Antique Elegant Queen Mother of the West, China (16096JASK) $1550

Description

The Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu) is one of the most significant female Taoist-deities and one of the Great Chinese Goddesses with a huge syncretic cult following within Taoism, Popular Folk Religion and Buddhism. With immeasurable powers she controls life and creation, death and destruction and the ability to determine every living being’s lifespan. She is the keeper of the Tao, the grantor of prosperity, and the goddess of righteousness. She lives with her husband the Jade Emperor in a golden palace on Kunlun Mountain with luxuriant grounds and fabled peach tree that bears fruits every 3000 years which she serves to gods and mortals, especially emperors and Taoist masters, to grant immortality. She is the only Chinese deity who can talk to humans and her peach tree with its long roots and tall branches is an intermediary between humans and heaven. She is the supreme matriarch and ancestor of all female deities and oversees female immortals and those who live in the human world. Her iconic ornate headdress is centered by a massive phoenix almost as large as her head that representing the sun and her authority. She is officially and gracefully garbed with hands under a ritual cloth that used to hold her staff.  This antique-Chinese-carving was on a home altar, or community clan or small temple shrine. It is in excellent condition with a crack on the back, minor insect holes and losses consistent with age and is part of the VA Deities-and-Legends collection.

Click here for the blog Queen Mother of the West Xiwangmu: Taoism’s Iconic Female Sovereign of Immortals