January 8, 2021December 28, 2020 Mago Work Admin

(Poem & Music) Sunrise at Good Water by Carolyn Lee Boyd

2019 Music by Carolyn Lee Boyd

[Author’s Note: Some of my ancestors came to America after leaving their homeland in Scotland to go to Ireland, then to America to wander for more generations across a number of mountainous states, earning their living as small farmers in some of the most remote areas in their region. They finally ended up in a small town called Goodwater in the early 20th century. This poem is my imagined thoughts of one of my women ancestors as she shows her newborn daughter the glory of the sunrise to connect her to the Mother Earth and Cosmos Who was their only true home throughout their wanderings. The song is an original tune I composed and play on the Appalachian dulcimer, a folk instrument of the mountains easily carried from place to place.]

Newest daughter

born last night

with help from no one but me

We are far too high on the mountain

for midwives or witches.

The youngest of a long line of family

who came from Scotland to Ireland to

Pennsylvania to North Carolina to Georgia to Alabama

Always hoping in vain to be able to tell the next generation

You will always have a cabin to live in.

You will always have food on the table.

You and your children and grandchildren will live long lives.

You will always live in peace.

Newest daughter

born last night

with help from no one but me
I cannot promise you that

You will always have a cabin to live in.

You will always have food on the table.

You and your children and grandchildren will live long lives.

You will always live in peace.

But I can give you this moment of quiet before the dawn

And this song to remind you

Of your first morning with the stars and the Earth and the sun.

They are all you or anyone will ever truly have.

Always remember their loving sound when all around you is cacophony.

And that they are magnificent.

Biography: Carolyn Lee Boyd is a writer, student drummer, retired human services administrator, and herb and native plant gardener, currently living in New England. Her essays, short stories, memoirs, reviews, and poetry have been published in, among others, Return to Mago E*Magazine, Sagewoman, Feminism and Religion, The Goddess Pages, Matrifocus, and The Beltane Papers, and various anthologies. She would love for you to visit her at her website, www.goddessinateapot.com where you can find some of her free e-books to download as well as contact her.

(Meet Mago Contributor) Carolyn Lee Boyd

1 thought on “(Poem & Music) Sunrise at Good Water by Carolyn Lee Boyd”

Asim Hanif says:

January 8, 2021 at 10:50 PM

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(Prose Part 2) Spiral Movements by Nané Jordan

Women’s spirituality spiral: Further reading and experience led me to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Women’s Spirituality in San Francisco, California. At the time, these unorthodox women- and Goddess- centred studies felt beyond me. I had young children and a low income. But, I was internally very pulled to go. Such intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually compelling studies answered a deep yearning within me. In San Francisco, goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality flowered and bloomed. This grew from a commitment to social gender justice and activism in the American women’s movement, transforming society through women’s spiritual leadership. Thus, I studied with “bona fide” foremothers of women’s and goddess spirituality. In this powerful women-centred curriculum, we read feminist scholarship as much as created rituals and art, all while conducting our own research. The scholars and activists included Vicki Noble, Chief Luisah Teish, Z. Budapest, Judy Grahn, Dianne Jenett, Elinor Gadon, and others. I needed and valued their wise mentorship, as they became my elders. And I met friends and colleagues who nourish me to this day. Studying in San Francisco became a touchstone for me. I began to write about birth politics and midwifery, finding my voice and continuing my art. I pursued my devotional leanings towards Goddess figures such as Mary, Tara, and Devi. I learned from all the threads of my sister scholars in their research, such as: Goddess Durga, Indigenous knowledge and cosmology, artivism, menstrual reclamation and ritual celebration, Yoruban traditions, and so much more—this was and is the juiciest scholarship and way of life I know! I now trust more in my sense of reaching out to feel held by strong female divine energies, symbols, and visions. I honour my female body in its knowing-ness and as a source of blessing. I especially honour my primary matrix as Mother Earth. Born in Canada, I always loved to be in wilderness and in nature. As a young adult, I was a tree-planter in the summers, working for my university studies. I cultivated my animist tendencies, feeling the sentience and sacredness of other beings through connection to the Earth through outdoor work, hiking, and wilderness camping. This is “biophilia,” being in-love with Earthy-life, in regenerative relationship with trees, plants, animals, rocks, and waterways of the land. I later pursued a PhD in Education at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I wrote my dissertation on the Women’s Spirituality, Goddess-centred Master’s degree that I had earned in San Francisco. Through faculty and alumni stories and practices of such, I documented that program as an innovative and transformative field of education that empowers women’s lives and contributes to social justice (https://circle.ubc.ca/handle/2429/39810). The effect is especially one of authorization, or self-authorization, as women become the centre of their own lives, learning to navigate from an inner compass, claiming their voice and direction amongst challenges and injustice, while creating with others what we want to see and how we want to be in the world. Goddess as verb spiral: “Goddess” is more of a verb then a noun for me. The companionship of women, being in women’s space, sitting in rituals, classes or workshops, sharing in life, has given me the perspective and energy I have needed for life as lived in-love-with-life. Such companionship, in sisterhood and in mentoring and being mentored by other women, is vital to my experience of feeling whole and grounded on Earth and in life. Women’s circles are probably part of my DNA, meaning there is an ancestral and evolutionary aspect to gathering and taking care together. Vicki Noble frames this in terms of the love hormone “oxytocin,” the “tend and befriend” impulse that organizes such groups of women. Recently, I have felt called towards more focused devotional and contemplative work, through an almost “nun”-like order of spiritual women. I envision a kind of Hildegard von Bingen order of contemplative, creative women, living in the forest or on the mountain, but in a post-patriarchal, Goddess-centred way. Hildegard was a 12th century, German mystic and Abbess. I appreciate Hildegard for her prophetic voice and her visionary experience as much as for her brilliant music and herbalism. We can do more of this in Goddess feminism: bring forth the creative visions we need to do and be in these times. It can take a whole community to hold and develop the larger visions, and to put them into action. Art-making spiral: Art-making can be a sacred and spiritual practice, drawing from creative wells of wisdom. Through art-making, the body, psyche, and intuitive sensing all become sources for knowing and being in the world. As we creatively work with our hands, hearts, minds, and the wonderful materials of the Earth, we can make useful, beautiful objects, and express conceptual ideas. We also experience the inherently transformative process of art-making itself. We can gain insight into ourselves, others, and the world in which we live. Art-making is a fantastic, awe-some, use-full modality for expressing, healing, and liberating human life. My own art practice is based in photography, textile art, and performance creation. I document my family life through biographic photography. As an aesthetic-activist, I have drawn from my midwifery and women-centred birth work and research to create a textile installation series called “The Placenta Project” (http://galleries.lakeheadu.ca/featured-artist-researchers.html). I also especially live Goddess feminism through art-making with my women’s art collective, Gestare. The word “gestare” comes from the root word for “gestation,” and it means, “to carry in the womb” (http://www.gestareartcollective.com/). We are currently a group of five women who function a little bit like the “spiritual order of women” I just described. With Gestare, my art practice expands to include others through co-creative, process-based art methods. We meet in circle formats and share life stories. We live at long distances from each other, working online and in-person when we can. We decide upon a yearly cycle of artwork, rooted in Earth-consciousness and female-centred spirituality. We synchronize ourselves around a cosmic time frame like the full moon, or the equinoxes and solstices. …
(Essay) The August Moon and the Virgin Mary by Harita Meenee

