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| Statue of the Goddess Mazu. Located at Lin Moniang Park in Tainan. Source. |
China - The Goddess Mazu
Worshiped by fishermen and sailors
A fisherman’s wife gave birth to her sixth daughter. The daughter was born with her eyes open, and made no sound or cry until she was four years old. They named her Mo – “the silent one.” The God Guanyin was impressed by the girl’s silence, and blessed her with powers. Mo excelled at swimming, and discovered she could manifest her spirit in far-off places. She used this to guide ships to shore. One day, her father and brother became lost in a storm at sea. Mo manifested on the shore, and used her powers to guide them home.
Babylon - The Goddess Tiamat
Goddess of the Sea
The sea merged with freshwater, and created a marriage between Tiamat and Abzu. This marriage produced divine offspring, but Abzu feared their rebellion. Abzu confronted his children who admitted they were planning usurp his throne. A fight ensues, and Abzu is slayed. Enraged, Tiamat morphs into a massive sea dragon, bringing forth monsters and dragons unto the world. She wages war against her children, attacking them with her devilish creations. The storm-god, Marduk, confronts the goddess. The bloody battle raged across the cosmos, but ended with Marduk’s victory. Marduk divided Tiamat’s body to form the heavens and the earth.
Goddess of the river Boyne
Author's Note: I didn't initially plan to write about water goddesses, but the first two just happened to be water deities, so I found a third to keep the theme. I didn't know about these goddesses beforehand, but I thought they were so cool! I've been interested in reading about deities lately, so I wanted to keep with with my micro-fiction momentum and make some more.
Hey there! I liked your microfictions about water goddesses from different cultures. It's like going to a buffet of, say, pastas from different cultures. You get to sample it without reading the full story, and the way you tell it is very nice because of how to-the-point it is while still keeping details that keep the reader entertained. Nice work!
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteThe idea of water goddesses is a fun theme. It is interesting how each culture has a different take on it. Have you ever heard of Ran? She is a Jotun who was worshipped as a goddess of the sea in Norse culture. This was because she was also a death deity. She would host those who had perished at sea, though sources vary on whether that meant she had her own afterlife, or if her role was to guide them to another afterlife after hosting them.
Water gods and goddesses typically play a very important role in their respective cultures so it's very interesting to see how they vary across the globe. I think you did a great job of showing just how turbulent and powerful they can be! It was definitely an interesting read as I haven't personally heard of either goddess except for Tiamat.
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