May 30, 2018October 2, 2019 Mago Work1 Comment

(Art) Maryam on the Mesa by Susan Abbott

How the work is born: It started out as a simple landscape sunrise painting. We have spectacular sunrises out on Copper Mountain Mesa where I was living in Joshua Tree Read More …

(Essay 4) Reinterpreting Female Figures in the Bible by Francesca Tronetti

[Author’s Note; I am going back to feminist reinterpretations of the Bible, this one focusing on the work of Alice Bellis. I especially love her reexamination of Ruth. I remember watching the movie on TCM when I was in middle school, and it stuck with me. Even in the movie, made in 1960, Ruth is an active character, choosing her destiny and not passively accepting men’s plans for her. That is a definite lesson many interpretations of the story leave out, focusing instead on Boaz as the hero and YHWH’s protection.] Male interpretations of the Bible have often been criticized for opposing women and feminism. This opposition to women has spread to some sects of the three religions, which draw their foundations from this source material: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In this essay series, I have focused my research on Christianity and Judaism, hoping to encourage those who study Islamic interpretations of the text to continue the discussion. Even when the text itself seems to have a good message regarding hope or love, in the past, the overarching teaching of the Church and Synagogue has been that women are lesser beings, lesser in God’s sight, and less worthy of respect or protection. In fact, in the Orthodox Jewish community, the daily morning prayers recited by the men include their thanks to God that they were not born women. This kind of devaluation of women “justified” by sacred text is what finally ended my worship in the Catholic Church. It was not the teachings of Christ; I still consider myself a Goddess follower of his message to love each other and help those in need. It was what I saw as the Church’s hatred for women, for women’s ideas, for women’s very right to be free that ended our relationship. Philosopher and Jewish ethicist Anya Topolski experienced this same problem, but her struggle did not end her practice of Judaism but enhanced it. Topolski writes, “Being born a Jew means being required to challenge the world and G-d. … It is as if struggling is the unspoken root of all of Judaism’s rituals and rules.”[1] It is this constant struggle with the text that brought her attention to the story of Rebekah, which she believes lies at the root of Judaism’s unfair treatment of women because she helps her son Jacob trick his father Isaac into blessing Jacob as YHWH intended instead of his elder brother Esau as tradition demanded. Eliezer, a servant of Issac, meets Rebekah at a well where she gives him water. Rebekah is a remarkable woman; her genealogy lists her grandmother rather than just the father’s line, and unlike all other women in the Bible, Rebekah is given the choice to follow a stranger to meet her husband. Topolski rescues Rebekah’s good name, pointing out that while Isaac was weak, Rebekah became the keeper of the covenant and put her faith in G-d over tradition. Rebekah’s story is about a woman of true faith, belittled by the passage of time and male interpretation. It has only been through a reexamination of the text using a feminist lens that she has been redeemed. If we take Topolski’s understanding of the struggle to challenge the word of G-d and to rediscover the strong and faithful women of the Bible who have been made invisible by centuries of male-only interpretation, then women of faith can find a new meaning in the traditions without being driven away. Within the texts, there are numerous references to female prophets, such as Miriam, the sister of Moses. We also find women’s participation in religious festivals or rituals, such as the women who baked cakes for the Queen of Heaven in the book of Jeremiah. We know from studying other societies that Goddess cults like those in ancient Greece had female priestesses and sometimes excluded men altogether. Goddess cults attract, and their festivals, feasts, and rituals are oriented toward women. It is logical to believe that if we find evidence in the biblical and extra-biblical texts of a female divinity or Goddess worshiped by the ancient Israelites, women would not only have participated in these rites but would have had central positions of power. In the Hebrew Bible, we find references to named Goddesses such as Asherah, Astarte, and the unnamed Queen of Heaven, a figure that I have written about previously in the journal S/HE. Conclusion The sacred texts that form the basis of Judaism and Christianity have long been problematic for women and minority peoples. Used to justify marginalization and horrible treatment in the name of saving souls. When these people looked for figures in the text they could relate to, the accepted interpretation of the text hindered them. Within the last century, we have seen a rise in published works by marginalized groups that returned to the original texts and reexamined them through the lens of feminism and humanism. So many entrenched ideas that were taken for granted have been reevaluated, even within the established hierarchy, such as the idea that biblical figures such as Jesus were white with blond hair. Those who studied the text used anthropology and archaeology to understand the world the women named in the Bible lived in and to put their actions into context. Rather than looking at their actions from the surface, they looked deeper into the culture and society the women existed in to see how remarkable they were. Ruth left her homeland and faith to follow her mother-in-law back to the land of her husband’s people. She found a husband she respected rather than one she was expected to marry. Rebekah followed YHWH’s intention and had her son Jacob receive his father’s blessing, defying tradition but putting her faith in the Divine. If those who seek solace in the text do so with faith in their hearts and take the time to understand the ancient societies in which it was written, they will find that there is a place for them …
(Pandemic Poem 13) You have to have the fight by Jyoti Wind

Female Warrior, Princeton Museum N.J. Photo by Jyoti Wind You have to have the fight that is needed to keep you alive, and the surrender to what may be. It is the paradox of corona now. https://www.magoism.net/2020/08/meet-mago-contributor-jyoti-wind/
(Book Review) Kommentar zu Graebner/Wengrow: A critical appraisal of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021) by Heide Goettner-Abendroth

A great title and a great book; the entire history of humankind in a single volume! This arouses curiosity, especially since the two authors are experts in their respective fields: Graeber is an anthropologist and Wengrow an archaeologist. Hence the praise in the general press is not long in coming. Nevertheless, this book also deserves a critical appraisal. What is valuable about this book is not only the expertise of the two authors, who have incorporated the latest archaeological findings, but also that they fundamentally show that egalitarian societies make up the vast majority of human history and not infrequently re- established themselves by breaking away from societies based on domination. The authors therefore contradict the view that egalitarian societies and democracies are rare exceptions in a history characterised by kingdoms, empires and repressive states. They refute the view that domination has always existed everywhere and forms part of “human nature”, so to speak. This view of an endless history written by the victors is overturned by their work and that’s a good thing! For if domination from the top down had always existed, it would make no sense to rise up against it – something which is in the interest of those representing the history of the victors. According to this “history of victors” belief, indigenous peoples and women as a whole fall by the wayside. It is therefore fascinating to read how the authors reverse this view and place the wisdom of Indigenous peoples at the centre, using the example of the political criticism of the Iroquois against the white Europeans, whose society was characterised by egotism, competition and private ownership, lack of individual freedom and arbitrary violence. The authors also emphasise how much the egalitarian constitution of the League of the Five Nations, or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, influenced the constitution of America’s Founding Fathers and later the French Revolution, a fact that is all too readily denied by white Americans and Europeans. Equally revealing is the description by the two authors of how criticism by Indigenous people was answered and counteracted by the European elite. They were degraded to the status of “noble savages” and theories of the unilineal development of history (“stage theories”) were invented in which, for instance, the inferior stage of “barbarism” was attributed to their social order while only the Western social order had risen to the level of “civilisation”. These stage theories of history were the intellectual ideology used in colonial times to justify the conquest of other peoples and the destruction of their cultures, with noticeable repercussions to this day. With their decisive inclusion of the Indigenous perspective, the authors critically question this Euro-American history of victors and expose its unenlightened arrogance. But what about the inclusion of women’s perspectives? They are generally also the victims of the history of victors because they simply do not exist in it. Although they are far from a marginal group, making up half of humanity, in this “new history of humanity” they only sporadically appear and then in an unrelated context. However, at least they do appear, something which distinguishes this “new history” from other histories written by males. But their significance is not grasped, as if they had not achieved anything throughout the millennia of human history that would have been worthy of detailed mention and, above all, systematic inclusion. This “new” history is strangely incomplete when it comes to the activities and inventions of women and their shaping of social orders. Yet it is precisely the situation of women, their freedom or lack of freedom, that reflects the state of a society as a whole. This significance of women in the history of humanity is one of the burning questions we want to explore. The other burning question is: where does humankind’s striving for equality and happiness come from? By “equality” here I don’t mean egalitarianism or formal equality but an understanding that each individual has the same value in spite of the countless differences between people. When each and every individual has the same value, they are given personal dignity and freedom of choice in acting together with others. This aspiration is deeply rooted in human beings but what is its origin? We learn nothing about this in this book, except that the notion of an original state of equality in human history is rejected as a relic of the old stage theories. Yet the question remains: why do humans strive so intensely for happiness and equality and how have they managed to live egalitarian lives in such long and different periods of history? This seems contradictory, and it has to do with the fact that the fundamental importance of women and mothers does not feature in this work. Consequently, despite the authors’ honest attempt at balance, the work remains male-oriented and therefore limited. For the fundamental importance of women and mothers in the humanisation of Homo sapiens, we will only briefly refer to the work of Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, who has shown that it’s precisely the care, attention and capacity for empathy of mothers that distinguishes the human species from the animal world. This ability was passed on to the whole community as other women and also men adopted this original maternal attitude and empathy with other people and beings and it became a characteristic trait of the human species. Human infants in indigenous societies grew up, and continue to grow up today, in an environment of universal care and empathy that makes them aware of their personal value, no matter how different one child is from another. This means that, from the very beginning, they experience equality as equal value and derive feelings of happiness from this. Childhood is therefore the origin of this striving for happiness and equality and, in human history, this was due to mothers and these maternal values, as is still the case today, individually with every mother who has the same attitude for her children and their needs. For without this no child …
(Prose & Art) The Magnificent – The Last Great Whale, The Mother of All by Noris Binet