To a Greek person, the word “August” brings two things to mind. One is the August moon. Captivating and erotic, we observe it with awe as it spreads its glow on the dark sea waters. It keeps on striking a chord. Strange? Not at all since the moon is a powerful archetypal symbol. Myths, which speak the language of the soul, adore it. Almost all peoples and cultures have created traditions and beliefs related to it. Though it might be easy to reject lunar lore as mere superstition, we cannot deny that the moon captures our imagination. My own relationship with it is deeply personal. My pseudonym, Meenee, is a variant of mene, an ancient Greek word for the moon. It is also another name for Selene, the Moon Goddess. “Taurokeros (Bull-horned) Mene” she is called in the Orphic Hymn 9, which sings her praises: “Mother of time, bringer of fruit … all-seeing … jewel of the night, leader of stars,with your long mantle you travel in spirals, all-wise maiden…” I’ve spent endless hours studying the symbolism of the moon, and yet it still seems to hide many secrets. Perhaps it’s because of its associations with the three greatest mysteries of life: birth, love and death. The moon “is born” and “dies” again each month, following a never-ending cycle: waxing, full moon, and waning. For a night it completely disappears from the sky and then it pops up again in the form of a thin crescent. One could hardly find a more apt symbol of rebirth. The earth’s satellite teaches something that we all too often forget: everything in life comes full circle and ends, but after that happens, something new arrives to takes the place of the old. Death is often followed by new birth. Maybe that’s why the moon became associated with goddesses who protect childbirth, like Artemis, as well as with figures connected to the Underworld, such as Hekate. Furthermore, lunar symbolism often accompanies Mother Goddesses, such as Isis and Artemis Ephesia. It’s not surprising if you think that the monthly journey of the moon lasts 29.5 days, approximately as much as a menstrual cycle. That’s why it was connected with the concepts of fertility and motherhood. Interestingly, anthropologists who travelled to remote places discovered that such beliefs had survived until recent years. For example, Greenlanders as well as some of the people in Nigeria attributed to the moon the power to cause pregnancy. The same was believed by the Buryats of Western Mongolia. Similarly, the Maori, natives of New Zealand, thought that the real husband of a woman is the moon. The Moon in Christianity and Islam Up to this day, the role of the moon remains alive in many traditions. For example, the crescent adorns Muslim mosques. Let’s not forget that this shape, often accompanied by a star, was a symbol of Hekate and of the ancient city of Byzantium, whose protectress she was. The Roman Emperor Constantine made Byzantium into his new capital, renaming it Constantinople, after himself. Thus, the symbol of the crescent moon was passed on to the Christianized empire that historians call Byzantine. We can see this symbol on coins, as well as in churches and on icons. Sometimes the accompanying star has been changed into a cross. Yet the crescent moon is a very ancient symbol, used not just by Greeks but also by many other peoples, such as the Babylonians, Persians and Phoenicians. The combination of crescent and star also appears on pre-Islamic coins of South Arabia. Moreover, it was used by Pre-Islamic Turkic nations such as the Göktürks, who lived in medieval Inner Asia. When the Ottoman Empire succeeded the Byzantine, the Turks made the crescent its central emblem. It didn’t take a big leap for it to become the symbol of Islam, which has been called “Religion of the Crescent Moon.” Christianity did not altogether abandon this age-old shape. In the biblical Book of Revelation we encounter a mysterious figure: “A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (XII, I) The Catholic Church identifies this cosmic being with the Virgin Mary, the “Queen of Heaven,” who is sometimes depicted standing on a crescent. Interestingly, in 2011, Catholic residents of Goa in India claimed that they could see an apparition of hers with baby Jesus on the moon. That caused them to panic, thinking that the vision was a bad omen signaling the end of the world! The Church had to adopt Pagan symbols in order to become more palatable to the people it conquered. I was raised as a Christian Orthodox, yet I never felt much of an affinity for this religion. As a child and teenager, I kept turning my eyes towards the Hellenic goddesses and gods I saw in books and museums. As an adult, I was fascinated to discover the many ancient elements incorporated into what was supposed to be the “one and only true religion.” I saw how in Eastern Orthodoxy Mary had clearly become a Christianized version of the Divine Mother. Naturally, she had also taken on the mysterious glow of the moon. During the Great Saturday (Easter Eve) service, she is called tekousa selene, the moon that gave birth to the “Savior, the sun of justice.” Orthodox images associating her with the crescent are rare, but they do exist. One example is the Galaktotrophousa, the Nursing Madonna, painted by the Cretan artist Emmanuel Tzanfournaris in the 16th century. Painted in Byzantine style, it depicts Mary sitting on a large crescent. Another interesting icon, which has become very popular because it is considered miraculous, is Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn. The original image, also known as the Virgin Mary of Ostrobramska, is located in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. She appears to emerge from a large silver crescent; it was not a part of the original painting but …
(Announcement) Mago Wickedary of Goddess Feminist Activism, 4 Year Projects

