Goddess
After her death, the families of many fishermen and sailors began to pray to Mazu in honour of her acts of courage in trying to save those at sea. Worship of her spread quickly. Much of her popularity in comparison to other sea deities resulted from her role as a compassionate motherly protector in contrast to authoritarian father figures like the Dragon Kings. However Mazu is unique as she is portrayed as both an authoritative deity and a compassionate being. She is usually depicted wearing a red robe, and sitting on a throne. As often happens to revered folk heroes in Chinese culture, she became an empress figure during the Yuan Dynasty.
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Famous quotes containing the word goddess:
“Creation’s blithe and petaled word
To the lounged goddess when she rose
Conceding dialogue with eyes
That smile unsearchable repose—”
—Hart Crane (1899–1932)
“God may be in the details, but the goddess is in the questions. Once we begin to ask them, there’s no turning back.”
—Gloria Steinem (b. 1934)
“As if the musicians did not so much play the little phrase as execute the rites required by it to appear, and they proceeded to the necessary incantations to obtain and prolong for a few instants the miracle of its evocation, Swann, who could no more see the phrase than if it belonged to an ultraviolet world ... Swann felt it as a presence, as a protective goddess and a confidante to his love, who to arrive to him ... had clothed the disguise of this sonorous appearance.”
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922)