April 3, 2015October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Goddess Panel Art) Mother Nature by Kaalii Cargill

This image of “Mother” is one of a series of four Goddess Panels made for the Australian Goddess Conference in 2014. The “Mother” panel is life size (210 x 106 Read More …

April 1, 2015October 2, 2019 RTM EditorLeave a comment

(Poem) Our Goddess by Andrea Nicki

Women, what if we had a goddess who was mentioned everyday? Praise the Goddess Praise Her, Her Flock, Her Fold She is all-loving, all-merciful Our breasts, sick from abuse Read More …

(Essay 7) The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen

[This part and the forthcoming sequels are an elaborated version of the original article entitled “The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia—a late Shamanistic Branch of the Old European Civilization?” by Märta-Lena Bergstedt & Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen, included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018) Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.] The Holy Crones, Mothers and Maidens – Guardians of Life in Vanaheim Fig. 18. Proud Mothers of Old The process we have undertaken to un-wrap the original Vanir mothers from their Asir goddess clothing and functions for the sake of being able to observe them in their own rights, has gradually unfolded a group of powerful female images, shimmering in their own natural potential. As shamanic entities or at least as strong mythic archetypes, they once seem to have served as eternal models of inspiration. Beside them, we most often find their allied brother-partners, together with whom the mothers formed a social base for the upbringing of her children. This alliance granted both parts free access lovers at their own choice. Storytelling about the old mother figures must have granted pleasure to the humans at all life-stages, giving existence bearing, hope and trust. We are happy to now share our findings of their stories, and to let them step forward, at times also accompanied with both their brothers, and their lovers. HEL — Great-Grandmother of the Universe In Edda mythology not all of the significant Vanir mothers were given roles to play within the Asir Court of Asgård. The Asir gods may have wanted these left-outs to fulfill other roles outside the divine Asir domain, not least for the sake of contrasting Asgård. At least, this was true for the Universal Grandmother, the exalted Crone, the Great-Grandmother Hel. In the Eddas, Odin put her away deep down in the Underworld, in Nifelheim (Home of the Mists) and gave to her the unpleasant task of superintending the miserable Hell, designed for non-heroes, yielding corpses dead from illness and age, and to reign over its nine worlds.[1] Never the less, her name, Hel signals that she is the Grandmother of the Hele, meaning wHole and (H)all, even Holy. Hel (whole) personifies or maybe rather, is the complete unity of the Three-in-One-idea (Three and the triangle was the holy numbers before dualism[2]). Hel is One and She is All, She is the trunk of the Tree-of-Life braided together from its three roots; She is the three threads of the Norns, separately spun and intertwined into one string of yarn. She is the image of Life consisting of three parts: spirit, body-movement, and senses.[3] And metaphorically she is the human fate, the whole person twisted together from the three birth-gifts spun together into one personality;[4] she is the timeless individual beyond its three ages. Therefore she is the ancient triad of maiden-mother-crone, and the whole world consisting of the inseparable trinity, the moon, the earth, and the sun (Fig. 19). She is identified as the Old Källing/Kärring (Da/Sw), and parallels the Celtic Cailleach.[5] Her archaic name is familiar in all Indo-European languages, but surprisingly and also speaking in favor of her universality the Grandmother-Hel-concept, it is found also in non-Indoeuropean languages like Basque, Finnish, and seemingly also in Arabic/Hebrew, stretching perhaps as far as Korea to the ancient, pre-patriarchal Crone Mother of All, known as Halmi, Halmae, Halmoni, Halmui, Halmang (-mi/me/ma is mother). The Korean icon, Halmi, has legends telling about her function that are similar to those of the European Hel and Crone Mother, e.g. shaping land by dropping boulders.[6] Fig. 19. Hel and her three manifestations. Rock Art 4000 BCE. Alta, Norway. – drawing from original. According to the researchers the authors Gun and Göran Liljenroth, the form Hel appears with – interchangeable vowels, a-e-i-o-u-y (-ä-ö-å) (Hal, Hel, Hil, Hol, Hul, Hyl), giving; Holy, Hallo, Hell, He(a)ling, Help, Holly, and wHole; and with – mute or lost H; Alter, All, Old, Elder-tree, Elderly, etc.[7] In Nordic languages huld means beautiful; hyld means eldertree; häll is rock; eld/ild is fire, hailstorm, etc — words all associated with Hel, her manifestations and her five elements. The German hell (light) corresponds with the Greek helios (sun); the Basque (H)ilargi (moon) and hil (month), and here the Arab words, hilal (Moon), counts in. Once in early times, over-ranking the two lower gods Jahve (YHWH) and Baal, the ancient Ugaritic and Hebrew High-God was named El (El Eljon). [8] He received all his ruling power from his wife/sister Asherah,[9] a fact that points towards a still earlier concept that prior to patriarchy in Israel, El may once have been the all-female grandmother Hel. Also the ancient male god Tub-Hal, “the one who gives birth or brings forth” may in a distant past have been the original mythical grandmother.[10] Countless geographical names all over Europe are dedicated to Grandmother Hel – Halle, Hull, Holland, Hellas, Hillerød, Halland, Helsingborg, and Helsingland (Land blessed by Hel) etc. In the Asir take-over, Grandmother Hel was neither forced to march to Asgård, nor was she wanted there. And for good reasons. War-based PIE religions valuing both murder and dying young, had invented the double exit for the dead. They insisted on a heavenly place for reward, fabricated to motivate young warriors for battle. In Scandinavia Odin set up Valhall (Battlefield Hall). The whole Valhall-idea intended to reflect heavenly and divine values on earth, sanctioning the idealizing of battles and fights, and the duty of loyalty towards authorities. This whole set-up was crucial if to encourage young men to go to battle field and die.[11] For warriors wounded and slain by pointed iron, the realm of Valhall beckoned with its daily combats, nocturnal feasting on beer and pork, and free access to blooming virgins, forever. And to make the idea fully clear, Valhall needed an opposite – and here Hel’s domain came into use. The famous Icelandic writer, Snorri Sturlasons depicts Hel-Vid or Hel-vi as a scary shadow-land, ruled by restlessness, …
(Prose) Canada Goose by Sara wright

Canadian Geese have been on my mind a lot lately. This past winter I have missed the skeins of geese that fly back and forth up and down the river appearing every single morning like clockwork. In Abiquiu when winter turned to spring I noted that the geese were behaving in much the same way the Sandhill cranes did before they migrated, splitting into pairs or groups of three and flying erratically. I was puzzled. I didn’t recall witnessing such behavior before this year. I wondered about migration patterns. Were the geese shifting their flight patterns too? Or perhaps the small groups I saw were staying year round? Some days it almost seemed as if these water birds were confused by something. I saw three Canadian geese on the last predawn walk I took to the river/Bosque – just an hour or two before leaving for Maine. I knew that a perilous journey was ahead because we were driving. The C/virus was a frightening threat though I brought all food, and planned to camp/use woods as bathroom. The first morning after my arrival at home I saw and heard three geese honking over my head. I was struck by the odd synchronicity remembering the mother goose tales of my childhood – and later as a graduate student when I learned about their mythology. Mother Goose is a benign and loving image of the ancient mother goddess* that is present throughout world mythologies. I like to think that the presence of geese at both ends of a challenging cross – country trip were harbingers of the safe passage… The Canadian Goose is native to North America and it breeds in Canada and the northern United States in a wide range of habitats. By the early 20th century overhunting and loss of habitat decimated populations almost to the point of extinction, but with the help of preservation programs most populations have recovered. In some areas these birds are regarded as pests. Many are routinely shot. I find this behavior sad and ironic because the root of this problem belongs to humans who have killed off the birds natural predators, as well as the fact that people have created an abundance of man made bodies of water near food sources like those found on golf courses, manicured green lawns, public parks, lakefront cottages, and beaches in planned communities. Geese love succulent grasses, sedges, aquatic vegetation, cultivated grains, seeds and berries. They also eat insects and some crustaceans. Photo by Sara Wright Geese mate for life; life-long pair bonds are formed during the second year. Offspring remain with their parents for about twelve months traveling together in large flocks of family groups. The female chooses the nest site, which can be found in unlikely spots like cliff ledges as well as on elevated hummocks. Geese need good visibility to protect their eggs and young goslings. The male defends their territory with elaborate displays well worth watching! Some geese don’t migrate at all and live year-round in the southern part of their breeding range, which includes both coasts and parts of northern Mexico. When the geese fly over in their characteristic “V” shaped patterns I am compelled to stop to watch this astonishing sight. If they do migrate, geese tend to breed in northern areas in the US and Canada. Sometimes geese fly to Alaska or the sub – arctic to raise their families. When migrating, if one Canadian goose falls injured, immediately two companions accompany the goose to the ground and do not leave until the bird either recovers or dies. I have observed evidence of this kind of animal compassion throughout nature in every species I have ever studied. The geese that migrate return to the exact nesting and overwintering locations every year. In fact, migrating geese use various stop-off resting points when they travel, and these remain largely the same, too. When geese fly south to overwinter, they usually settle somewhere in the middle or southern continental US. The geese that you see every spring or fall are probably the same geese that were around your home the year before. Since my return a week ago I have seen a few more geese – not the V shaped skeins but small groups that are flying or swimming in nearby ponds. During the late spring I look forward to seeing the parents with their fluffy waddling toddlers feeding at the water’s edge. I am perpetually amazed at how fast the youngsters grow. Geese have beautiful feathers and every summer I collect a few. This year when I find my first flight feather I will be thanking Old Mother Goose for her help. Postscript: What is goddess spirituality? “Goddess spirituality understands nature (or the world) to be the body of the goddess and affirms this world as our true home. This world is understood to be an interconnected web of life shared by humans and other than human beings.” (International scholar/writer Carol Christ) This earth -based way of being in the world allows us to be present for human and non – human species in a compassionate way – a way that is not based on ‘power over’ and privilege but on respect and equality. The Indigenous Way. https://www.magoism.net/2014/12/meet-mago-contributor-sara-wright/
(Prose Poem) Cassandra by Susan Hawthorne