Dear RTM Contributors and Readers, Upon our 5th anniversary on August 15, 2015, Mago Books is pleased to announce a practice of Maternal/Gynocentric Gift Economy in the form of Gynapedia/Mago Wickedary of Goddess Feminist Activism. Mago Books seeks encyclopedic articles on (1) persons/organizations, (2) feminist/gynocentric notions, (3) animals/plants/nature. These articles will be first published in Gynapedia, Online Gynocentric Encyclopedia. We aim at publishing them as three books in the form of E-Books and/or Print Books within the coming 4 years by Sept. Equinox of 2021. On a perennial basis, one can become Author for Gynapedia and create pages. Please find the proposal form below and submit it accordingly. What is the Gynapedia/Mago Wickedary Project about? It is one of the things that we CAN do in the face of ever-accelerating patriarchal assaults. We trust that the speed of our minds/hearts/souls runs faster than that of the former. The project is conceived as an extension and continuation of the Mago Gift Work aligned with Maternal/Gynocentric Gift Economy. Ultimately, we do this to give ourselves, communities, and the terrestrial eco-community what we are universally given by our mothers, ancestors, and the Cosmic Mother. Advocating the Gift Economy, Genevieve Vaughan writes, “We are born into a Gift Economy practiced by those who mother us, enabling us to survive. The economy of exchange, quid pro quo, separates us from each other and makes us adversarial, while gift giving and receiving creates mutuality and trust.” The project of Gynapedia/Mago Wickedary of Goddess feminist activism aims at channeling the Sisterly dynamic (Inter-cosmic Sisterhood) in which one’s self-motivated giving/sharing for the cause of ALL in WE empowers both the receiver and the giver, the Original Dynamic of the Creatrix. Simply put, we aspire to host the Metamorphic Nature of the Gift Economy; our giving/sharing of gifts/talents/resources transforms us all and saves the inter-specieal terrestrial community (Yes, we humans are responsible for the survival of animals, plants and nature as well). Outcome of such dynamic is Sisterly trust and bond that animate all in WE. In this mechanism, we experience the divine providence of our giving and receiving, which guides us into an ever-deepening commitment to look after the Whole. The term, Wickedary, is borrowed from Mary Daly’s Websters’ First New Intergalactic Wickedary of the English Language in Cahoots with Jane Caputi. As the title suggests, Mago Wickedary is propelled by the vision of Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, advocate of Magoism who was immensely influenced by Mary Daly. Gynapedia/Mago Wickedary of Goddess Feminist Activism is perceived as the third type of the collective writing project that the Mago Work has undertaken after She Rises series and Celebrating the Goddess series. Project Categories (not in priority order): (1) Persons and organizations (writers, researchers, advocates, poets, artists, musicians, and others) (2) Feminist/gynocentric notions (3) Animals, plants and nature Publishing Media: Gynapedia (Free Online Gynocentric Encyclopedia), E-books, and/or Print Books Deadline: Ongoing till Jan. 31, 2021. Primary Deadline Jan. 31, 2018. The Persons and Organizations Category: This book will build on the bio data of Mago Work collective writing projects’ contributors including She Rises Volume 1 and She Rises Volume 2, Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess Volume 1, Return to Mago E-Magazine, Mago Pool Circle and Gynapedia but does NOT exclude other Goddess feminist activist writers, artists, poets, researchers, advocates, musicians, educators, and others. Proposal Form for all three categories: 1. Your name, country/state/city of residence 2. Contact email, and/or website(s) 3. Categories of your articles (one may write for multiple categories): (1) Persons and organizations (writers, researchers, advocates, poets, artists, musicians, and others) (2) Feminist/gynocentric notions (3) Animals, plants and nature 4. List of your accomplishments (briefly describe them in the spirit of Gift Economy, if appropriate) 5. Please indicate if you can create page(s) in Gynapedia directly. If so, list your online article(s) instead of below. If you do not wish to become a Gynapedia Author, please refer to below: Proposed entry word count: up to 2000 words (include URLs for interlinking) Font: Times New Roman (12 font size, 1 spaced) Style: Chicago Style, footnotes (if applicable) Illustrations: As attachment of jpg files (must be 300 dpi) Submission: Email submission only, to Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang magopoolcircle@gmail.com (State “Gynapedia/Mago Wickedary Proposal” in the subject line of your email. Proposal Form for Persons and organizations: Write the summary of your biography (no more than 100 words strictly) AND answer the proposal form below (all together 1000 words). Attach your self-photo image and/or a couple of other images in your email. Please use the following proposal form (you may answer them selectively). 1. Your name, country/state/city of residence 2. Contact email, and/or website(s) 3. Your area of specialty (research, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, prose, art, photography, advocacy, social movement) 4. List of your accomplishments (briefly describe them in the spirit of Gift Economy, if appropriate) 5. What makes you become a Goddessian, feminist, and/or activist? 6. How did you come to arrive at where/what you are as a Goddessian, feminist, and/or activist? 7. As a Goddessian, feminist, and/or activist, what do you aspire for yourself, the young, and/or the world? 8. Something that you want to give/share with the Goddess feminist activism community and/or the world. 9. Please indicate if you can create page(s) in Gynapedia directly. If so, list your online article(s) instead of below. If you do not wish to become a Gynapedia Author, please refer to below: Proposed entry word count: up to 2000 words (include URLs for interlinking) Font: Times New Roman (12 font size, 1 spaced) Style: Chicago Style, footnotes (if applicable) Illustrations: As attachment of jpg files (must be 300 dpi) Submission: Email submission only, to Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang (magopoolcircle@gmail.com) (State “Gynapedia/Mago Wickedary Proposal” in the subject line of your email.) Mago Books is seeking volunteer Authors and Coeditors for these books as well as Gynapedia. Please contact Dr. Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). In gratitude of RTM Editorial Volunteers! Support The Mago Work/The Mago Pod!
Meet Mago Contributor, Susan Hawthorne

Susan Hawthorne is the author of fourteen books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Her poetry collection Cow (2011) was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize in the 2012 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and was also a finalist in the 2012 Publishing Triangle Awards for the Audre Lorde Lesbian Poetry Prize in the US. Earth’s Breath (2009) was shortlisted for the 2010 Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in annual Best Australian Poems anthologies, been broadcast on National Radio, and been published in print and digital literary magazines in USA, Canada, India, Macau, Algeria, Germany, UK and Australia. In 2013 she was Literature Resident at the BR Whiting Studio in Rome where she wrote her most recent collection of poetry, Lupa and Lamb (2014) which focuses on the prehistory of the Mediterranean and ancient Rome. Her other collections of poetry include Valence: Considering War through Theory and Poetry (2011), Unsettling the Land (with Suzanne Bellamy, 2008), The Butterfly Effect (2005), and Bird and Other Writing on Epilepsy (1999). As of October 4, 2019, she has published 16 books. Her fiction includes a novel, The Falling Woman (1992), a verse novel Limen (2013) and she published a novel, Dark Matters in 2017. And in 2019 I has published the poetry collection The Sacking of the Muses And the non-fiction book In Defence of Separatism. She is Adjunct Professor in Writing at James Cook University, Director of Spinifex Press, and plays a leading role in independent publishing and eBook publishing. http//:www.spinifexpress.com.au She first began researching the ancient world in 1976. She enrolled to write a PhD on belief structures in the ancient world in 1979, but due to the institution’s incapacity to understand her project and active resistance to it, she left the university and instead wrote a novel, The Falling Woman (1992, reprinted 2004). She eventually completed a PhD in 2002, which forms the basis of her book Wild Politics: Feminism, globalisation and bio/diversity (2002, and published in India). Among her other non-fiction are The Spinifex Quiz Book (1993; translated into German and Spanish) and Bibliodiversity: A Manifesto for Independent Publishing (2004; translated into Arabic, French and Spanish, and to be published in German in 2017). She has also (co-)edited ten anthologies of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, including September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives (2002, with Bronwyn Winter), CyberFeminism (1999, with Renate Klein), several books on animals, and several lesbian anthologies. For more information go to the Spinifex Press website. After studying Ancient Greek for some years and receiving an MA (Prelim), in recent years she has studied Sanskrit and Latin. In 2009, she spent four months living in Chennai on an Asialink Residency and the result was her collection Cow. During 2016 she has participated in writing a poem a day, including several new sequences on rewriting mythology, among then a twenty-poem sequence on the Muses http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/. She is a publisher at Spinifex Press which she co-founded with Renate Klein 25 years ago. In 2015, she received the George Robertson Award for her Services to the Publishing Industry. Read her published posts from the recent: (Poem) Lost texts: Linear A by Susan Hawthorne (Solstice poem) manitari (Poem) many breasted
(Poem) wolf pack by Susan Hawthorne

