ma mo

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མ་མོ female sheep, root, foundation, origin, medicinal plant, ewe that has brought forth a lamb, grandmother, kind of fearful demon, mamo spirits, ewe, 1 of sde brgyad, kind of wicked demon, class of feminine spirits [JV]

Matari. mamo, mother goddesses, mother deities. sky-traveling preta-demon/ a ewe who has given birth; Mother deities; Mamos, wrathful dakinis 2) grandmother [RY]

Mamo. Abbreviation of 'Mundane Mother Deities' ('jig rten ma mo). One of the Eight Sadhana Teachings. Female divinities manifested out of dharmadhatu but appearing in ways that correspond to mundane appearances through the interrelationship between the mundane world and the channels, winds, and essences within our body. They have both an ultimate and relative aspect. The chief figure in this mandala is Chemchok Heruka, the wrathful form of Buddha Samantabhadra in the form known as Ngondzok Gyalpo, the King of True Perfection. 2) A class of semi-divine beings who sometimes act as protectors of the Dharma [RY]

• Imprecatory Female Spirits [GD]

1) mother, grandmother; 2) ewe w lamb; 3) <m'atrika> diagram chos mngon pa; 4) kind of flesh-eating spirit/ demoness; 5) goddess M tar s GD mamo, mother goddess TSE (6) root foundation, origin (7) herb ma mo) [IW]

Mother goddesses/deities/spirits. A special class of female deities appearing with somewhat different function in different contexts; Skt: mātṛka) [Erick Tsiknopoulos]

The Eight Gaurīs, Gaurīmas, Mātṛkās, Mātaraḥs or Wrathful Female Deities are: 1) Gaurī or Gaurīma (Tib. ko'u ri or ko'u ri ma, ko’u rii or ko'u rii ma, ga’u ri or ga'u ri ma, ga’u rii or ga'u rii ma, gau ri or gau ri ma, gau rii or gau rii ma, ke’u ri or ke'u ri ma, ke’u rii or ke'u rii ma, goo ri or goo ri ma, go rii or go rii ma, goo rii or goo rii ma), 2) Pukkasī (Tib. pus ka si, pus kas sii, pukka si, puk kas sii), 3) Caurī or Caurīma (Tib. tso'u ri or tso'u ri ma, tso’u rii or tso'u rii ma, tsoo ri or tsoo ri ma, tso rii or tso rii ma, tsoo rii or tsoo rii ma), 4) Ghasmarī (Tib. kas ma ri, kas ma rii, gha sma ri, gha sma rii), 5) Pramohā (Tib. pra mo, pra mo ha, pra ma haa), 6) Caṇḍālī (Tib. tsan dha li, tsan dha lii, tsaN Da li, tsaN Da lii), 7) Vetālī (Tib. be'e ta li, be’e ta lii, be ta li, be ta lii), 8) Śmaśānī (Tib. sme sha ni, sme sha nii, sma sha ni, sma sha nii).

1) ferocious mother goddesses, ferocious mother spirits, ferocious female spirits; 2) wrathful mother goddesses, wrathful mother spirits, wrathful female spirits; 3) maledictory mother goddesses, maledictory mother spirits, maledictory female spirits; 3) cursing mother goddesses, cursing mother spirits, cursing female spirits; 4) imprecatory mother goddesses, imprecatory mother spirits, imprecatory female spirits.

They are also known as the ‘Eight Wrathful Females’ or ‘Eight Wrathful Goddesses’ (khro mo brgyad), and are identified in particular as being synonymous with the Eight Mātṛkās or Mātaraḥs (ma mo brgyad), the Eight Mātṛkās of Sacred Places (gnas kyi ma mo brgyad) and the Eight Wrathful Goddesses of Sacred Places (gnas kyi khro mo brgyad). These different terms for the same set of eight goddesses are thus all equivalent. A Mātṛkā or Mātaraḥ may be defined as an “maledictory female spirit”, but more commonly as a mother deity, mother goddess or “divine mother”. Mātṛkā and mātaraḥ meaning ‘mother’ or revealingly, ‘matrix’. The root of this concept of Mātṛkās or Mātaraḥs goes back far into the ancient history of India, perhaps even pre-Vedic. Much later they were incorporated as Tantric deities in both Hinduism and Buddhism, and a set of 7, 8 or 9 Mātṛkās exists in the Hindu pantheon. The Tibetan term mamo is more commonly used in Vajrayāna Buddhist circles than the original Sanskrit terms. Significantly, these eight female deities are also counted among the Fifty-eight Herukas (or ‘wrathful deities’, khrag ‘thung lnga brgyad), specifically as part of the retinue or assembly of the Herukas of the Five Buddha Families. [Erick Tsiknopoulos]