The prose poem, Cassandra, is a summary of a long-standing interest I have in the interaction between the structure of knowledge and belief systems. In the late 1970s I wanted to write a PhD on the structure of belief systems in the ancient world. In a way I am still working on this. At the time, no one in the academic milieu I inhabited understood what I wanted to do, so I left and wrote my novel, The Falling Woman.
(Essay) Exodus 1980 Revisited by Glenys Livingstone (1994)

This is the second in a three part series of old articles and papers by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D. that were written in the 1980’s and 1990’s, two of which were published at that time. The first in the series was “Notes on Leaving Christianity”, and this second essay is a very personal story of the journey out – some of what was involved for the author. The story is told and set within the context of a ceremonial meal, named as “Passout”, and imagined as a traditional annual restorative event, invoking Goddess whom all present were seeking. This essay was originally published in Women-Church: An Australian Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Issue 15, Spring 1994. It was “Passout” 1994, the night when women friends gather to celebrate their exodus (when others around them are celebrating Holy Thursday/Passover).The women light candles, anoint each other with oil, and play women’s music that has helped birth them. Sometimes they get up and dance as the Spirit takes them. They share a meal of flatbread, bitter greens, vegetables and roast pork; finishing with a dessert that uses milk and honey. They drink lots of wine throughout the evening, as they tell their exodus stories. This was one of the women’s stories: a simple country girl, who got lost on the big freeways of the world and thought she was someone else… hopped in a big american car and went on a tour. … when the joyride ended, she came back to the poverty of her inner landscape… she was dropped off in the slums of her pain and fear that she had sought to escape.
(Essay) Seeing Ourselves as Goddess Sees Us by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Eve By Radbod Commandeur (1890 – 1955); photo by Deror avi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6406960 At the beginning of the beginning, after almost all other species had been created and received their gifts from the Creator Goddess, humanity stood waiting. Finally, when it was our turn, we slowly walked up to the Creator to receive our special geniuses, which we knew we should faithfully use to improve life on our planet for all the beings every moment of our lives. She leaned closer giving us one gift after the other, till finally She whispered, “This last is maybe the best of all, it is my favorite. It is story. With story you can change the world almost instantly. And every story starts with the one that you tell yourself about yourself. Be sure to make it good.” And, indeed, every day, we are constructing the story of our lives, shaped by our perceptions, assumptions, doubts, and dreams. During more than a quarter century as a human services professional, I listened to the life stories of hundreds of women and I was always amazed at how often what they said about their disappointment in themselves and their accomplishments belied the truth I knew of long decades of caring and compassion, persisting in the face of overwhelming challenges, creating profound beauty, and being deeply of service to family, friends, and community. I don’t think anyone will be surprised if I posit that demonizing myths of Goddesses are directly responsible for much of the disconnect between women’s perceptions of themselves and reality. Every one of the myths is a story of how humans perceive ourselves, for good or bad. And, in fact, those myths can profoundly affect our well being, even for those of us who think we have left them far behind years ago. What can we learn by examining the myths that denigrate Goddesses about their effects on the life stories we weave about ourselves and what are the truths we should remember? Helen of Troy: By Frederick Sandys – [1], Public Domain. Helen of Troy was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world, setting all other women up as less worthy on the basis of appearance. Still, Helen’s beauty was not only unattainable by mortal women, but also led to tragedy. She was reviled by many in ancient Greek society because, in their eyes, her crossing of the Greek sexual double-standard started the Trojan War, leading to immense suffering and death1. And thus we learned not only that our bodies were not up to Helen’s standards but that, if they had been, disaster would still result. Truth: All of our bodies are beautiful in their own unique way and deserve to be nurtured and nourished by us and those around us. The Sumerian and Hebrew goddess Lilith has long been portrayed as a warning about women’s lust when she was tossed out of Paradise for demanding sexual equality with Adam, and then becoming insatiable2. And thus we learned that our physical creative power and pleasure are evil and uncontrollable. Truth: Our sexuality is our own to enjoy as we please. We are told over and over again that as our bodies age, we become ugly or invisible. Baba Yaga, similar to many crone Goddesses, is envisioned as a disfigured old woman who scares people to death by looking at them and then devours her victims3. And thus we learned that we are worthless unless young and our life lessons have given us nothing to offer ourselves or society. Truth: Our life experiences are the source of our ability to live wisely and give effective counsel. Now let’s look at Eve. She has been portrayed for millennia as evil because of her pursuit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, leading to the sometimes fatal demonization and persecution of women4 as responsible for all the troubles of the world. We see a similar message in the story of Inanna who descends to the Underworld out of compassion for her newly widowed sister and to seek the power and discernment that can only come from confronting our own mortality. There she is stripped of her clothes and symbols of her station, judged, executed, and hung on a meathook for three days. Her servant, Ninshubur, appeals to Inanna’s father and grandfather for help. They refuse because, according to Diane Wolkstein, they “are angry that Inanna should pursue a direction that is different from theirs”5. And thus we learned to quell our natural instinct to understand ourselves and our world so that we can fill our life missions. Truth: It is our essential birthright to pursue truth and wisdom. And there are many more. When we analyze these myths, we see why certain aspects of our being are singled out for criticism by those who would seek for women to be less than they deserve to be. Each of these relates in some way to women’s power over herself and her ability to be an effective force for positive change in the world. Fortunately, these are not the original myths told about these Goddesses and we, as a generation, have begun to excavate these older myths that speak the truth and bring them back into humanity’s awareness. Max Dashu reminds us that the maligned Helen was originally a Goddess, whose name was possibly related to the sun and light and a relief shows her wearing a “a radiant sun-crown”6. The people did not demonize Helen; she had “heroine shrines” where they left offerings of “votive figurines of warriors, female musicians, dancers and riders; ivory combs, cosmetics, mirrors, perfume”7. The first mention of Lilith is the Sumerian myth of Inanna where she comes to live in Inanna’s huluppu tree of life but is eventually forced to flee into the wilderness. Elinor Gadon wrote that this Lilith was “probably originally a form of the Goddess now threatening to patriarchy”8. In later Sumerian texts she is a bird goddess …
Mayflower Crowning by Sara Wright

Photo by Sara Wright I sit under the snowy crabapple as fragile flower petals drift one by one to the ground, covering my hair in white butterflies, soon to become the first mulch of the year. Our Lady is always nourishing new life… The hum of a thousand bees is deafening – bumblebees – glorious golden rotund bodies swarming from one tree to another with so many relatives – everyone seeking sweet nectar. The scent is beyond description – intoxicating – a poignant perfume lasting only a few days and keeping me rooted to my bench every single morning to soak in the sweetness under impossible heat. Heavily polluted air is thick and metallic but here I inhale a plethora of fragrances so intense they drown out poisoned air. One rose breasted grosbeak is hidden in the deep vermillion of the fruit tree that bears his name. No wonder he sings his heart out. A red eyed vireo’s musical trill provides striking counterpoint even at noon. Phoebes chirp as they gather feathery mosses for their nest above my door. I gather more and add strands of my hair depositing both gifts on the ground in front of their flowering crab situated just outside my door. In moments both treasures are gone, swooped away by nesting parents The Flower Moon has just passed and many spring wildflowers have come to crown the Queen of the May who is dressed in her glorious cherru, apple, pear, crabapple finery. Swaying wild grasses hold spikes of lavender, blue, and purple ajuga, periwinkled mrytle is festooned with liny gold bees. Violets of every conceivable shade cover the ground along with astonishing neon yellow dandelions. Solomons seal arc so gracefully bending pendulous bells to the ground. Chartreuse and lime paint a ground cover named charlie, a sinuous serpent creeper that slithers across the uncut grass seemingly choosing every direction at once. No mow sparks endless creativity. I am poised, a lady in waiting for relief. And then they come! The Thunders. Rumbling sky gods split and sever dead air in hope. Many fruit trees have weeping leaves that droop under a brutal noonday sun. Cracked brown earth opens her slumbering eyes. Earthworms driven deep in this intolerable heat, hide among delicate mycelial threads who are funneling nitrogen potassium, water, minerals and other nutrients to those that need them… Tree roots are singing songs to this tubular informational highway lightly hidden underground. Ah, and so it begins, the deluge, sheets of silver hitting the ground in a fury… the sound of ionized water slapping roof and tree sooths my aching head still pounding from metallic air and merciless heat. I become this storm all senses on fire with longing. Presence. Rain, a blessing for all, even the flowers bend their heads in prayer. Photo by Sara Wright During breaks in the torrent Hummingbirds zoom in to the feeder. One chickadee appears from a tangle of fruit tree branches, grabs a seed and disappears Another follows suit. After the Thunder gods move on a female rain begins (as Indigenous folks say) falling in time with fluttering petals, crimson, rose, burgundy, pale pink, mauve and pearl. How gently all spiral earthward. Too soon the storm is over, but the Mayflower Queen has reigned in flowery splendor for a week that ends in a nourishing watery reprieve. She will soon retire for another year after the last blushing pink crabapples fade ending the Celebration of the Trees in this hollow on a waning moon. And leaving the earth to celebrate more stars, spiked jewels, and impossible fragrances for another month The solstice fire may burn them out but not until most have set seed before summer begins! https://www.magoism.net/2014/12/meet-mago-contributor-sara-wright
(Meet Mago Contributor) Nicola Lilly

Nicola is a Mother, writer and artist based in Kildare, Ireland. Feeling unfulfilled in an accountancy career, Nicola began to explore alternative therapies which have been the catalyst for rekindling her creative spark. Nicola has spent the last 10years being a fulltime Mother, alongside getting to know herself as a creative woman once again. A contributor in the “Weaving Our Way Beyond Patriarchy” compendium by Lucy H. Pearce/ Womancraft Publishing, Nicola has written 2 manuscripts of her own which have yet to be published. Nicola’s vision is for a world that reveres and supports all Mothers to mother as Nature intended. Committed to her personal healing, Nicola has seen her connection to the Great Goddess strengthen and alongside that, her creativity. Through her Mandala practice Nicola has grown in awareness and vision for what she hopes to create alongside other trailblazing women committed to making a difference on this planet. My instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/nicolalillyartist?igsh=MXZ3Y2NqMmUxY2JsZw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
(Book Excerpt 6) The Crone Initiation: Women Speak on the Menopause Journey ed. by Kay Louise Aldred, Pat Daly & Trista Hendren

[Editor’s Note: This anthology was published by Girl God Books (2022).] “The Croning: A Ritual of American Witchcraft” by Nikki Wardwell Sleath At the time of this writing, I am 48 years old and have not yet quite physiologically exited the motherhood phase of life. I write this humbly, and with great awe and respect for my elders – for the women who have endured through life and time and continue to stay present and serve as pillars of wisdom and experience for those of us continuing on through the amazing and difficult journey that is womanhood. I wanted to contribute, therefore, not through the personal experience of having yet successfully passed into my own crone phase, but through the sharing of a tradition that has been created in my own magickal community for the purpose of celebrating and uplifting our beloved crones. In the Society of Witchcraft and Old Magick, we have lots of special traditional rituals which the members of the priesthood are trained to administer, and one among the coming-of-age rites that we offer to our members is our Croning Ritual. Not a lot of what we do in our order is known by or available to the general public since we are a private occult order, but it is entirely possible for me to share some of the deep and important sentiment around our croning tradition here without divulging any actual oathbound material. The whole impetus for having this ritual available to our members comes from the belief that we, as a magickal community do not want to fail where our society has failed in terms of celebrating and beautifying the aged portion of life, and fearlessly loving this stage of living that precedes death. We hoped to have a special ceremony and gathering where the aged women of our community who wished to participate would be revered and acknowledged for all of the wisdom, power, life experience, beauty and vision that they have accumulated, and that now comprises the immensely magickal being they have become. We did succeed in creating such a ceremony a few years ago, and it was a group effort between myself and a handful of priesthood trainees at the time. Not only did we create the type of special ritual that this phase of life deserves, but we also consecrated a very special coven tool that is used in the conducting of this ritual. The croning staff is a gorgeous, human height oak staff that is wrapped in copper and obsidian wires, ornamented with keys and feathers, acorns and crystals, and various charms. It is carved with an eclectic assortment of runes and symbols and is anointed with oils. It is a special and beautiful tool that was ritually consecrated solely for use in our croning rites. The staff, on the one hand, is reminiscent of a walking stick that you might picture with popular old wizard-type characters. It can unashamedly be used as an ambulatory aid to the elder that literally helps them walk but also is a tool that conducts magickal power, especially the power that comes from deep and long-term connection to the energies of the earth and trees around us. The oak is a symbol of strength and longevity, and its roots are deep and wide and create a network of contacts to all kinds of DNA in the transmuting soil. The crone, like the oak, has put down many roots in this life and in so doing has been able to absorb a diverse array of wisdom, knowledge and experience from the many energies and entities with which she has come into contact. In addition to serving as a channel for drawing wisdom energy into the circle for the rite, the staff is also later laid down on the floor, serving as a symbolic threshold over which the crone will step. Just as a new couple might jump the broom in a handfasting ceremony, the crones being celebrated will purposely and consciously step over the threshold of the staff, accepting the beauty, challenges, responsibility, and respect that this upper stage of life brings. It is a gorgeous and intense moment of stepping into the ownership of this stage of life and of feeling the transition, the contrast between the role of the mother and the role of the wise one. In our croning ceremony, we refer to the crone as “the crown” and we honor the queenly place of importance that our elders should hold. The members often pick out a special crystal crown, circlet or headpiece of their choice with which they are literally crowned after the crossing of the staff’s threshold. For members who do not favor the use of ritual crowns, a ring (which looks like a tiny crown if you think about it) may be chosen to be adorned instead. The crown or ring then becomes a reminder of the respect and royal status that comes along with embracing of cronehood and can be worn also at future coven gatherings to help keep that energy consciously afoot. The ceremony has beautiful words that also bring us the opportunity to acknowledge many powerful crone goddesses such as The Cailleach, Mother Holle, Changing Woman, and Baba Yaga, as well as the crone aspects of many triple or quadruple-faced goddesses. These energies are invited into the circle and are used to help hold the sacred power of the container that is unique to this ritual. There is also a “Charge of the Crone” that we use which is a lovely prayer that we created and customized that sits in parallel to the well-known “Charge of the Goddess” by Doreen Valiente. The recitation of this charge is dramatic and intense and really serves to bring through the flow of the imposing truth-chills as the crones feel themselves gaining in spiritual power. The rite also allows the participating members to have the option of changing their magickal name. In our tradition there are only certain specific …
A Fairytale of Patriarchy and Grief by Luna Anna

