Doumu
Chinese · deity · primordial · deity
Sixteen arms is a Buddhist body on a Daoist goddess, and the borrowing is not disguised — Doumu is one of the clearest cases in Chinese religion of a figure assembled from more than one tradition and worshipped without anyone minding. Her office is the Dipper, which in Chinese astrology holds the registers of life and death, so a prayer to her is a prayer about how long you have. The registry had no Dipper deity at all.
Domains
- stars
- heaven
Sources
- Reference treatment of Doumu, her office and her iconography.