TOW-[Kwan Yin] Buddhist Bodhisattva of Compassion

This is #1 of a series of 12 Goddess Swaps

For this swap you will send 4 items to 1 partner. These 4 items must be associated with the goddess but are up to your interpretation. Please include a note that says why you chose those items and how they relate to the goddess (as well as the swap name and your ID) This swap is international so keep in mind that you may receive a partner across the world from you and shipping can get pricey. However, note that this can also be well worth it as you will get a unique glimpse into the Goddess from someone across the world in a totally different culture than you! Extra items often mean hearts, so make this a package that you would like to receive!

I have chosen Kwan Yin as our goddess for January as it is the first chapter in a new book and I believe we all need compassion and love when we begin a new journey. Welcome Kwan Yin into your practice as you begin new habits and start with a clean slate. Her compassion is very important this month with the Inauguration occurring in American Politics and the beginning of the year in the West (a time we all need compassion with ourselves after heavy holiday eating and breaking bad habits!)

Kwan Yin

• Also know as Guanyin
• She is the goddess of Mercy and Compassion in Buddhism
• She is said to be one of the most widely beloved Buddhist deities and that she is so powerful that she will assist all who pray to her
• associated with the Lotus flower
• the personification of compassion and kindness, a mother goddess and patron of mothers and seamen
• In China, Guanyin is generally portrayed as a young woman donned in a flowing white robe and usually wearing necklaces symbolic of Indian or Chinese royalty. In her left hand is a jar containing pure water, and the right holds a willow branch.
• She is associated with Vegetarianism
• She is a protector of woman and children and is considered a fertility goddess in Chinese traditional Folktales. "An old Chinese superstition involves a woman who, wishing to have a child, offers a shoe to Guanyin. In Chinese culture, a borrowed shoe sometimes is used when a child is expected. After the child is born, the shoe is returned to its owner along with a new pair as a thank you gift"
• Kwan Yin is also seen as the champion of the unfortunate, the sick, the disabled, the poor, and those in trouble

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