Kwan Yin

by Griselda Tello -Yarbrough

I believe I am not alone in my devotion for The Goddess as a powerful symbol for love, healing and peace. I have several pieces of art with the image of Kwan Yin, Bodisattva of Compassion, in a variety of media, specially sculpture, photographs and paintings. (I have made several of them myself.)

I became interested in the literature of feminine spirituality a few years ago while attending a convention in Arizona of 250 women from all over the USA, in those days I was not able to imagine the influence that The Great Goddess would have in my present day, nor the new respect I have for Life, the restoration of community and a personal sense of wisdom and power as a woman, rooted in a wealth of tradition from many women ancestors. I have since then been able to consecrate my life to healing and to trust my own inner counselor...the voice of the Holly Mother abides in me.

I am dedicating this page to Kwan Yin who is the most beloved of Chinese deities. As the Bodisattva of Compassion, she hears and answers the cries of all beings. Not different from The Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico, OUR MOTHER, she embodies unconditional love, she is virgin in the original sense of the word, "whole unto herself." Her feast day in December 12 is the most widely celebrated in Mexico, a tribute to the survival of the compassionate Goddess.

"There was a time when there was no distinction among this Primordial Goddess, the Earth, and Earth's daughter, Woman. All were one, part of the mysterious female universe. The human race, awed by this nameless force, watched plants grow from the body of the Earth and life spring form the body of Woman, and could only venerate this magical power possessed by the feminine spirit." --Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party

"In the Chinese Buddhist meditative tradition, practitioners are encouraged to develop the qualities of Kwan Yin which everyone contains in potential. by meditating on her attributes and her image, we can begin to cultivate compassion and a deep sense of service. In doing this, we not only help others but also move more easily and peacefully in the world... like Artemis, she is a deity of the wild places, often appearing under a full moon, by ponds and willow trees...she is the Virgin Goddess who protects women, offers them a religious life as an alternative to marriage and grants children to those who want them, she brings souls to the newborn and rain to the Earth." --Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess

"We cannot encounter the Goddess without women, for the Goddess either has the form of a woman or she is experienced through a woman. It is in a woman's arms, for instance, that we may meet the Mother Goddess or the Goddess of Love. Even when feminine qualities are deified and abstracted as life-giving or life-sustaining, they are still embodied."

When the planet Earth is revered as Gaia, (Goddess of the Earth) for example, this is not just an idea or just a spirit, but the presence of the Goddess in living matter. --Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D

The Bible contains many traces of ancient goddesses-worship, Here, in a passage from Proverbs, Sophia (a Greek word meaning "wisdom") describes herself as God's beloved.

"She is the breath of the power of God, pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; hence nothing impure can find a way into her. she is a reflection of the eternal light, untarnished mirror of God's active power, image of his goodness."

"The Goddess, no matter what form she takes, is the seeker's own deepest truth, or the void of the soul. Nowhere is this more evident than in the following selections. She is the mysterious, invisible presence who, in an ancient Sumerian text, declares,"

"Begetting Mother am I, within the Spirit I abide and none see me...In the word of the holy temple I abide, and none see me"

"She is the spark of light that appears in the darkest moments of life, the sudden up welling of intuitive insight, and the hand that reaches out when we most need it."--From a Celebration in Art and Literature, by Jalaja Bonheim

I WANT TO THANK MY DEAR WEB SISTER AND FRIEND GINI FOR INVITING ME TO JOIN HER SITE, AND FOR CREATING THIS BEAUTIFUL GRAPHIC FROM ONE OF MY TREASURES.

I found this small statue in an obscure shop, sitting alone in a dusty shelf many years ago. Since then, I have been greeted by similar statues in thrift stores and even garage sales. For me these symbols have a soul-making quality, they are reminders that I am also a Bodisattva, WE ALL ARE!! :-) and I say this with most respect.

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