Dianmu is the goddess of lightning in the Daoist pantheon, commonly known as the Goddess of Lightning or the Golden-Lighted Holy Mother. Her beliefs originated from ancient Chinese nature worship, and her divinity was initially conceived as a male god, derived from Dianfu. In early folk beliefs, the god of thunder was also in charge of lightning, so the god of thunder was depicted with two mirror-like eyes. Later, the roles of the god of thunder and the god of lightning were divided, and by the Han Dynasty, the god of lightning was already referred to as Dianfu. The biography of Guan Yu in the Wei Zhuan section of the Sanguozhi (Chronicles of the Wei Dynasty) quotes the biography of Luo Bi: “The heavens summoned the five stars yesterday, announced the star signs, pointed to Dongjing, and ordered Nanji, so that Leigong, Dianfu, Fengbo, and Yushi were summoned.” As Leishen gradually became more masculine, Dian Shen also transitioned from Dianfu to Leishen's partner god, and became known as Dianmu. In the first chapter of the “Guiyuan Bige Collection” by Tang Dynasty writer Cui Zhiyuan, it is written: “Then the goddess Dianmu and the god Leigong were sent to carve a path to the heavens for the foreign realm.” In the “Ode to the Rain” by Song Dynasty writer Su Shi, there is a verse that praises Leigong and rebukes Dianmu. 
In addition to this, there are also legends about the origin of Dianmu among the gods. According to “Zhu Ding Yu Wen”, the Dianmu Xiu messenger, named Wenying, is listed in the front hall of the Lei Department of the Taoist temple. In the Yuan Dynasty, there was a Dianmu flag in the army. “Yuan Shi · Yu Fu Zhi” said: The image on the Dianmu flag is: a god painted in the shape of a woman, wearing red clothes, white pants, and two hands moving light. The image of Dianmu also appears in novels such as “Journey to the West” and “The Investiture of the Gods”, the latter of which calls her the Golden Light Holy Mother. Yu Xiangdou's “Northern Travels” from the Ming Dynasty also calls Dianmu Zhu Pei Niangniang, and the god of thunder gave her two thunder mirrors to illuminate when he struck people. Huang Feimo's “Jishuo Quanzhen” from the Qing Dynasty records that in the Qing Dynasty, the folk custom was to sculpt Dianmu as a woman with an elegant appearance, holding a mirror in each hand, and she was known as Dianmu Xiutianjun. The image is probably related to a Ming Dynasty novel.
In short, Dianmu is a subordinate deity of the Thunder God and is paired with him. In folk beliefs, she is often worshipped together with other weather gods. Lanzhou's Jintian Temple has a Thunder Altar dedicated to the Thunder Ancestor, with the Ten Great Thunder Deities, Leigong, Dianmu, Fengbo, and Yushi standing below him on the left and right.

    电母为道教神谱中掌管闪电的女神，俗称闪电娘娘 金光圣母。其信仰源于中国古代的自然崇拜，其神性最初概为男性神，是自电父衍化而来。在早期的民间信仰中，雷神兼司闪电，故雷公造型有两目如镜。后来雷公电父分职，至汉时已有电父之称。《三国志·魏志·管辂传》注引《辂别传》云：天昨檄召五星，宣布星符，剌下东井，告命南箕，使召雷公电父风伯雨师。随着雷神逐渐男性化，电神也自电父过渡到雷神的配对神，遂称为电母。唐崔致远《桂苑笔耕集》卷一六《补安南录异图记》曰：然后使电母雷公，凿外域朝天之路。宋苏轼《次韵章传道喜雨》中有麾驾雷公诃电母的诗句。 
除此关于电母的来历又有诸神传说。《铸鼎余闻》云：致道观雷部前殿，列电母秀使者，名文英。元代军中有电母旗。《元史·舆服志》称：电母旗，其上形象为：画神人为女人形，衣朱裳白裤，两手运光。电母形象还出现在《西游记》和《封神演义》等小说中，后者称其为金光圣母。明代余象斗《北游记》又称电母为朱佩娘娘，雷神曾给予她两面雷电镜，为雷神打人时照明。清代黄斐默《集说诠真》载，清代民间将电母塑成容貌端雅的女子，两手各执一镜，号为电母秀天君。其形象应与明代小说有关。
总之电母为雷神属部神，与雷神相配，民间信仰中多与其他气象神合祀。兰州金天观中设有雷坛，专门供奉雷祖，左右分列十大雷神、雷公、电母、风伯、雨师恃立其下。