NuWa & The Divine Feminine: Snake Archetypes, Harmony & The Philosopher's Stone
This is the accompanying blog to my youtube video linked above! Today we're diving deep into one of China's most fascinating creation myths—the story of NuWa (女媧), the serpent goddess whose wisdom speaks directly to our transformative journey into the Year of the Wood Snake.
This exploration came from a newsletter subscriber's request after watching my recent Wood Snake video, sparking a broader look into Divine Feminine deities associated with the Snake Archetype. I chose NuWa because she represents a powerful yet perhaps lesser-known figure outside Mandarin-speaking cultures, offering us rich insights into Chinese creation mythology, spiritual archetypes, and alchemical wisdom.
NuWa: The Mother of Creation
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NuWa, the Mother Goddess of Creation in Chinese mythology, is often depicted with the body of a serpent or dragon—symbolizing her deep connection to primal, transformative forces. The earliest references to NuWa date back to the 4th-1st century BCE in the ShanHaiJing (山海经), which details her role in creating and repairing the heavens. Another key reference comes from the Huainanzi (淮南子), a philosophical text from the 2nd century BCE that elaborates on her contributions to cosmic balance.
The Divine Partnership: NuWa and Fuxi
While I initially wanted to focus solely on NuWa, her story is incomplete without discussing her husband/brother, Fuxi (伏羲). Ancient depictions show both figures with human upper bodies and serpentine tails, representing the duality of complementary universal forces—the very essence of the Dao.
According to legend, these divine siblings emerged in a primordial world of chaos, born from the cosmic separation of heaven and earth. After a great flood wiped out humanity, they found themselves as the sole survivors with a sacred responsibility to restore life and bring order to Earth.
The Sacred Union and Creation of Humanity
The siblings climbed the Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山), built a great fire, and prayed for divine guidance. Heaven approved their sacred union to repopulate the earth. After restoring nature and animals, NuWa felt something was missing—she wanted companions to enliven the world. From yellow clay, she sculpted human figures with her hands and breathed divine life into them, while Fuxi taught humanity essential skills like fishing, hunting, and writing.
Sacred Symbols: The Compass and Square
An important aspect of their iconography includes their divine tools:
NuWa holds the compass: symbolizing her power to measure and craft the heavens, representing circles, softness, beauty, poetry, creativity, and the Divine Feminine
Fuxi carries the carpenter's square: symbolizing his role in bringing order and structure to earth, representing angles, structure, order, and the Divine Masculine
Fuxi is also credited with bringing forth the Eight Trigrams (八卦, Bagua) upon which the I-Ching is based, providing humanity with a framework for understanding the cosmos. These trigrams form the cornerstone of Daoist metaphysics, used in feng shui, divination, and internal alchemy to align human life with universal energies.
Additionally, Fuxi decoded the HeTu LuoShu (河圖洛書), the mystical mathematical blueprints of the universe that form the foundation for both the Bagua and the principles of yin and yang.
HeTu LuoShu (河圖洛書) Image Source
Cross-Cultural Connections: Universal Archetypes
The famous silk painting from the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE), excavated from the Astana Cemetery near Turfan, shows NuWa and Fuxi with intertwined serpent bodies. This imagery resonates across cultures:
The Caduceus: Staff of Hermes with two intertwined snakes
DNA Double Helix: The very structure of life
Kundalini Energy: The rising serpent power in yogic traditions
Hindu Nagas: Serpent deities symbolizing wisdom and transformation
Egyptian Ouroboros: The cycle of creation, destruction, and rebirth
Greek Mythology: Cadmus and Harmonia's transformation
Interestingly, when you combine the compass and carpenter's square, you get a symbol remarkably similar to the Freemasonic square and compass—yet the Chinese depiction predates Freemasonry by millennia. Coincidence, or an archetype drawn from the same stream of collective consciousness?
The Great Repair: NuWa Mends the Sky 煉石補天 ((liàn shí bǔ tiān)
NuWa's most famous act was repairing the heavens. A catastrophic war between powerful deities caused the collapse of celestial pillars, tearing a hole in the sky and bringing chaos to the world. Torrential floods, raging fires, and rampaging beasts threatened humanity's survival.
