Dou Mu is a goddess in Chinese folk religion and Daoism. In English, her name translates to “Mother of the Great Chariot” (Great Chariot being another name for the Big Dipper). She is known by several other names such as “Primordial Sovereign of the Big Dipper (Dou Mu Yuan Jun 斗母元君) “, and the “Governor of the Pavilion of Heavenly Treasure (Tian Bao Ge 天寶閣)”. In official temple ceremonies, she is respectfully referred to as ‘Nine-Spirited Supreme Subtle Primordial Grandmother Sovereign of the Night Rays and Golden Essence of the White Jade Tortoise Platform’ (Jiu Ling Tai Miao Bai Yu Gui Tai Ye Guang Jin Jing 九靈太妙白玉龜台夜光金精祖母元君). However for convenience, she will be referred to here as Dou Mu.
Dou Mu is also a recognised figure in Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, in which she is identified as Marici, a deva or bodhisattva associated with light and the sun. In this form, she is known as Molizhitian Pusa 摩利支天菩薩 in China and Marishi-ten in Japan and in Tibet as Odzer Canma (meaning “Woman Endowed with Rays of Light”).
It is said that, “as the mother of the Dipper Stars”, Dou Mu “produces the brilliant eyes of all the heavens. She, with the Dipper as her terrestrial spirit and water celestial spirit, is in charge of life.”
The Creation of the Nine Stars
The Fundamental Destiny Life-Prolonging Heart Scripture of the Great Sagely Primordial Sovereign of the Supreme, Mysterious and Numinous Big Dipper (Tai Shang Xuan Ling Dou Mu Da Sheng Yuan Jun Ben Ming Yan Sheng Xin Jing 太上玄靈斗姆大聖元君本命延生心經) describes how Dou Mu produced a total of nine perfect stars in an elaborate and esoteric process, which then became the Nine Emperors of the Dao Body:
“Seated on her precious throne, Dou Mu peacefully cultivates divine perfection, refines celestial and terrestrial spirits, concentrates Life Force Energy (Qi 氣) with an empty mind, and enters the Mystery of Mysteries.
Breathing the numinous wind, gathering the purple void energy, she has attained the mysterious and numinous Sublime Dao, and releases infinite subtle rays penetrating the Pool of Essence (Hua Chi 華池). Nine golden lotuses, as incarnations of the rays, give out greater and greater light after seven days in the pool. The light rises to the Nine-Essence Heavens (Jiu Hua Tian 九華天) and transforms into the Nine Great Treasure Pavilions.”
This celestial myth of Dou Mu gave rise to the Nine Great Emperors (Jiu Huang Da Di 九皇大帝) of the Daoist pantheon, more popularly known as Nine Emperor Gods (Jiu Wang Ye 九王爺) in Singapore and Malaysia. The Nine Emperor Gods are considered the patrons of prosperity, wealth and good health. It should be noted however that the myth does differ in other accounts, most noticeably in two of the nine stars that Dou Mu was said to have created.
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