Photo by Susan Hawthorne © 2013, Capitoline Museum, Rome wolves have come in a packleading them is Guadalupeher shimmering rays a full body haloas if Hildegard had drawn flaming petals around herstrains of mediaeval music mingle with Nahuatlit’s uncanny but like the halo it works with full pageantry comes Virginia Woolfdressed in an Ethiopian jalabainstead of standing to attentionshe reclines in a wicker chair smokingdeclaiming the end of war Christa Wolf bursts in bringing with her a trainload of workerswho carry banners with the wordproletariat written in redAnna Wulf too has a bannerWorkers of the World Unitebut it’s torn and dragging along the groundincreasingly shredded with each step Anna Wulf is carrying a bookshining as brightly as Guadalupe’s halo Guadalupe has her arm around quotidian Marythey have begun to howl not worryingthat the moon is not in the right phaseit’ll come says the second Marywhen we reach BEelemental quintessentialthat is what matters in the distance a songeveryone turns the hags the fairiesthe eldest ones all talk stopsthey stand listen to this song at the edge of hearing a very old woman joins the partyher bearing perfectly straightfeet as light as a birddust gusts rise turn spiral whisper awaybuild become willy-willies flirting with the landair carries the songthe winds become women dancing and then anotherLa Donna Lupa Paleoliticawolf womanat 300 000 years she deserves respectshe says I’m tired of museum lifeI want to return to the slow streamrock time planet time Vassar’s young women crowd the wolvesa Marxist lesbian party gathersaround Christa and Annabut Anna is leaving with her shining bookshe’s asking Virginia about formthe form itselfhow to break through these limitationsChrista is leaving her party toowanders over to where Medea is fixinga wing on her serpented flying chariotshe always was competent Anna slopes back to Guadalupe they are shoutingnot in anger so much as excitementyou have to descend first says GuadalupeI’ll wait for youa visionary can’t avoid her visions no matter the horror Virginia is nodding wishes she’d hadGuadalupe to hold her handat the time of her descents Lupa and Medea are talking in the cornerthe word ‘sons’ is overheard by Curatrixwhy I don’t I teach them to speak Angelic? there’s a noise at the gate voices of a different timbrea group of men is shouting their weapons visibleDiana Hippolyta Minerva and a crush of Amazonsbar their way they bear no armsbut there’s that no-nonsense stance then the martyrs step forwardyou don’t scare us any moreput down your weapons the burly ones are like puppies and do as they are tolda group of suits are betting on the outcomemoney is changing hands too quicklyto see what currency they are using Agnese is speechifyingyou have work to doand it won’t be doneby standing there calling us namestelling us you’ve been hurtsee my scars she raises her shirtshows the burn markspoints to the scar across her throatif you want to know hurtlook at every woman herethe bravest and the oldestboth rich and poor bear scars go on one of Anna Wulf’s descentsif you mustbut right now you have to leaveand work on those money changers the temples have become banksthe banks templesit’s your turn to fix it she turns and walks away the men stand dumbfoundedsome are angry say they should rape usteach us a thing or two all over againbut a few de-escalate Barbara reminds the weaponed onesshe’s their saint the one in charge of explosivesshe suggests to the mathematicians at the backthat they owe her too and perhaps they could get startedon convincing the chargers of interestthe forgers of currenciesthat money is as abstract as calculusas indefinable as an imaginary numberand more irrationalyou can’t take it with you they break off into groupsbegin to talkthey’ve a bit of ground to coverso let’s leave them at their own partythey can send us an emissary when they are ready Photos by Susan Hawthorne © 2013, Rome Notes wolf pack This poem was written while on a Literature Residency in Rome in 2013-14. The poem came towards the end of the residency and draws together many things I learned during my six months there. The resulting book Lupa and Lamb refers to the founding wolf stories of Rome (lupa, wolf, prostitute) and the Christian elements represented by the lamb represented by Agnese (from Latin agnus, lamb). Santa Agnese was a Christian martyr and the patron saint of rape victims and virgins. Anna Wulf: is a character in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook, and the descent refers to Briefing for a Descent into Hell (1971). La Donna Lupa Paleolitica: is currently housed in the Museo archeologico nazionale delle Marche in Ancona. https://www.magoism.net/2013/12/meet-mago-contributor-susan-hawthone/
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 5) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) Free PDF available at Mago Bookstore. THE 28-13-7 INTERPLAY How does the number, 28 (days), for the lunar cycle come about? Why is it 28 days and not 29 or 30, the latter implicated in the traditional lunar calendar of East Asia? It appears that 28 days is a value closer to the moon’s sidereal period (about 27.3 days) than the synodic period (about 29.5 days). Or is it that 28 days points to the median between the synodic lunar cycle and the sidereal lunar cycle? To answer these questions, it is important to note that a value in the Mago Time captures an inter-cosmic biological cusp/juncture derived from the matrix of sonic numerology. Distinguished from the patriarchal measure of time fixated into a solipsistic space, it makes visible the interconnectedness of all bodies. It never stands as an isolated single occasion. The 28 day, 13 month calendar has to do with how we perceive the moon. There are two ways of understanding the lunar cycle; the sidereal period and the synodic period (see Figure 2). The synodic period refers to the time, about 29.5 days, that we on earth see the moon complete one round of revolution, e.g. from the full moon to the full moon. In contrast, the sidereal period refers to the actual time, about 27.3 days, that the moon takes to complete one round of revolution. While the synodic time is measured relative to the Earth (the observer’s position is on earth), the sidereal time is measured relative to the distant “fixed” stars (the observer’s position is far out at the distant stars). Since the distant stars are considered at rest, the sidereal period is taken as a universal value, not affected by the location of the viewer, we on earth. There is, apparently, a discrepancy between the lunar cycle that we on earth see the moon return to the same phase and the lunar cycle that the moon actually completes a revolution. The former is based on our observation of the moon’s phases, whereas the latter is based on the moon’s actual orbital motions. The two differs basically because all celestial bodies, the moon, earth, and sun, in the solar system are in motion. It is not just the moon that we watch revolving but Earth also revolves around the sun. We are watching the movement of the moon on a moving vehicle, earth, so to speak. Therefore, the moon has to travel about 2 more days in order for us on earth to see it in the same phase (see the green portion in Figure 2 part). At the position A of the moon in Figure 2, the moon is in line with the sun and the distant stars, which is a new moon. In the position of B (the new moon), the moon is in line with the sun but not with the distant stars. The right hand line of the green portion in line with the distant stars is where the moon started as a new moon. The moon has traveled about 2 more days to be in line with the sun. That is why the synodic period is about 2 days longer than the sidereal period. When it comes to “the lunar calendar”, moderns tend to think of it as the waxing and waning phases of the moon (29.5 days, the synodic period). The problem lies in that, following the synodic period, people see nothing beyond the moon’s phases. They overlook the fact that the moon rotates and revolves on its own axis and around the earth approximately 13 degrees every day. The synodic lunisolar calendar is a navel-gazing vision. Attending to the moon’s phases may seem benign. However, that is a planned pitfall; the synodic lunisolar calendar with 12 months in a year is here to supersede the 28 day, 13 month gynocentric calendar. Its irregularity with the number of days in a month (29 or 30 days with about 11 extra days for intercalation) is an inherently critical flaw. Its inaccuracy when incorporated within the solar annual calendar (approximately 365.25 days) stands out. Seen below in the table, the synodic lunar track results in as many leap days as a total of 44 days for 4 years, whereas the sidereal lunar track has 2 days for 4 years. The synodic lunisolar calendar undercuts the moon’s given capacity – guiding earthly beings into the intergalactic voyage of WE/HERE/NOW. In it, both the moon and women are, glorified and objectified by the viewer, cast under the male voyeuristic eye. On the contrary, the sidereal lunisolar calendar, based on the cyclic synchrony between the moon and women, offers the lens to the interconnectedness of all bodies in the universe. Synodic Lunar Track (Patriarchal) Sidereal Lunar Track (Magoist) Focus Moon’s phases Moon’s motions Days of month 29 or 30 (irregular) 28 (regular) No. of months in a year 12 13 Women’s menstrual cycle Assumed sync Synced Luni-centric Astolonomy Unknown 28 Constellations Intercalations 11 days annually, a total of 44 days for 4 years 1 day annually & 1 day every 4 years, a total of 2 days for 4 years Sources prove that the sidereal lunation is, albeit esoterically, known across cultures to this day. Through the comparative study of ancient cultures of Babylon, Arabia, India and China, W. B. Yeats (1865-1939) observes the substantive difference in dynamic between the two lunation tracks, the synodic and the sidereal. He notes that the moon’s orbital motion, apart from the sun’s, charts out the celestial sphere as the 28 Mansions. I have learned that the 28 Mansions or 28 Constellations of the Moon is a popular form of the 28 day and 13 month Magoist calendar, widely circulated among East Asians especially Koreans from the ancient time. Yeats’ following insights corroborate the Budoji’s explication of the Magoist Calendar in general and the faulty nature of the patriarchal (ancient Chinese) calendar in …
(Pandemic Poem 9) Underway by Jyoti Wind

Buddhessa, N.J. Photo by Jyoti Wind My indoor geranium is getting ready to bud. In my neighborhood, I’m surrounded by re-incarnated monks and nuns. Mountain lions come down from the hills to roam the empty streets. Hawks are back nest tending is underway. I think of my dear friends, near and far, the miles are many, heart distance is as close as ever. What we needed to remind us what’s important is underway. Sacrifices have been made on my behalf, and the behalf of the many. I bow to those who have made them. I vow to live more graciously, gratefully, consciously, of what I do and where I place my attention. https://www.magoism.net/2020/08/meet-mago-contributor-jyoti-wind/
(Art) Lilith with Bird II by Glen Rogers

Glena Rogers, Lilith with Bird II, Monoprint, 22″ x 14″ Artist Glena Rogers honors women and the sacred feminine in her paintings, monoprints and drawings. Her figures radiate independence, as they acknowledge the arbitrary barriers and obstacles that women encounter in their lives. In this visionary world, women hold a shared wisdom as divine creators and, through ritual and ceremony, reclaim ancient rites of passage. In this monotype print, the disparaged figure from the Bible, Lilith, is in her power – communing with the Spirit Guide on her shoulder. https://www.magoism.net/2021/01/meet-mago-contributor-glen-rogers/
(Poem) new year's circle dance by Andrea Nicki

we wore white flowing cotton shirts, pants, skirts a circle of white petunias we danced without speaking made soft, quiet movements to usher in the new light our bodies coming close arms embracing those on our left and right then backing away…advancing… receding again… a kaleidoscope of white
(Art) Hallomas by Sudie Rakusin

“In this moment, between the old and the new all is possible” – Glenys Livingston Meet Mago Contributor Sudie Rakusin and Meet Mago Contributor Glenys Livingstone. Art and poem stanza are from Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess.
(Essay) The Magic Comb by Hearth Moon Rising