Art by Nois Binet One shining morning I was standing on a deck looking at the waters of the Pacific. I don’t recall how I got there but because the ocean holds the purity of all forms for me and a sense of wonder, its vastness always takes me in as if I am a newborn, full of amazement. There is no particular time for me to be at the ocean; any time is a great time. When I cannot be there for a long while, it’s as if I am being deprived of life’s sustaining energy. At the ocean I feel that I am before the beginning of all of life’s creation. On this auspicious Sunday I was alone but aware of people moving about in a holiday spirit on the wharf, browsing the restaurants and shops nearby. Suddenly right in front of me a couple of medium-sized whales appeared jumping and playing. I was delighted just to watch them as they moved freely, frolicking in the waters with so much ease. I was only fifteen to twenty feet from the young mammals and the deck was only a few feet higher than the water. When they slipped back below its surface I stood mesmerized by their beauty, their sleek skin and the magnificence of their sheer size. How lucky I thought, to be able to witness them that closely, almost in reach of my hand! I felt so privileged at that moment realizing that I was part of… And before I could finish the thought I was impacted by the force of a huge, archaic marine creature, which emerged from the ocean with such might that the water spilled out from her jump, wetting my face and clothes. I was in awe, shaken, and thrilled to be in the presence of such an amazing being, before whom I could neither move or do a thing and thus became absolutely still at such greatness and wild presence. The wetness covering my face felt glorious as if it was a baptism of some kind and now I realize that it was just that! This magnificent creature from the mysterious depth had baptized me. Her mammoth proportions overwhelmed my senses to such a degree that I knew that I could never be the same after this startling encounter. It is impossible to meet “the magnificent” without being transformed. What is this? Who is this? All my questions fell away as my eyes were transfixed upon her, being totally hypnotized by this grandiose energy that felt so primal and ancient as the original mother of all life. I was fully present and entered into a timeless-time without beginning or end realizing that that moment is still here with me now. I wanted to capture her in form; and be able to see her image over and over. This fascination overtook me so that I couldn’t but take a pencil and begin to sketch her from memory. Despite my immediate self-doubt about replicating her form, the magnificent creature emerged from the paper without struggle exactly as she appeared to me, spontaneous and free. Drawing her allowed me to be with her and to see the details that were imprinted on the depth of my psyche, without me even knowing it. Amazing revelations have begun to happen as her primordial energy continued to take form, communicating slowly why she came to see me. I am unable to unveil the details of her communication because it is a process that is unfolding intra-psychically and thus can’t be named or conceptualized. It can only be felt. And that, I can share: It feels like a resurrection; as if deeper forces that were dormant have begun to resurface to lead me through a world of symbols, the meaning of which can only be revealed when they are experienced, not before. It is moving in the unknown only following inner impulses, before the defining thoughts of what is happening have emerged in the mind. As I began to research whether anyone had seen this being before, or whether there are tales about her, I found that no one had seen her exactly as did I. Yet cultures all over the world consider whales as the “earth’s record keeper for all time, inspiring us to listen to the inner voice”. “The whale’s being is associated with the wisdom and awareness of the spiritual realm, blending the conscious and the unconscious into an undivided whole.” Throughout my life I have felt compelled to dwell in the depth of the psyche. I have come to realize that as I navigate in the emotional depth of the unconscious world that I can swim with “the magnificent” without being totally overwhelmed by her power. Instead, I am guided by her beauty and serenity. When I am able to allow her energy to express itself in me I can move without resistance in the fluidity of this life. I can come out to breathe and the experience of the breath can be a moment of illumination. As the record keeper “the great Whale” came to me knowing what is necessary for my maturation to unfold and to guide my entry across the threshold of my own transmigration. Her energy brought about my realignment with the full expression of creativity and spiritual awakening as the ultimate purpose of this life. She was the last archaic, gigantic whale wandering, looking for me in the great vastness of the ocean and now we are together. Now, she has come home. She lives deeply within myself and within yourselves, ready to be activated, embracing us as The Magnificent, the great Mother of all. © 3/23/15. Sonoma, CA (Meet Mago Contributor) Noris Binet.
(Poem) what lo says by Susan Hawthorne

he came at nightevery night he hung aroundlike a stinking cloudwhispering vilenessI said it clearly no no no Hera was on my sideand set the all-seer to guard mebut with some kind of glamourevery single eyeall hundred of themclosedlulled by cloud lullaby when the clouds goyou can see mewhite as the moonmy horns as sharpas any virgin’s in my spot under the olive treeI shimmer like lunar veilsbut that temenos that holy placewas plaguedby a cloud of gadflies no matter how fast I ranno matter how much dustthis heifer kicked upno matter where I wentthe gadfly stuck to mesent me mad until I arrived at the seaat the crossing now named for meBosphoros cow bearerI swam those black watersreached the far shore the fire god calmed mesaid keep on travellingone day we’ll sing for youIo with the moon in your eyes Bosphoros: Greek: bous cow; phoros bearing. Cow Notes Every Greek myth is full of puzzles and stories that surprise when you come to them with a fresh eye. Coming to these stories through the eyes of a cow unlocked a number of things. How important is the name Bosphoros when you realise it means cow bearer. It gives the story a different dimension. The story of rape is told here, the virgin who says no three times, and the older woman who sets up a system of guards so that the virgin is safe. But few women are safe from the predations of men – or bulls – who are out to have their way – to rape. There is also the inner strength of Io in facing her trauma. And an incredible beauty which is what women hold within. She is the crescent moon with all the potential of the full moon. This poem is from Cow (2011) https://www.magoism.net/2013/12/meet-mago-contributor-susan-hawthone/
(Book Excerpt 1) Pressing out the Pure Honey by Frances Guerin

I had closed a door on Catholicism many years ago and to repair the damage, embarked on reading the feminist writers and “New Age” teachers and met many eastern teachers to find relief from a deep darkness, a black dog that haunted by life. The return to the Christian tradition proved to be a profound revelation that I documented, and then as time went on, revealed the nature of the darkness as stark visions of abuse at the hands of a hospital chaplain when I was a student nurse, and an impact of witnessing an enraged nun, who was teaching us the Catholic catechism in preparation for our first confession, beating a boy with a cane in a frenzy, which drove into me a terror of hell and damnation that I was mute and lost for the next 4 years.
(Essay 3) Circe the Island Witch by Hearth Moon Rising

Third in a series. Earlier segments are here and here. I call Circe’s mythical island, Aeaea, The Island of Vowels, but Robert Graves says the name means “wailing.” If so, perhaps the wailing refers to the falcon colonies which nest on islands in the Adriatic Sea. Graves claims Circe’s name means “falcon.” There is some confusion as to whether Circe is really a goddess, a demi-goddess, a mythical heroine, or a historical woman. Circe’s parents are supposedly a god (Helios) and queen (Pasiphae), suggesting a demi-goddess (half-human, half-god). Alternatively, Circe’s mother is an ocean-deity, which would make her a goddess. Roman oil lamp depicting Odysseus and Circe. Photo: Matthias Kabel/Wikimedia Commons. Circe marries the prince of Colchis, a city-state along the Black Sea, and rules there for a time, again suggesting she is human. As queen, she kills her royal husband, which is a mythic trope. In Celtic romance, this sequence is read as goddess-of-the-year vanquishing the winter god, who will be reborn as the summer god. But Circe appears in Classical mythology, where allegoric subterfuge to escape Christian censors is not necessary. She could be read straightforwardly as a heroine performing a well-worked theme. Yet Circe presides over a willow cemetery in Colchis, which might suggest she is a priestess of Hecate. At least one Classical scholar argues that Hecate is the mother of Circe, making Circe, once again, a goddess. Legend has it that Circe is whisked away in the chariot of her father Helios to the island of Aeaea, as punishment for killing her husband. Leaving aside the fantastical method of transportation, Circe behaves much like a stereotypic sorceress on Aeaea, living apart from male rule while blending potions that heal or wound. Turning men into animals suggests an above-average level of magical proficiency, but she is nearly human when she meets Odysseus. Her assistance in his travels is classic shamanic work: she prescribes a journey to the land of the dead; she makes an animal sacrifice for a propitious journey; she provides counsel and framework for his journey to the underworld; and she interprets his experiences for him upon his return. In her most famous appearance in Greek myth, it’s hard to see Circe as anything but a priestess, albeit an extraordinarily powerful one. Scylla. Boeotian red-figure bell-crater, 450–425 BCE. Photo: Jastrow/Wikimedia Commons The appearance of Scylla dashes upon the rocks the theory of Circe nothing more than a mortal sorcerer. Scylla is a sea nymph transformed by Circe into a dangerous beast: beautiful from above, a many-headed death hound from below. Scylla characteristically captures sailors and vessels and savagely wrecks them, and circumventing her is one of the obstacles Odysseus most manage on his route home. Circe offers Odysseus advice in escaping Scylla’s clutches. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Scylla as the spirit embodying a rocky outcrop in the Adriatic Sea, an outcrop with a strong multi-faceted whirlpool. It does seem a stretch to give credit for Scylla’s monstrosity to any mortal woman. Perhaps Circe is given credit for creating Scylla’s fate because she “owns” Scylla by revealing to Odysseus how to escape her. Perhaps the sorceress Circe, as animal shapeshifter, is presumed to have shapeshifted Scylla, since this Scylla supposedly yelps like a dog. The geological formation that is Scylla’s body was reported to emit a hound-like sound, and hounds are associated with the Greek underworld. Another explanation is that Circe is a death goddess, like Hecate, who creates other manifestations of death. Men on Aeaea being turned into animals. 560-550 BCE. Photo: Lucas aka Ancient Art Podcast//Wikimedia Commons The island of Aeaea itself seems to embody divinity. It is surrounded by Alder trees, which, because they bleed red, are considered trees of death. Odysseus senses a bewitching atmosphere about the island as he moors his vessel. He soon kills a deer to feed his crew, a propitious sign the mistress of animals is disposed to help him. On his way to meet Circe, Odysseus is given the mysterious life-giving “moly” herb, offered by Hermes, who is known as Messenger of the Gods. Is Hermes thwarting Circe or conveying her protection? We now have a very complex Circe archetype, one that stretches from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. She is a legendary queen, a semi-divine priestess, and a bona fide goddess – mistress of animals and ruler of death. Beneath all of this we have the word “falcon.” There are reasons for considering Circe a falcon goddess independent of Graves’s etymology. The next essay will examine a denizen of the Mediterranean called Eleonora’s Falcon. https://www.magoism.net/2013/04/meet-mago-contributor-hearth-moon-rising/
To Begin Anew by Deanne Quarrie, D.Min.