Driven by compassion and responsibility, NuWa undertook the monumental task of restoring balance. She gathered five-colored stones representing the Five Elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) and smelted them into a magical material - what I call the Philosopher's Stone. Using this divine substance, she mended the hole in the sky and re-established cosmic order.
To support the heavens, NuWa used the four legs of a giant tortoise as pillars to replace the broken celestial supports. This act of sacrifice and ingenuity saved the world while symbolizing the balance and harmony that NuWa embodies.
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Alchemical Metaphor: Inner Transformation
In Daoist alchemical thought, NuWa's act of "煉石補天" (liàn shí bǔ tiān) serves as a metaphor for inner cultivation and transformation. The five-colored stones represent the elemental forces within the body, and mending the sky symbolizes the process of healing one's inner cosmos, achieving unity between the physical and spiritual realms.
The Snake Archetype: Symbols of Transformation
Snakes symbolize both creation and destruction in Daoist philosophy. The snake's shedding of its skin provides a powerful metaphor for transformation—representing cycles of death, rebirth, and spiritual renewal.
In Daoism, the snake archetype connects to the concept of transformation, where death is not an end but a passage. This theme is central to Daoist Alchemy, which seeks to cultivate inner balance and eternal life by transmuting one's spiritual essence through stages of purification and enlightenment.
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The WuXing (五行): The Five Elements of Harmony
At the heart of Daoist thought lies the WuXing, or Five Elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These elements aren't isolated forces but interconnected and cyclical. The WuXing maps how all things exist in constant flux, transforming into one another.
Just as the snake sheds its skin in continuous renewal, the WuXing describes how elements give rise to one another in perpetual cycles of creation and destruction:
Wood feeds Fire
Fire creates Earth (ash)
Earth holds Metal
Metal contains Water
Water nurtures Wood
Each element is both product and cause of transformation. Just as NuWa repaired the sky with five-colored stones, the elements in balance form the very fabric of our reality.
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Daoist Alchemy: Transmutation of the Self
In Daoist Alchemy, the process of self-transmutation mirrors nature's cycles. Alchemists sought to transform their "inner elixir"—their life force—through meditation, breath control, and diet, aligning with the cosmic flow of the WuXing.
The snake's wisdom in Daoist Alchemy is the ability to shed old, limiting patterns and allow for new growth. Through this constant renewal and transformation, one aligns with the Dao, the eternal flow of the universe.
Etymology: The Sacred Language
The etymology of NuWa's name reveals deep wisdom:
Nu (女): Female/feminine/woman
Wa (媧): A unique character used only for NuWa, containing the root "female" on the left and resembling a cave on the right
This character appears in related words like:
窩 (wō): Shelter, rock cave, bird's nest, den
蝸牛 (wōniú): Snail (note the spiral, sacred geometry!)
青蛙 (qīngwā): Frog
The pronunciation and imagery suggest her amphibious nature—half woman, half snake or dragon. This is an alchemical reference showing the brilliance of Traditional Chinese Characters, where profound meaning is encoded in just two syllables.
Embracing Transformation in the Wood Snake Year
As we enter the Year of the Wood Snake in 2025, NuWa's wisdom offers us powerful guidance. Her story reminds us that transformation is not just possible but necessary for growth and cosmic harmony.
What limiting patterns might you shed as we embrace this new cycle? How can you align with the transformative wisdom of the serpent while maintaining the balance of the Five Elements in your own life?
Conclusion: The Eternal Dance of Creation
From NuWa's myth to the snake archetype, from the wisdom of the WuXing to the transformative practices of Daoist Alchemy, we see continuous themes of balance, creation, and renewal. These ancient teachings remind us that, like the snake shedding its skin, we too can transform—both within and without.
By embracing the Divine Feminine energy of NuWa, we align ourselves with the cosmic forces that shape the universe, finding harmony in the cycles of life and death, creation and destruction. May you find the wisdom of the serpent within you as we embark on this transformative journey together.
Sources & Additional Reading
Hetu LuoShu: Notes from the Digital Underground
Chinese Text Project: Character Dictionary
Wikipedia Sources (Mandarin):
Cultural Sources:
