March 9, 2019March 9, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Hannah Baek Wha

Hannah creates expression through a variety of mediums, most currently in the roles of visual artist, craftswoman, storyteller, writer and poet. Her personal practices include an evolving blend of Medicine Read More …

Why the World Needs Matriversal Archetypes? by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay is a revised version of my presentation to the She Rises Salon, “Poets Lead Goddess Feminist Activist Spirituality Movement” held on April 12, 2025.] Image credited to Glenys Livingstone Without the consciousness of the Cosmic Mother, we humans would be left without symbolic means to achieve peace and harmony not only among peoples and cultures but also with non-human species. Ceto-Magoism, the pre-patriarchally originated consciousness of Mago, the Creatrix, enabled through the reverence to cetaceans (whales), evinces that the consciousness of the Cosmic Mother refers to the allied force of the original triad: The Cosmic Mother, the Whale Mother, and the Queen Mother. What are matriversal archetypes? They are the symbols and ideas, which indicate the Maternal Origin of ALL (including inorganic entities). They inherently expose compartmentalized, hierarchical, and colonialist ideologies as traps in the mind. Furthermore, I hold that anciently bequeathed matriversal archetypes are salvific, guiding humanity from patriarchal snares. Put differently, matriversal archetypes restore intercosmic bonds of ALL. Matriarchal archetypes unleash pre-patriarchal or matristic contexts enveloped in myths and religious or cultural practices. That is the reason why we moderns need to study matristic histories and practices, which are underrepresented if mentioned in mainstream academic studies. Where do we find matriversal archetypes? We find them not just in forgotten histories of matristic histories and religious practices. They come in major patriarchal religions, myths, and philosophies disguised as the male supreme or a patriarchal idea. Like women and Nature under patriarchy, matriversal archetypes remain harnessed. Without rebuilding matricentric contexts, they are forced to serve the patriarchal world order. Sadly, today’s national or religious celebrations that people commemorate are built on patriarchal symbols and archetypes. Thus, a celebration of one group’s victory usually means a defeat of another group. Goma known as Myoken, Image from https://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/28-moon-stations.html The world needs matriversal archetypes to stop war and feud for good. Matriversal archetypes are the milk of the Creatrix, the elixir, and the miracle sought by the wise of the world throughout history. Matriversal archetypes unleash the Reality of WE/HERE/NOW, the ever-unfolding timespace manifest through the progeny of the Creatrix. In S/HE, ALL are found kindred. The Great Unity of ALL in the Creatrix pervades insofar as matriversal archetypes are upheld in the human mind. Only matriarchal symbols can quench the thirst, hunger, and pain of humankind. They heal, build, and comfort the mind/heart/soul. For societies, they bring peace, harmony, and collaboration. Under patriarchy, people have been deprived of matriversal archetypes. Matriversal symbols make us realize the delusive nature of patriarchal symbols including the father creator god, the nationalist identity, and the male savior/teacher/civilizer. Moderns are trapped within the snares of patriarchal symbols ever more tightly due to the expansion of patriarchal grips on almost all levels. The cries for healing and peace by individuals and societies, while getting louder ever-more desperately, will echo in the void unless people consciously abandon patriarchal archetypes, which I would call the act of symbol cleansing. Symbol discerning must be taken in the language of poets, artists, ritualists, and scholars. I suggest that poets sort out patriarchal archetypes and symbols so that our cries will become the dragon to bring rain for ALL on the planet. I invite you and the world to the discourse of Ceto-Magoism (the Whale-guided Way of the Creatrix), the reservoir of matriversal symbols and archetypes stored and handed down by our pre-patriarchal ancestors, to be introduced in the form of Creatrix Studies. https://www.magoism.net/2013/07/meet-mago-contributor-helen-hwang/
(Photo Essay 2) We Remember by Kaalii Cargill

There are places in the world that recognize you and can call you by name, even if you’ve never been there. Our ancestors live in the land, and are the land. Their voices speak to us when we remember and we ask to hear. Robyn Philippa, “Animism of the British Isles”, sacredearthgrove.com In my pilgrimages to visit with the Grandmothers at ancient Goddess sites, there have been moments when the extraordinary is present in the ordinary, a reminder that it is not just the sites themselves but also the land I’m standing on, the air I’m breathing, the sounds I’m hearing, the sights that stay with me. Here are some of those moments in my journeys to sacred places, moments that call me to remember . . . Cobbled path leading up to the summit of Cumae Archaeological Park, Pozzuoli, Italy. Walking in the footsteps of those who came before. This worn path has wound in a spiral around the hill past temples to the summit overlooking the coast of Naples for millennia. Lake Avernus, a volcanic crater lake near the Cumae Archaeological Park. Standing on the shore of Lake Avernus with the Tyrrhenian Sea in the background I could feel the ancient stories of gods, goddesses and oracles. “Mater becomes inspirited; it breathes divinity. Earth comes alive and sacred.” Sue Monk Kidd. Stones from the temple of Artemis, Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. Built on an existing sacred site, the temple of Artemis was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (c 550 BCE). Now there are only scattered stones. Yet the land hums with memory and She still speaks through the frogs and cicadas, and the leaves whispering secrets . . . The ancient well at Byblos, Lebanon, in use from Neolithic times to the 1950s. The walls were added around 2500-3000 BCE. One of the oldest cities in the world, Byblos has been continuously inhabited since c5000 BCE. Ancient Egyptian mythology tells of the sacred well at Byblos. It is here that Isis meets the Queen of Byblos and recovers the body of Osiris. The land remembers . . . Meet Mago contributor KAALII CARGILL
(Prose) Feeding the Dead by Deanne Quarrie

Most people love this time of year and I share much of that. Living in South Central Texas we only have two seasons, with a perhaps two to three weeks in between what we laughingly call spring and fall. Because the winters are not harsh here, the step into spring feels different from those whose winters are frozen for months on end. We do experience some relief when our temperatures finally drop a bit in October. Even then those drops are only teasers. When we do finally get a briskness in the air in the wee, early morning hours of dawn but when the sun rises overhead, any memory of that coolness is forgotten. This morning at 5:30 am, when I woke, it was 54 degrees. I stepped outside to smell and feel the air, so clean and cool. And yet, now it is 85 degrees and rising, it once more feels like summer. We don’t have the sudden frosts that turn our trees to vibrant reds, yellows and browns. Yes, the leaves eventually turn and fall to the ground, but we have no heavy freeze and so our colors are pale compared to those in the North and colder climates.
(Poetry) the great ones by Susan Hawthorne

in order to know the great ones there are some necessary deeds examine the source how water rises watch the light of sun and moon observe them spin and unspin follow rivers from their source ride currents to the ocean floor in the sky the speckled horse shines as she gallops between stars consider what exists and how will you know it in your mind and heart? lick the fierce honey from the flower dance with the bee’s peregrinations the six-footed ones wingless fill yourself on plenty unemptied feel the wind on your face breath drawn from within and without ask shall we speak or be silent? moon breath and sun breath like a black swan rising on air her thousandfold wings stretching to the centre of chaos [Author’s Note: Book 5 of The Mahabharata is the inspiration for this poem. This is not a translation, but rather translation as a way of seeing something more in a text than lies on the surface. I am always thinking about how we can people the ancient texts with female characters whether they be horses, stars, bees, swans, waters or women.] (Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne.
(Poem) Subterranean Rage by Mary Saracino

Deeper than bone deeper than muscle or sinew or tenacious tendon this howl of ages rivers through bloodlines, ancient as oceans salty as the primeval seas this is what happens to women who out-step their bounds dare to be bold, brazen speak up, name the subterfuge women who grit their warriors’ teeth fight on, for their children their lovers, their nation their homes, their hearts’ desires branded as heretics: witch, bitch, cunt, whore they race through forests and fields trying to outrun the acrid scent of their own sweat running from the hellish hounds the priestly proclamations the wrenching bite of the strappado* running for their lives caught between sinner or saint rarely allowed sovereignty over Self over mind & womb, over laws meant to undo them Thousands of strangled cats launched the Plague tender necks swinging from tree limbs flaccid, cold paws an omen: the rats will have their day Crucibles of change, cauldrons of sorrow, voices stymied for eons by the threat of extinction womb-wisdom silenced by public outcry burned at the stake of cultural conditioning the subterranean outrage seeps out, sharp as knives sharp as memory sharp as justice denied sharp as the bloodied knives eviscerating their midnight powers Deep is this grief Deep this anger A dirge of rage lost to the winds of time The weeping memory wails, still. Hear it the moonless night sky, touch it in the hot light of noon smell it in the poisoned soil taste it on your remembering tongue see it in the burning irises that bear witness to this unyielding genocide. * Strappado is a form of torture, employed by the Inquisitional tribunals against women accused of witchcraft. Victims were suspended in the air by means of a rope attached to their hands which were tied behind their backs, causing their arms to be dislocated. “Subterranean Rage” was originally published in The New Verse News on May 23, 2008 at http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2008/05/subterranean-rage.html Read Meet Mago Contributor, Mary Saracino.
(Prose) A Wake Up Call from Mother God by Janie Rezner

A Proclamation! A chapter from my life . . . I should write a letter to Polly Shakas, thanking her for helping me get out of my marriage. I could also thank Bill Moeller. They were the principals in a most difficult and painful period of my life, and certainly in my children’s lives. My good friend, Polly said, “why don’t you move out, and perhaps Janie will agree to go into counseling with you. I know of a very good psychiatrist in Iowa City who might be able to help you.” Said Polly to my husband of 12 years, when he came to her house to rant and rave about me. By this time, and it was the first time I had ever confided in anyone, I had told her a bit about my very troubled marriage.
(Matriversal Feminist Alchemy Continues) Creatrix Studies, Ceto-Magoism, and the S/HE Conference by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

As a scholar of Ceto-Magoism, I have been guided by the visions unfolded by studying the Budoji over the course of two and a half decades. I did not have the masterplan of projects that I have undertaken so far — from the Facebook Mago Circle to Return to Mago E-Magazine, to Mago Academy, to Mago Books, and to the S/HE Journal and their various projects such as Mago Whale Pilgrimages, She Rises Salons, and S/HE Forums etc. The current destination, Creatrix Studies, did not materialize until 2024. Those were the stepping stones, which now constitute the major monuments in Creatrix Studies. This year marks a watershed in my spiritual/intellectual journey as the Ceto-Magoist advocate. Things have developed and evolved so fast on a multiple level and I can’t name it here all. To highlight: First of all, I am grateful for the fact that we, founding faculty members, of Mago Academy came together and began offering courses in the fall of 2025. I can’t thank all who guided me to launch Creatrix Studies programs. As of today, the circle of our instructor learners is growing and getting ready for the summer and the fall trimesters (we call both instructors and students as the learners). Secondly, we began this spring a new program, Creatrix Studies Lifetime Certificate Program, for non-degree track student learners. This is a platform for a wide circle of learners who seek a systematic study tailored for their goals and purposes. Thirdly, I have three wonderful student learners who are currently taking my course, Introduction to Creatrix Studies, opening the path to the Ceto-Magoist consciousness this spring. Facilitating this course has been a source of joy and connecting with them. Fourthly, we are heading to the third upcoming S/HE Divine Studies Conference with the theme of the Great Unity of ALL in the Cosmic Mother (June 11-14 PST). For me, the S/HE Conference is no imitation of an academic conference but a transformative platform that forges a new mode of doing scholarship, which comes from our embodied and integrative learning. Personally I hope this year’s S/HE Conference will be a springboard for collective leap into Matriversal Feminism. Recently, I have stated that Matriversal Feminism is a new name for Goddess Feminist Activist Spirituality, a motto which carried The Mago Work for the last 13 years. “Matriversal Feminism” is not only concise but also focused on the dimension of the Cosmic Mother. Matriversal Feminism presupposes that Goddess-based feminist spiritualities share the root in the Cosmic Mother. Thus, Goddess feminists remain no longer as isolated packets but interconnected bodies. At the heart of Matriversal Feminism is the consciousness of the Cosmic Mother, which makes possible the perception of intercosmic reality. ALL are kindred as the progeny of the Cosmic Mother, the Creatrix.When I first proposed an online conference two years ago in 2024, things were not clearly spelled out. The 2024 conference was called the S/HE Divine Studies Conference, following the suit of the name, “S/HE” in the S/HE Journal (S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies), which indicates the Cosmic Mother who embraces ALL bi-sexed and non-sexed beings. The field, Creatrix Studies, was not born yet. Shortly after the first S/HE Divine Studies Conference, I began calling the S/HE Divine Studies Creatrix Studies. And we had the second S/HE Divine Studies conference safely and successfully in 2025. In early 2025, Mago Academy signed a contract with Ubiquity University as a partnership organization to offer the courseworks for graduate degree programs in Creatrix Studies. And we began the first trimester in the fall of 2025. All of these happenings can’t be smoother or shorter. They happened like thunder or storm, which is the Cetacean Way! That said, there is another reason why this year’s S/HE Conference comes to us as a promising ground for Matriversal Feminism. As an executive director for the conference, I planned every third year’s conference to commemorate the Great Unity of ALL. Insofar as the S/HE Conference continues, our message to the world should be the Great Unity of ALL in the Cosmic Mother, which can’t and won’t be imitated in mainstream academic conferences. The 2026 S/HE Conference Rekindles the Matristic History of Budo, the Ceto-Magoist Mecca of the Pre-Patriarchal WorldAs a whole, the mytho-history of Ceto-Magoists that the Budoji recounts is the erased history of the Cosmic Mother. It is not told elsewhere but echoed and mimicked in world-wide myths and histories. The fact that the dragon or a sea-monster or a serpent representing the sono-aquatic-environmental contributions of cetaceans (whales) is demonized speaks louder than neglect. The concept, the Great Unity of ALL in the Cosmic Mother, remains a non-topic in mainstream academia. Mainstream academia works as an armor for patriarchal myths and religions. It pretends that it is neutral. However, that is only a wishful self-deception. Patriarchal religions pretend that they do not know the Cosmic Mother or the Creatrix in their best behavior. When they can’t pretend, they demonize the Cosmic Mother. That is because they are in denial of the fact that patriarchal religions are built on the womb of the Cosmic Mother. Ultimately, what is and will be resisted by patriarchal religions till the last is potentially capable of debunking patriarchy. Patriarchal religions resist the truth that the Cosmic Mother is the beginning and the end of ALL. I share the current Mago Pod Bulletin #82 as a logbook for the current state of our collective Ceto-Magoist journey. https://www.magoism.net/2013/07/meet-mago-contributor-helen-hwang/
(Tribute 1) My Loving Father Hwang Jong-Hwan (黃鍾煥 7/31/1935-10/10/2020) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Dad in 2020 My Father and His Return to WE/HERE/NOW My loving father passed on Oct. 10, 2020 in South Korea. It feels like a big portion of my core is torn away. In memories and sorrows, I thank him for his love for me, comfort him for the pains and sufferings his life caused, and celebrate the gift of himself to the world. I unite with him in spirit, as he has embarked his eternal journey of being beyond the visible world. I send him off to WE/HERE/NOW in a traditional Magoist Korean way, which I have encountered through my research. He seems gone from the physical world but is fully HERE/NOW with All in WE, the Mother World!My task is to pave his way as much as possible. So I begin with a little about the life he had in this fragile visible world: Dad in Youth Hwang Jong-Hwan (黃鍾煥 July 31 or July 2 on Lunar, 1935-October 10, 2020) was a gifted man, a proud father, and a devoted husband. His name Jong-Hwan, which means the Splendid Bell, was given by his father according to the naming custom of the Hwang clan. His childhood name was Yong-Hwan (the Splendid Dragon). Born and grew up under the Japanese colonial rule, survived the Korean War, and endured the harsh reality of modern Korea’s economic re-building in the 1960s and 1970s. He was the first of four siblings (three sons and one daughter). He was born as the promising son of a self-made businessman (my grandfather) who owned a bike store (sales and repairs) in a historical township, Seonsan in North Gyeongsang Province. However, his happy childhood could not last long. His father’s sudden death (my father was seven-year old) left his wife and children unprotected and in poverty. As his mother (my grandmother) returned to her in-law’s village (I was born there too) with her children and lived as a farmer in the household of her mother-in-law, he grew up as the young widow’s oldest son. Wasn’t able to pursue his educational dream beyond primary school, which hit him hard throughout his life. He kept a drawing journal with a beautiful color drawing (the moon, the village surrounding, and the hind view of a lady with a long braided hair dangling on her back dressed in Korean traditional clothes depicted in a pastel tone, as I recall; its serenity and beauty mesmerized me as a child) and poetic verses during his youth years and carried it with him until his 30s, a book which his children were able to see. In fact, that may have been my first book to read. He was an artist and a poet, I gather now. Married a woman (my mother) from a well-off family in the same village. My maternal great-grandfather had chosen him for his granddaughter (my mother). He was 6 years older than her. They had three children (a daughter and two sons). Together with his wife and with the support of his in-laws family, he began as a vendor in Seoul to support his family but was not successful at all. That made my mother stronger. He was supportive of his wife and later opened a grocery store, owned a family tailor shop making himself a tailor, and conducted clothing business on and off. He was gifted in repairing household appliances and enjoyed providing his family with external wound care. He even enjoyed cooking for the family especially during family trips in nature. He designed and built a two-story family home in his 50s. He lived frugally and diligently so that they (my parents) could put their three children through prestigious private universities. Two of them achieved a doctoral degree and beyond. He was very proud of his children and enjoyed their successes on many levels. Loved traveling nationwide and listening to songs. Liked many things among which are gardening, biking, and outdoor-exploring. He held the city’s chess championship and continued to enjoy watching and playing chess matches till his last year. He was diagnosed with kidney failure in his 60s and under dialysis for 16 years. He endured it with an amazing spirit and tenacity for which we, his family, admired and respected him. He had undergone a series of near death crises over the years. Each time he returned with his mind intact and with his body functional. I called him the phoenix. We in our family knew that the farewell was approaching but did not know how soon. He left the visible world at 4:52 AM on Saturday October 10. On the same day, his body was moved to another hospital for the funeral. My mother had hoped to bury him so my brothers honored her wish. Survived by his spouse, three children, and three grandchildren as well as his brothers and their in-laws. We who are his family, relatives, and have known him are grateful for his life of caring, enduring, and giving. His funeral organized by my younger brother’s family was attended by many under the courteous observance of the Covid19 order. Funeral altar at Seoul National University Hospital in Bundang. Flower stands sent by visitors His grave yard, October 13, 2020 First visit to my father’s grave by my younger brothers (mother next to them invisible) Through the passing of my father, our family members bonded anew and exchanged one another heartfelt sorrows and encouragements, a huge comfort for me. I could not but thank my brothers and their families for I wasn’t there at all physically. And I couldn’t contribute to the expense monetarily. Everyone in the family knows my lifestyle, which barely makes my own living, while leading the life that I am called to. Alas, I am broken-hearted by not being able to see him in his last days and moments. It seems a bit too late to realize that I have taken his love for granted. I, his first and only daughter, am indebted for his love and the …
(Essay) Eternity by Kaalii Cargill

“Certainly there is within each of us a self that is neither a child, nor a servant of the hours. it is a third self, occasional in some of us, tyrant in others. This self is out of love with the ordinary; it is out of love with time. It has a hunger for eternity.” Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays. My “hunger for eternity” has led me to temples and caves, mountains and valleys, to stand on the ground of the long ago people who made the figures I call “grandmothers”, the Paleolithic and Neolithic representations of Great Mother. Two years ago I first stood on the ground of my current home in the Dandenong Ranges outside Melbourne in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The traditional custodians of this land – the Wurundjeri People – were displaced by European settlers nearly 200 years ago and, over the next hundred years, many of the giant Mountain Ash trees (Eucalyptus regnans) were replaced with European trees. There are no Mountain Ash in my garden, although giant stumps remain. Do the newer trees remember these giants? Were the roots of the 120 year old European Beech tree behind my house nourished by the remains of the Eucalyptus trees? As a child I lived alongside one of the few relatively undisturbed areas of native vegetation in the Adelaide Hills region in South Australia. I loved it, but it was not the land of my ancestors. My mother’s mother came to Australia a hundred and ten years ago. Her mother was born in Holyhead, the ancient Druid Holy Isle across a narrow channel from Angelsey in Wales – Ynys Môn. Bryn Celli Du, Neolithic Burial Chamber, Angelsey. My father came to Australia eighty five years ago. He was born in Calabria, Italy, near the ancient Magna Graecia Sanctuary of Demeter at Locri. Ruins of Demeter Sanctuary, Locri, Calabria Italy. Was it possible that I, like the Beech tree, may have been nourished by the land I walked as a child even though it was not the land of my ancestors? I think so. I learnt from the land. I learnt the songs of air, water, fire, and earth. I learnt the songs of the trees, the frogs, the summer rain, and the wind – cold winds from the South and hot winds carrying desert dust from the North. I learnt the songs of dragonflies, lizards, kangaroos, and spider orchids. The rhythms and cycles of the natural world entered my mind and body and never left. Are the Australian songs different from the European songs? Not really. The cicadas at Locri sang the same songs as the cicadas in the Australian summer, the leaves whispered the same secrets, and there are glimpses of eternity everywhere. My first experience of standing on sacred ground and receiving a glimpse of eternity was at Amphitheatre Rock, the name European settlers had given a huge, shallow cave in the cliff face up behind a screen of trees in the native bush near my home. Water running over the cliff had smoothed the platform into a natural stage that faced into a small gully lined with crude, tiered seats of rock. Memory, old and dim, hid in the shadows. I was four years old when I was told that there had once been sacred gatherings at the Rock. I could see the spirits of those who had gathered around the fires on the hillside, their shadows leaping and dancing on the rock walls. I didn’t know their language or customs, but they taught me to respect sacred ground. Amphitheatre Rock, Belair National Park, South Australia Since then I have stood on sacred ground in other places – Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Turkey, United Kingdom, Unites States. The songs are the same. The rhythms and cycles of the natural world are eternal. The ancient Greeks had a word for these natural rhythms: kairos. Kairos time differs from the linear, clock time that structures much of the modern world. It is the timing intrinsic to a process, the time it takes for an Emperor Gum moth to emerge from its cocoon, or for an adult cicada to emerge from its shell. The time it takes for a mother to grow a baby in her womb and give birth. The time it takes for us to hear Great Mother’s eternal song. Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 6th Millennium BCE. Meet MAGO Contributor KAALII CARGILL

(Special post) The Goddess Inanna: Her Allies and Opponents by Hearth Moon Rising

Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld is one of the most fascinating myths ever told. Not just because it is profound and enlightening, although it is certainly that. It’s an exciting journey that ignites the imagination, and female characters are at the hub of the action. This is a tale of power: power that is demanded, power that is won, power that is appropriated, and power that cannot be escaped. The story follows the fertility goddess Inanna, who brought civilization to Mesopotamia, as she seeks to expand her realm by venturing into the world below. Inanna’s experiences in the great below, her escape, and the wild events that unfold as a result of her caper are the focus of the tale.
(Special Post 3) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels 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 Hye-Sook Hwang: Xiang Yao or Xiangliu is the Chinese equivalent to Hydra in Greek mythology. And Hercules is to Yu, the Great, founder of the Xia dynasty. We will see in the course of this discussion that the myth of Yu, the founding ruler of Xia, the oldest dynasty of China, who slains the nine-headed snake, is only a variation of its older prototype, the myth of Huangdi who fought Chiu, the alliance of the Nine Han Giants (East Asian/Korean Magoists). “According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Xiangliu was a minister of the snake-like water deity Gonggong. Xiangliu devastated the ecology everywhere he went, leaving nothing but gullies and marshes devoid of animal life. Eventually, Xiangliu was killed by Yu the Great, whose other labors included ending the Great Flood of China. In other versions of the story, Xiangliu was killed by Nüwa, after being defeated by Zhurong, but his blood was so virulently poisonous that the soil which it soaked could no longer grow grain.[1] An oral version of the Xiangliu myth was collected as late from Sichuan as 1983, in which Xiangliu is depicted as a nine-headed dragon, responsible for floods and other harm.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangliu Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Ancient China had to demonize the pre-Han myth of the nona Mago because it bespeaks the matriarchal/gynocentric history that it overthrew… the past that had to be severed in order to fake patriarchal originality. With this in mind, we have a better look on patriarchal mythopoeia, which appears to be complex but, nonetheless, transparent in its motive to hide/hijack pre-patriarchal gynocentric histories. “One of the most harrowing myths from ancient China is the story of Gonggong’s rebellion. You can revisit the whole story here, but the quick version is that the evil water god Gonggong attempted to drown the world and was only prevented from doing so by the heroic last resort actions of the beneficent creator goddess Nüwa, who cut the legs off the cosmic turtle in order to set things to rights. In the chaos of the climactic battle, however Gongong’s chief minister and partner in crime Xiangliu the nine-headed snake monster completely escaped. Filled with bitterness about Gonggong’s failure, Xiangliu crawled away across the soggy lands of Szechuan (which were water-logged after the nearly world-ending floods). Wherever he went, the snake monster left permanent fens and swamps which were toxic to life. His very being had become steeped in poison, and his progress through the damp and moldy world had to be stopped. Yu the hero, the third of the three sage kings, finally caught up with the nine-headed monster and killed him in a pitched battle. Yet still there was a problem: Xiangliu’s pestiferous blood has poisoned the whole region, which now stank of rot. Crops would not grow and civilization began to falter. Yu dug up the blood soaked soil again and again, but the corrupted blood of the monster just sank deeper into the ground. Finally, Yu excavated a deep valley by Kunlun mountain and rid the world of Xiangliu’s toxins. With all of the land he had excavated he built a great terraced mountain for the gods. Yu then went forth to found the kingdom of Xia, the first civilized state in Chinese history. Of course some people say that Yu did none of this, that, it was the goddess Nüwa who once again came forth to battle the monster and undo the damage he had caused. Then, with accustomed modesty she let Yu take the credit and begin his kingdom (for Nüwa cared not for empty praise and hollow glory but only for the well-being of her children).” https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/xiangliu-the-nine-headed-snake/ Max Dashu: These patriarchal heroes! Nova Scheller: What a fascinating thread…that the nine headed hydra correlates to the nine headed dragon as a linkage to patriarchy or gynocentric/ matriarchal beginnings…the root being in Korea! Dropping into your work of so many years…a privilege as well as informing some of my personal awareness. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Nova Scheller, indeed! The myth of slaining the nine-headed snake/dragon across cultures shows; (1) The onset of patriarchy did not come naturally but forcefully, which proves that patriarchy is not original. It was a reaction to what had been before, its matrix. Patriarchy faked its originality by inventing the myth of demonizing and killing the female principle. (2) Patriarchal rules established across cultures adopted the mythic motif of slaining the nine-headed snake or dragon, which appears to be of Chinese origin. (3) The Nine Mago mythic system preserved in Korean Magoism testifies to gynocentric/matriarchal beginnings, which were remembered by peoples of the ancient world. (4) Furthermore, Korean Magoist mythology explains the origin/meaning of the nona Goddess symbol. Let’s explore how the Nine Mago pantheon was remembered in East Asian myths and religions. For this, we need to unravel the patriarchal mythopoeia of Goma, the Shaman ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: In principle, we can tell if an ancient rule/culture was patriarchal or gynocentric by the myth of the nine-headed snake/dragon. In the case of ancient China whose heroes are told to have killed the opponent, the nine-headed snake. Nonetheless, the people’s memory of pre-patriarchal gynocentric history never dies. The nine symbolism is still described as auspicious. It revives time and time again throughout history. In other words, ancient China was a small regional power, only modern scholarship seals it all mighty China. Find out what other ancient myths concern about the nine female symbolism. (To be continued) Join us in The Mago Circle https://www.facebook.com/groups/magoism/.
(Special Post 2) 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.] Harriet Ann Ellenberger I got involved with women’s liberation in the early 1970s, so involved that it became my life for many years. During those beginnings of what is now called “the second wave of feminism,” everything was new to us and everything was mushed together — the political, the economic, the intellectual, the emotional, the spiritual. I liked that a lot; it felt as if all the parts of myself were coming together. During that time, I learned something crucial the imagery and concepts of patriarchal religion justify and are embedded in the material structures of oppression. I don’t know which came first, institutionalized oppression (of everyone; I’m not speaking here only of women) or the religious expression of that oppression. All I’m certain of is that patriarchal religion permeates, for example, the Oxford English Dictionary, which I use all the time, in conjunction with Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language, conjured by Mary Daly in cahoots with Jane Caputi.

Artful Ceremonial Expression by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This article is an edited excerpt from Chapter 7 of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. I always wore a special headpiece for the Seasonal ceremonies when I facilitated them over the years, and I feel that any participant may do so, not just the main celebrant. My ceremonial headpiece with its changing and continuous Seasonal decoration took on increasing significance over the years; it became a personal central representation of the year-long ceremonial art process of creating, destroying and re-creating. For the research period of my doctoral studies particularly, when I was documenting the process, I realised that this headpiece came to represent for me the essence of “She” – as Changing One, yet ever as Presence – as I was coming to know Her. In my journal for the Mabon/Autumn Equinox process notes one year I wrote: As I pace the circle with the Mabon headpiece in the centre, I see “Her” as She has been through the Seasons … the black and gold of Samhain, the deep red, white and evergreen of Winter, the white and blue of Imbolc, the flowers of Eostar, the rainbow ribbons of Beltane, the roses of Summer, the seed pods and wheat of Lammas, and now the Autumn leaves. I see in my mind’s eye, and feel, Her changes. I am learning … The Mother knowledge grows within me. The headpiece, the wreath, the altar, the house decorations, all participate in the ceremony: they are part of the learning, the method, the relationship – similar to how one might bring flowers and gifts of significance to a loved one at special moments. Then further, the removal and re-creation of the decorations are part of the learning – an active witness to transformation through time.
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 …
(Poetry & Photo Essay) Pongal by Susan Hawthorne