We, Goddess types, are getting ready to celebrate Imbolc, beginning on the evening on February 1st through the following day, until dusk. Many ask, “well, just what is Imbolc?” To give you a quick etymology …. From Old Irish it means “in the belly” referring to the pregnancy of ewes. It might also mean “to wash or cleanse oneself” and finally, perhaps, “budding.” The easiest way for me to understand it is in remembering when I carried each of my children “in the belly.” There was this magical moment when I felt them move for the very first time. This is an event called “quickening”, a stirring of the unborn child in the womb. Every woman who has given birth, remembers this moment with her child. And so it is with our Mother, the Earth. This is the time, when deep in Her belly there is a stirring, a quickening! She begins to warm and just a bit of movement is perceived. From my days in Middle Tennessee, I remember it as the time when the beautiful crocus peaked out and bloomed in the snow. Clearly, a hint! Yes, Spring is on its way! It falls midway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The Celts thought of it as the First Day of Spring. Certainly, we are not into Spring, but this hint – this quickening of the Earth, this stirring in the Mother’s belly, says, “Spring is on the way!” It triggers Celtic households to sweep out the old. I found it very interesting when I was taking a class on Siberian shamanism to discover their Clean Tent ceremony that also occurred at the same time of year. The Clean Tent ritual is done among the Samoyed peoples of northern Siberia. It is a group ritual invoking blessing and protection for each of the participants, traditionally all the inhabitants of a camp or village. This ceremony is normally done during what is called the White Moon. It is called the Clean Tent Ceremony because traditionally, a special tent is erected for the ritual. In some cases, this ritual is performed outside using a stone circle to enclose the ritual space in lieu of the tent. Folr them the White Moon is a time of spiritual cleansing, forgiveness, and reconciliation. It is the beginning of spring just as Imbolc is ours. Bad luck and any future illness, seen as spirits, were driven away. The chief elements of the imagery used in the Clean Tent ritual are the “Center”, seen as the World Tree, the Mound, the Gate, and Pole Star. The Mound which is a mound of dirt and stone, called an ongon, was used like an altar and as a resting place for the spirits called in for the ceremony. Many years ago, I created a ritual here locally, and planned to use a stomp dance to drive out the spirits of bad luck and illness. Sadly, some of the women thought that idea was negative and vetoed it. To me a rousing stomp dance is great! Anyway, it is just interesting to me to see the similarities between cultures that are so far from each other. Another example – it is the time of the Chinese New Year as well! I do sweep out my home. I do perform my own stomp dance. I even get out the pots and pans and make a great racket! I used to make a doll for Bridget and place her in a bed but now I simply take a mantle (my journey cloak) and leave it out on the Eve of Imbolc, asking for Bridget’s blessing as She passes by. I create at altar with symbols of newness. In the Center, I place a bowl of water and a candle. I leave the bowl of water out all night and it becomes my holy water for the year. Once I have my altar built, I sing my favorite Imbolc song. Holy water, sacred flame.Bridget, we invoke thy name.Bless my hands, my head, my heart.Source of healing, song, and art. Words by Diane Baker, music by Anne Hill. ListenOn the day of Imbolc, I begin writing down my plans for my garden! Truth be told, I am quite a practical witch! Certainly, I celebrate in traditional ways. I have a couple of online rituals to do as well as that with the local Circle of women here in Austin and we make vows to Goddess for the coming year.So, if you wish to take a moment or two, to honor this time of year, feel free to come up with your own rites that clean, sweep, clean out, let go of, bless, purify, and dedicate. And for the plans you have made – make your commitments! In Her quickening, know that our Mother has beautiful things in store in Her plans for blossoming, providing for all our needs.
(Art Essay) Leo in August: Roaring for The Solar Flame by Claire Dorey

Solar Goddess, art by Claire Dorey Season of lions and lazing; books and hammocks; long, golden days of cicadas and apples, I speak of August with words between joy and mourning. Motionless and hot, strangely silent, August is a month of endings and waiting. “The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time moves through and within us, in endless spirals.” – Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love. [1] As blazing, sun-sign Leo roars into the limelight, let’s embrace our inner feline power and the majesty and radiance of the Bronze Age, solar Goddess, who disappeared into the shadows. Fanning her embers raises questions: Why did female and male energy become so polarized? Why do we accept male energy as “directed and solar” and female energy as mostly menstrual, moonlit, watery, mysterious and veiled? “…its become increasingly obvious [ ] that these were [ ] NOT solar gods, and that the solar deity in the Celtic (and indeed, broader European landscape) was in fact feminine (Monaghan 2008, Snow 2002). [ ]…the Vasconic peoples, [ ] also see the sun as feminine (Trask 1997, Lurker 2015)”. – Albuquerque, Carlos. On the Lusitanian Pantheon. [2] Mother brightness, ray of light, awakening consciousness, waking dawn: Perhaps the sun Goddess fell into darkness because of a fundamental misunderstanding of how energy works. Perhaps we eclipse the Sun Mother from our imagination because monotheistic, sky god religions did not want women finding strength in the Sun. Or perhaps, under the aegis of poets and myth makers, the underworld aspect of the sun Goddess eclipsed her solar divinity. “I provide here a new explanation of Hesiod’s prayer, connecting it to Hecate’s origin as an Anatolian sun-goddess of the underworld who mediated interactions between the upper and lower worlds.” Bachvarova, Mary. Hecate: An Anatolian Sun-Goddess of the Underworld. [3] I’ve sourced over eighty fire, fire-related and solar Goddesses, from world mythology: A-ta-no-dju-wa-ja, Áine, Alectrona, Amaterasu, Allatu, Arinniti, Arinna, Akycha, Ayida, Āgneya, Alpan, Aya, Al-Lat, Brigid, Bila, Binah, Bastet, Beaivi, Chuvash, Chantico, Étaín, Eos, Eluma, Forna, Gaia Caecilia, Gnowee, Glöð, Gun Ana, Gabija, Grian, Hausos, Hemera, Hepatu, Hebat, Hipta, Hathor, Hestia, Hine-i-Tapeka, Ishtar, Ishat, Iansã, Jowangsin, Launsina, Ma, Malina, Magec, Mawu, Marici, Mahuea, Mahuika, Macha; Nuha, Nantosuelta, Nut, Olwen, Od Ana, Ognyena Maria, Päivätär, Pele, Praurimė, Raet-Tawy, Sekhmet, Shams, Sherida, Shapshu, Saulė, Sulis, Sól, Sanjna, Theia, Taknaš, Tokapcup-kamuy, Tapati, Tabiti, Tefnut, Turgmam, Tushpuea, Umai, Ut, Ushas, Vesta, Walu, Wuriupranili, Wadjet, Xihe, Yhi. There will be more: Some will be lost to time; hidden within undeciphered symbols; exist as icons, whose form and messaging await understanding. World mythology shows that the sun was often a Goddess. In Norse mythology Sunna is the solar Goddess and Mani is the moon god. Other male lunar deities include: Chandra, Kašku, Khonsu, Thoth, Tēcciztēcatl, Alignak… and many more. Both the sun and the lion were symbols of sovereignty. It seems when it comes to Leo all roads lead to Babylon, attributed as inventors of the Zodiac, a means of astrological divination. It is here we find lions. Associated with the Goddess Ishtar, who rode a lion, the lion’s roar expressing her thunderous aspect, these dazzling creatures lined the Processional Way passing through the Ishtar gate into the city [5]. Although Ishtar/Inanna, Queen of Heaven, wasn’t a solar deity her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld, was an underworld sun Goddess. Goddess Durga rides a big cat, metaphor for mastering the qualities the lion represents: Will, determination, power to destroy evil and Amanirenas, queen of Kush, kept pet lions. Winding back time to the cosmic Age of Leo, approx 10000 to 8000 BCE, to Göbekli Tepe [Neolithic Anatolia] and an image, carved in stone, of a woman with a mushroom shaped head giving birth. Does this ‘crescent head’ represent hair; ecstatic birth; or a trance like state induced by magic mushrooms? Maybe! However I am struck by the similarity in shape to this pre-Hittite/Hattian Sun Course symbol [bottom left] and this Bronze Age, Anatolian silver Goddess icon. It is possible this is an image of the Sun Mother Creatrix, birthing generations, her head swelling into the shape of the over-arching Sun Course Crescent, celestial bodies being a source of power. [The sun rises in the East, sets in the West, and moves across the sky in an arc.] Ancient artists were recording life AND drawing their belief systems, which became stylized and encoded as symbol. Sun Goddess Amaterasu births the emperor. Goddess Nut births the sun. Wind time forward to Çatalhöyük, 8000 years ago, to see the Mother Goddess, giving birth, while seated on her throne, flanked by lion-like creatures. Continue winding time forward to see the Phrygian Mother Goddess Cybele, seated upon her throne between two lions. Even in Victorian England the lion was a Goddess power animal. Link to Britannia [with lion], the female personification of the British Isles. When the Romans defeated Britannia [the name they gave England] it represented a Goddess in submission. Of course these Goddesses associated with the lion, I mention above, weren’t necessarily sun or fire Goddesses and not all sun Goddesses were associated with lions, however the lioness and the solar Goddess did merge in ancient Egypt: Feline Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet and Tefnut wore the solar disc. The Nubian lion Goddess Menhit was also a sun Goddess. “Every gesture was one of disorder and violence, as if a lioness had come into the room.” – Anaïs Nin, Little Birds. [6] Unblinking, all-seeing, solar-Eye Goddess, Hathor shape-shifted from cow to lioness, from nurturing to ferocious. When angered, lion-headed Sekhmet rampaged as the flaming, solar-Eye. Solar energy, is both life giving and destructive, too brilliant, it will scorch, without it we die. Bastet, once a powerful sun warrior, became a much gentler and healing cat Goddess. Tefnut, a serpent with the head of a lioness, was a solar Goddess of moisture, representing fertility (sun + water = flourishing crops). Knowing solar energy, fiery, bared-faced, out …

