Aloha Daughters of the Goddess,
We just celebrated our Fall Equinox Ritual, which is celebrating the balance of the day and the night. We are getting ready for the Witches New Year with Womyn’s Spiral Dance Ritual on Friday October 27th, 2017. Did you know there is a Goddess Temple in San Francisco’s China Town? We are making a pilgrimage to Her Temple.
Celebrate Tin Hau
Chinese Goddess of the Sea
Thursday, October 5th, 2017 ~11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
San Francisco locale/meeting place/directions given upon RSVP
Full Moon in Aries, Sun Libra
$30 one-time exchange/$15 Newcomer
Tin Hau is the Chinese Goddess of safe travels and Sea. Tin Hau (天后) who is also called Matsu (Mother-Ancestor), Mat-Su, Mazu, Tian Fei , A-Ma, Tianhou. Tin Hau is Her formal name. Her more common name is Mazu.
Her Titles are Holy Mother Empress of the Heavens above, Lady Mazu, Motherly Matriarch, Daughter of the Dragon and Heavenly Holy Mother.
Tin Hau is an indigenous Goddess of the Sea who protects fishermen and sailors. She will rescue people in danger. Tin Hau is widely worshiped in the southeastern coastal regions of China, especially in Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan. She is also an important deity in Taiwan. Tin Hau is also worshiped in East and Southeast Asia.
There are countless legends and tales where Tin Hau, dressed in red, appeared to sailors as a warning that unseen storms were rising and that their voyages should be postponed. She also appeared as a bright light on their troubled ships arriving just in the nick of time to calm a storm and save lives. Another account of Her miracles is She rode the clouds across the ocean to rescue sailors from the Sea.
In our modern-day air travel, where we can be anywhere in the world in 18 hours, we can forget how long and dangerous ship voyages were. Immigrants coming across the Pacific Ocean arriving safely built Temples to Tin Hau to give Thanks and praise to the Goddess. Today worship of Tin Hau is also found in other countries with sizeable populations from southeastern China. In total, there are around 1,500 Tin Hua Temples in 26 countries of the world.
For this Pilgrimage, we are going to Tin Hau’s Temple that was founded in 1852 and is one of the oldest still-operating Chinese temples in the United States. The original building was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake in which an image of the Goddess, the temple bell, and part of the altar survived. The Temple was reopened in 1910 where it is today on top floor of a four-story building. Please bring a tithe to help support the Temple.
To reach the Temple we will walk up several flights of stairs. After visiting the Temple, we walk around Chinatown and have lunch together. Please bring money for lunch. Many of us choose to share family style. If you would like to join in you are more than welcome.
This pilgrimage is special. You get to experience a part of San Francisco that you will not see on the street level. Be part of visiting a Goddess Temple, which is over 117 years old.
If you are interested in participating in this ritual please see our participation page.