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Queen Mother of West embodies female power
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Gods and goddesses are busy today, rushing to the Yaochi (Shining Lake 瑶池) for the birthday party of the Queen Mother of the West in her paradise in the Kunlun Mountains.
Ordinary mortals, meanwhile, gather at the goddess’ temples, chanting, burning incense and praying for children, long life and good fortune.
The Queen Mother of the West is the goddess of life and immortality and lives in the western paradise where the peaches of immortality grow.
Shortly after the universe was born, Xi Wang Mu or Queen Mother of the West was born from the gathered yin energy in the universe. She governs all female immortals. Yin energy is female, dark, cool and moist. Her birth is recorded in “Shan Hai Jing” (“The Classic of Mountains and Rivers” 山海经) more than 2,000 years ago.
That happened on the 18th day of the seventh month in the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, which is today this year. She is worshipped predominantly by Taoists though historians say the mother goddess predates Taoism.
Dong Wang Gong, the East King, was born from gathered yang energy and govern male immortals.
Today believers gather at temples and pray that the goddess will grant their wishes. Temple fairs with snacks, games and local operas attract visitors.
The Queen Mother of the West is often addressed as Wang Mu Niang Niang (Queen Mother 王母娘娘) by ordinary people and she often appears as the wife of the Jade Emperor in legends.
According to Taoist classics, the Queen Mother of the West was born much earlier than the Jade Emperor, which makes the marriage impossible, yet people like to picture them as a couple, making them more human.
At first she was recorded as being a ferocious goddess, half human half beast, who sent plague, pestilence and disaster to the world. She originally was depicted with tiger’s teeth. After she was adopted into the Taoist pantheon, she was feminized and transformed into a beautiful, middle-aged goddess of life, fertility and longevity.
Pan tao (蟠桃), the peaches of immortality, are the secret to eternal life and they are possessed by the Queen Mother. The trees are said to bear fruit once every 3,000 years.
The Queen Mother will invite all the immortals to her peach banquet on the third day of the third month on the lunar calendar to celebrate another birthday — the day she became immortal.
One of her peach banquets was famously thrown into chaos by the Monkey King who, instead of guarding the garden, stole and consumed peaches himself.
The Queen Mother is a kind goddess who sends babies to couples, but, as the quintessential female, she is angry that many people prefer boys to girls and that husbands blame their wives for bearing girls.
She herself has seven daughters. After consulting with the Jade Emperor and Buddha, she created a li er shi (literally making boy stone 立儿石) at a riverside in what is now Hebei Province.
A huge stone contains a shallow basin and people throw stones into the basin. If all three fall into the basin, they will have both boys and girls; if two hit the mark they will have only boys; if one hits, they will have only girls. If they fail to hit the mark, they will have no children.
Newlyweds still go to the stone to pray for children and toss pebbles into the basin.
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