(Special Post 1) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing eight sequels (all nine parts) are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hwang: I am thinking of the Nine Goddess/Mago Symbolism or Nine Numerology. Insights connect the data that I have collected, otherwise seemingly unrelated across cultures and periods. We have reasons to celebrate the nine symbolism among us. As seen in this discussion below, Hercules is most aptly equated with Huangdi (Yellow Emperor, 2698–2598 BCE), one of the forebear emperors of ancient China, who is alleged to have defeated Chiu (successor of Goma), the representative of Danguk’s Nine Giants (nine sub-states). The Magoist history writes the other way around. Chiu won the war, the archetypal international/global war waged over the defense/overthrow of the Magoist throne. Old Magoists (Danguk founded by Goma) of Nine Queen-led States defended the rebellion of the patrilocal force, represented by the Huangdi. With this victory, Old Magoist Confederacy of nine sub-states was able to maintain gynocentric peace of the ancient world for about five centuries longer until a man, Yao, rose to give a way for the establishment of the first patriarchal rule, ancient China of the Xia Dynasty (c. 2070 BCE – c. 1600 BCE). Nonetheless, patriarchal ethnocentric Sinocentric historiography has proliferated to this day. Yu, the founder of the Xia dynasty, is depicted as the hero who slains the nine-headed snake. What I am saying is here that the Nine Goddess/Symbolism is pre-patriarchal in origin and possibly speaks of the same event across cultures! The slain of nine-headed snakes or dragons indicates the usurpation of gynocentric rule by a patriarchal hero across cultures. Let me show you some available information and images to open the discussion. Lernaean Hydra 1 oz Copper | The 12 Labors of Hercules “Hercules was sent to slay the Lernaean Hyrda for his second Labor. The multi-headed, snake-like monster was defeated by Hercules after he sliced its one mortal head. The last day to purchase the 1 oz Copper Lernaean Hyrda was the November 12, 2014. There is, however, time to order the 5 oz Copper Hercules Round, and 5 oz Silver Hercules Round. To read about Hercules and his 12 Labors, check out our blog for more information. If you enjoy the 12 Labors of Hercules coin series, take a look at more Silver and Copper coin collections offered by Provident Metals. After defeating the Nemean Lion, Hercules was sent to slay the Lernaean Hydra for his second labor. The Hydra, a snake-like beast with multiple heads, was raised by Hera to destroy Hercules — making this an inevitable match up. In the face-off between Hercules and Hydra, the son of Zeus used a sword to slice off each of the creature’s necks, according to one popular tale. When the heads grew back, Hercules enlisted his nephew to burn each of the necks to halt regrowth. The Hydra had one mortal head, however; so Hercules used his golden sword to slay the mutant and complete his second labor. The beast is displayed on the Second Labor coin, to be released in the 12 Labors of Hercules Series. The reverse features the multi-headed Hydra in a striking position, displaying the daunting task Hercules faced. LERNAEAN HYDRA and II are inscribed. The familiar obverse portraying Hercules with the Nemean Lion draped over his head as armor is shown on this round, as it will be on each round in the powerful series. “1 oz CMXCIX (999 in Roman numerals) FINE COPPER” is also displayed. The 1 oz. Copper Lernaean Hydra rounds will only be available for one month from Oct. 12 through Nov. 12. Make sure to keep your 12 Labors of Hercules Series collection current before time runs out! 12 Labors of Hercules Driven crazy by Hera, Hercules slew his family — only regretful after recovering his sanity. King Thespius purified the son of Zeus, but to atone for his crimes, he was sent to serve King Eurystheus. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to execute 10 Labors, which were a series of tasks carried out as penance for his actions. Hercules successfully completed all 10, but because his nephew helped with one and he planned to accept payment for another, Eurystheus forced Hercules to finish two more Labors alone. Hercules’ Labors adhere to the traditional order of the Bibliotheca: Nemean Lion – Sept. 12, 2014 Lernaean Hydra – Oct. 12, 2014 Ceryneian Hind – Nov. 12, 2014 Erymanthian Boar – Dec. 12, 2014 Augean Stables – Jan. 12, 2015 Stymphalian Birds – Feb. 12, 2015 Cretan Bull – March 12, 2015 Mares of Diomedes – April 12, 2015 Girdle of Hippolyta – May 12, 2015 Cattle of Geryon – June 12, 2015 Apples of Hesperides – July 12, 2015 Cerberus – Aug. 12, 2015 Commemorate the historic battle between Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra with this 1 oz copper round from Provident Metals.” https://www.providentmetals.com/1-oz-copper-lernaean-hydra-the-12-labors-of-hercules.html Helen Hwang: I looked for the answer to this question: How many heads did the Hydra originally have? It is nine, which accords with its icons to be shared shortly. Helen Hwang: Check out Nine-fold or Nine-Headed Phoenix. Not all iconographies of pre-modern China vilify the nine symbolism, which indicates the influence/presence/revival of Magoism. This image is much reminiscent of the blue crane with nine feathers, a Magoist symbol that we have seen in Mago Stronghold, Mt. Jiri during Mago Pilgrimage (to be discussed in another space). “This Qing-dynasty (1644-1911) print shows the nine-headed phoenix, a being from Chinese mythology with a bird’s body and nine heads with human faces. It is one of several hybrid creatures mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai jing), where it is […]
(Special Post Isis 3) Why the Color of Isis Matters by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s note: The discussion took place in Mago Circle during the month of July, 2013. Our heartfelt thanks go to the members who participated in this discussion with openness and courage.] Part 3 Isis, Arab Women Revolution, and Black Goddesses Naa Ayele Kumari Going back to the original topic of the post…. Some quotes ” Women are in half the society… How come there are only 7 in the Assembly… and they are all Islamist! ” I can’t beat up my wife and almost kill her and call it discipline… this is not discipline… this is abuse and insanity” http://youtu.be/y4umifTLSII 12-Year Old Explains Egyptian Revolution in Under 3 Minutes www.youtube.com Max Dashu It is tremendously heartening to see these insights being expressed, and spread. The Salafis have made such inroads, and now the pushback is happening. Harita Meenee Dear Naa Ayele Kumari, thank you actually reading my post and commenting something relevant to it. It’s refreshing when someone does hear what we have to say instead of projecting their own notions. Building a solidarity movement with those who are oppressed but fighting is very important during these critical times! Harita Meenee See also: https://www.facebook.co/intifadat.almar2a?fref=ts The uprising of women in the Arab world انتفاضة المرأة في العالم العربي حرية الفكر ، حرية التعبير ، حرية الاعتقاد ، حرية التنقل ، حرية الجسد ، حرية اللب…See More Glenys Livingstone … as you say Max …” way too much of it going on” – amongst people who should know better (I would have thought): “Dark goddess as terrifying, challenging, white goddess as benign; “black magic” as harmful; I see way, way too much of this going on out there.” And related to that in my mind is all the “love and light” business that is so common: the Ground of Being is Dark … it seems to me that mystics have always understood the quintessential darkness of Love/Deity. Max Dashu Sure. I would just like to add that the critique raised here addressed issues much broader than the substance of the article, which made some good points. But once the choice of graphics flagged the issue of representation, people had much more to say about that old yet still very fresh wound which is constantly reopened by the cultural habit of whitening Egypt, or interpreting Africa through a eurocentric lens. It is not on any one person to carry the weight of that; we all have a responsibility to address the issues, but especially those of us of European heritage need to familiarize ourselves with how this plays out over and over. Just as men have a responsibility to speak up in support of women when patriarchal assumptions are on board. We all can learn something from each other, along all the various axes of domination, and overthrow them in coalition. Naa Ayele Kumari I have often considered where the roots of this psychology comes from. It is dualistic thinking that causes us to compare and contrast, then sum up judgement of good or bad and place a value on each. It extends into competition and justification for war. It also doesn’t escape me that often this came with certain civilizations who systematically destroyed others. It didn’t just happen with blacks in Africa… but blacks in Asia and the Indus Valley as well. With the Aryan invasions of India, came the eventual introduction to lighter divinities and more emphasis on male divinities. Southern Indians, Sri Lankans are very dark… even more so than many African Blacks. The caste systems implemented by the Aryan invaders did the same thing to them casting them as “untouchables”. With that came the marginalization of their black female divinities such as Kali. Kali actually has 10-16 forms… from compassionate mother, the fountain of wisdom, to she of great beauty but she is minimized as just destructive and terrifying… especially as Brhaman, Vishnuu, and Shiva grow in popularity. One of Kali’s statues has her black self standing on top of Shiva because she conquered him. Later there is a discussion in on of the Hindu text explaining Kali (as Parvati) after being subdued by Shiva she becomes lighter. Further they have stories about him rejecting her and calling her blackie which made her do austerities to rid herself of her black skin. Naa Ayele Kumari It should not be overlooked that in the Story of Alice in Wonderland… a story intended to keep Goddess elements for future generations, has the Elder sister ( the Queen of Hearts) portrayed as man, ego, and power driven who cuts off heads and has a fierce dragon…a clear reference to Kali. The White goddess as the younger sister is her opponent… and her mission is to usurp the throne of the Queen of Hearts even though she was the rightful heir as the oldest … or primordial. Stories like these also reinforce the stereotypes and negative iconography. Max Dashu Yes, it is pervasive in many cultures of domination. Demons are portrayed as black not only in Europe, which we know well, but also in China and in a lot of Buddhist iconography. In modern India, the sweet goddesses are shown as pink, the wrathful as black; and Krishna (name means “dark”) is turned powder blue. (Another of his titles, s’yam, also meaning dark, is the word translated as “green” in Green Tara.) The countercurrents (Black Mazu, loving Kali – esp in Bengal and south India, Black Madonna) bubbled up from the common people, who knew and longed for something other than the dominant racialized hierarchy. Naa Ayele Kumari I am just discovering Mazu ( Matzu/LuShui) in China today! Never knew about her. This discussion has led me to look deeper for black goddesses in Asia. Max Dashu Taoist spiritual tradition often refers to Xüan Nü, which can be translated in several ways. You’ll usually see it rendered as “the Mysterious Female,” a phrase that occurs in the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), and this is a valid translation; but what is less emphasized is that it also means “the Dark Woman.” In […]
(Special Post 4) Multi-Linguistic Resemblances of “Mago” by Mago Circle Members

