The Goddess’s Gift

Peonies & Waves on Mother Goddesses’ attire

This painting, executed in gouache on silk, draws upon the rich iconography of Đạo Mẫu, Vietnam’s worship of the Mother Goddesses. At its center, golden peonies bloom with layered radiance. In East Asian and Vietnamese tradition, the peony is celebrated as the “queen of flowers,” a symbol of beauty, nobility, and prosperity. Within the spiritual imagination of Đạo Mẫu, it further embodies the feminine grace of the Mother Goddesses, whose blessings bring abundance, fertility, and protection.

Balancing this floral presence, the lower register of the composition surges with stylized waves. These rolling spirals represent the motif of *thủy ba*, the ever-moving energy of water. They evoke not only the elemental power of nature but also the sacred domain of Mẫu Thoải, the Water Mother, guardian of rivers, seas, and rain. Water here signifies both nourishment and force—life-giving, yet capable of overwhelming might.

Between blossom and wave drift soft clouds and mist-like forms in orange and jade hues, bridging heaven and water, serenity and dynamism. The artist’s choice of gouache enhances the matte softness of color while allowing the silk’s sheen to infuse the work with light, creating an interplay of opacity and translucence that recalls ritual textiles.

Taken together, flower and wave stage a dialogue between stillness and motion, grace and vitality. They symbolize the dual blessings of the Mother Goddesses: prosperity that flourishes like blossoms, and life-force that flows like water. This image is not only decorative but devotional, a painted prayer where natural forms become spiritual symbols, affirming the enduring presence of feminine divinity in everyday life.