One of the first things I do upon rising in the morning is to comb my hair. In my mind, detangling my hair is a way of sorting out my thoughts, helping me to think clearly. Some readers of this blog are old enough to remember being given a comb, brush and mirror set for a special “big girl” birthday. It would be the finest set a family could afford — expected to be used the girl’s entire life. Ivory, tortoiseshell and silver were the most fashionable materials, valued as much for their dearness as their utility. Today, a comb is not an item of conspicuous consumption, and wooden combs are preferred because they detangle without leaving a static charge. Still, a comb is a very personal object, and most women value one with size, shape and tooth-spacing conducive to her particular hair. Not surprisingly, women (and sometimes men) were once buried with their combs, and the quality and workmanship of the comb provides information about the status of the individual. The oldest extant combs are carved of bone, ivory or antler, although very rarely, a wooden comb survives the passage of time. A few mucky-mucks went to the other world with a gold comb. Since some mummies have been discovered with lice, it’s a good thing the ancient Egyptians included nit-combs in their burial goods, although I personally prefer to envision an afterlife without head lice. Despite the importance and ubiquity of the implement, little has been noted about the comb and its symbolism. Marija Gimbutas has identified a comb symbol going back to the painted vultures at Catal Huyuk (6,000 bce). She finds the comb symbol on a variety of pottery and goddess figures from Neolithic and Iron Age Europe. Combs from the Switzerland area portray stylized feminine forms with breasts or vulvas. Gimbutas adds that: To this day, European peasants use the comb for protection against diseases and other evils and for healing purposes. Children and women after childbirth wear comb pendants on their front or back, a custom inherited from prehistory when it was considered necessary to appease the Vulture (Death) Goddess during the period of her rule in order to secure a safe and healthy life. The comb as women’s symbol refers not just to hair combs but combs associated with processing textiles, once exclusively women’s work. The goddess Athena murders her rival Arachne with a loom comb. The comb symbol often appears on spindle whorls. Hittite tablets record a rite for newborns performed by the midwife involving a sheep’s wool comb. There is a strong connection between hair combing and water. Sea goddesses like Venus are pictured with combs. In folklore, rain can be caused by combing hair. Sometimes pearls, which come from the ocean, are combed out of hair—although a witch can also cause hideous things to be combed. Pre-Christian and medieval symbol stones from Scotland, called “Pictish Stones,” frequently show a comb-and-mirror combination. It is not known exactly what the comb-and-mirror signifies, except that it is believed to be a feminine symbol. In Scottish lore, seductive mermaids are famous for sitting on rocks combing their hair, a special magic they perform to lure sailors to their death. The Irish goddess Medb, with her legendary sexual appetite, has a comb as her symbol. Sexuality, particularly women’s sexuality, has been considered a malevolent force by Christianity, but the mermaid with her comb and mirror is carved on many Irish churches, indicating the symbol may once have had a more benign interpretation. Perhaps the power of the mermaid combing her hair symbolized the fertility of the sea, offering a bounty of food. In Germanic folklore, mythic creatures with combs also perform mischief. If a man chances upon a water nymph combing her hair, he must assume she has called him there with her magic and marry her within three days, or he will die. Sprites come out at night to comb the manes of horses or the beards of goats, presumably to gain power from these animals. In a Russian fairytale, a cat with a magic comb appears, and this comb is like no other. Drawing on the contrary nature of the domestic cat, this comb tangles instead of detangles. The heroine uses the cat’s comb to create a tangled forest behind her as she escapes her pursuer. The Christian church at one time recognized the ritual power of the comb. Liturgical combs were widespread in the early Middle Ages, although their exact symbolism and function is unknown. There are obscure references to ritual hair-combing of priests that may still occur in some Christian churches but details are not available. A comb spell for Halloween surfaced in colonial America that probably has older precedents. A woman (always a woman) would light a candle and sit before a mirror, combing her hair while looking for her future lover behind her shoulder. This form of divination remained a popular Halloween game to the early twentieth century. Comb spells are surprisingly scarce in books about modern witchcraft, and the comb is not listed as one of the core magical tools in any book I have run across. Ed Fitch, in Magical Rites from the Crystal Well, has offered a comb-and-mirror spell for women that is somewhat well-known. The comb is a powerful magical tool, almost exclusively a woman’s magical tool, and we should make better use of it. Comb-and-mirror spells are simple and need little elaboration. Though I’ve combed only a limited geographic region for this article, I have no doubt that women’s magical traditions around the comb could be found in West Africa, China, India, and probably many other places as well. Though combs have gotten some attention as art history, the comb as a shamanic tool has not been adequately explored. Sources Answers.com “Liturgical Comb.” http://www.answers.com/topic/liturgical-comb-1 The British Museum, “Liturgical Comb Made of Ivory.” http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_mla/i/liturgical_comb_made_of_ivory.aspx. Edwardian Promenade. Hallowe’en in the Guilded Age. http://edwardianpromenade.com/amusements/halloween-in-the-gilded-age/ Fitch, Ed. Magical Rites from the Crystal Well. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, …
(Essay 3) The Blending of Bön, Buddhism and the Goddess Gemu in Mosuo Culture by Krista Rodin

[Editor’s Note: This series is included as a chapter in Goddesses in Culture, History and Myth .] Goddess Gemu’s Influence on Mosou Traditions Lugu Lake with the Goddess Gemu and her lover, Hu Zhau. Photo, K. Rodin Children are thought to become adults at a ceremony when they turn thirteen, at which time they can participate in all adult activity, including choosing their own partners from other villages. They often stay with each other for two to three years, but may change partners at any time. Around age seventeen they are ready for an ahzu relationship. Ahzu courtship begins when a boy sends his chosen girl a special dress and scarf. If she accepts them, then she is interested in pursuing the relationship. Once they are ready to become seriously involved, the girl will tie a shawl waist belt around the boy’s middle. This means they have become an ahzu couple. Not all relationships end up as ahzu relationships. The partnering today involves the Mosuo boy leaving his home around midnight wearing a cowboy hat to spend time with his girlfriend. Before the visit he needs three things: a cowboy hat to hide his identity and to hang on the door as a “do not disturb” sign), pebbles to throw to the window (when she comes she opens the window or door for him, if she doesn’t want his advances he’ll get a bucket of water thrown on him. If allowed in he can climb up the side of the house and enter her room), he also needs a good relationship with the dog, so he brings meat for the dog to keep him quiet. Most Mosuo households have dogs as according to legend they traded their allotted time on earth with people, so keeping the dog happy is important to any budding relationship. By four or five in the morning the boy returns home and works in his own family’s fields. The stories of the Goddess Gemu demonstrate some fairly typical aspects of many Asian goddess narratives. She is associated with the womb of mother earth through her presence in a cave high on a sacred mountain. She was been the object of desire and jealousy which led to a physical transformation. The threatening role of the Sky God and the subjugation of the goddess’s wishes to his power is seen in numerous narratives across Eurasia. Through her personal struggles, though, she became the protector of the people who worship her. In the Gemu stories, she is additionally merged with the ancestor worship traditions in China and in earlier Asian shamanic cultures, including forms of Mongolian shamanism, which also highlights the role of the Sky God as the main force in the cosmos. Ancestor worship is considered crucial to maintaining a harmonious relationship between the spirit and human worlds as the ancestors are the intercessors for the family/clan with the unseen spirits. Gemu, as the blended beautiful girl-mother figure for the Mosuo, is the ancestor of the clan and as such needs to be worshipped and respected. Failing to do so will bring not just the individual, but the entire clan into difficulties. Chinese and Mongolian ancestor spirits are known to cause havoc if they believe they have been neglected. Tibet, which was on the trade corridor with the people of the greater Lijiang and Lugu Lake region prior to the closing of the border in the late 19th century, had its own distinct indigenous forms of shamanism, Bön, which merged with the worship of the Goddess Gemu. (To be continued.)Meet Mago Contributor, Krista Rodin.
(Poetry) Cyclone time by Susan Hawthorne