[This is a summary of a discussion that took place around 2014 in The Mago Circle, Facebook group.]Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I am writing an entry on “Mago” for the Glossary of my book, The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia:Mago (麻姑): East Asian word for the Great Goddess. Read “Ma” as in “Mama” and “Go” as in “to go.” The logographic characters are pronounced/romanized as Mago in Korean, Magu in Chinese, and Mako in Japanese. When it is used in historical contexts, “Mago” refers to the Great Goddess AND HER cultural matrix, Magoism (Magoist shamans/priestesses/rulers and/or the bygone mytho-history of Old Magoist Korea). S/HE represents Ultimate Reality as One Undividable Unity. The Great Goddess embodies the Creatrix, the cosmic sonic system of Life. Through HER, we enter the view of the whole, the consciousness of WE/HERE/NOW. Also known to have originated from the Big Dipper (Seven Stars) in lore—part of the Big Bear constellation—the Guardian of the Polaris, S/HE is the Guardian of the solar system. S/HE causes the stabilization of the solar system. In that sense, S/HE is the Sun Deity or Heavenly Deity. Self-emerged with Mago Stronghold (Earth) and two moons of the Earth through the sonic movement of Pal-ryeo (Eight Tones), the Great Goddess oversees the cosmic music of Yul-ryeo (Rhythms and Tones), another term for the sonic movement of the universe. Mago gives birth to two daughters (Gung-hui) and (So-hui) parthenogenetically. Thus, they form the Mago Triad (Samsin). S/HE delegates HER two daughters to oversee the cosmic music of Oeum-chiljo (Five Pitches and Seven Tunes). Gung-hui and So-hui respectively give birth to four daughters parthenogenetically. The Primordial Mago Clan forms the Nine Magos, the archetype of Gurang (Nine Goddesses). Mago delegates eight (grand)daughters to oversee the cosmic music of Pal-ryeo (Eight Tones). S/HE causes the self-evolution of the Earth through which all terrestrial beings are brought into existence. In that sense, S/HE is the Earth Deity. As Samsin Halmi (Triad Grand-Mother), S/HE controls the birth and illness of children. Mago allows the Early Mago Clan in the paradise of Mago Stronghold to procreate progenies and entrusts them to take in charge of the terrestrial acoustic equilibrium. Revered as the Cosmogonist, Progenitor, and Ultimate Sovereign, Mago delegates the Mago Descent, the entirety of the divine, human ancestors, and humans, to oversee the acoustic harmony of the Earth in tune with the cosmic music. Hereupon, the paradisiacal Home of Mago Stronghold is established. S/HE is called by many names. Among them are Samsin (Triad Deity), Cheonsin (Heavenly Deity), Halmi (Grandmother/Goddess), Nogo (Ancient Goddess), and Seongo (Immortal Goddess). Also referred to as Mugeuk Nomo (Non-Polarized First Mother) or Musaeng-nomo (Non-birthed First Mother) in Daoism. Mago appears resembling many Goddesses from around the world by way of such mythemes as the triad, parthenogenesis, cosmic music, animal companions, and the cosmogonist. “Mago” is linguistically identical or similar with “Mago” in Italian and Portuguese, “Magus/Magi” in Latin, “Magos” in Greek, “Maka” in Mycenaean Greek, “Magus” in Old Persian, and “Ma Guanyin” in East Asian languages, to name a few. Brian Kirbis: Funny, despite my fondness for language, I never made the connection. Though I have explored the lineage potential between naga and Nuwa 女娲. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: What did you find the linkage between naga and Nuwa, Brian? There is sometimes linguistic linkage relevant and other times mythological linkage… Brian Kirbis: Linguistic, iconographic, and mythological links are all available to us within a broad cross-cultural frame. My own analytic tendency is to see such mirror-image male-female representations as matrilineal and patrilineal essences which, in Chinese energy theory, reside in the kidneys (ancestral qi).Consider the Adam and Eve myth, for instance, with the figures on either side of the tree (spine, cosmic pivot, Milky Way), within which is contained the serpentine energy. There is ample information extant on such Tree of Life symbolism, all of which illustrates the inner energy body. The nagini-naga / Nuwa-Fuxi conjoint images in India and China absorb the serpent iconography into the human – an internalization of Kundalini energy.As you know, my area of interest is in the underlying cultural complex of tea-growing peoples located in Southwest China and upland Southeast Asia, an area replete with serpent mythology. Brian Kirbis: Comparison of Indian and Chinese representations of the Naga-Nagini and Fuxi & Nuwa. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Yes, indeed, there is similarity between the two. Interesting! Thanks for sharing them. Lizzy Bluebell: Brian Kirbis – fascinating – any idea what kind of tool each is holding in the sculpture? I see a chevron or M to the right of the Nagini’s head; (M and MA are fairly universal root symbols for Mother; Latin M encodes breasts, mounds, mountains, paps, tophets, etc. plus a general historical dispute over the importance of hills versus valleys.)I also note the inversion of right/left positions in the Nu Wa image.In terms of your statement – “The nagini-naga / Nuwa-Fuxi conjoint images in India and China absorb the serpent iconography into the human – an internalization of Kundalini energy.” — My thought: Have you ever considered it otherwise – that humanity has actually EXTERNALIZED chi energy into the form of the snake as a means of expressing it in non-vocal (sonic) symbolism which also manifests form via means of visualization as opposed to sonic/vocalizations or cymatics which creates form via RESONANCE.Helen – note that the tails are knotted – very important symbolic notion of ‘tying things’ as in the Shen Ring and Ankh – a masonic motif – related to measuring and containing within an Ouroborus SYSTEM which is closed, not cyclic or spiraling vis a vis Nature’s Way. It is the CLOSED CIRCLE as Plato’s “perfect form” which traps us in the flaws of re-peating and re-petitioning any ‘his-story’ we follow which does NOT HONOUR AND REVERE MAGO or hold her values close to HEART, as HEARD, in the HERD.Your original post (O/P thereafter) is fascinating and revealing and provides much to discuss on the topic of Zoroaster/Zarathustra and the Persian/Arabic/Semitic invention of Algebra and Astrology. […]

