Who is the Dianmu 电母 Lightning Goddess

Dianmu, also known as "Lightning Goddess" and "Holy Mother of Golden Light", is the deity in charge of lightning among the gods of Taoism. The belief in Dianmu evolved from the belief in the Thunder God. In the early days, the Thunder God was in charge of both thunder and lightning and was called "Leigong Dianfu" (Thunder God and Lightning Father). Later, in line with people's psychological tendency to pair yin and yang with male and female counterparts, Dianfu (Lightning Father) transformed into a female figure. The title "Dianmu" (Lightning Mother) appeared no later than the Song Dynasty. Su Shi, a poet of the Song Dynasty, wrote in his poem Reply to Zhang Chuandao in Rhythm to Celebrate the Timely Rain: "Steering the thunder chariot and the Lightning Mother". The History of the Yuan Dynasty records: "The flag of Dianmu is painted with a divine figure in the shape of a woman".

Dianmu's duty, like that of Leigong, was originally to manage lightning and thunder. However, since the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, people have endowed thunder and lightning with the meaning of punishing evil and promoting good. In short, Dianmu is a subordinate deity of the Thunder God, paired with the Thunder God, and in folk beliefs, she is often worshipped together with other weather gods. The Jintian Temple in Lanzhou has a Thunder Altar, which is specially dedicated to the Thunder Ancestor, with ten major Thunder Gods, Leigong, Dianmu, Fengbo (God of Wind), Yushi (God of Rain) and others enshrined on both sides.

Dianmu has a dignified image, wearing a vermilion dress and white trousers, with light emanating from her hands. Dianmu's birthday is the same as that of Leigong. Nowadays, Taoist believers usually only worship Leigong and Dianmu when praying for rain and snow, and there are few special worship activities for them.