[Editor’s Note: This piece was presented during the first and inaugural S/HE Divine Studies Forum held on September 7th, 2024.] Photo by Luna Anna I was going to read the piece that I contributed to the wonderful groundbreaking book we’ve been speaking about here: Wounded Feminine: Grieving with Goddess, but I do take my cues from Divine Mother, and when we were on a comfort break she just dropped in something that she wanted me to speak of, so I haven’t actually prepared it, and I’m just going to kind of wing it and hope that She’s brought it up for a good reason! She drew my attention to the word blockage. And I love the word matriversial, by the way. But she drew my attention to the word blockage, and I noticed that it is made up of two words “Block” and “Age”. Block can be a shape, or it can be an obstruction. And age can be time. It can mean things like dying/aging, time, or it can relate to a phase. And I was then thinking about what a blockage is. And, you know, if we have a blockage in the body, we’re sick. So, you know, our ears are blocked. Our nose is blocked. Arteries or urinary tract retract are blocked. We know that that’s a sickness, and it’s the body’s way of getting our attention and a shout and a cry for help. And it’s asking for healing to come back to wholeness. And likewise, if we have a blockage in our home, so if the drains are blocked or maybe the WiFi signal is down so it’s blocked, we know that gets our attention and it’s asking for something to be done about it. Now, when I go back and think about the times when I’ve been really entrenched in grief and I’ve had really deeply grieving periods of my life, grief almost killed me. And I know that we don’t talk about that a lot, but grief does kill people. I’ve had an awful lot of people I love die by suicide. And they died because grief was just overwhelming for them. So they were drowning in the seas that Clare mentioned. They were drowning in it. They were overwhelmed by grief and that is when it turns into despair. And if despair isn’t dealt with it can lead to people dying by suicide. Suicide is featured in my own life. I’ve attempted to take my own life in the past, and I have been under, Crisis Teams that we have here in the U.K. who look after people who are considered to be a high risk of suicide. In the past, I have been under them for a number of years. So it’ s something that’s really been prominent in my life when I have been in this deep phase of grieving. What’s happened for me is it’s been a catalyst, and I have befriended my own heart because there was no choice. It was literally die or do it. And it was through befriending my own heart that I found the Goddess. That was where she lives within me. That’s where I found Her that healed me. Held me, supported me. It was Her who got me through. And this is not something like, you know, when I was 19 years old, for example. I had my first pack of Goddess Oracle cards. And I pray to the Goddess. I write about the Goddess. I talk about the Goddess. I have altars for the Goddess. This is a very deep embodied somatic experience of Goddess being alive and in my cells and being one with Her. So when I think about the world as a whole, and what we can see in the world at the moment is a deep sickness. You know, we’ve got genocide, the most horrific genocide imaginable. We’ve got rape, abuse, murder. Indeed, suicide is skyrocketing – the rates for suicide right up. So when we think about that it’s the cry for help. That is the blockage. And that is the cry for help. Just the same as we have the sickness in the body that might cry for help or a problem in the home with a blockage that’s asking for attention. That is a call to action for everybody. And on top of sacred activism, which I know everybody here knows the importance of – there is an action that every single person can do, and that is to love their own heart. If every single person in the world stopped right now in this moment altogether all at once and they all befriended their heart, patriarchy would die and it would not come back to life, because that’s where the Goddess lives. We all know that love is the creator of all and we know that Goddess is the creator of all. And there’s no separation – She is the love in our heart, and She’s the one that can solve all of this. But people have to reach the point; they have to be at the “age” that they notice the blockage and then it will become unblocked for all. https://www.magoism.net/2023/11/meet-mago-contributor-luna-anna/

(Special post) Laurie Baymarrwangga, Senior Australian of the Year 2012

Posted with permission in Return to Mago on ‘Australia Day’, 26 January 2014 (Australian time), in recognition of the ill-treatment and misunderstanding of Aboriginal people that was set in train when, in 1788, white people first settled in the land now known as Australia.
(Special Post 6) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality? A Collective Writing

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Esther Essinger “Why Goddess, when “GD” is perpetrating so much grief? 1) First, it’s vital to know that Goddess is NOT “GD” in a skirt. It is demanded of NO one that they “believe” or “have faith”, so there can be no guilt (and no punishment! (No Hell below us, thank you John) in NOT choosing to interest oneself in these particular Stories, myths, legends and tales which center the Cosmic Female, the Universal Mother, Mother Earth /Mother Nature at their core. No evangelism happening here!
(Special Post Mother Teresa 1) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

[Editorial Note: The following is an edited version of the discussion that took place spontaneously on Mago Circle from March 1, 2013 for about two weeks. It was an extensive, heated, yet reflective discussion, now broken into four parts to fit the format of the blog. We thank each and all of the participants for your openness, generosity, and courage to stand up for what you believe and think! Some are marked as anonymous. As someone stated, something may have been “written in the heat of the moment” and some might like to change it at a later time. So we inform our readers that nothing is written in stone. As a matter of fact, the discussion is ongoing, now with Magoism Blog readers. Please comment and respond as you wish.] Part I: Why are we talking about Mother Teresa? [The conversation began among Anne Wilkerson Allen, Helen Hwang, and Wennifer Lin in a personal message and editor’s group. We agreed that Mother Teresa’s Western (Albanian) identity is hardly taken into consideration in the public perception of her as a secular and religious leader. Then, we decided to bring the topic to the Mago Circle.] Anne Wilkerson Allen: [A] posted this today and I think it is discussion worthy. Mother Teresa: Anything but a saint… scienceblog.com The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa is dispelled in a paper by Serge Larivée and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal’s Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Sénéchal of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education… http://scienceblog.com/60730/mother-teresa-anything-but-a-saint/#IdkpoWrDtMAAVCAg.99 Anne Wilkerson Allen: It is not my desire to bash the Church – I think everyone here is fully aware of the evils of patriarchy and the way the Church has used women, abused and killed women…but Teresa is an icon in the West, in particular, of saintliness. Even non-Catholics love her. Why? And is what she did really worthy of role modeling? Anne Wilkerson Allen: This was also on the thread. Not a huge fan of Hitchens, and I think calling her work a “death cult” is extreme, but I am interested in your opinions please. Christopher Hitchens – Mother Teresa: Hell’s Angel [1994] In 1994, three years before her death, journalist Christopher Hitchens made this documentary asking if Mother Teresa’s reputation was deserved… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76_qL6fiyDw Anne Wilkerson Allen: I would also like to talk about altruism and some of the areas we have touched on before…at what point is my “help” an imposition in a third world country? Is my desire to “help” spurred by years of programming or heart? I honestly don’t know anymore. Anne Wilkerson Allen: There is also a part of me that wonders if this deflection of blame and highlighting of Teresa’s faults now is yet another “Let the women take the fall” action. Anne Wilkerson Allen: NOT that I find her blameless – her advocacy against contraception and abortion is decidedly anti-female, but there is so much focus on the Pope and the priests now….I keep wondering when the abuses of the nuns is going to come to light. Anne Wilkerson Allen: I think Ireland recently had something in the news about this… Ireland apologizes for Catholic laundry scandal Ireland’s premier has issued a state apology to the thousands of Irish women who spent years working without pay in prison-style laundries run by Catholic nuns. Former residents of the now-defunct Magdalene Laundries have campaigned for the past decade to get the government to apologize and pay compensation to an estimated 1,000 survivors of the workhouses. Two weeks ago the Irish government published an investigation into the state’s role in overseeing the laundries. It found that more than 10,000 women worked in 10 laundries from 1922 to 1996, when the last Dublin facility closed down… http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57570107/ireland-apologizes-for-catholic-laundry-scandal/ Anne Wilkerson Allen: One of my friends was one of these girls. [Z]: I have wanted to bring attention to this issue for a long time but did not have a chance or was biting my time. Now Anne is pointing out some of the crucial issues about her, Mother Teresa, I am so thankful for this opportunity for us to sort out and think collectively. Thank you Anne! [Z]: Yes, the Catholic Laundry Scandal was shared here too!!! Anne Wilkerson Allen: It’s hard. She is iconic for many women. I did not know the sordid details or the horrors – not that it excuses anything….but when I was young, I saw her as someone to emulate….and thus became immolated…. [Z]: I have been thinking all along the way that she should not be a role model for women. Can you believe that I did even as a once Catholic Sister?!!! I know that many religious women out there will agree with me too. [Z]: My critique is not much on her as a person. But the fact that she represents morality for especially women makes me mad. Oh, there seems a lot more about reasons why we should debunk the mystique of Mother Teresa. Anne Wilkerson Allen: One of the things Hirchens pointed out was that it made Westerners feel good that this wonderful white woman was helping the poor in Calcutta….though she rarely seemed to be in Calcutta. Another friend told me that he knew one of the sisters of charity and that she told him they were encouraged to flog themselves on a regular basis….sick sick sick Anne Wilkerson Allen: This is why I have a problem with the mentality that says evil exists to teach us something…..that suffering exists to highlight our joy….there is just something WRONG with that. Anne Wilkerson Allen: We are all dark and light and in-between. [Z]: I am not surprised. Yes, definitely. What a waste of time and intelligence if not already damaging many turning the navigation backward!!! [Helen Hwang calls out the individual names to join the discussion, and is responded by what follows.] [B]: In Minneapolis there is a charity founder, Mary Jo Copeland, who helps the homeless & hungry. She just received an award from the President. She seems selfless, like Mother Teresa did (at least in […]

