THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
	a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.

To: omkali@portal.com
From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Subject: Hsi Wang Mu (MJew)
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 1995 12:36:20 -0700 (PDT)

[AUM KALI.  Here be a sacrifice for you.]

[from alt.philosophy.taoism: millerjew@aol.com (MillerJew); slightly edited]

Only bits and pieces of this Lo-shu world map found so far"....

Alfredo Barbuti wrote: >>>> The Queen of the K'un-lun "was" "The Queen
Mother of the West" (Xiwang mu):

  "...The palaces and towers she resides in are located on Pestle
   Mountain in the Tortoise Mountain Range, in the splendid parks
   of Mount Kunlun..
   ...In addition, it is her duty to supervise the correcting and editing
of the sacred scriptures in heaven, to reflect due divine light on the
proceedings. Her responsability covers all the treasured scriptures of
Highest Clarity, the jade writs of the Three Caverns, as well as the
sacred texts that are bestowed at ordination. ..."
   Yongcheng jixian lu (Record of the Assembled Immortals of the
   Heavenly Walled City) contained in "The Taoist Experience. An
   anthology" by Livia Kohn] <<<<

Xiwang mu is Pinyin translation of (same) HSI WANG MU (Giles tr.).

Much mythology is given on this Entity. Samplers (and fun stuff!): 

1. Perhaps the most beloved Immortal is Li T'ieh-kuai, who is represented
as a lame begger leaning on his iron crutch. He was the first to gain
immortality, as he was the pupil of HSI WANG MU herself, who took him in
hand after curing him of an ulcer in the leg. 

2. The Immortals represent a superior class of human beings, who, after
canonization, dwell on mountains peaks, retaining their bodily form, and
still very much in touch with the world. Anyone was eligible for this
distinction, but its attainment was extremely difficult, for it entailed a
strict bodily regime, coupled with the discipline of the soul, and the
unending quest for the Elixir of Life. Various degrees could be attained,
the first being the ability of the soul to leave its shell and, while
retaining its human semblance, to discard the limitations of time and
space, and to achieve eternal happiness without the dread of disease or
death. Then came the perfect man who could ride the clouds, like Wagner's
Valkyries, and was deified as a hero. A first-class Immortal could make
his transformation acts in full daylight, whereas.... Many of them lived
in the Palace of the HSI WANG MU, or Mother of the Western Heaven.   

3. In the palace of the HSI WANG MU (Royal Western Mother), situated in
the K'un Lung Mountains of Central Asia, grows a peach tree whose fruit
ripens only once in three thousand years. It has the property of
conferring longevity on all who eat it.  

ON K'UN LUN....

Exoteric meaning: K'un-lun the name of a famous mountain that exist in
Tibet (China). It is also applied to the range of Koulkun mountains, lying
between the desert of Gobi and Tibet.

Esoteric meaning: Lun is dragon. Kun is the Earth. K'un-lung, combined, is
Earth Dragon. 

In Chinese mythology (also a blending of Buddhism/Taoism/Religion), the
Earth Dragon is Sanat Kumara, an entity that lived in the planet Venus,
but came in to take over this earth as His\Her embodiment to advance it. 

In relationship to physical mountains are esoteric intentions (which means
decoding is necessary): Note another mountain (shan): The Jade emperor
(God of the Western Peak) rewarded Miao-shan by sending the god of the
planet Venus to her to confer upon her the title of the most compassionate
and most benevolent Bodhisattva, Kuan Yin. 

Alfredo Barbuti wrote: >>>> on a turtleback (the same turtle which the
Queen of the K'un-lun rides in the ocean located in our abdomen). Is it
correct? <<<<

This is written in a "parables" sense. And yes they are symbolic and
written metaphorically. Kun Lun rides in the ocean located in our abdomen
means ocean is the field of emotions or astral plane and our abdomen deals
with a particular chackra (Hindu tr).) center in our vital (chi) body.
(Western esotericism calls this vital\chi\prana body our etheric body. 

Alfredo Barbuti wrote: >>>> I found the name "lo-shu" in an italian
translation of the book "LE CORPS TAO\"{i}ST, corps physique - corps
social" (The taoist body, physical body - social body) by Kristofer
Schipper, Librairie Arthe`me Fayard, Paris 1982. <<<<

Here "social-body" has sense to it. Since Tao is interfusion and
interpenetration there is natural energy\chi-impacting relationship
between each one of us as self-individualized and as group/social. And
also (above) "physical body" connotes relationship to other bodies in our
self and group orientation. 

[...]

..."The magical octagon composed of yin and yang, is like the Western 
Paradise, the source of emotions, with their positive and negative 
polarities. The journey of the soul, and the final discovery of its golden 
palace ruled over by beauty and compassion, might well explain the Taoist 
concept. The regeneration of the attributes of soul-power might also be 
portrayed by the Eight Immortals and their fanciful paths of attainment." 
(M.P.Hall: The Sages of China. pg 67. The Philosophical Research Society, 
 Inc.)  

Yours,
Zhou

More sources: "The Encyclopedia Sinica" by Samuel Couling. Shanghai: Kelly
and Walsh, LTD 1917. 

"Treatise on Cosmic Fire" by A.A.Bailey/Dwhul Khul. ( series of 25
volumes. by Lucis Publishing Co, NY/United Nations Building (Available in
French, German, Dutch, English, Spanish, etc). 10th printing 1973. 

"Chinese Creeds and Customs" V.R. Burkhardt. Taiwan reprint 1967.

"Asiatic Mythology:  A detailed description and Explanation of the
Mythologies of All the great nations of Asia." Crescent Books, NY.