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| Thirteen of My Favorite Goddesses
1. Kuan Yin – Goddess of Compassion. Exerpt from Goddess & Heroines by Patricia Monaghan Just as Catholic Christianity has provided an antidote to pure theological patriarchy by encouraging the reverence of the Virgin Mary, so Chinese Buddhism evolved a feminine bodhisattva, or Buddha-to-be, named Kuan Yin. And just as Mary captured the hearts of Catholic worshipers, so Kuan Yin far outstripped the male bodhisattvas in popularity. Both in Japan (as Kwannon, who is often pictured as male) and in pre-revolutionary China, this semidivine being was honored in virtually every home; she was the most powerful being in the entire Chinese pantheon. It was said that Kuan Yin was so concerned for humanity that, upon receiving enlightenment, she chose to retain human form rather than transcend it as pure energy. And so she would stay until every single living creature attained enlightenment. Her name translates “she who hears the weeping world”; Kuan Yin sat on her paradise island P’u T’o Shan answering every prayer addressed to her. The mere utterance of her name in prayer was said to assure salvation from physical and spiritual harm. Even better was the observance of Kuan Yin’s own testimony of peace and mercy; her most devout worshipers ate no flesh and lived entirely without doing violence to other beings. ************** 2. Oya – Change 3. Brigid – Inspiration. 4. Isis – Mothering 5. Hecate – Crossroads 6. Pele – Awakening 7. Maya – Illusion 8. Artemis – Selfhood 9. Vila – Shape Shifting 10. Maat – Justice 11. Lakshmi – Abundance 12. Sekhmet – Anger and Rage 13. Ix Chel – Creativity |
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