(Essay and Video) Cosmogenesis Dance: Celebrating Her Unfolding by Glenys Livingstone

The dance begins with two concentric circles, which will flow in and out of each other throughout the dance, resulting thus in a third concentric circle that comes and goes. The three circles/layers are understood to represent the three aspects of Goddess, the Creative Triple Dynamic that many ancients were apparently aware of, and imagined in so many different ways across the globe. In Her representation in Ireland as the Triple Spiral motif, which is inscribed on the inner chamber wall at Bru-na-Boinne (known as Newgrange)[1], She seems to be understood as a dynamic essential to on-going Cosmic Creativity, as this ancient motif is dramatically lit up by the Winter Solstice dawn. It seems that this was important to the Indigenous people of this place at the time of Winter Solstice, which celebrates Origins, the continuing birth of all. Thus I like to do this Cosmogenesis Dance, as I have named it[2], at the Winter Solstice in particular. The three aspects that the dance may embody, and are poetically understood as Goddess, celebrate (i) Virgin/Young One – Urge to Be as I have named this quality – the ever new differentiated being (also known as Fodla in the region of the Triple Spiral)[3]. This is the outer circle of individuals. (ii) Mother – the deeply related interwoven web – Dynamic Place of Being as I have named this quality – the communion that our habitat is (also known as Eriu in the region of the Triple Spiral)[4]. This is the woven middle circle where all are linked and swaying in rhythm. (iii) Crone/Old One – the eternal creative return to All-That-Is – She who Creates the Space to Be as I have named this quality (also known as Banba in the region of the Triple Spiral)[5]. This is the inner circle where linked hands are raised and stillness is held. The three concentric layers of the dance may be understood to embody these. The Cosmogenesis Dance represents the flow and balance of these three – a flow and balance of Self, Other and All-That-Is. It may be experienced like a breath, that we breathe together – as we do co-create the Cosmos. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme have named the three qualities of Cosmogenesis in the following way: – differentiation … to be is to be unique – communion … to be is to be related – autopoiesis/subjectivity … to be is to be a centre of creativity.[6] The three layers of the dance may be felt to celebrate each unique being, in deep relationship with other, directly participating in the sentient Cosmos, the Well of Creativity. The Cosmogenesis Dance as it is done within PaGaian Winter Solstice ceremony expresses the whole Creative Process we are immersed in. It is a process of complete reciprocity, a flow of Creator and Created, like a breath. There is dynamic exchange in every moment: that is the nature of the Place we inhabit. The dance may help awaken us to it, and to invoke it. The Cosmogenesis Dance on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR73MDMM9Fk For more story: Cosmogenesis Dance for Winter Ritual For Dance Instructions: PaGaian Cosmology Appendix I Meet Mago Contributor Glenys Livingstone NOTES: [1] The Triple Spiral engraving is dated at 2,400 B.C.E. [2] This dance is originally named as “The Stillpoint Dance”, or sometimes “Adoramus Te Domine” which is the name of the music used for it. I learned it from Dr. Jean Houston in 1990 at a workshop of hers in Sydney, Australia. I began to use the dance for Winter Solstice ceremony in 1997, and it was only in the second year of doing so that I realised its three layers were resonant with the three traditional qualities of the Female Metaphor/Goddess, and also the three faces of Cosmogenesis. I thereafter re-named and storied the dance that way in the ceremonial preparation and teaching for Winter Solstice. See Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology: pp. 280-281 and 311. [3] Michael Dames, Ireland: a Sacred Journey, p.192. [4] Michael Dames, Ireland: a Sacred Journey, p. 192. [5] Michael Dames, Ireland: a Sacred Journey, p. 192. [6] Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story, p. 71-79. I have identified these qualities with the Triple Goddess, and the Triple Spiral in the synthesis of PaGaian Cosmology: see Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, particularly Chapter 4: https://pagaian.org/book/chapter-4/ References: Dames, Michael. Ireland: a Sacred Journey, Element Books, 2000. Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Lincoln NE: iUniverse, 2005. Swimme, Brian and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. NY: HarperCollins, 1992.
The Passing of Last Summer’s Growth by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ as is experienced and contemplated in the Season of Deep Autumn/Samhain, may be a metaphor for the passing of all/any that has come to fullness of being, or that has had a fullness, a blossoming of some kind, and borne fruit; and in the passing it has been received, and thus transforms. The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ may be in hearts and minds, an event or events, a period of time, or an era, that was a deep communion, now passed and dissolved into receptive hearts and minds, where it/they reside for reconstitution, within each unique being. Samhain is traditionally understood as ‘Summer’s end’: indeed that is what the word ‘Samhain’ means. In terms of the seasonal transitions in indigenous Old European traditions, Summer is understood as over when the Seasonal Moment of Lammas/Lughnasad comes around; it is the first marked transition after the fullness of Summer Solstice. The passing and losses may have been grieved, the bounty received, thanksgiving felt and expressed, perhaps ceremonially at Autumn Equinox/Mabon; yet now in this Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn it composts, clearly falls, as darkness and cooler/cold weather sets in, change is clearer. In the places where this Earth-based tradition arose, Winter could be sensed setting in at this time, and changes to everyday activity had to be made. In our times and in our personal lives, we may sense this kind of ending, when change becomes necessary, no longer arbitrary: and the Seasonal Moment of Samhain may be an excellent moment for expressing these deep truths, telling the deep story, and making meaning of the ending, as we witness such passing. What new shapes will emerge from the infinite well of creativity? And we may wonder what will return from the dissolution? What re-solution will be found? We may wonder what new shapes will emerge. In the compost of what has been, what new syntheses, new synergies, may come forth? Now is the time for dreaming, for drawing on the richness within, trusting the sentience, within which we are immersed, and which we are: and then awaiting the arrival, being patient with the fermentation and gestation. Seize the moment, this Moment – and converse with the depths within your own bodymind, wherein She is. Make space for the sacred conversation, the Conversing with your root and source of being, and take comfort in this presence. We may ponder what yet unkown beauty and wellness may emerge from this infinite well of creativity. The Samhain Moment in the Northern Hemisphere is 17:14 UT 7thNovember this year. Wishing you a sense of the deep communion present in the sacred space you make for this holy transition.
(Essay) Winter Solstice/Yule within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 5 of the author’s book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Dates for Winter Solstice/Yule Southern Hemisphere – June 20 – 23. Northern Hemisphere – December 20 – 23 This Seasonal Moment is the ripe fullness of the Dark Womb and it is a gateway between dark and light. It is a Birthing Place – into differentiated being. Whereas Samhain/Deep Autumn is a dark conceiving Space, it flows into the Winter Solstice dark birthing Place – a dynamic Place of Being, a Sacred Interchange. This Seasonal Moment of Winter Solstice is the peaking of the dark space – the fullness of the dark, within which being and action arise. It is the peaking of emptiness, which is a fullness. As cosmologist Brian Swimme describes: the empty “ground of being … retains no thing.” It is “Ultimate Generosity.”[i] In Vajrayana Buddhism, Space is associated with Prajna/wisdom – out of which Upaya/compassionate action arises. Space is highly positive – something to be developed, so appropriate action may develop spontaneously and blissfully.[ii] In Old European Indigenous understandings, the dark and the night were valued at least as much as light, if not more so: time was counted by the number of nights, as in ‘fortnights,’ and a ‘day’ included both dark and light parts … it was ‘di-urnal’. I have been careful with my language about that inclusion in the ceremonial ‘Statement of Purpose’ for each Seasonal Moment. This awareness is resonant with modern Western scientific perceptions about the nature of the Universe: that it is seventy-three percent “dark energy,” twenty-three precent “dark matter,” four percent “ordinary matter.”[iii] The truth is that we live within this darkness: it is the Ground of all Being. In Pagan traditions since Celtic times, and in many other cultural traditions, Winter Solstice has been celebrated as the birth of the God; and in Christian tradition since about the fourth century C.E., as the birth of the saviour. But there are deeper ways of understanding what is being born: that is, who or what the “saviour” is. In the Gospel of Thomas, which was not selected for biblical canon, it says: “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.”[iv] This then may be the Divine Child, the “Saviour”: it may be expressed as the new Being forming in the Cosmogonic Womb,[v] who will be born. We may celebrate the birth of the new Being, which /who is always beyond us, beyond our knowing … yet is within us, burgeoning within us – and within Gaia. What will save us is already present within – forming within us. The Winter Solstice story may emphasize that what is born, is within each one – the “Divine” is not “out there”: it may be said, and expressed ceremoniously, that we are each Creator and Created. We may imagine ourselves as the in-utero foetus – an image we might have access to these days from a sonar-scan during pregnancy. This image presents a truth about Being: we are this, and it is within us, within this moment. Every moment is pregnant with the new. It will be birthed when holy darkness is full. Part of what is required is having the eyes to see the “new bone forming in flesh,” scraping our eyes “clear of learned cataracts,”[vi] seeing with fresh eyes. That is what the fullness of the Dark offers – a freshening of our eyes to see the new. And the process of Creation is always reciprocal: we are Creator and Created simultaneously, in a “ngapartji-ngapartji”[vii] way. We are in-formed by that which we form. In Earth-based religious practice, the ubiquitous icon of Mother and Child – Creator and Created – expresses something essential about the Universe itself … the “motherhood” we are all born within. It expresses the essential communion experience that this Cosmos is, the innate and holy Care that it takes, and the reciprocal nature of it. We cannot touch without being touched at the same time.[viii] We may realize that Cosmogenesis – the entire Unfolding of the Cosmos – is essentially relational: our experience tells us this is so. The image of The Birth of the Goddess on the front cover of my book PaGaian Cosmology expresses that reciprocity for me, how we may birth each other and the healing/wholing in that exchange. It is a Sacred Interchange. And it is what this Event of existence seems to be about – deep communion, which both Solstices express. Babylonian Goddess, Ur 4000-3500 BCE. Adele Getty, Goddess, 33. Birthing is not often an easy process – for the birthgiver nor for the birthed one: it is a shamanic act requiring strength of bodymind, attention, courage, and focus of the mother, and resilience and courage to be of the new young one. Birthgiving is the original place of ‘heroics,’ which many cultures of the world have never forgotten, perhaps therefore better termed as “heraics.” Patriarchal adaptations of the story of this Seasonal Moment usually miss the Creative Act of birthgiving completely, usually being pre-occupied with the “virgin” nature of the Mother which is interpreted as having an “intact hymen.” The focus of the patriarchal adaptation of the Winter Solstice story is the Child as “saviour”: even the Mother gazes at the Child in most Christian icons, while in more ancient images Her eyes are direct and expressive of Her integrity as Creator. NOTES: [i] Swimme, The Universe is a Green Dragon, 146. [ii] See Rita Gross, “The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.” The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 179-192. [iii] These figures as told by cosmologist Paul Davies with Macquarie University’s Centre for Astrobiology, Australia. [iv] Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: the Secret Gospel of Thomas, saying number 70. See https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/thomas.html . [v] Melissa Raphael’s term, Thealogy and Embodiment, 262. [vi] The quotes come from a poem by Cynthia Cook, “Refractions,” Womanspirit (Oregan USA, issue 23, March 1980), 59. [vii] This is an Indigenous Australian term for reciprocity – giving and receiving at the same time. I explain it a bit further in PaGaian Cosmology, 256-257. [viii] An expression from Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, 68. REFERENCES: Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. Getty, Adele. Goddess: Mother of Living …
(Essay) Conceiving, Imagining the New at Samhain by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

