The Dipper Mother

[Tao of Buttercup]

Love astronomy, and this is new to me today (found while browsing "Taoism shrines" on Google). Thought I'd share (probably is familiar to some here):

 

http://www.poyuentaoist.org/dipper.shtml

 

http://www.artic.edu/taoism/renaissance/h101.php

 

p.s.: I didn't know the Big Dipper (asterism of Ursa Major) is important in Taoism. Interesting to note that Draco the Dragon is so very near:

 

http://robertbauval.co.uk/articles/articles/images/cciae1.jpg

Edited July 18, 2014 by Tao of Buttercup

[soaring crane]

p.s.: I didn't know the Big Dipper (asterism of Ursa Major) is important in Taoism.

 

yes, it's hugely important. The be all and end all. Very nice post and super links, thanks! :-)

[dawei]

yes... its importance is never stated enough nor known well enough. It is the origin for ideas, tales, characters, and plays a role in regards to all things celestial...

 

 

Neolithic imprint of the Dipper:

 

 

The Alchemy Process:

 

 

On coins:

 

 

 

 

With Fuxi and Nuwa:

 

 

The Cosmograph:

 

 

Xi Wang Mu:

On the celestial level, the goddess also manifests her power through the Dipper Stars, a major focus of Taoist mysticism. [schipper, 70. He notes that Ma Zi was also seen “as an emanation of one of the stars in the Big Dipper.” (43)] A Shang Qing text dating around 500 says that Xi Wangmu governs the nine-layered Kunlun and the Northern Dipper. The Shih Zhou Zhi also connects Kunlun mountain “where Xi Wang Mu reigns” to a double star in the Big Dipper, known as the Dark Mechanism. The Dipper’s handle, called the Jade Crossbar of the Five Constants, “governs the internal structure of the nine heavens and regulates yin and yang.” [Cahill, 35-8]

 

Oracle Bones:

Often referenced celestial bodies including the Big Dipper

 

Huangdi:

apocryphal texts show that it is quite probable that the Yellow Emperor was originally a deity controlling lightning and thunder and was represented in the shape of the constellation of the Big Dipper. As a such, he also represented the centre of Heaven and the world and controlled all other directions and the deities attributed to them. The latter were seen as an element of disturbance that the Yellow Emperor had to calm down.

[soaring crane]

Cool constellation! Ever contemplate what might be "beyond" it?

Space, the final frontier? :-)

[Daeluin]

Cool constellation! Ever contemplate what might be "beyond" it?

 

Well, the last two stars, on the ladle end, point in the direction of the North Star.

 

In the body, the dipper represents the back of the head, and the North Start the top of the head. Their connection is very important and relates to the very functioning of our "minds".

 

-------------------

 

In Liu Yiming's Cultivating the Tao, tl Pegradio, there is a chapter on The Ebb and Flow of Celestial Net.

 

Essentially, "Celestial Net" is the last star, the one pointing to Polaris, tiangang. I found it interesting that this is a spectroscopic binary, and along with handle star does not move with the the group of stars in this area. These are the two stars mentioned above by dawei, the "Dark Mechanism" and the Jade Crossbar of the Five Constants, “governs the internal structure of the nine heavens and regulates yin and yang.”

 

As a whole the Big Dipper appears to be referred to as the "Northern Dipper" of 5 dippers:

 

The Eastern Dipper governs the count of years, the Western Dipper records the names of those who will ascend to the heavens, the Northern Dipper removes names from the records of death, the Southern Dipper enters them into the records of life, and the Central Dipper, the Great Leader, is the loftiest and most eminent.

Taoism and the Arts of China, Shawn Eichman

 

I find it interesting to ponder on these descriptions from religious taoism, as I believe originally these descriptions came from the subtle understandings left behind by sages who worked directly with these forces in their study of life and immortality.

 

In any case, Liu Yiming writes this on the Celestial Net Star:

 

 

In the Way of cultivating Reality, you must know the ebb and flow of the Net star of the Northern Dipper. Only then can you invert the unfolding of creation and transformation, turn around Qian ☰ and Kun ☷, and control Yin and Yang, instead of being controlled by Yin and Yang.

 

Celestial Net (tiangang) is the seventh star of the Northern Dipper; it is also called Commander of Destruction (pojun), Glimmering Radiance (yaoguang), and Ladle Star (biaoxing). It participates of the power of the North Pole. It holds the scale of giving life and taking life, and keeps the handle of creation and transformation. It sets the five agents in motion, causes the four seasons to alternate, and generates the ten thousand things. It is the commander and the chief of all the constellations, the axis and the hinge of the circulation of Breath (qi). Its function is extremely important, and its efficacy is extremely great.

