Mazu Goddess 媽祖娘娘 (Saamlawnese: Ma Ju Niang Niang) is one of the goddesses in our lineage, and her anniversary falls on the lunar March 23rd. There are a lot of Mazu temples in the world, yet just like we have explained in our previous lessons, gods and deities are exclusive to their lineage and sect. Even though the statue is the same, the gods behind it are not. We will introduce the Mazu Goddess in our lineage with this detailed article for our disciples and believers.
In common folk’s belief, the Mazu is more like a Buddhist mixed with Taoist tradition. They believe that a lady named Lam Mak 林默 has become a deity after she passes away. This lady was a Buddhist practitioner and had been helping people to do fortune telling and giving advice to the devotees. Therefore, when she passed away, people built temples to worship her and especially praised her as the goddess of protection related to cruising on the sea.
Mazu Goddess of Intelligence
Like many gods in our lineage, they are post-heaven gods created with a profile of existing names like Judge Bao and Elder Lord. The special property of Mazu is her power to boost intelligence and utilize wisdom. She can help you think, strategize, polish, or review things before they are finalized.
Intelligence is different from wisdom. Intelligence, in our definition, means the power to think and process within oneself, using the elements already inside your system and utilizing all the ingredients within your reach. Wisdom is about how much a person has learned and can give birth to new knowledge from the absorbed ones. We often say intelligent people are smart because they can solve problems and break down information. Yet they are not the ones who can discover new ideas and have a long vision. Wise people with wisdom can discover new ideas and invent new things. Both are important, but Mazu is more of a helper in the intelligence part.
Studying in school requires intelligence more than wisdom because you would need to remember a bunch of things and then be able to use them within the exams. You don’t need any vision or wisdom to do that; all you need is intelligence to be “smart” in school. They won’t appreciate wise kids who think out of the box too much. An intelligent worker at work will often be a great helper and problem solver too, so we love these people who seem to know what they are doing and can quickly pick up things.
Goddess of Internal Power
Mazu can help you contain the energy within yourself, like an air tank that can hold up high-pressure air and not explode. This internal power is important for many things in life. For example, people who cannot contain anything in their guts will often have short vision, hot-tempered or impatience. I taught a disciple, and she was very immature even though she seemed “smart” in most people’s eyes. When she was being scolded for something, she didn’t understand its moral and could not contain the energy to process the information further. Instead, she decided to vent by rambling on the computer and typing all her frustration and anger into a hate list. This has led her to vent her “stress” onto the document, yet she is venting it all out to bash her master, a bad virtue that the gods have witnessed. Over time, this became a habit, and she thought it was okay until one day, she did something much worse and caused her whole family to lose the Tao. It’s scary how bad virtue can lead to such a disaster. If she had help from Mazu and learned to contain the stress inside her before venting it out, then waited until she matured and had the vision and intelligence to see through the teachings and scolding, maybe everything would be much better.
People don’t like stress; it feels bad to have stress inside you when you don’t understand. It’s like a child being scolded by their parents, and they feel they are being blamed or framed because they don’t feel right. After 18 years, the child looks back at their stupidity in the past; they would then feel the same as their parent and want to scold themselves too. Ignorance and immature minds are the problems, and you should always learn to “eat the dead cat,” as we say in Chinese. That means to swallow it and be quiet, then let the stress sit inside you while you mature and process it. With time and patience, you will often grow up, see through the stress, and be good again.
A worker with a low-power gut system will be a pain to work with. Imagine they are talking to the client in a meeting; they might be unable to hold onto their anger and vent to the client upfront. Have you seen waiters who love to argue with the customer instead of keeping their temper to themselves? A lot of these workers these days definitely would need Mazu’s power.
Mazu’s metaphor is like “shut the mouth and close up the system,” imagine a balloon being injected with air, then tie a knot to seal the air inside, or you can imagine putting a bunch of people into the room and close the door with a lock on top, no one can get out until work is finish! The power of Mazu lets you contain the energy inside your system and not let it come out before it is ready. It helps you build self-control and discipline while also improving your ability to process information without snapping out of frustration.
Heart Devil Killing
The heart devil is a big subject and a very commonly encountered hurdle for Taoists. It can be just a negative thought in mind, but it can also manifest to the point that it will make you want to quit the Tao and lose everything. I have witnessed many disciples failing themselves when they face this hurdle. It is scary and deadly.
Most people have a very low capacity in their “gut,” and they cannot contain or swallow things while staying calm. Their heart devil will push them to act up and snap. When they “feel” something is wrong according to their logic, they will want to fight back verbally or by rebelling using physical actions. This is dangerous, especially if it happens at work.
The bottom section of your energy body is called the ground system, and the energy inside is like the water inside the ground, like the water in the ocean. Heart devils are often in this area of the energy body, which keeps messing you up when you start to process thoughts. Mazu’s power can help you contain and process these elements by empowering your ground system and giving you the power to contain and overpower the devil’s energy inside. This will allow you to survive the hurdle and kill the heart devil over time.
Eating Dead Cat
“Shut up!”
This might be the best thing to do when facing any life problem. Mazu’s wisdom is that you should do three things in order when facing problems. Shut up, don’t take action and wait for time to process. Remember that Mazu is a quiet, calm and intelligent goddess, be like her when facing problems. Don’t be driven by emotions and feelings; use what she has taught instead, and problems will be solved much quicker.
“Eating the dead cat” is a Chinese saying that pretty much sums up the three steps described above. When you feel blamed, framed or unfair, eat the dead cat and wait, things will be different after a while.
If your child or workers have an issue that requires some help, teach them how to “eat the dead cat,” then you might deploy Mazu’s power on them to help them stay quiet and calm down. It could sometimes even be an angry neighbour who always bangs on their walls to protest against you. We had a very hot-headed guy next to our local temple before, and he would scream and bang the wall or even put on loud sirens to protest at us for burning incense. It’s crazy, and we wished we had Mazu to help this person calm down. Do you have anyone around that needs some help? Angry grannies or some gossipers at work might need help to keep their mouths shut too. They lack self-control and cannot control their mouth not to gossip and spread rumours; let Mazu help them behave better!
If you are a boss who has to manage people, Mazu can also help you manage them better and use everyone’s strength. After all, they are all in a system; you are there to control and utilize the elements within the system!
Luck and Energy Leaks
One more application of Mazu’s power is to repair energy leaks and luck leaking issues. Do you feel you always have your luck stolen or things turn bad before you see the fruit? This is a form of luck energy leaking, and Mazu could help you patch the leaks. Finding that you are constantly losing things or just disappearing in the house could also be a sign of energy leaks.
Not only that she can help you fix these problems, but she can also be your wealth god to help you hold onto your wealth and control your spending. It could be spending money or spending time on the wrong things. Some people cannot control themselves, and you can give them the whole day, but they can only waste time on useless things like scrolling through TikToks and driving around for no reason. The power of Mazu can help them cherish their time and life better.
Mazu is a goddess that can give you intelligence, the power to contain stress and process them, improve your self-control and discipline, and the power to fight heart devils. Great for students and people who need to use their “brains” and those who need help strategizing and making plans. You can get the eBook to learn her FU HEAD, prayer and spell! Get ordained today to learn more about her and how to use her magical powers.