Summer Solstice Poiesis by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Seasonal Wheel of Stones Both Summer and Winter Solstices may be understood as particular celebrations of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Creative Triplicity of the Cosmos (often named as the Triple Goddess). The Solstices are Gateways between the dark and the light parts of the annual cycle of our orbit around Sun; they are both sacred interchanges, celebrating deep relationship, communion, with the peaking of fullness of either dark or light, and the turning into the other. The story is that the Young One/Virgin aspect of Spring has matured and now at Summer Solstice her face changes into the Mother of Summer. Summer Solstice may be understood as a birthing place, as Winter Solstice may also be, but at this time the transiton is from light back into dark, returning to larger self, from whence we come: it is the full opening, the “Great Om”, the Omega. I represent the Summer Solstice on my altar wheel of stones with the Omega-yonic shape of the horseshoe. I take this inspiration from Barbara Walker’s description of the horseshoe in her Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets, as “Goddess’s symbol of ‘Great Gate’[i]”; and her later connection of it with the Sheil-na-gig yoni display[ii]. Sri Yantra. Ref: A.T. Mann & Jane Lyle, p.75 Summer Solstice is traditonally understood as a celebration of Union between Lover and Beloved, and the deep meaning of that is essentially a Re-Union: of sensed manifest form (the Lover) with All-That-Is (the Beloved). This may be understood as a fullness of expression of this manifest form, the small selves that we are, being all that we may be, and giving of this fullness of being in every moment: that would be a blissful thing, like a Summerland as it was understood to be. The boundaries of the self are broken, they merge: all is given away – all is poured forth, the deep rich dark stream of life flows out. It is a Radiance, the shining forth of the self which is at the same time a give-away, a consuming of the self.In traditional PaGaian Summer ceremony each participant is affirmed as “Gift”[iii]; and that is understood to mean that we are both given and received – all at the same time. The breath is given and life is received. We receive the Gift with each breath in, and we are the Gift with each breath out. As we fulfill our purpose, as we give ourselves over, we dissolve, as the Sun is actually doing in every moment. The “moment of grace”[iv]that is Summer Solstice, marks the stillpoint in the height of Summer, when light reaches its peak, and Earth’s tilt causes the Sun to begin its “decline”: that is, its movement back to the South in the Northern Hemisphere (in June), and back to the North in the Southern Hemisphere (in December). Whereas at Winter Solstice when out of the darkness it is light that is “born”, as it may be expressed: at the peak of Summer, in the warmth of expansion, it is the dark that is “born”. Insofar as Winter Solstice is about birth, then Summer Solstice is about death, the passing into the harvest. It is a celebration of profound mystical significance, which may be confronting in a culture where the dark is not valued for its creative telios; and it is noteworthy that Summer Solstice has not gained any popularity of the kind that Winter Solstice has globally (as ‘Christmas’). The re-union with All-That-Is is not generally considered a jolly affair, though when understood it may actually be blissful. Full Flowers to the Flames Summer is a time when many grains ripen, deciduous trees peak in their greenery, lots of bugs and creatures are bursting with business and creativity: yet in that ripening, is the turning, the fulfilment of creativity, and it is given away. Like the Sun and the wheat and the fruit, we find the purpose of our Creativity in the releasing of it; just as our breath must be released for its purpose of life. The symbolism used to express this in ceremony has been the giving of a full rose/flower to the flames. Summer is like the rose, as it says in this tradition[v]– blossom and thorn … beautiful, fragrant, full – yet it comes with thorns that open the skin. All is given over. All is given over: the feast is for enjoying With the daily giving of ourselves in our everyday acts, we each feed the world with our lives: we do participate in creating the cosmos, as many indigenous traditions still recognise. Just as our everyday lives are built on the fabric of the work/creativity of all who went before us, so the future, as well as the present, is built on ours, no matter how humble we may think our contribution is. We may celebrate the blossoming of our creativity then, which is Creativity, and the bliss of that blossoming, at a time when Earth and Sun are pouring forth their abundance, giving it away. In this Earth-based cosmology, what is given is the self fully realized and celebrated, not a self that is abnegated – just as the fruit gives its full self: as Starhawk says, “Oneness is attained not through losing the self, but through realizing it fully”[vi]. Everyday tasks can be joyful, if valued, and graciously received: I think of Eastern European women singing as they work in the fields – it is a common practice still for many. We are the Bread of Life Summer Solstice celebrates Mother Sun coming to fullness in Her creative engagement with Earth, and we are the Sun. Solstice Moment is a celebration of communion, the feast of life – which is for the enjoying, not for the holding onto. We do desire to be received, to be consumed – it is our joy and our grief. Brian Swimme says: “Every moment of our lives disappears into the ongoing story of the Universe. Our creativity is energising the whole[vii]”. As it may be ceremoniously affirmed: we are (each is) …
(Prose & Photography) Equinox Reflection by Sara Wright

Photography by Sara Wright I gaze out my bedroom window and hear yet another golden apple hit the ground. The vines that hug the cabin and climb up the screens are heavy with unripe grapes and the light that is filtered through the trees in front of the brook is luminous – lime green tipped in gold – My too sensitive eyes are blessedly well protected by this canopy of late summer leaves. The maples on the hill are losing chlorophyll and are painting the hollow with splashes of bittersweet orange and red. The dead spruces by the brook will probably collapse this winter providing Black bears with even more precious ants and larvae to eat in early spring. I only hope that some bears will survive the fall slaughter to return to this black bear sanctuary; in particular two beloved young ones… Mushrooms abound, amanitas, boletes morels, puff balls, the latter two finding their way into my salads. The forest around my house is in an active state of becoming with downed limbs and sprouting fungi becoming next year’s soil. The forest floor smells so sweet that all I can imagine is laying myself down on a bed of mosses to sleep and dream. The garden looks as tired as I am; lily fronds droop, yellowing leaves betraying the season at hand. Bright green pods provide a startling contrast to fading scarlet bee balm. Wild asters are abundant and goldenrod covers the fields with a bright yellow garment. Every wild bush has sprays of berries. My crabapple trees are bowed, each twig heavy with winter fruit. Most of the birds have absconded to the fields that are ripe with the seeds of wild grasses. The mourning doves are an exception – they gather together each dawn waiting patiently for me to fill the feeder. In the evening I am serenaded by soft cooing. One chicken hawk hides in the pine, lying in wait for the unwary…Just a few hummingbirds remain…whirring wings and twittering alert me to continued presence as they settle into the cherry tree to sleep, slipping into a light torpor with these cool September nights… Spiders are spinning their egg cases, even as they prepare to die. I can still find toads hopping around the house during the warmest hours of the day. Although the grass is long I will not mow it for fear of killing these most precious and threatened of species. I am heavily invested in seeing these toads burrow in to see another spring. My little frogs sit on their lily pads seeking the warmth of a dimming afternoon sun. Soon they too will slumber below fallen leaves or mud. I am surrounded by such beauty, and so much harvest bounty that even though I am exhausted I take deep pleasure out of each passing day of this glorious month of September, the month of my birth. Unlike many folks, for me, moving into the dark of the year feels like a blessing. Another leave -taking is almost upon me, and I am having trouble letting go of this small oasis that I have tended with such care for more than thirty years… I don’t know what this winter will bring to my modest cabin whose foundation is crumbling under too much moisture and too many years of heavy snow. In the spring extensive excavation will begin. A new foundation must be poured and this work will destroy the gardens I have loved, the mossy grounds around the south end of the house that I have nurtured for so long. In this season of letting go I must find a way to lay down my fears, and release that which I am powerless to change. Somehow… I have no idea what I will return to except that I have made it clear that none of my beloved trees be harmed. I am grateful that Nature is mirroring back to me so poignantly that letting go is the way through: That this dying can provide a bedrock foundation for another spring birth. As a Daughter of the Earth I lean into ancient wisdom, praying that this exhausted mind and body will be able to follow suit. (Meet Mago Contributor) Sara Wright.
(Slideshow) Beltaine Goddess by Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D.

