddess Idun was coming across to me in a decidedly wintry-crone manner; interpreting Her more properly as a Goddess of youth and springtime and renewal, however, would dovetail very nicely with Nü Kua's appearance this week. And I think that including Idun here as a previous step is important, as is acknowledging her oddly wintry appearance last week in the midst of my northern summer; they are both about balance. There is a theme of completeness, of a greater whole in all of this, I think. What do you see? Can you back up far enough to take it all in? Do you have that kind of perspective now?

And so I ask again, as always, for a message from the Goddess. And Nü Kua says:

My people are in turmoil. Their sky is falling, is broken; remember those who have died in China these last few days. Half a world away from you, remember what is happening. Summer and winter, north and south; but also west and east.

But yes, you are on the right track. Also, though, it is not just the four directions, the legs of the turtle, that stability that four represents; there is the fifth, too, the living one that sets it all in motion. It is a tricky thing, to learn balance within movement. But you have the knack, all of you, inborn to you each. And I would know; for I placed it there in within you all, didn't I?

Repair this world in balance and stability, strength and rightness. The world very much needs balance right now. If you do not know where to begin, start with your own self. Study it, learn it, live it; let it radiate and ripple from you--that will begin setting the rest of things to right.

What do you think?

Goddess of the Week

Nü Kua is a Chinese Goddess of Creation and Order; She is said to have created the first human beings from yellow earth and restored the heavens after a mythical battle. She finds order in chaos.

Descriptions of Nü Kua vary; though generally She is said to have the body of a serpent and the head of a woman (though sometimes She is said to have the head of an ox, or to have ox-horns growing from Her human head).

In legend She was one of a line of mythical rulers, succeeding Her brother Fu Hsi; and She was known for Her great wisdom as Empress. But during Her reign the great (and rather violently-inclined) dragon Kung Kung decided to make trouble and challenge the God of Fire, Chu Jung; and though Kung Kung lost, he succeeded in wreaking all kinds of havoc, breaking the pillars of heaven and flooding the earth.

To repair the great damage Nü Kua gathered together five kinds of colored stones which She melted and used to make the heavens whole again; and She used the legs of a tortoise to hold up the four corners of the sky. To stop the flood, She filled the hole through which the waters came with the ashes of reeds.

There is another version of this story, in which a Goddess-Queen known as the "Mother of the Gods" went up against a local chief with Her army. The Queen won the battle, and in his rage at being defeated by a woman the chief decided to end his own life by banging his head against the Heavenly Bamboo, which held up the sky. He actually succeeded in knocking it over, which caused the heavens to tear and let in a great flood; so the Queen, like Nü Kua (if She is not simply an aspect of Her) then repaired the sky with a powder ground from five colored stones.

Nü Kua is about creation and order, and being able to organize and prioritize things, so that creation can then take place. I can see about a million ways this applies to my own situation, and coincidentally enough I have rather uncharacteristically been cleaning and organizing things the past couple of days. But that's me. What is Her message for the World this week?

I create order from chaos. Yes, it is itself creation, not mere cleaning. I create the space in which creation may occur. This is a sacred duty; and nothing will happen without that first.

For the world? This is a time of winter and drawing-in, of long cold nights and time spent indoors; and before one can re-emerge in spring, one must make space for it. Let the old die with the old year; and take this time to sweep it out, so that the new may have space to grow. Take some time with this now; do it slowly, carefully, and thoroughly. It is part of the magic of restoration and hibernation.

Looking it up I find hibernation comes from the Latin and means "the action of passing the winter" or "being in winter quarters." Perhaps She is saying this is a good time to look around at your surroundings and home and take stock of what you have right now; and that it is easier to see what you do have (of possessions, talents, or blessings) if there is a certain amount of order to things, and that the process of organizing makes them apparent.

What do you think?

To read more about Her, go here.