I am a secularist rather than a ritualist, but I can’t help but be drawn into the celebrations that people make when they honour the passing of the seasons. Even as a child I felt the disconnect between Christmas and the hot dusty days of summer. When Christians invaded and colonised Australia they brought their holidays but did not consider changing the dates to match the seasons. I was in India recently, invited as a speaker at the Hindu Lit For Life Festival in Chennai where I had lived ten years ago. The last day of the festival was the first day of Pongal. A friend, feminist economist Devaki Jain, who had grown up in Chennai eighty years earlier invited me to join her in a car ride to see Pongal celebrations in the streets. This is a Tamil festival dating back at least a thousand years, a sun festival, welcoming the next six months of the sun’s journey, also a harvest festival. During this time many women produce beautiful drawings, known as kolam. In my book Cow I wrote a poem about kolam which I think says more than I can explain here. what she says about kolam where they are drawn and when is all important early morning is auspicious it sets the shape of the day the hard ground is cleaned points of white grain sprinkled she works quickly she knows her design for the day runs the powdered grain from point to point it is a mandala a yantra a sign so the forces of the universe align themselves with her intentions Back to Pongal. The festival goes for four days. On the first day, which is called Bhogi, people are on the streets with the fruits of harvest, piles of tumeric and stacks of sugar cane tied in bunches. My friend, Devaki, bought flowers to take back to her room in the hotel. The second day, called Thai Pongal, I was invited to a harvest lunch at the house of my friend Mangai who is a playwright, theatre director and human rights activist. The word ‘pongal’ means ‘boiling over’ or’ overflow’ and I saw this in the cooking of the sweetened rice dish into which each of the twelve people present poured some water and milk as it almost overflowed the pot. This sweet rice dish was added to the collection of other dishes on the table. I cannot tell you what they were, but the meal was delicious. After lunch everyone relaxed, someone sang, we talked and caught up on news. The third day, is called Maatu Pongal, and cattle are at the centre of celebrations on that day. I don’t know if this line up of cattle had anything to do with the day’s celebration but there they were tied up alongside a very busy main road. These were not cows and I did not see any cows with decorated horns and flowers on their heads. on that day as I have on other occasions. On the fourth day, Kaanum Pongal, things begin to wind down. One of my co-speakers at the festival said she would be visiting family members on that day. The kolams are drawn again, sugar cane is consumed and people go back to their daily lives. What I liked about being in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal festival is that it felt absolutely right. The time of the year, the connection with harvest, so I did not feel the discomfort I so often feel in the midst of the out-of-season commercialised holidays as they are celebrated in Australia. Susan Hawthorne’s book Cow is available worldwide from distributors in USA, Canada, UK, from all the usual online retailers or from Spinifex Press. http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=215/ © Susan Hawthorne, 2019 (Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne.
Lammas/Late Summer in PaGaian tradition By Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 5 of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Traditionally the dates for this Seasonal Moment are: Southern Hemisphere – Feb. 1st/2nd Northern Hemisphere – August 1st/2nd however the actual astronomical date varies. See archaeoastronomy.com for the actual moment. Lammas table/altar Lammas, as it is often called[1], is the meridian point of the first dark quarter of the year, between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox; it is after the light phase has peaked and is complete, and as such, I choose it as a special celebration of the Crone/Old One. Within the Celtic tradition, it is the wake of Lugh, the Sun King, and it is the Crone that reaps him. But within earlier Goddess traditions, all the transformations were Hers[2]; and the community reflected on the reality that the Mother aspect of the Goddess, having come to fruition, from Lammas on would enter the Earth and slowly become transformed into the Old Woman-Hecate-Cailleach aspect …[3] I dedicate Lammas to the face of the Old One, just as Imbolc, its polar opposite on the Wheel in Old European tradition, is dedicated to the Virgin/Maiden face. 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. I state the purpose of the seasonal gathering thus: This is the season of the waxing dark. The seed of darkness born at the Summer Solstice now grows … the dark part of the days grows visibly longer. Earth’s tilt is taking us back away from the Sun. This is the time when we celebrate dissolution; each unique self lets go, to the Darkness. It is the time of ending, when the grain, the fruit, is harvested. We meet to remember the Dark Sentience, the All-Nourishing Abyss, She from whom we arise, in whom we are immersed, and to whom we return. This is the time of the Crone, the Wise Dark One, who accepts and receives our harvest, who grinds the grain, who dismantles what has gone before. She is Hecate, Lillith, Medusa, Kali, Erishkagel,Chamunda, Coatlique – Divine Compassionate One, She Who Creates the Space to Be. We meet to accept Her transformative embrace, trusting Her knowing, which is beyond all knowledge. Lammas is the seasonal moment for recognizing that we dissolve into the “night” of the Larger Organism of whom we are part – Gaia. It is She who is immortal, from whom we arise, and into whom we dissolve. This celebration is a development of what was born in the transition of Summer Solstice; the dark sentient Source of Creativity is honoured. The autopoietic space in us recognizes Her, is comforted by Her, desires Her self-transcendence and self-dissolution; Lammas is an opportunity to be with our organism’s love of Larger Self – this Native Place. We have been taught to fear Her, but at this Seasonal Moment we may remember that She is the compassionate One, deeply committed to transformation, which is actually innate to us. Whereas at Imbolc/Early Spring, we shone forth as individual, multiforms of Her; at Lammas, we small individual selves remember that we are She and dissolve back into Her. We are the Promise of Lifeas was affirmed at Imbolc, but we are the Promise of Her- it is not ours to hold. We identify as the sacred Harvest at Lammas; our individual harvest isHer Harvest. We are the process itself – we are Gaia’s Process. Wedo not breathe (though of course we do), we borrow the breath, for a while. It is like a relay: we pick the breath up, create what we do during our time with it, and pass it on. The harvest we reap in our individual lives is important, andit is for us only short term; it belongs to the Cosmos in the long term. Lammas is a time for “making sacred” – as “sacrifice” may be understood; we may “make sacred” ourselves. As Imbolc was a time for dedication, so is Lammas. This is the wisdom of the phase of the Old One. She is the aspect that finds the “yes” to letting go, to loving the Larger Self, beyond all knowledge, and steps into the power of the Abyss; encouraged and nourished by the harvest, She will gradually move into the balance of Autumn Equinox/Mabon, the next Sesaonal Moment on the year’s cycle. References: Durdin-Robertson, Lawrence. The Year of the Goddess.Wellingborough: Aquarian Press, 1990. Gray, Susan. The Woman’s Book of Runes.New York: Barnes and Noble, 1999. Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005. McLean, Adam. The Four Fire Festivals. Edinburgh: Megalithic Research Publications, 1979. Notes: [1]See note 3. [2]Susan Gray, The Woman’s Book of Runes,p. 18. This is also to say that the transformations are within each being, not elsewhere, that is the “sacrifice” is not carried out by another external to the self, as could be and have been interpreted from stories of Lugh or Jesus. [3]Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, The Year of the Goddess, p.143, quoting Adam McLean, Fire Festivals,p.20-22. Another indication of the earlier tradition beneath “Lughnasad” is the other name for it in Ireland of “Tailltean Games”. Taillte was said to be Lugh’s foster-mother, and it was her death that was being commemmorated (Mike Nichols, “The First Harvest”, Pagan Alliance Newsletter NSW Australia). The name “Tailtunasad” has been suggested for this Seasonal Moment, by Cheryl Straffon editor of Goddess Alive! I prefer the name of Lammas, although some think it is a Christian term: however some sources say that Lammas means “feast of the bread” which is how I have understood it, and surely such a feast pre-dates Christianity. It is my opinion that the incoming Christians preferred “Lammas” to “Lughnasad”: the term itself is not Christian in origin. The evolution of all these things is complex, and we may evolve them further with our careful thoughts and experience.