It is the Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere at this time. In the PaGaian version of Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony participants journey to the “Luminous World Egg” … a term taken from Starhawk in her book The Spiral Dance[i], where she also names that place as the “Shining Isle”, which is of course, the Seed of conception, a metaphor for the origins of all and/or the female egg: it is the place for rebirth. Artist: Bundeluk, Blue Mountains, Australia. The “luminous world egg” is a numinous place within, the MotherStar of conception: that is, a place of unfolding/becoming. The journey to this numinous place within requires first a journey back, through some of each one’s transformations, however each may wish to name those transformations at this time. The transformations for each and every being are infinite in their number, for there is “nothing we have not been” as has been told by Celts and others of Old, and also by Western science in the evolutionary story (a story told so well by evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris, particularly in her video Journey of a Silica Atom.) Ceremonial participants may choose selves from biological, present historical self, or may choose selves from the mythic with whom they feel connection; from any lineage – biological or otherwise. Selves may also be chosen from Gaia’s evolutionary story – earlier creatures, winged or scaled ones … with whom one wishes to identify at this time. Each participant is praised for their “becoming” for each self they share. When all have completed these journeys/stories of transformation, the circle is lauded dramatically by the celebrant for their courage to transform; and she likens them all to Gaia Herself who has made such transitions for eons. The celebrant awards each with a gingerbread snake, “Gaian totems of life renewed”[ii]. gingerbread snakes Participants sit and consume these gingerbread snakes in three parts: (i) as all the “old shapes” of self that were named; and (ii) remembering the ancestors, those whose lives have been harvested, whose lives have fed our own, remembering that we too are the ancestors, that we will be consumed; and (iii) remembering and consuming the stories of our world that they desire to change, the stories that fire their wrath or sympathy: in the consuming, absorbing them (as we do), each may transform them by thoughts and actions – “in our own bodyminds”. When all that is consumed “wasting no part”, it is said that “we are then free to radiate whatever we conceive”, to “exclaim the strongest natural fibre known” – our creative selves, “into such art, such architecture, as can house a world made sacred” by our building[iii]. This “natural fibre” is a reference to the spider’s thread from within her own body, with which she weaves her web, her home; and Spider has frequently been felt in indigenous cultures around the globe as Weaver and Creator of the Cosmos. Spider the Creatrix, North America, C. 1300 C.E., Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.13 In the ceremony, participants linked with a thread that they weave around the circle, may sail together for a new world “across the vast sunless sea between endings and beginnings, across the Womb of magic and transformation, to the “Not-Yet” who beckons”[iv]: to the Luminous World Egg whereupon the new may be conceived and dreamed up. Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony is an excellent place for co-creating ourselves, for imaginingthe More that we may become, and wish to become. This is where creation and co-creation happens … in the Womb of Space[v], in which we are immersed – at all times: and Samhain is a good season for feeling it. References: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005 Sahtouris, Elisabet. Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution. Lincoln NE:iUniversity Press, 2000. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. NY: Harper and Row, 1999. Swimme, Brian. The Earth’s Imagination.DVD series 1998. NOTES: [i]p.210 [ii]a version of this Samhain script is offered in Chapter 7 PaGaian Cosmology [iii]These quoted phrases are from Robin Morgan, “The Network of the Imaginary Mother”, in Lady of the Beasts, p.84. This poem is a core inspiration of the ceremony. [iv]“Not-Yet” is a term used by Brian Swimme, The Earth’s Imagination, video 8 “The Surprise of Cosmogenesis”. [v]note that creation does not happen at the point of some god’s index finger, as imagined in the Sistine Chapel – what a takeover that is!
(Music) Songs for Samhain by Alison Newvine

The season of Samhain is upon us. This playlist is an offering for this descent into the sacred darkness, and a companion for the journey into the underworld. Invocation of Witches features music by Loreena McKennitt, Marya Stark, Inkubus Sukubus, Wendy Rule, my band Spiral Muse, and many others. It is a soundtrack for ceremony and each song expresses a different face of the spirit of the witch. May this Samhain season guide you gently into the dissolution of what no longer serves, the honoring of what is complete and the cultivation of the inner space that will gestate what is yet to come. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2CFNoH9exhloz3w95P3Rlb?si=270cf01fabb8421c https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/
(Slideshow) Summer Solstice Goddess by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Sekhmet by Katlyn Each year between December 20-23 Sun reaches Her peak in the Southern Hemisphere: it is the Summer Solstice Moment. Poetry of the Season may be expressed in this way: This is the time when the light part of day is longest. You are invited to celebrate SUMMER SOLSTICE Light reaches Her fullness, and yet… She turns, and the seed of Darkness is born. This is the Season of blossom and thorn – for pouring forth the Gift of Being. The story of Old tells that on this day Beloved and Lover dissolve into the single Song of ecstasy – that moves the worlds. Self expands in the bliss of creativity. Sun ripens in us: we are the Bread of Life. We celebrate Her deep Communion and Reciprocity. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express Her fullness of being, Her relational essence and Her Gateway quality at this time. 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 Summer Solstice. 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=syTBjWpw3XU Shalako Mana Hopi 1900C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess), Corn Mother. Food is a miracle, food is sacred. She IS the corn, the corn IS Her. She gives Herself to feed all. The food/She is essential to survival, hospitality and ceremony … and all of this is transmuted in our beings. Sekhmet Contemporary image by Katlyn. Egyptian Sun Goddess. Katlyn says: Her story includes the compassionate nature of destruction. The fierce protection of the Mother is sometimes called to destroy in order to preserve well being. And Anne Key expresses: She represents “the awesome and awe-full power of the Sun. This power spans the destructive acts of creation and the creative acts of destruction.”- (p.135 Desert Priestess: a memoir).A chant in Her praise by Abigail Spinner McBride: Sheila-na-gig 900C.E. British Isles. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). From Elinor Gadon The Once and Future Goddess (p.338): “She is remembered in Ireland as the Old Woman who gave birth to all races of human…. In churches her function was to ward off evil”, or to attract the Pagan peoples to the church. From Adele Getty Goddess (p.66): “The first rite of passage of all human beings begins in the womb and ends between the thighs of the Great Mother. In India, the vulva “known as the yoni, is also called cunti or kunda, the root word of cunning, cunt and kin … (the yoni) was worshipped as an object of great mystery … the place of birth and the place where the dead are laid to rest were often one and the same.” Getty says her message here in this image “is double-edged: the opening of her vulva and the smile on her face elicit both awe and terror; one might venture too far inside her and never return to the light of day …” as with all caves and gates of initiation. In the Christian mind the yoni clearly became the “gates of hell”. And as Helene Cixous said in her famous feminist article “The Laugh of the Medusa”: “Let the priests tremble, we’re going to show them our sexts!” (SIGNS Summer 1976) Kunapipi (Australia) “the Aboriginal mother of all living things, came from a land across the sea to establish her clan in Northern Australia, where She is found in both fresh and salt water. In the Northern Territory She is known as Warramurrungundgi. She may also manifest Herself as Julunggul, the rainbow snake goddess of initiations who threatens to swallow children and then regurgitate them, thereby reinforcing the cycle of death and rebirth. In Arnhem Land She is Ngaljod …” (Visions of the Goddess by Courtney Milne and Sherrill Miller – thanks to Lydia Ruyle). More information: re Kunapipi. NOTE the similarity to Gobekli Tepe Sheela Turkey 9600B.C.E., thanks Lydia Ruyle.Lydia Ruyle’s Gobekli Tepe banner. Inanna/Ishtar Mesopotamia 400 B.C.E. (Adele Getty, Goddess: Mother of Living Nature) She holds Her breasts displaying her potency. She is a superpower who feeds the world, nourishes it with Her being. We all desire to feel this potency of being: Swimme and Berry express: “the infinite striving of the sentient being”. Adele Getty calls this offering of breasts to the world “a timeless sacred gesture”. Mary Mother of God 1400 C.E. Europe (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A recognition, even in the patriarchal context that She contains it all. Wisdom and Compassion Tibetan Goddess and God in Union. This is Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. (Sacred Sexuality A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle). Sri Yantra Hindu meditation diagram of union of Goddess and God. 1500 C.E. (Sacred Sexuality A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle, p.75). “Goddess and God” is the common metaphor, but it could be “Beloved and Lover”, and so it is in the mind of many mystics and poets: that is, the sacred union is of small self with larger Self. Prajnaparamita the Mother of all Buddhas. (The Great Mother Erich Neumann, pl 183). She is the Wisdom to whom Buddha aspired, Whom he attained. Medusa Contemporary, artist unknown. She is a Sun Goddess: this is one reason why it was difficult to look Her in the eye. See Patricia Monaghan, O Mother Sun! REFERENCES: Gadon, Elinor W. The Once and Future Goddess. Northamptonshire: Aquarian, 1990. Getty, Adele. Goddess: Mother of Living Nature. London: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess.Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. Katlyn, artist https://www.mermadearts.com/b/altar-images-art-by-katlyn Key, Anne. Desert Priestess: a memoir. NV: Goddess Ink, 2011. Mann A.T. and …