Tara, Hallie Iglehart Austen, p.122 On November 7th at 22:56 UTC EarthGaia crosses the midpoint in Her orbit between Equinox and Solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the Season of Beltaine – a maturing of the Light, post-Spring Equinox. Beltaine and all of the light part of the cycle, is particularly associated with the Young One/Virgin aspect of Goddess, even as She comes into relationship with Other: She remains Her own agent. Beltaine may be understood as the quintessential annual celebration of Light as it continues to wax towards fullness. It is understood to be the beginning of Summer. Here is some Poetry of the Season: Earth tilts us further towards Mother Sun, the Source of Her pleasure, life and ecstasy You are invited to celebrate BELTAINE the time when sweet Desire For Life is met – when the fruiting begins: the Promise of early Spring exalts in Passion. This is the celebration of Holy Lust, Allurement, Aphrodite … Who holds all things in form, Who unites the cosmos, Who brings forth all things, Who is the Essence of the Dance of Life. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express this quality of Hers. And also for consideration, is the fact that most ancient images of Goddess are multivalent – She was/is One: that is, all Her aspects are not separate from each other. These selected images tell a story of certain qualities that may be contemplated at the Seasonal Moment of Beltaine. As you receive the images, remember that image communicates the unspeakable – that which can only be known in body – below rational mind. So you may open yourself to a transmission of Her, that will be particular to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGRoVjQQHY Aphrodite 300 B.C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). This Greek Goddess is commonly associated with sexuality in a trivial kind of way, but She was said to be older than Time (Barbara Walker p.44). Aphrodite as humans once knew Her, was no mere sex goddess: Aphrodite was once a Virgin-Mother-Crone trinity – the Creative Force itself. The Love that She embodied was a Love deep down in things, an allurement intrinsic to the nature of the Universe. Praised by the Orphics thus: For all things are from You Who unites the cosmos. You will the three-fold fates You bring forth all things Whatever is in the heavens And in the much fruitful earth And in the deep sea. Vajravarahi 1600C.E. Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A Dakini dancing with life energy – a unity of power, beauty, compassion and eroticism. Praised as Mistress of love and of knowledge at the same time. Tara Contemporary – Green Gulch California ,Tibetan Buddhist. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). “Her eroticism is an important part of her bodhisattvahood: the sweetpea represents the yoni, and she is surrounded by the sensual abundance of Nature. One of Tara’s human incarnations was as the Tibetan mystic Yeshe Tsogyal, “who helped many people to enlightenment through sacred sexual union with her”. – Ishtar 1000 B.C.E. Babylon (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Associated with passionate sexuality (and with Roman Goddess Venus) – which was not perceived as separate from integrity and intelligence … praised for Her beauty and brains! Her lips are sweet, Life is in Her mouth. When She appears, we are filled with rejoicing. She is glorious beneath Her robes. Her body is complete beauty. Her eyes are total brilliance. Who could be equal to Her greatness, for Her decrees are strong, exalted, perfect. MESOPOTAMIAN TEXT 1600 B.C.E. Artemis 4th Cent.B.C.E. Greece. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess) – classic “Virgin” image – wild and free, “Lady of the Beasts”, Goddess of untamed nature. As such, in the patriarchal stories She is often associated with harshness, orgiastic rituals but we may re-story “wildness” in our times as something “innocent” – in direct relationship with the Mother. She is a hunter/archer, protector, midwife, nurturing the new and pure essence (the “wild”) – in earlier times these things were not contradictory. The hunter had an intimate relationship with the hunted. Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. Tibetan Goddess and God in Union: it could be any Lover and Beloved, of same sex. Image from Mann and Lyle, “Sacred Sexuality” p.74. Sacred Couple –Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE “Lovers Embracing on Bed”, Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Diane Wolkstein and Samuael Noah Kramer. Represents the sacred marriage mythic cycle – late 3rd and into 4th millennium B.C.E. (See Starhawk, Truth or Dare). This period is the time of Enheduanna – great poet and priestess of Inanna. Xochiquetzal 8th century C.E. Mayan (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Her name means “precious flower” – She is Goddess of pleasure, sexuality beauty and flowers. Sometimes represented by a butterfly who sips the nectar of the flower. “In ancient rituals honouring her, young people made a bower of roses, and, dressed as hummingbirds and butterflies they danced an image of the Goddess of flowers and love.” Her priestesses are depicted with ecstatic faces. (called “laughing Goddesses” !!) She and Her priestesses unashamedly celebrated joyful female sexuality – there is story of decorating pubic hairs to outshine the Goddess’ yoni. https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/meet-mago-contributor-glenys-livingstone/ REFERENCES: Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess. Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. Mann A.T. and Lyle, Jane. Sacred Sexuality. ELEMENT BOOKS LTD, 1995. Starhawk. Truth or Dare. San Fransisco:Harper and Row, 1990. Walker, Barbara. The Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983. Wolkstein,Diane and Kramer, Samuel Noah. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth. NY: Harper and Rowe, 1983. The music for the slideshow is “”Coral Sea Dreaming” by Tania Rose.
Lammas/Late Summer within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 10 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Southern Hemisphere – Feb. 1st/2nd, Northern Hemisphere – August 1st/2nd These dates are traditional, though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox, thus actually a little later in early February for S.H., and early August for N.H., respectively. a Lammas/Late Summer table The Old One, the Dark and Shining One, has been much maligned, so to celebrate Her can be more of a challenge in our present cultural context. Lammas may be an opportunity to re-aquaint ourselves with the Crone in her purity, to fall in love with Her again, to celebrate She Who creates the Space to Be. Lammas is a welcoming of the Dark in all its complexity: and as with any funerary moment, there is celebration of the life lived (enjoyment of the harvest) – a “wake,” and there is grieving for the loss. One may fear it, which is good reason to make ceremony, to go deeper, to commit to the Mother, who is the Deep; to “make sacred” this emotion, as much as one may celebrate the hope and wonder of Spring, its opposite. If Imbolc/Early Spring is a nurturing of new young life, Lammas may be a nurturing/midwifing of death or dying to small self, the assent to larger self, an expansion or dissipation – further to the radiance of Summer Solstice. Whereas Imbolc is a Bridal commitment to being and form, where we are the Promise of Life; Lammas may be felt as a commitment marriage to the Dark within, as we accept the Harvest of that Promise, the cutting of it. We remember that the Promise is returned to Source. “The forces which began to rise out of the Earth at the festival of Bride now return at Lammas.”[i] Creativity is called forth when an end (or impasse) is reached: we can no longer rely on our small self to carry it off. We may call Her forth, this Creative Wise Dark One – of the Ages, when our ways no longer work. We are not individuals, though we often think we are. We are Larger Self, subjects within theSubject.[ii] And this is a joyful thing. We do experience ourselves as individuals and we celebrate that creativity at Imbolc. Lammas is the time for celebrating the fact that we are part of, in the context of, a Larger Organism, and expanding into that. Death will teach us that, but we don’t have to wait – it is happening around us all the time, we are constantly immersed in the process, and everyday creativity is sourced in this subjectivity. As it is said, She is “that which is attained at the end of Desire:”[iii] the same Desire we celebrated at Beltaine, has peaked at Summer and is now dissolving form, returning to Source to nourish the Plenum, the manifesting – as all form does. This Seasonal Moment of Lammas/Late Summer celebrates the beginning of dismantling, de-structuring. Gaia-Universe has done a lot of this de-structuring – it is in Her nature to return all to the “Sentient Soup” … nothing is wasted. We recall the Dark Sentience, the “All-Nourishing Abyss”[iv] at the base of being, as we enter this dark part of the cycle of the year. This Dark/Deep at the base of being, to whom we are returned, may be understood as the Sentience within all – within the entire Universe. The dictionary definition of sentience is: “intelligence,” “feeling,” “the readiness to receive sensation, idea or image; unstructured available consciousness,” “a state of elementary or undifferentiated consciousness.”[v] The Old Wise One is the aspect of the Cosmic Triplicity/Triple Goddess that returns us to this sentience, the Great Subject out of whom we arise. We are subjects within the Great Subject – the sentient Universe; we are not a collection of objects, as Thomas Berry has said.[vi] This sentience within, this “readiness-to-receive,” is a dark space, as all places of ending and beginning are. Mystics of all religious traditions have understood the quintessential darkness of the Divinity, known often as the Abyss. Goddesses such as Nammu and Tiamat, Aditi and Kali, are the anthropomorphic forms of this Abyss/Sea of Darkness that existed before creation. She is really the Matrix of the Universe. This sentience is ever present and dynamic. It could be understood as the dark matter that is now recognized to form most of the Universe. This may be recognized as Her “Cauldron of Creativity” and celebrated at this Lammas Moment. Her Cauldron of Creativity is the constant flux of all form in the Universe – all matter is constantly transforming. We are constantly transforming on every level. a Lammas/Late Summer altar These times that we find ourselves in have been storied as the Age of Kali, the Age of Caillaech – the Age of the Crone. There is much that is being turned over, much that will be dismantled. We are in the midst of the revealing of compost, and transformation – social, cultural, and geophysical. Kali is not a pretty one – but we trust She is transformer, and creative in the long term. She has a good track record. Our main problem is that we tend to take it personally. The Crone – the Old Phase of the cycle, creates the Space to Be. Lammas is the particular celebration of the beauty of this awesome One. She is symbolized and expressed in the image of the waning moon, which is filling with darkness. She is the nurturant darkness that may fill your being, comfort the sentience in you, that will eventually allow new constellations to gestate in you, renew you. So the focus in ceremony may be to contemplate opening to Her, noticing our fears and our hopes involved in that. She is the Great Receiver – receives all, and as such She is the Great Compassionate One. Her Darkness may be understood as a Depth of Love. And She is Compassionate because of …