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 7) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) at Mago Bookstore. YEARLY LEAP DAY AND EVERY FOURTH YEAR LEAP DAY Each Sa includes a Dan of the big Sa. A Dan is equal to one day. That adds to 365 days. At the half point of the third Sa, there is a Pan of the big Sak (the year of the great dark moon). A Pan comes at a half point of Sa. This is of Beopsu (Lawful Number) 2, 5, 8. A Pan is equal to a day. Therefore, the fourth Sa has 366 days. Each year has a leap day (Dan), which makes a total of 365 days. Every fourth year is a leap year that has a leap day (Pan), which makes a total of 366 days. The Dan day comes before the New Year in the winter solstice month. And the Pan day comes before the first day of the summer solstice month in the fourth year. The above, however, does not indicate when the New Year comes. Logographic characters of Dan and Pan each suggest their meanings. While each year includes the Dan day (the morning), every fourth year has the Pan day. A unit of four years makes the Big Calendar. Dan (旦 Morning) Leap day for every first three years Pan (昄 Big) Leap day for every fourth year I have postulated that the year begins on the Dan day (one leap day), a day before New Year that comes in the month of Winter Solstice in the Norther Hemisphere. And the Pan day comes on the day before the first day of the 7th month that has Summer Solstice in the fourth year in the Norther Hemisphere. Years Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Months Dan Dan Dan Dan 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 Pan 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 Days 365 365 365 366 The Magoist Calendar’s intercalation involves one leap day every year and one leap day every four years. That is, each year has one extra day to make it 365 days. Every fourth year has an extra day to make it 366 days. Four years has a total of 1461 days (365×3+366), which makes the mean of 365.25 days. Considering that the month is following the sidereal period rather than the synodic period, it is inferred that the year also follows the sidereal year rather than the solar year. In fact, Magoist Calendar’s one year is very close to today’s 365.25636 days of the sidereal year compared to 365.24217 days of the solar year or the tropical year. Given that, as seen below, the Budoji mentions the tiniest discrepancy of one leap day for 31,788,900 years, the discrepancy between 365.25 and 365.25636 (0.00636 day) can be explained that the year was actually 365.25 days at the time of Budo circa 2333 BCE, 4440 years ago. In other words, there is a discrepancy of 0.12375936 seconds between 2017 CE and 2333 BCE. Regarding Lawful Numbers 2, 5, 8, it is involved as follows: 365 days (3+6+5=14, 1+4=5) Lawful Numbers 2, 5, 8 refers the unit of 365 days (364 days with one intercalary day). Further dynamics are unknown. The sidereal year refers to the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun once with respect to the distant stars. In contrast, the solar or tropical year means the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun once with respect to the sun. The sidereal year, 365.25636 days, is about 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer than the mean tropical year (365.24217 days) and about 19 minutes and 57 seconds longer than the average Gregorian year of 365.2425 days. The difference occurs primarily because the solar system spins on its own axis and around the Milky Way galactic center making the solar year’s observed position relative. Time is no independent concept apart from space and the agent. The very concept of time is preceded by the agent bound in a space. It is always contextualized. In Magoism, both calendar and time are born out of the cosmogonic universe, the universe that is in self-creation. Like calendar, time is to be discovered or measured. It is a numinous concept. The very concept of time testifies to the reality of the Creatrix. Time proves the orderly movement of the universe into which we are born. Calendar patterns time, whereas time undergirds calendar. How can we measure time? We are given the time of the Earth that comes from its rotation, revolution, and precession in sync with the moon and the sun (and its planets). One type of time is the solar time. The solar time is a calculation of time based on the position of the sun. Traditionally, the solar time is measured by the sundial. The solar time is, however, specific to the Earth only. It is valid only for the-same-observed-location. It is not made to be used for the time of another celestial body. For example, Mars’ solar time has to be measured independently based on its own rotation and revolution rates. The solar time is an isolated time. It is static and exclusive, not made for the time of other celestial bodies. By nature, it is unfit for connection and communication across celestial bodies. The second type is the sidereal time. The sidereal time is a time scale based on the rate of Earth’s rotations measured relative to the distant stars.[29] Because the observed position is in the far distant stars beyond the solar system, the sidereal time may as well be called an extrasolar stellar time. We can think of the observer’s position of an imaginary cosmic bird far out there, infinitely far beyond not only the solar system and …
Imbolc/Early Spring – a Season of Uncertainty by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Traditionally the Seasonal transition of Imbolc/Early Spring, celebrated in early February in the Northern Hemisphere, and in early August in the Southern Hemisphere, has been a time of nurturing the new life that is beginning to show itself, around us and within. It is a time of committing one’s self to the new life and inspiration – in the garden, in the soul, and in the Cosmos. We may include in our celebrations and contemplations of this Season the beginnings of the new young Cosmos as She was, that time in our cosmic story when She was only a billion years old and galaxies were forming; and also the new which has continually emerged throughout the eons, and is ever coming forth. The flame of being, as it has been imagined by many cultures, within and around, is to be protected and nurtured: the new being requires dedication and attention. In the early stages of its advent, there is nothing certain about its staying power and growth: it may flicker and be vulnerable. There may be uncertainties of various kinds. There is risk and resistance to coming into being. The Universe itself knew resistance to its expansion when it encountered gravitation in our very beginnings, in the primordial Flaring Forth[i]. The unfolding of the Universe was never without creative tension. The Universe knows it daily, in every moment: and we participate in this creative tension of our place of being. Urge to Be budding forth Imbolc/Early Spring can be a time of remembering personal vulnerabilities, feeling them and accepting them, but remaining resolute in birthing and tending of the new, listening for and responding to the Urge to Be[ii]of the Creative Universe within. Brian Swimme has said (quoting cultural anthropologist A.L. Kroeber) that the destiny of the human is not “bovine placidity” but the highest degree of tension that can be creatively born[iii]. many flames of being, strengthening each other These times are filled with creative tension, collectively and for most, personally as well; there is much resistance, yet there is promise of so much good energy arising. We may be witness to both. This Season of Imbolc/Early Spring may encourage attention, intention and dedication to strengthening well-being: in self, and in the relational communal context, and opening to our direct immersion in the Well of Creativity. We may be strengthened with the joining of hands, as well as the listening within to the sacred depths, in ceremonial circle at this time. NOTES: [i]As our origins (popularly named as “the Big Bang”) are named by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme in The Universe Story. [ii]As I name this determined Virgin quality in PaGaian Cosmology. [iii]The Canticle to the Cosmos, DVD #8, “The Nature of the Human”. References: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005. Swimme, Brian and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Swimme, Brian. Canticle to the Cosmos. DVD series, 1990.

