Maiden
What you need to sow
Begin by fixing one broken thing instead of starting a new one.
Chinese
Nüwa
She Who Repaired the Sky
China, mythic antiquity; attested from the Warring States period
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Her story
Historical context
goddess · China, mythic antiquity; attested from the Warring States period
Nüwa moulded the first people from yellow river clay, then — tiring — dragged a cord through the mud and flicked it, and the drops became the rest of humanity. She is depicted with a serpent's lower body, often entwined with Fuxi, compass in hand.
Mythology & traditions
When the pillar of heaven broke and the sky cracked, flooding and burning the world, she smelted five-coloured stones to patch it and cut the legs from a great turtle to prop the corners. Her signature act is not creation but repair: mending a broken world with whatever was to hand, and it held.
Domains
- Creation
- Repair
- Marriage
- Craft
- Order restored
Symbols
- Compass
- Five coloured stones
- Yellow clay
- Serpent tail
- Turtle legs
In the oracle
Her guidance
Mother
What you need to grow
Nurture the structure holding your life up. Check the pillars, not the paint.
Crone
What you need to know
You do not need perfect materials. Five ordinary stones patched the sky.