(Essay 2) The Magoist Calendar: Mago Time inscribed in Sonic Numerology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This is my latest research that has led me to restore the 13-month, 28-day Mago Calendar, which will be included at the end of its sequels. See Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A), published in 2017.] CALENDARICS AND THE MAGOIST COSMOGONY Calendar is the harmonic numerological chart that indicates specifics of the terrestrial time/space relative to the extrasolar universe. As a cosmic almanac of our terrestrial home, calendar teaches the human world to do the right thing at the right timing, determined by the song/dance of the universe. We humans, part of the calendar, are the guardian of the calendar. Calendar is not and should not be an arbitrary arrangement invented to serve the purpose of a particular group of people, the Budoji says. It is
(Essay 2) Returning Home with Mago, the Great Goddess, from East Asia by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first published in Trivia, Voices of Feminism, Issue 6, September 2007. Also to be included in the forthcoming anthology She Rises: Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?] An Introduction to Magoism Mago is the Great Goddess of East Asia. Nonetheless, she remains barely known to the world. Her equals, Xiwangmu (the Supreme Goddess of Daoism) and Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess of the Japanese imperial family), are said to comprise the pantheon of East Asian cosmic goddesses. Considering that these goddesses are often aligned with the ancient culture of China or Japan, one notices that the pantheon of East Asian Great Goddesses thus omits both Mago and “Korean culture.”
(2015 Mago Pilgrimage) Neuk-do (Serpent Island) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

I wanted to visit Neuk-do because of the Mago story told in the region. Its name Neuk-do, which means the Serpent Island (구렁이섬), whispers a deep memory of the gynocentric past. However, people today seem to be oblivious to this. Our guides did not inform us of the meaning of the island’s name. I relished being surrounded by an air of mystery about the island during our visit. Also I was drawn to Neuk-do because it is under the administration of Sacheon City. The place-name, Sacheon (泗川 or 四川 Xichuan in Chinese), is no unknown place in the mytho-history of Magoism. Like many other place-names, “Sacheon,” recurs in both present-day China and the Korean peninsula. They, although written in slightly different characters, concern Magoism (stories, place-names, or topographies). In the case of the Chinese “Sacheon,” Magoism is systematically suppressed and replaced by Daoism. Today China boasts of Xichuan Province as a birthplace of Daoism. Mt. Qingcheng (青城山) in Dujiangyan City, is known as one of the ancient Daoist centers. Our data are, albeit often sketchy, ample to indicate the importance of Mt. Qingcheng in Daoist history. It is a place wherein Zhangling (34-156) or Zhang Daoling, the founder of Tianshi (天師 Celestial Master) Daoism, founded the doctrine of Daoism and died. Yellow Emperor, the pre-dynastic hero of the third millennium BCE, is commemorated. The Temple of Eternal Dao(常道觀 Changdao Guan) located in Mt. Qingcheng is noted for its oldest hall, the Shrine of the Yellow Emperor, built during the Sui dynasty (605-618).[i] Also the place-name, Dujiangyan(都江堰), reflects the ancient irrigation system originally constructed in circa 256 BCE during the Qin dynasty.[ii] Alongside a number of Daoist temples extant today, there are Magoist place-names and topographies, Magu Cave (麻姑洞 Magu-dong) and Magu Lake (麻姑池 Magu-chi) also known as Heavenly Lake (天池). Located adjacent to Shangqing Palace (上清宫 Supreme Clarity Palace), Magu Lake has a story that Magu collected water for her alchemical practice.[iii] “Mago” is alternatively used with “Cheon (Heaven, 天 Tian in Chinese),” as is in “Heavenly Lake.” As in other places, such Magoist place-names in Xichuan have survived Chinese mytho-historiography that has obliterated pre-Chinese Magoism and replaced it with Daoism. Note that Magu is never articulated as the Creatrix in Chinese historiography, whereas her supremacy is adumbrated in Chinese folklore and place-names. Chinese mytho-historiography has paid the price for its matricide: Its origin will never be explained. To say that Xichuan is a Daoist birthplace is a misleading. Xichuan is a pre-Daoist center of Magoism whose origin possibly dates to the time of Danguk (3898-2333 BCE). From the Korean sources, fortunately, we are able to assess that Xichuan was a place of significance from pre-Dangun times. According to the Handan Gogi (Archaic Histories of Han and Dan), Daeeup extant today near Mt. Qingcheng, Xichuan Province, was a place wherein Dangun began her career. The Handan Gogi reads, “Dangun began her career in Daeeup (大邑 Great Town, Dayi in Chinese). All people feared and obeyed her virtue as a divine being. When she was at age 14 in the year of Gapjin (2357 BCE), Sovereign Ungssi, upon hearing her divine virtue, appointed her as Biwang (Auxiliary Ruler) to administrate Daeeup (Great Town) [Female connoting words are mine].”[iv] Thomas Yoon points out that Daeeup is not a fictitious place-name but an actual site extant today in Chengdu, Sichuan.[v] Mr. Kigap Kang, former politician but now an orchard owner who experiments with nature-based farming for fruit trees in Sacheon City, arranged our meeting with the Director of the Sacheon City Cultural Center. The Director alongside his companion met us in his office. They told us Neuk-do’s stories of Mago Halmae. Then, we drove to the road off the shore where we could look out across the stepping stones in the sea that were said to have been placed by Mago Halmae. The tide was high and we could see only the tips of rocks. I could see the island across the adjoining water. Neuk-do had unusual topography as it was an elongated island conjoined by two mountainous isles. From such topography the name, the Serpent Island, may have derived. Houses are populated in the conjoined area. We drove to Neuk-do via a modern bridge with the hope of running into someone who could guide us to the site of Mago stepping stones. A native of Neuk-do, our guide-to-be, happened to be right there, when we got off the car. Mr. Gyeung Jang, a 61 year-old fisherman and native of Neuk-do, showed us the site in the sea where Mago is said to have placed stepping stones. Due to the high tide, we could only see the top parts of Mago’s stepping stones upper edge over the waterline. He also led us to peeking Mago Halmi’s washing laundry rock and estimated its size to be about two meters high at the low tide. He added, Mago Halmi was so tall and giant that she needed a tall rock. The motif that the giant Mago Hami carried a boulder to construct standing stones or dolmens and the story of Mago’s laundry rock commonly recur in other regions. During dinner at a seafood restaurant in Neuk-do, our conversations grew. Mr. Jang informed us of the fact that the whole island of Neuk-do is designated as a cultural and notable site by the province and the state. Its archaeological unearthing began in the early 1980s and has brought out numerous multi-period findings (about 13,000 items) ranging from the Neolithic to the early Iron Age. The unearthed include shell mounds, house sites, human and animal burials, pottery, and daggers that originated from not only Korea but also Yayoi Japan and Nangnang China. As such, Neuk-do has come to be known as a site of ancient transnational maritime centers in East Asia.[6] As I write this, the Mago story turns out to have several versions. I will share three versions here. In one account, Mago Halmae, so tall and giant, walked around the sea. She brought rocks …