Doumu
Doumu, the Mother of the Dipper, is the Daoist goddess of the Big Dipper and of the nine stars that compose it — the seven visible and two hidden — and she holds the register of life and death that the Dipper governs.
The identification with Marici is a genuine and old Buddhist-Daoist syncretism, and the boar iconography belongs to that shared form rather than to the Dipper Mother alone; the Nine Emperor Gods of the Southeast Asian festival are separate deities often called her sons, and they are not her. The Dipper is not a planet, and the planetary, zodiac, tarot and sabbat correspondences here are modern Western overlays; the tradition's own reckoning is the stars and the ninth lunar month.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Moon
Offerings
- Offerings
- IncenseNine lampsVegetarian foodFlowersTeaA lamp for each of the nine stars
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Doumu NiangniangDou MuMother of the DipperDipper MotherMariciMolizhitian
- Gender Expression
- Feminine
- Titles
- Mother of the DipperSovereign of the Nine StarsProtectress in War and DisasterLady of the Celestial Measure
- Symbols
- The dipperNine lampsThe measureSun and moon in her handsThe starsThe boar
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneReverent steady maternalAddressDoumuDoumu NiangniangMother of the DipperLady of the Nine StarsRelationshipA daughter before the mother who keeps the registerWarningShe holds the register of life and the dipper turns whether or not you are readyResonanceWomen those in childbirth those facing disaster those who keep a lamp
- Modern Practice
The practice is the lamp and the Dipper: nine lamps, incense, vegetarian food and flowers, kept through the ninth lunar month at the Nine Emperor Gods festival, and a single lamp at the household altar for protection in childbirth, illness and disaster. She is asked to keep the register, not to rewrite it.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- The big dipperThe nine starsProtectionHealingChildbirthWomen devotionThe register of lifeDisaster
- Mythology Summary
Doumu, the Mother of the Dipper, is the Daoist goddess of the Big Dipper and of the nine stars that compose it — the seven visible and two hidden — and she holds the register of life and death that the Dipper governs. Her cult is attested from the Tang and Song, and she has a fixed place in Daoist liturgy, where the Dipper rites are among the most widely performed; she is identified with the Buddhist Marici (Molizhitian), and the boar-faced, boar-riding iconography belongs to that shared form. In Southeast Asia her devotion is bound up with the Nine Emperor Gods festival, which takes the ninth lunar month and keeps a vegetarian observance.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsWhiteGoldPurpleScentsLotusSandalwood whiteFrankincense boswellia sacraMetalsGoldSilverAnimalsBoarDragon
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