(Mago Essay 3) Toward the Primordial Knowing of Mago, the Great Goddess by Helen Hwang

[The following sequels including this one are a modified version of my paper presented to Daoist Studies, the American Academy of Religion (AAR) in 2010.] Part 3 Daoist Rendition of Mago, the Great Goddess Being the creatrix, progenitor, and ultimate sovereign, Mago has been addressed by many names. Her derivative names include Samsin Halmeoni (Triad Grandmother/Goddess), Cheonsin (Heavenly Deity), Daejosin (Great Ancestor Deity), Nogo (Crone/Grandmother), Gomo (Goddess Mother), Magui (Devil), Seogo (Auspicious Goddess), Seonnyeo (Female Immortal), Seonja (Immortal Person), and simply Halmi (Grandmother/Crone/Goddess) especially in Korea. To say the least, these names, respectively embedded in a particular cultural and historical background, reflect a complex and enduring feature of Magoism. One may wonder: How is it possible to assess that these goddesses with different names refer to the same goddess, Mago? While such a query is legitimate, its answer entails a prolix explication of inferences based on the comprehensive analysis of a large volume of data, a technique that requires all human faculties, not just rationality. Foremost, the name “Mago” is the primary defining factor to identify Her transnational manifestations in East Asia. This name crisscrosses otherwise seemingly unrelated data including folklore, arts, literature, poetry, and religious and historical records. Such toponyms as Mt. Mago, Rock of Mago, and Cave of Mago presently extant in Korea, China, and/or Japan further substantiate the coherence of Magoism in East Asia. Having established the patterns and styles of Mago stories, the researcher is able to identify a common motif that is shared by the stories and place-names of the goddesses with derivative names. In short, these stories are organically interconnected, reflecting the universality and particularities of Magoist theism. As with Her many names, the researcher or art historian requires the same technique to assess a broad range of Her visual representations. One can begin with a good number of paintings whose colophons designate Mago. Two of the most conspicuous colophons are “Magu gathering medicinal herbs” and “Mago presents longevity.” However, many icons including sculptures and embroideries do not have such an indication. In that case, one can tell the Mago icon by its pictorial themes recurring in the images that are identified as Mago. That said, there is no doubt that the Mago icon stands as the prototype of its numerous variations, which are beyond my documentation at this point. A large portion of Mago visual representations I have documented is casually referred to as “The Immortal Magu (麻姑仙, Magu Xian or Mago Seon)” by moderns. As such, it is assumed that She is a Daoist goddess. Would the Daoist appropriation of Mago’s visual images be accurate? I hold that the Daoist rendition of Mago is a specious stopgap, leaving many issues unattended. When B is derived from A, B alone can explain neither A nor B. Not only Her pre-Daoist origin but also Her supreme divinity as the Great Goddess remains unexplained. Furthermore, Daoism has offered no framework to explain the transnational dissemination of Magoist material culture in Korea, China, and Japan.
(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
(Bell Essay 3) The Ancient Korean Bell and Magoism by Helen Hwang

Part III Nipples and Breasts of the Ancient Korean Bell, Revival of Old Magoism in Silla (57 BCE – 935 CE) Female sexuality and the divine are seamless. The ancient Korean bell bespeaks the divine, derived from female sexuality. Emitting reverberation, it casts a spell on the hearer. It is the sound that connects one with the Goddess and with one another. However, lapse of time has never been neutral. It has wrought the change of gender principle in society and in human consciousness. The female principle is severed from the divine. The divine without regard to the female is only astray or make-believe. When the seamlessness is broken, the bell loses its power to enchant. The ancient Korean bell, as a time capsule, sets us to the task of undoing the gender reversal. Unfettering of the arcane knowledge of Magoism is the gain. In proportion to the patriarchal progress in East Asia, Magoism, the gynocentric historical and cultural context, has been submerged. The fact that Magoism remains unregistered is a sign that moderns have drifted too far from the Female Origin. As a result, the female symbology of the bell is rendered irrelevant, if not obsolete. The bell and Buddhism are dysfunctional, if not mismatched. Or, maybe the Sillans who commissioned the bells in the 8th century CE saw Buddhism differently. Keeping at bay what makes the bell as the bell — the female symbology, Buddhist patriarchs have set a maze, heading only to “nothingness.” The sonority of the bell travels to the ear of people. However, deep hearing is thwarted by the patriarchal concept of the divine. Part III begins to deprogram the patriarchal conceptual barrier by shedding light on the core of its female symbology, the Nipples, the Bell Breasts, and the Breast Circumferences. Four Dimensional Mandala Is Here The relief of Nipples depicted elegantly and realistically is an attention grabber. For fear of being mistaken for something else especially by the generation to come, Sillan ancestors named them yudu (breast nipples). To be certain, they named the seat of the nipples jongyu (bell breast) and the enclosure of the breast yugwak (breast circumference). Detailed and refined artistry radiates the spirit of honor and veneration. As seen below, the nipples come in various styles showing the mastery of the bell casters in metallurgic technology. [The following images of Nipples are from the bells of different periods including Silla. The structures of nipples and breasts remain the same throughout history, characterizing Korean bells.] Sometimes, the nipples are depicted as the studs of lotus blossoms. Other times they are seated in lotus petals. Less frequently, the nipples are rendered as flat lotus flowers, perhaps to mitigate the graphic look. Regardless, the viewer can’t miss the number of the Nipples, nine. The nine nipples are aligned in three rows of three in the Bell Breast, which is enclosed by the Breast Circumference. Considering that the triad is the symbol of Mago as Samsin Halmi (The Triad Goddess), the three rows of three represent the triad in all ways, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. One is surrounded by the triad in all directions; an epiphany is stored to enact. Now the bell caster conjoins the number three symbol with the number four symbol. In ancient East Asia, the four corners represent all directions, that is, the whole world. Placed in four corners, thirty-six nipples in all (a set of nine nipples in four directions) represent the female occupying the whole world. Seong Nakju in his inquiry about the thirty-six nipples of an ancient Korean bell states that the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (the first state that united China) divided “the world” into 36 heavens in 221 BCE. (Seong Nakju, see below in Sources.) Unlike the rule of the first Qin emperor infamous for tyranny, the 36 Nipples hint at neither domination nor the hierarchical power of the patriarchal monarch. Instead, they saturate the whole world with the female anatomy. To be discussed at a later point, the nine nipples that came from the 8th century are a time-proven means through which we may enter the consciousness of the Bronze Age, if not earlier when they originated and of the times whenever they reappeared. The four dimensional mandala is revealed, biding its time to evoke one to the fifth direction. The bell delivers the triumph of the Goddess (female principle) to the world in an utterly outlandish manner! Her Way is peace, integration, and beauty. Behold, She is enthroned. Gom (Ungnyeo) and the Nine-State Confederacy of Old Magoism What does a set of nine nipples signify? What does it mean that the ancient Korean bell has four sets of nine nipples? In Magoism the nine nipples are not an isolated symbol. They are on a par with the nine-tailed fox and the nine dragons from East Asia. These are the ancient representations of the female divine. I have delineated elsewhere that the nine-tailed fox is associated with Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West) and the nine dragons with Gwaneum (Guanyin, Kannon). Other times, Goddess Herself manifests as of the nine forms. As I discussed, the nine maidens of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, is a good example (see “Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea,” Part IV). The nine-female symbology goes beyond East Asia. The concatenation includes the nine Muses, the nine forms of Durga, and the African Goddesses of Oya and Mumbi who are known to have nine daughters. As such, evidence of the nine-female symbolism is intense and cross-cultural. The recurring symbolism of nine in East Asia suggests the once prevalent mytho-history of Old Magoism. Old Magoism is characterized by the rule of Magoist shamans who invented and spread the gynocentric civilization of pre-Chinese East Asia worldwide. Precisely, the nine-female symbolism refers to Gom (Ungnyeo, Bear/Sovereign Woman), founder of the nine-state confederacy in pre-Chinese times (see Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, Part V). In short, the framework of Magoism …