Who Is Nü Kua, Nüwa, Nu Gua?
Once was great darkness and all was chaos when a great dragon goddess came and restored order. She used precious stones for the sky, and aligned the directions. She tamed water and fire and separated light from dark with sun and moon arising across the great arc of the sky. Nü Kua, Nüwa or Nu Gua in Chinese mythology, the patroness of matchmakers, is an ancient goddess from China, who the northern peoples of Chnia the Hopei and Shansi say created order from the Great Chao. It is she who tempers destruction with innocence and peace. She sings Spring and the returning into birth after the long cold dark winter.
About these wild wisdom soul stories. You take this as you wish, as a mythic exploration, spiritual gift, positive psychological programming whatever … but I offer it to you in the hope that it will serve you some good purpose. The tree teachings, #forestbathing#meditations and #wildwisdom #soulstories are not pre-planned, I don’t have the year ahead mapped out with neat little diagrams and to do lists and pre-prepared old last years’ materials. No ... these are the fresh green shoots of inspirations sent forth from the trees. I don’t care what your belief system is … in times of mass extinction, and #climatechange, my conviction is that if we connect personally with trees and nature this can only serve both us and the #earth well … I hope you agree. These stories are ancient but they are as relevant now as they ever were. They come alive when we interact with them. They are the history and archaeology of nature, culture, of our souls and so much more. But they are not dead relics, they are living right now. We at Ancient and Sacred Trees are a world community or "CommuniTree". When we connect with wisdom from across the earth we create new opportunities for learning and growth. Each being and story featured is of course a brief glimpse. If you feel drawn to a particular one you could study it in greater depth and pay homage to the culture within which it arose. If you feel so moved you could pay a 'tithe' by planting trees with us.
The Spirit Of Nü Kua
Below is a sketch I made of Nü Kua following on from my previous post about my experiences with trees and tulips at Wild Spirit Woods. our new spiritual home in the heart of the British Isles. Here is spring personified and all things in balance. The trees are both backdrop and guardians of the tulips symbolised by the leaves in the background flanked by sun and moon. In the middle is the goddess herself manifested as a tulip flower bright and vibrant. It is one face, but it is also two faces looking towards each other. The two faces are in honour of the first humans she created, love and her role as a matchmaker. In her hands the goddess holds one closed tulip bud with the others holds a fully open tulip flower. One hand is green and yet to ripen like the bud, a symbol of all that is to come. The other hand is pink and holding its' open flower an in-the-moment-flowering. Below are green tulip leaves reaching up representing the earth.
Nü Kua is a mother goddess and creator of humanity.
The Huainanzi says of Nü Kua;
"Going back to more ancient times, the four pillars were broken; the nine provinces were in tatters. Heaven did not completely cover [the earth]; Earth did not hold up [Heaven] all the way around [its circumference]. Fires blazed out of control and could not be extinguished; water flooded in great expanses and would not recede. Ferocious animals ate blameless people; predatory birds snatched the elderly and the weak. Thereupon, Nüwa smelted together five-colored stones in order to patch up the azure sky, cut off the legs of the great turtle to set them up as the four pillars, killed the black dragon to provide relief for Ji Province, and piled up reeds and cinders to stop the surging waters. The azure sky was patched; the four pillars were set up; the surging waters were drained; the province of Ji was tranquil; crafty vermin died off; blameless people [preserved their] lives."
She formed people from yellow clay breathing Her Divine breath into their lifeless bodies. Half-woman, half-dragon she wandered the Earth and created order from the primordial chaos of the Universe, settling land, the sea, and the sky into place.
Here is a traditional illustration from the Chinese encyclopedia Gujin Tushu Jicheng, section "Spirits and the Supernatural".
The Tulip and Tree Teaching of Nü Kua
With the joy of spring and in memory of my darling soul sister and friend Dawn the goddess Nü Kua seems perfect. She is a welcome salve to the fear and death brought into conscious thought by the God Ah Puch. Just like Nü Kua, Dawn painted colours and brought joy wherever she went. She found her soulmate in her husband Lionel and echoing the love of the patron saint of matchmakers in the love workshops they held together.
It seems very fitting that this goddess should be half woman, half serpent/dragon. Like me, Dawn loved dragons.
)I have a dragon group on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/DragonsOfTheBritishIsles/ all are welcome to join.)
When chaos comes, like the four broken pillars in the story, it is life that eventually brings order once again.
After the heartbreak come peace, beauty, and love. I am reminded too, that after death comes life. A good death, as I have sad many times before, should bring new life. Dawn died as she lived, in her Truth. She had a toxic free, eco friendly burial, and everything was done according to her last wishes. Her body is now feeding the earth so that new life will grow.
The tulips are singing, protected by the trees.
Here at Wild Spirit Woods, a new story is unfolding upon this ancient land. A story birthed in to being by the vision of Dawn whose dream it was to create a place for people to come together in companionship with nature and each other. Ancient and Sacred Trees is honoured to be a part of her living legacy.
Blessings
Amanda
AST is a volunteer run Not For Profit planting trees, take a look at the shop. :-)
My articles take time and energy to research and write. I ‘pass the hat around’ and invite you to 'put a penny in the hat' :-).
I live with a disability and I'm passionate about enabling people to 'Live With Art And Soul.'
I'm the founder of Ancient and Sacred Trees, an MA Archaeology student, artist, teacher, healer, storyteller and land guide. I love trees, history and the healing power of Mother Nature and sacred connection.
PS A couple of references I used
PS A couple of the references I used