Hsi Wang Mu
A Chinese goddess of longevity, who has been worshipped from prehistoric times into the present. She is perhaps the most ancient goddess known to the Chinese, and is often depicted in Oriental works of art as a woman with the tail and fanglike teeth of a cat. She rules West and the Autumn season. The crane (a Chinese symbol of longevity) is the animal most sacred to her, and her symbol is the phoenix (a mythical bird that rose from the ashes of it own funeral pyre to live again). Her name means "Queen of the Western Heaven".
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