Dian Mu- Chinese GodDeity"Goddess of Lightning"
Also known as: 电母, 電母, Diàn Mǔ, 闪电娘娘, and Shǎndiàn Niángniáng
Description
Goddess of lightning who wields two polished mirrors to create the blinding flash that precedes her husband Lei Gong's thunder. In the storm's choreography, Dian Mu's light reveals the guilty and Lei Gong's hammer strikes them down.
Mythology & Lore
The Mirrors
Dian Mu carries two polished mirrors into every storm. She holds them aloft and angles them to catch celestial light. The flash that mortals see as lightning is the reflection from her mirrors, a concentrated burst of radiance that turns night into momentary day. Nothing beneath the sky can hide when she tilts them.
Flash Before Thunder
She works in concert with her husband Lei Gong, the Duke of Thunder. He beats his drums and swings his mallet; she flashes her mirrors. The light always arrives before the sound. Dian Mu's flash comes first because it finds the target: the secret crime, the wrong that escaped human courts. Lei Gong's thunderbolt follows to strike the guilty down.
People killed by lightning were understood to have committed crimes so severe that heaven sent its own executioners. Dian Mu's role was the sharper one. Without her mirrors, Lei Gong's hammer would fall blind.
Relationships
- Family
- Serves