Abka Hehe, the Sky-Mother

Manchu · deity · Manchu traditional religion; continuing · deity

Abka Hehe ('Sky Woman / Sky Mother') is the primordial creator-goddess of Manchu traditional religion, the source of all life and creation. In the Manchu cosmogony recorded by the Manchu folklorist Fu Yuguang she heads a triad of creating sky-goddesses, the further goddesses issuing from her body, and the three together shape the world, the spirits, humankind and all living things; she is also the guardian of the universe who banishes the powers of evil. In the older female-centred cosmology she is the supreme sky-power, a place later assumed by the masculine sky-god Abka Enduri / Abka Han as the cult was reframed under the Qing.

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