The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I discovered Quan Yin about a year ago, during a meditation. Ironically, I was listening to some kind of meditation/ambient music (I don't remember who/what), and my iPod decided it wanted to play Alanis Morissette's "Citizen of the Planet." One of the lines of the chorus is "my president is Quan Yin." I didn't come out of my trance-ish thing until I heard that line, a full minute and a half or so into the song. Since then she's subtly been my patron throughout my daily life.

My question is, does anyone know what stones/plants/animals are sacred to Her? So far I've got lotus, sea turtle, and dragon. What else do you guys know that are sacred/related to Quan Yin?

I discovered Quan Yin about a year ago, during a meditation. Ironically, I was listening to some kind of meditation/ambient music (I don't remember who/what), and my iPod decided it wanted to play Alanis Morissette's "Citizen of the Planet." One of the lines of the chorus is "my president is Quan Yin." I didn't come out of my trance-ish thing until I heard that line, a full minute and a half or so into the song. Since then she's subtly been my patron throughout my daily life.

My question is, does anyone know what stones/plants/animals are sacred to Her? So far I've got lotus, sea turtle, and dragon. What else do you guys know that are sacred/related to Quan Yin?

 
Her cult is vast and varies quite a lot depending on where you are, so I would suggest you start by either asking Her what she'd like you to use or research some of the current practices surrounding her and seeing what appeals to you.

I'm curious why you want to know? Is it for altar purposes? Are you looking for something you can carry around? Knowing why you want to know might make it easier to make suggestions, too.

Altar/shrine purposes, mostly. I've finally found the time, money, and room to set up a permanent shrine to Her. I was also thinking about getting 108 beads in whatever stone to make a rosary.

 
Technically, the prayer beads used for reciting mantras for Kuan Yin are usually referred to as a mala, not a rosary.

I have a statue of a feng huang on my altar for her, but that's more of a personal choice. I think you'd be better off starting with things that you associate with her. What are you going to use the altar for? If you're planning on meditation, you might want calmer colors. Traditionally red and gold are very popular, and I've incorporated some of that myself.

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Sorry! I replied from Tapatalk and am still figuring out how to reply with quotes. I got it once, but can't remember now.

Technically, the prayer beads used for reciting mantras for Kuan Yin are usually referred to as a mala, not a rosary.

I have a statue of a feng huang on my altar for her, but that's more of a personal choice. I think you'd be better off starting with things that you associate with her. What are you going to use the altar for? If you're planning on meditation, you might want calmer colors. Traditionally red and gold are very popular, and I've incorporated some of that myself.

 
I knew there was a different name for the prayer beads, but didn't know what it was. Thanks for letting me know.

And it will most likely be for meditation and general daily... reflection, maybe. I don't know what to call it. For the summer I've got nothing to do during the day so I'll be spending a fair amount of time meditating and talking to Her, but once school starts up again I'll only have a few minutes in the mornings and evenings for any kind of devotion/reflection/meditation.

I fell in love with the concerned little owl. I never really thought of owls as being compassionate, but apparently Quan Yin likes Boggle, too. So I found and ordered a relatively small (about 3.5") crystal owl from Etsy. I'm kinda excited to get it.

 
I'm glad you found something that works for you!

There are many deities who are very specific in terms of what they are associated with, what animals they favor, and so on. And while there are plenty of traditional associations for Kuan Yin and I try to honor those, I also think she's the kind of deity who's more interested in making sure you find something that works for you. If that's an owl, if you can look at that owl and remember to be excellent to each other, then it's perfect.

If you have not read them already, I highly recommend these books:

The Bodhisattva of Compassion by John Blofield

Discovering Kwan Yin by Sandy Boucher

Water is sacred to Her.  I think the willow is too.

 
Right now I'm reading The Kuan Yin Chronicles by Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay, but when I'm done with that I'll check those books out.

I know water is. There's a little waterfall a few miles from my house called Sacred Well that I'm gonna collect some water from. I go there a lot in the summer to meditate. And with some of my friends to swim in the pool. :p