Beltaine/High Spring within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 8 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Beltaine/High Spring are: Southern Hemisphere – October 31st or 1st November Northern Hemisphere – April 30th (May Eve) or 1st May though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, thus actually a little later in early November for S.H., and early May for N.H., respectively. The twin fires lit in older times on hilltops in Ireland for Beltaine likely represented the two eyes of night and day.[i] With this vision, Goddess as Sun and Moon sees Her Land, and with the power of Her eyes (Sun and Moon) brings forth life and beauty. With the fire eyes, Goddess“reoccupied and saw her whole land…”[ii] The twin fires later came to be used to run cattle between as they headed out to Summer pasture, for the purpose of burning off the bugs and ticks of Winter; the fires may thus be understood to serve a cleansing effect and likely the origins of the tradition of the ceremonial leaping of flames by participants in Beltaine festivities. In PaGaian Cosmology this is poetically expressed as the Flame of Love that burns away the psyche’s “bugs and ticks,” and sees the Beauty present, and calls it forth. The Beltaine flames may be a celebration of Sun entering into the eye, into the whole bodymind: a powerful creative evocation upon which the Dance of Life depends, and as the cleansing power of love and pleasure. PaGaian focus for Beltaine is on the Holy Desire/Passion for life, and it may be accounted for on as many levels as possible … the complete holarchy/dimensions of the erotic power. On an elemental level, there is our desire for Air, Water, the warmth of Fire, and to be of use/service to Earth. There is an essential longing, sometimes nameless, sometimes constellated, experienced physically, that may be recognized as the Desire of the Universe Herself – desiring in us.[iii] We may remember that we are united in this desire with each other, with all who have gone before us, and with all who come after us – all who dance the Dance of Life. Beltaine is a time for dancing and weaving into our lives, our heart’s desires; traditionally the dance is done with participants holding ribbons attached to a pole or tree (a Maypole in the Northern Hemisphere, which may be renamed as a “Novapole” in the Southern Hemisphere), wrapping the pole with the ribbons. This is not simply the heterosexual metaphor as is thought in modern times (thanks largely to Freudian thinking) – it is deeper than that. As Caitlin and John Matthews point out: it is symbolic of a far greater exchange than that between men and women – in fact between the elements themselves. … the maypole, a comparatively recent manifestation in the history of mystery celebrations, can be seen as the linking of heaven and earth, binding those who dance around it … into a pattern of birth, life and death which lay at the heart of the maze of earth mysteries.[iv] Beltaine is a celebration of Desire on all levels – microcosm and on the macrocosm, the exoteric and the esoteric.[v] It brought you forth physically, and it brings forth all that you produce in your life, and it keeps the Cosmos spinning. It is felt in you as Desire, it urges you on. It is the deep awesome dynamic that pervades the Cosmos and brings forth all things – babies, meals, gardens, careers, books and solar systems. We have often been taught, certainly by religious traditions, to pay it as little attention as possible; whereas it should be the cause of much more meditation/attention, tracing it to its deepest place in us. What are our deepest desires beneath our surface desires. What if we enter more deeply into this feeling, this power? It may be a place where the Universe is a deep reciprocity – a receiving and giving that is One. Brian Swimme says, in a whole chapter on “Allurement”: You can examine your own self and your own life with this question: Do I desire to have this pleasure? Or rather, do I desire to become pleasure? The demand to ‘have,’ to possess, always reveals an element of immaturity. To keep, to hold, to control, to own; all of this is fundamentally a delusion, for our own truest desire is to be and to live. We have ripened and matured when we realize that our own deepest desire in erotic attractions is to become pleasure … to enter ecstatically into pleasure so that giving and receiving pleasure become one simple activity. Our most mature hope is to become pleasure’s source and pleasure’s home simultaneously. So it is with the allurements of life: we become beauty to ignite the beauty of others.[vi] Beltaine is a good time to contemplate this animal bodymind that you are: how it seeks real pleasure. What is your real pleasure? Be gracious with this bodymind and in awe of this form, this wonder. Beltaine is also a good time to contemplate light, and its affects on our bodyminds as it enters into us; how our animal bodyminds respond directly to the Sun’s light, which apparently may awaken physical desires. Light vibrates into us – different wavelengths as different colours – and shifts to pulse. It is felt most fully in Springtime (“spring fever”), as light courses down a direct neural line from retina to pineal gland. When the pineal gland receives the light pulse it releases “a cascade of hormones, drenching the body in hunger, thirst, or great desire.”[vii] We respond directly to Sun as an organism: it is primal. NOTES: [i] Michael Dames, Ireland, 195-199. [ii] Ibid., 196. [iii] I have been inspired and informed by Swimme’s articulations about desire, particularly in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 2 “The Primeval Fireball,” video 5 “Destruction and Loss,” and video 10 “The Timing of Creativity.” [iv] Matthews, The Western Way, 54. And for more, see “Creativity …
(Essay) Summer Solstice/Litha Within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 9 of the author’s book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. The dates for Summer Solstice/Litha are: Southern Hemisphere – December 20-23 Northern Hemisphere – June 20-23 A Summer Solstice altar The ‘moment of grace’[i] that is Summer Solstice, marks the stillpoint in the height of Summer, when Earth’s tilt causes the Sun to begin its ‘decline’: that is, its movement back to the North in the Southern Hemisphere, and back to the South in the Northern Hemisphere. This Seasonal Moment is polar opposite Winter Solstice when it is light that is “born,” as it may be expressed. At the peak of Summer, in the bliss of expansion, it is the dark that is “born.” Insofar as Winter Solstice is about birth, then Summer Solstice is about death. It is a celebration of profound mystical significance, that may be confronting in a culture where the dark is not valued for its creative telios. Summer Solstice is a time for celebrating our realized Creativity, whose birth we celebrated at Winter Solstice, whose tenderness we dedicated ourselves to at Imbolc/Early Spring, whose certain presence and power we rejoiced in at Spring Equinox, whose fertile passion we danced for at Beltaine/High Spring. Now, at this seasonal point, as we celebrate light’s fullness, we celebrate our own ripening – like that of the wheat, and the fruit. And like the wheat and the fruit, it is the Sun that is in us, that has ripened: the Sun is the Source of our every thought and action. The analogy is complete in that our everyday creativity – our everyday actions, and we, ultimately, are also “Food for the Universe”[ii] … it is all how we feed the Universe. flowers to flames – everyday creativity consumed Like the Sun and the wheat and the fruit, we find the purpose of our Creativity in the releasing of it; just as our breath must be released for its purpose of life. The symbolism used to express this in ceremony has been the giving of a full rose/flower to the flames.[iii] We, and our everyday creativity, are the “Bread of Life,” as it may be expressed; just as many other indigenous traditions recognize everyday acts as evoking “the ongoing creation of the cosmos,”[iv] so in this tradition, Summer is the time for particularly celebrating that. Our everyday lives, moment to moment, are built on the fabric of the work/creativity of the ancestors and ancient creatures that went before us; and so the future is built on ours. We are constantly consuming the work and creativity of others and we are constantly being consumed. The question may be asked: “Who are you feeding?,”[v] and consideration given to whether you are happy with the answer. It is the Sun that is in you. See how you shine. Summer Solstice is a celebration of the Fullness of the Mother – in ourselves, in Earth, in the Cosmos. We are the Sun, coming to fullness in its creative engagement with Earth. We affirm this in ceremony with: “It is the Sun that is in you, see how you shine.” It is the ripening of Her manifestation, which fulfills itself in the awesome act of dissolution. This is the mystery of the Moment. Brian Swimme has described this mystery of radiance as a Power of the Universe, as Radiance: the shining forth of the self is at the same time a give-away, a decline of the self – just as the Sun is constantly giving itself away. This Solstice Moment of Summer is a celebration of communion, the feast of life – which is for the enjoying, not for the holding onto. Summer and Winter Solstices are Gateways – between the manifest and the manifesting, and Summer Solstice is a Union/Re-Union of these, a kind of meeting with the deeper self. Winter Solstice may be more of a separation, though it is usually experienced as joyful, because it is also a meeting, as the new is being brought forth. The interchange of Summer Solstice may be experienced as an entry into loss – the Cosmological Dynamic of Loss, as manifestation passes. Beltaine, Summer Solstice and Lammas – the next Seasonal Moment, may be felt as the three faces of Cosmogenesis in the movement towards entropy.[vi] The light part of the annual cycle of Earth around Sun is a celebration of the Young One/Virgin quality of Cosmogenesis, with Her face gradually changing to the Mother/Communion quality; and through the Autumn, the dark part of the annual cycle, it is a celebration of the Old One/Crone quality, whose face will gradually change also, back to the Mother/Communion. They are never separate.In this cosmology, desire for full creativity has been celebrated as the allurement of the Cosmos, and being experienced as gravity, as relationship with Earth, our place of being, how She holds us. At both Solstices there is celebration of deep engagement, communion. REFERENCES: Livingstone, Glenys. A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Girl God Books: Bergen, Norway, 2023. Spretnak, Charlene. States of Grace: The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993. Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. New York: Harper and Row, 1999. Swimme, Brian. Canticle to the Cosmos. DVD series. CA: Tides Foundation, 1990. NOTES: [i] As Thomas Berry named the Seasonal transitions. [ii] Swimme uses this expression in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 5 “Destruction and Loss.” [iii] This is based on the traditional Litha (Summer Solstice) rite described by Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 206. [iv] Spretnak, States of Grace, 95. [v] As Swimme asks in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 5 “Destruction and Loss.” [vi] Just as Samhain, Winter Solstice and Imbolc may be felt as the three faces of Cosmogenesis in the movement towards toward form – syntropy.