Hungry Cassowary, Photo by Susan Hawthorne when earth exhaleswe inhale, hold our breathas that great turbine of windrolls over us three hours we sitnursing the rising windthe power goes outthe TV light extinguished through the windowtrees gyratewailing to the wind’s howlfascinated in devilish thrall darkness lopes across the voidof sea in tormented uncertaintystark-eyed watchfulnessgrips us and curiosity listens 6 am we look at one anothergather the bedclothesmove pillows doonadog into the bathroom you have the spot by the looI have the towel rackswind thrashes, sky lightensto grey, the air a roaring bulldozer in the roomnight’s strideawash, fleckedwith salt I sit in the door jambyou are videoing the dawn of a new worlda world of strewn treesmatted leaf torn roovesmetal dress flapping the dog sleeps on, curled into herown tight dream 7.30 amwind turns, limbs snap in frightlying down for the wind no longer works light dribbles in, time drags byI’m reading poetry the spacebefore me a thinking spaceoutside a tree branch wings past the window its leavesslashing the sky, inside a strangeequilibrium holds me stillin a state of cosmic acceptance corrugated roofslams into the garage wallguttering spills its contentsthe down pipe is down the path spattered confettiedin the pall of wind we pokeour heads into the airtrepidation stalls our steps “The cassowary were very hungry after cyclone Yasi. This photo shows the destruction of trees. Those unfamiliar with a cassowary might not know that it is in the centre of the photo.”Yasi and Cassowary, Photo by Susan Hawthorne Living in the tropics means that you can never forget the cycle of the year. In the southern hemisphere these are the months of the cyclone. We watch the skies, sniff the air and check the weather apps. It can extend anywhere from mid-December to May, but January, February and March are the most likely months. Since living in the tropics (2005 to now) I have been through two Category-5 cyclones (that is stronger winds than Katrina). On the plus side, the rainforest smiles when the rains come. Cyclones rattle the vines off trees, break branches, sometimes fell trees, and that creates light for the understory to grow. At this time of year, you can almost see the grass grow. The cassowary like the fruit of the black bean tree which is in fruit now as is the white apple. Two cyclones have already been called for the year, but so far, they have fizzed. We wait and see what comes. This poem is from Earth’s Breath (2009) shortlisted for the 2010 Judith Wright Poetry Prize. https://www.spinifexpress.com.au/shop/p/9781876756734?rq=Earth%27s%20Breath https://www.magoism.net/2013/12/meet-mago-contributor-susan-hawthone/

(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. […]
(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 […]
(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 […]
(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, […]
(Special Post) Why I choose to be an RTM contributor by Glenys Livingstone

The contribution of my writing to Return to Mago E-Magazine has evolved since it began […]
(Special post) Interweaving Mago Threads by Mago Circle Members

“Mago” tradition Magoism is a new word to the modern Western vocabulary, yet it has […]

