Kuan shih yin tzu tsai

Name(s): Kuan-Yin; Guanyin;  Kuan shih yin tzu tsai

Meaning of name: "the sovereign who looks on the sounds of prayers"

Motif(s): Goddess of compassion and mercy.

Form(s): one thousand eyes, one thousand hands; Androgynous -appears as male to men seeking solace, appears as a beautiful gracious woman to women who are anguished. 

Myth: There are many myths associated with Kuan-Yin.

Surrounding her name: It is said that when Kuan-shih yin tzu tsai was "about to enter heaven, she heard a wail emanating from the world and heeded the sound instead of proceeding immediately toward her destination".

Surrounding her nature: It is said that Kuan-Yin was the youngest daughter of three whose story goes as follows. Upon reaching marriageable age she rejected her fathers arrangement for a bridegroom and insisted on living a monastic life. Her father agreed but sought to make her life as unpleasant as possible. For a period of time and through divine intervention, Kuan-Yin was able to persevere but eventually was strangled to death at the request of her father.  Outraged by her death, a Buddha appeared to her soul in a vision with a Peach of Immortality to eat, then, ordered the God of Epidemics to afflict her father with an incurable disease. Hearing of her fathers plight, she went to him and plucked out her eyes and cut off her hands for his cure. Grateful for her medicine her father ordered the image of daughter complete with eyes and hand be sculpted into a statue; but, his request was misunderstood and the statue was sculpted with one thousand eyes and one thousand hands. This is how Kuan-Yin came to be known as the Bodhisattva Kuan Yin who has a thousand arms and a thousand eyes, great in mercy and great in compassion.

Nu Kua

Name(s): Nu Kua
Symbol(s): Serpent with the head of a woman
Motif(s): Primeval cosmogonic deity- Creatrix and protectress of humans, able to change into any form, -animal, human, sky, earth, up to 70x/day.

Myth(s): As Creatrix: According to legend, Nu Kua kneaded yellow earth into the form of human beings. This task proved to be taxing so Nu Kua invented a system to mass produce humans by dragging a cord (string) through the mud and then lifting it out. Those who handmade from yellow earth became rich aristocrats and those formed of stringed mud became poor commoners.

As Protectress:  There came a time when the four poles collapsed thrusting the earth and its inhabitants into utter turmoil. The heavens fell apart, fires could not be suppressed, water flooded the land and violent predators devoured the people. Shifting into action, Nu Kua smelted together five-color stones to mend the blue sky. She cut off the feet of a giant sea turtle to support the collapsed poles and killed a black dragon to save the region of Chi. To dam the floods she piled up ash from the burned reeds. Nu Kua restored earths equilibrium.

Other attributes: Nu Kua is said to ride in a thunder-carriage, driving shaft-steeds of winged dragons and an outer pair of green hornless dragons. She bears "The Fortune of Life and Death" emblem and the seat of her carriage is the Visionary Chart (unfortunately,my search for these images was unsuccessful). Drifting through the heavens she guides ghostly spirits toward their destination. She has audience with God inside the holy gates and without regard for pride, she holds the secret of the Way of the True Person and follows the eternal nature of Heaven and earth.

Ch'ang-O

Name(s): Ch'ang-O, Moon Goddess
Symbol(s): Moon; beautiful female form, hare; toad; cassia tree
Motif(s): Example of those consequences attached to non-altruism.

Myth(s): Before Ch'ang-O became a moon goddess she lived on earth with her husband Yi, the divine archer. For heroic deeds, Hsi Wang Mu (Queen of the West) awarded Yi the elixir of immortality. In time Chang-O became aware of her own mortality and Yi, taking pity on his wife requested more of the immortal elixir from Hsi Wang Mu. She granted his request and explained that both people must drink equal portions of the elixir and warned that if one drinks the entire vial all their own then they will immediately ascend into heaven. Yi brought the elixir home to earth and while away Ch'ang-O became anxious to consume it. Finding the elixir in her husbands belongings, Ch'ang-O began to the drink from the vial, simultaneously Yi returned home early. This startled Ch'ang-O so she drank the elixir nearly gone; immediately, her feet left the ground and her body floated toward the heavens. However, she had drank the entire vial and was only able to  float as far as the moon. Here, she remained for ever with only the company of a hare, a toad and a Cassia tree.  It is said that eventually,Yi gained full immortality and was able to make occasional visits to his wife on the moon.

Hsi Wang Mu

Name(s): Hsi Wang Mu; Queen Mother; Queen Mother of the West.
Era: Late Chou and Early Han
Symbol(s): a wild deity with disheveled hair held back in a jade pin, and is endowed with a leopard's tail, tiger's teeth, and a terrible scream.
Motif(s): Female deity without beginning or end; chaotic punisher of immoral behavior, giver of immortality, possessor of Yin and Yang, seductress.

Myth(s): Hsi Wang Mu brings to life the image of female sexuality. Text states that: It is not only the Yang (masculine) that can be nourished, the Yin (female) can also be. Hsi Wang Mu obtained the Tao of immortality  by nourishing the Yin (within her). All men she had intercourse with fell ill despite her radiant health. Feeding on only milk, by playing the 5-stringed  lute, she kept her heart harmonious and thoughts composed, and not other desires plagued her. Having no husband, she coupled with young men and boys.