Xiwangmu (Västerns kungamoder)

Alldeles nyss hittade jag en enormt cool gudomlighet i Religionslexikonet. Det stod:

"Västerns kungamoder" är i den kinesiska mytologin en rovdjursliknande, människoätande fedrottning. Hon bor i de sägenomspunna, otillgängliga Kunlunbergen där odödlighetens ört växer.

Jag var tvungen att hitta mer information om henne. Tydligen går det lite isär hur hennes namn stavas men jag hittade jag i alla fall annan pålitlig information. I brittanica på nätet stod det:

in Daoist mythology of China, queen of the immortals in charge of female genies (spirits) who dwell in a fairyland called Xihua (“West Flower”). Her popularity has obscured Mugong, her counterpart and husband, a prince who watches over males in Donghua (“East Flower”) paradise. Tradition describes the queen as a former mountain spirit transformed into a beautiful woman from a quasi-human with a leopard’s tail and tiger’s teeth. Her fairyland garden was filled with rare flowers, extraordinary birds, and the flat peach (pantao) of immortality.

På pantheon.org stod det:

The Chinese goddess of immortality and the personification of the feminine element yin. The Taoist Xi Wang-mu is referred to as the 'Royal Mother of the West', and rules over the western paradise of the immortals. She is the daughter of the god Yu-huang and her husband is Mu Gong. Originally she was a terrifying tiger-woman who brought the plague, but under the influence of Taoism she became a benign goddess.

Her nine-stories palace of jade lies in the mythical Kun-lun mountains, near the Lake of Jewels. It is surrounded by a wall of over a thousand miles long and of pure gold. The male immortals reside in the right wing and the female immortals reside in the left wing of this palace. In her garden she cultivates the peach of immortality. This peach tree forms only one peach every three thousand years, which then takes another three thousand years to ripen. When it is ripe, Hsi Wang-mu invites the immortals to a feast to celebrate their birthday and to partake ot the miraculous peach which bestows another lease of immortality.

She is portrayed as a young beautiful woman wearing a royal gown, sometimes riding a peacock. He favorite animal is Feng-huang, the symbol of immortality.

Själv, har jag alltid varit fascinerad av älvor och féer och kanske är det därför som hon slog en sträng hos mig när jag fann hennes namn i boken. Jag skulle till och med vilja veta ännu mer om henne. Tråkigt nog finns det bara halvkassa eller inga bilder alls på henne när jag googlar. Om jag haft bättre tecknarskills än de jag har skulle jag gjort egna. Tänk, om jag kunnat sätta bilderna i mitt huvud på pränt...