The Enchanted Tarot

Astrology

Enchantments

Alchemy

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T'AI YUAN, sometimes called the Great Original Goddess, lived upon a mist-wreathed mountain in China named Cho'o Wo. She lived her life with great purity and simplicity, existing solely upon clouds and air.

At the age of forty she was still a virgin until a suitor found his way to her mountain peak and, in a strange sexual union, entered her mouth in the form of a beam of light. This produced, after a period of twelve long years, quite a precious child. He could both speak and walk immediately upon being born in a rainbow-colored cloud.

Known as a very great and holy being, T'AI YUAN combined both the active and passive male and female elements within her body. With her perfect intelligence, she brought forth the first concept of "Yin" (the female principle) and related it to receptivity, darkness, the Earth, the Moon, and intuition. Then she produced "Yang" (the male principle) which she related to action, light, Heaven, the Sun, and reason.

Yin and Yang are symbolized by a circle that is half light and half dark; within each half is contained a spot of the opposite color. This perfectly represents the idea that none of us are completely feminine or masculine but a mixture of opposing forces which can enhance each other and together form a complete whole.

Wherever the Yin/Yang symbol of wholeness appears, and it seems to occur in a great many forms and places, we can be reminded of T'AI YUAN. It is perhaps the most enduring monument any Goddess could have.