(Photo Essay 3) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hwang

Part III: Archaeology Bespeaks What Ideological Hetero-sexuality Can’t Do Our story-tellers informed us that Gaeyang Halmi is venerated and celebrated on January 14th annually on the lunar calendar. There are two separate rituals performed on that day. Villagers, both men and women, offer their ritual ceremony in the morning in Confucian style. The officiant must preserve the purification ritual, confining oneself to home to avoid ominous affairs for a week prior to the ceremony. After the ceremony of the villagers, Mudang groups come from outside the town and offer their Shaman rituals. A cleavage between two groups is still freshly detected in their narratives. While villagers conform to the Confucian style rituals with a despising but curious eye for the female-centered Shaman rituals, Mudangs are much more powerful in their capacities to command people, spirits, and materials. The Shamanic ritual celebration is fairly well-known domestically as well as overseas to the Chinese and the Japanese, according to our lore transmitters. People from China and Japan come to join the Mudang rituals, a vestige of the intercultural celebration that may have originated in ancient times, a point to be elaborated later. What caught my attention was the fact that the ritual celebration is known as the Ritual of Yongwang (the Dragon King) not the Ritual of Gaeyang Halmi. Our two narrators, Mr. Jeong Dong-Uk and Ms. Jeong Si-Geum, brother and sister, testified contradictorily vis-à-vis the Dragon King. Mr. Jeong mentioned that Gaeyang Halmi is the wife of Dragon King,[i] whereas Ms. Jeong spoke of Gaeyang Halmi as a solo deity without spouse. Ms. Jeong sternly said, “She was alone [without spouse]. She had eight daughters.” “It is said that there used to be a house wherein Gaeyang Halmi and her eight daughters lived together. I saw the cooking pots and household things in the ruin,” added Ms. Jeong. [Interestingly, the motif that she saw the cooking pots and other kitchen items in the ruin reminded me of other Mago folk stories from other regions. People seem to take such artifacts as pots and household things discovered in the ruin as an indication that the myth of Mago Halmi who is told to have lived in the place is plausible.] The topos of “the dragon king” was likely added later on to comply with Confucian ideology. In fact, none of our narrators mentioned the dragon king as the main deity of the Suseong Shrine. The fact that it is called the ritual of the dragon king suggests another layer of erosion/castration/dethronement done to the supreme divinity of Gaeyang Halmi.
(Photo Essay 1) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Part I: Living Tradition Bearers and Her Shrine, Suseong-dang I had the privilege to join a field trip to collect the folk stories of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess, in Buan-gun (Buan County), North Jeolla Province, South Korea July 10-12, 2012. The team comprised a group of graduate students studying Korean Literature at the Kunguk University (Kim Jungeun, Cho Hongyoun, Lee Won-Young, Hwang Sungup, and Lee Boohee) headed by Dr. Shin Dong-Hun, Dr. Park Hyeon-Suk, and myself.[i]
(Bell Essay 4) The Ancient Korean Bell and Magoism by Helen Hwang

Part IV Asking the Dangerous Question: How Old is the Symbol of Nine Nipples? An inquiry about the origin of an ancient female symbolism is subversive in nature. It shakes the ground of patriarchal premises come to be believed rather than understood. The question here is the provenance of the nine nipples sculpted on ancient Korean bells. A focus on the female principle that nine nipples represent hurls the inquirer into uncharted territory. Note that official [read Sinocentric] historiography of East Asia leaves no means to navigate through the beginning of gynocentric civilizations. Where there is no written history, archaeologies and mythologies are rendered anomalous if not obsolete. Thus, tracking the provenance of nine nipples is made to face a quandary, without the mytho-history of Old Magoism. The relief of nine nipples on the ancient Korean bell has its predecessors. From Silla, a wind chime called pungtak from Gameun-sa (Temple of Gameun) appears to be an immediate model. Much smaller in size (27.8 cm), pungtak is to be hung on the eaves of a pagoda or a Buddhist temple building. Given that the Gameun-sa was completed in 682 CE, the nine nipples of pungtak may well be considered as the precursor of the Sangwon-sa bell (cast 725 CE). Unfortunately, however, we are unequipped to trace the pre-Silla Korean examples of nine nipples under the standard view of Sinocentric ancient Korean history. This will need another space to discuss. That said, how old is the symbol of nine nipples? Extant ancient bronze bells with nine nipples suggest that it dates back to as early as the introduction of bronze metallurgy in East Asia. On the other hand, however, the existence of nine nipples on ancient pottery bells throws a new light on another scenario that they may predate the Bronze Age. That the use of clay preceded the use of metal is incontestable. Interestingly, a good number of ancient bronze bells with nine nipples are from the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 BCE-ca. 1046 BCE) and the Western Zhou dynasty (1046 BCE-771 BCE) of China. Seong Nakju, in his article tracing the origin of ancient Korean bells, states that bells with the nine protruded knobs emerged for the first time between the late Shang and the early Zhou period (see Seong Nakju below in Sources). When something of the female principle, ultimately like the provenance of Mago, is dated to the Shang dynasty [Shang dynasty to be the earliest historical polity of China], it suggests that it was there before the beginning of Chinese history. On these ancient Chinese bells, the nine knobs are placed in three rows of three in its four corners just like yudu (nipples) of the Korean bell. Nonetheless, there is, among others, a distinction to be mentioned here. The nine knobs of Zhou bells are called “mae” (枚, classifier for small things, mei in Chinese) not “yudu.” The female connotation is absent in ancient Chinese bells. This gender shift or female castration to be precise, however casual it may seem, is no small factor. It has allowed a chasm in the forthcoming history of Chinese bells. Bells were no mere object for the ancients. They were the channel of epiphany, sacred in short. They represented the divine power derived from Old Magoism during which female shamans ruled. The patriarchal enthronement that took seizure in the course of history, however, marked a discontinuity and changed the nature of the bell’s symbolism to be only nominal, lacking reality. The bell as the symbol of the female principle was no longer effective under patriarchal rules. Why? It was deprived of the reality of the Goddess with which it could reverberate. Thus, it lost its ultimate purpose, to create music, in that the patriarchal ruling principle itself was not “musical,” but dissonant with the rest of the world. One who breaks the harmony can’t own the music! Bells are rendered as a thing that points to the meaning of the past. This is how bells during the era of patriarchal rules came to be objectified as a royal belonging, as seen in the Qing bell of a later time. Ancient sages or even kings and queens of East Asia may have noticed what had gone wrong with the bell and agonized to restore it, the effort for which they were praised as the great thinker or sage ruler. The imposing air of authority had to be made visual precisely because the bell could no longer do the magic, engendering the divine power. Thus, highly embellished designs and classifications of various bells were made to cover up the void. Later on, the magnitude of the bell was employed to convey (pseudo-)power, deranged from the female principle. Nonetheless, the nine nipples seemingly survived in many bells of the Zhou dynasty. I present here some specific bells such as yongzhong (a bell with a cylindrical handle on top), niuzhong (a bell with a semi-circular knob on top), and yangjiaozhong (a bell shaped like ram’s horns) to highlight the various styles of mae. After all, pyeonjong (bianzhong in Chinese, metal chime bells) is a variation of pyeongyeong (bianqing in Chinese), the stone chime bells (see Part I). This suggests that the making of ancient bells needs to be seen in a continuum rather than as a new invention in the Bronze era. However, we do not have pyeongyeongs with nine nipples. Stone chimes do not seem to have nine nipples. If ancient East Asians had not carved the nine nipples on a stone bell, then they did it on clay. Pottery bells with nine nipples are found to have co-existed with bronze bells. The level of sophistication and precision in artistry is there as well, as shown in the images. It may be, as experts would explain, that ceramic bells were created to substitute for the costly bronze bells during the Zhou dynasty. However, that should not be always the case. Prior to the Bronze Age, humans invented terracotta technology and brought it to its zenith from which, in fact, metallurgical techniques are likely to have derived. In short, ceramic bells of the Zhou dynasty suggest that the origin of nine nipples predates the …

Month: April 2015

(Goddess Panel Art) Mother Nature by Kaalii Cargill

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(Poem) Our Goddess by Andrea Nicki

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Mago Almanac Year 9 Monthly Wheels

S/HE: IJGS V4 N1-2 2025 (B/W Paperback)

Mago Almanac Year 8 (for 2025)

Program Booklets

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