 

It is interesting to ponder on what one may discover when one cultivates oneself to such levels of refinement.

[Tao of Buttercup]

Daeluin wrote: "Well, the last two stars, on the ladle end, point in the direction of the North Star."

 

The Big Dipper is also "the key to the sky"; it's how I learned the major constellations as a kid:

 

http://www.fortworthastro.com/images/bigdipperdirections.gif

 

As for the "double star" in its handle, it's a visual binary (line of sight). Not a true double.

[GrandmasterP]

Love astronomy, and this is new to me today (found while browsing "Taoism shrines" on Google). Thought I'd share (probably is familiar to some here):

 

http://www.poyuentaoist.org/dipper.shtml

 

http://www.artic.edu/taoism/renaissance/h101.php

 

p.s.: I didn't know the Big Dipper (asterism of Ursa Major) is important in Taoism. Interesting to note that Draco the Dragon is so very near:

 

http://robertbauval.co.uk/articles/articles/images/cciae1.jpg

 

Wow!

You sure catch on quick.

The 'big dipper' is massively symbolic, it kinda reifies what it is that we are 'doing' ( or hoping to do) when we cultivate for one.

There's more to it than that too.

[Daeluin]

Daeluin wrote: "Well, the last two stars, on the ladle end, point in the direction of the North Star."

 

The Big Dipper is also "the key to the sky"; it's how I learned the major constellations as a kid:

 

http://www.fortworthastro.com/images/bigdipperdirections.gif

 

Thanks for this!

 

As for the "double star" in its handle, it's a visual binary (line of sight). Not a true double.

 

Oh, I meant the double star in the ladle:

 

This star forms part of the Big Dipper (also known as the Plough or the Great Bear), and is the northern of the 'pointers' (or 'guards'), the two stars of Ursa Major which point towards Polaris, the North Star. Dubhe is about 123 light years away and is a giant star that has evolved away from the main sequence after consuming the hydrogen at its core. It is a spectroscopic binary with a main sequence companion α UMa B that has a stellar classification of K0V.^[4] The companion star orbits at a mean separation of about 23 astronomical units (AU) and completes an orbit every 44.4 years. More than 8,000 AU distant from this pair is a second binary system that includes an F-type star, making this a four star system.

Edited July 20, 2014 by Daeluin

[Tao of Buttercup]

Not wishing to start another thread (is related):

 

I've just now read about Yu, and The Pace of Yu.

 

The "Northern Bushel" (Dipper - of course). Polaris also mentioned.

 

Perhaps a premature question (answer to be found later), but I'd like to ask:

 

Is the Northern Bushel/Dipper a shamanic destination...or a portal?

 

Source: The Shambhala Guide to Taoism by Eva Wong.

 

p.s.: I'm very glad to see such a strong shamanic connection in Taoism. That's *always* cool.

 

p.p.s. (sorry - I'm still limited as to #posts per day). Reading about this Lady just now, too:

 

http://www.suppressedhistories.net/goddess/xiwangmu.html

Edited July 22, 2014 by Tao of Buttercup

[dawei]

Is the Northern Bushel/Dipper a shamanic destination...or a portal?

 

see the comments around:

The seat of the celestial bureaucracy of the gods

 

And this:

The Imperial Astrologer - Esoteric Astrology in the Light of Ancient Chinese Knowledge

 

 

And try to find: Very interesting explanation on the Dipper.

THE GREAT ONE, WATER, AND THE LAOZI: NEW LIGHT FROM GUODIAN

BY

SARAH ALLAN, Dartmouth College

[Rocky Lionmouth]

The nine stars she gave birth to were the seven of the dipper, north star and the southern pointing one too right?

 

It also relates to the River Map Square somehow, not exactly sure how.

[Taomeow]

The nine stars she gave birth to were the seven of the dipper, north star and the southern pointing one too right?

 

It also relates to the River Map Square somehow, not exactly sure how.

 

Nope, there's really nine stars in the Big Dipper, not seven.  At the time of early taoism the two that are now not visible were visible and depicted on the celestial maps.  I've seen those maps.  Later they were referred to as "the invisible stars of the Big Dipper," but taoists knew where they are from earlier transmissions and depictions.  And yes, they have everything to do with the River Map.