(Book Excerpt) Imbolc/Early Spring within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Imbolc/Early Spring are: Southern Hemisphere – August 1st/2nd Northern Hemisphere – February 1st/2nd though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, thus actually a little later in early August for S.H., and early February for N.H., respectively. Some Imbolc Motifs In this cosmology Imbolc/Early Spring is the quintessential celebration of She Who is the Urge to Be. This aspect of the Creative Triplicity is associated with the differentiation quality of Cosmogenesis,[i] and with the Virgin/Young One aspect of the Triple Goddess, who is ever-new, unique, and singular in Her beauty – as each being is. This Seasonal Moment celebrates an identification with the Virgin/Young One – the rest of the light part of the cycle celebrates Her processes. At this Moment She is the Promise of Life, a spiritual warrior, determined to Be. Her purity is Her singularity of purpose. Her inviolability is Her determination to be … nothing to do with unbroken hymens of the dualistic and patriarchal mind. The Virgin quality is the essential “yes” to Being – not the “no” She was turned into. In the poietic process of the Seasonal Moments of Samhain/Deep Autumn, Winter Solstice and Imbolc/Early Spring, one may get a sense of these three in a movement towards manifest form – syntropy: from the autopoietic fertile sentient space of Samhain, through the gateway and communion of Winter Solstice to differentiated being, constant novelty, infinite particularity of Imbolc/Early Spring. The three are a kaleidoscope, seamlessly connected. The ceremonial breath meditations for all three of these Seasonal Moments focus attention on the Space between the breaths – each with slightly different emphasis: it is from this manifesting Space that form/manifestation arises. If one may observe Sun’s position on the horizon as She rises, the connection of the three can be noted there also: that is, Sun at Samhain/Deep Autumn and Imbolc/Early Spring rises at the same position, halfway between Winter Solstice and Equinox, but the movement is just different in direction.[ii] And these three Seasonal Moments are not clearly distinguishable – they are “fuzzy,”[iii] not simply linear and all three are in each other … this is something recognised of Old, thus the Nine Muses, or the numinosity of any multiple of three. Some Imbolc/early Spring Story This is the Season of the new waxing light. Earth’s tilt has begun taking us in this region back towards the Sun. Traditionally this Seasonal Point has been a time of nurturing the new life that is beginning to show itself – around us in flora and fauna, and within. It is a time of committing one’s self to the new life and to inspiration – in the garden, in the soul, and in the Cosmos. We may celebrate the new young Cosmos – that time in our Cosmic story when She was only a billion years old and galaxies were forming, as well as the new that is ever coming forth. This first Seasonal transition of the light part of the cycle has been named “Imbolc” – Imbolc is thought to mean “ewe’s milk” from the word “Oimelc,” as it is the time when lambs were/are born, and milk was in plentiful supply. It is also known as “the Feast of Brigid,” Brigid being the Great Goddess of the Celtic (and likely pre-Celtic) peoples, who in Christian times was made into a saint. The Great Goddess Brigid is classically associated with early Spring since the earliest of times, but her symbology has evolved with the changing eras – sea, grain, cow. In our times we could associate Her also with the Milky Way, our own galaxy that nurtures our life – Brigid’s jurisdiction has been extended. Some sources say that Imbolc means “in the belly of the Mother.” In either case of its meaning, this celebration is in direct relation to, and an extension of, the Winter Solstice – when the Birth of all is celebrated. Imbolc may be a dwelling upon the “originating power,” and that it is in us: a celebration of each being’s particular participation in this power that permeates the Universe, and is present in the condition of every moment.[iv] This Seasonal Moment focuses on the Urge to Be, the One/Energy deeply resolute about Being. She is wilful in that way – and Self-centred. In the ancient Celtic tradition Great Goddess Brigid has been identified with the role of tending the Flame of Being, and with the Flame itself. Brigid has been described as: “… Great Moon Mother, patroness (sic … why not “matron”) of poetry and of all ‘making’ and of the arts of healing.”[v] Brigid’s name means “the Great or Sublime One,” from the root brig, “power, strength, vigor, force, efficiency, substance, essence, and meaning.”[vi] She is poet, physician/healer, smith-artisan: qualities that resonate with the virgin-mother-crone but are not chronologically or biologically bound – thus are clearly ever present Creative Dynamic. Brigid’s priestesses in Kildare tended a flame, which was extinguished by Papal edict in 1100 C.E., and was re-lit in 1998 C.E.. In the Christian era, these Early Spring/Imbolc celebrations of the Virgin quality, the New Young One – became “Candlemas,” a time for purifying the “polluted” mother – forty days after Solstice birthing. Many nuns took their vows of celibacy at this time, invoking the asexual virgin bride.[vii] This is in contrast to its original meaning, and a great example of what happened to this Earth-based tradition in the period of colonization of indigenous peoples. An Imbolc/Early Spring Ceremonial Altar The flame of being within is to be protected and nurtured: the new Being requires dedication and attention. At this early stage of its advent, there is nothing certain about its staying power and growth: there may be uncertainties of various kinds. So there is traditionally a “dedication” in the ceremonies, which may be considered a “Brigid-ine” dedication, or known as a “Bridal” dedication, since “Bride” is a derivative of …
A PaGaian Wheel of the Year and Her Creativity by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. for larger image see: https://pagaian.org/pagaian-wheel-of-the-year/ Essentially a PaGaian Wheel of the Year celebrates Cosmogenesis – the unfolding of the Cosmos, none of which is separate from the unfolding of each unique place/region, and each unique being. This creativity of Cosmogenesis is celebrated through Earth-Sun relationship as it may be expressed and experienced within any region of our Planet. PaGaian ceremony expresses this with Triple Goddess Poetry understood to be metaphor for the creative dynamics unfolding the Cosmos. At the heart of the Earth-Sun relationship is the dance of light and dark, the waxing and waning of both these qualities, as Earth orbits around our Mother Sun. This dance, which results in the manifestation of form and its dissolution (as expressed in the seasons), happens because of Earth’s tilt in relationship with Sun: because this effects the intensity of regional receptivity to Sun’s energy over the period of the yearly orbit. This tilt was something that happened in the evolution of our planet in its earliest of days – some four and a half billion years ago,[i] and then stabilised over time: and the climatic zones were further formed when Antarctica separated from Australia and South America, giving birth to the Antarctica Circumpolar Current, changing the circulation of water around all the continents … just some thirty million years ago.[ii] Within the period since then, which also saw the advent of the earliest humans, Earth has gone through many climatic changes. It is likely that throughout those changes, the dance of light and dark in both hemispheres of the planet … one always the opposite of the other – has been fairly stable and predictable. The resultant effect on flora and fauna regionally however has varied enormously depending on many other factors of Earth’s ever-changing ecology: She is an alive Planet who continues to move and re-shape Herself. She is Herself subject to the cosmic dynamics of creativity – the forming and the dissolving and the re-emerging. The earliest of humans must have received all this, ‘observed’ it in a very participatory way: that is, not as a Western industrialized or dualistic mind would think of ‘observation’ today, but as kin with the events – identifying with their own experience of coming into being and passing away. There is evidence (as of this writing) to suggest that humans have expressed awareness of, and response to, the phenomenon of coming into being and passing away, as early as one hundred thousand years ago: ritual burial sites of that age have been found,[iii] and more recently a site of ongoing ritual activity as old as seventy thousand years has been found.[iv] The ceremonial celebration of the phenomenon of seasons probably came much later, particularly perhaps when humans began to settle down. These ceremonial celebrations of seasons apparently continued to reflect the awesomeness of existence as well as the marking of transitions of Sun back and forth across the horizon, which became an important method of telling the time for planting and harvesting and the movement of pastoral animals. It seems that the resultant effect of the dance of light and dark on regional flora and fauna, has been fairly stable in recent millennia, the period during which many current Earth-based religious practices and expression arose. In our times, that is changing again. Humans have been, and are, a major part of bringing that change about. Ever since we migrated around the planet, humans have brought change, as any creature would: but humans have gained advantage and distinguished themselves by toolmaking, and increasingly domesticating/harnessing more of Earth’s powers – fire being perhaps the first, and this also aided our migration. In recent times this harnessing/appropriating of Earth’s powers became more intense and at the same time our numbers dramatically increased: and many of us filled with hubris, acting without consciousness or care of our relational context. We are currently living in times when our planet is tangibly and visibly transforming: the seasons themselves as we have known them for millennia – as anyone’s ancestors knew them – appear to be changing in most if not all regions of our Planet. Much predictable Poetry – sacred language – for expressing the quality of the Seasonal Moments will change, as regional flora changes, as the movement of animals and birds and sea creatures changes, as economies change.[v]In Earth’s long story regional seasonal manifestation has changed before, but not so dramatically since the advent of much current Poetic expression for these transitions, as mixed as they are with layers of metaphor: that is, with layers of mythic eras, cultures and economies. We may learn and understand the traditional significance of much of the Poetry, the ceremony and symbol – the art – through which we could relate and converse with our place, as our ancestors may have done, but it will continue to evolve as all language must. In PaGaian Cosmology I have adapted the Wheel as a way of celebrating the Female Metaphor and also as a way of celebrating Cosmogenesis, the Creativity that is present really/actually in every moment, but for which the Seasonal Moments provide a pattern/Poetry over the period of a year – in time and place. The pattern that I unfold is a way in which the three different phases/characteristics interplay. In fact, the way in which they interplay seems infinite, the way they inter-relate is deeply complex. I think it is possible to find many ways to celebrate them. There is nothing concrete about the chosen story/Poetry, nor about each of the scripts presented here, just as there is nothing concrete about the Place of Being – it (She) is always relational, a Dynamic Interchange. Whilst being grounded in the “Real,” the Poetry chosen for expression is therefore at the same time, a potentially infinite expression, according to the heart and mind of the storyteller. NOTES: [i] See Appendix C, *(6), Glenys Livingstone, A Poiesis of the Creative …
The Ceremonial Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. The Cosmos is a ceremony, a ritual. Dawn and dusk, seasons, supernovas – it is an ongoing Event of coming into being and passing away. The Cosmos is always in flux, and we exist as participants in this great ritual event, this “cosmic ceremony of seasonal and diurnal rhythms” which frame “epochal dramas of becoming,” as Charlene Spretnak describes it.[i] Swimme and Berry describe the universe as a dramatic reality, a Great Conversation of announcement and response.[ii]Ritual/ceremony[iii] may be the human conscious response to the announcements of the Universe – an act of conscious participation. Ceremony then may be understood as a microcosmos[iv] – a human-sized replication of the Drama, the Dynamic we find ourselves in. Swimme and Berry describe ritual as an ancient response humans have to the awesome experience of witnessing the coming to be and the passing away of things; they say that a “ritual mode of expression” is from its beginning “the manner in which humans respond to the universe, just as birds respond by flying or as fish respond by swimming.”[v] It is the way in which we as humans, as a species, may respond to this awesome experience of being and becoming, how we may hold the beauty and the terror. Humans have exhibited this tendency to ritualize since the earliest times of our unfolding: evidence so far reveals burial sites dating back one hundred thousand years, as mentioned in the previous chapter. We often went to huge effort in these matters, that is almost incomprehensible to the modern industrialised econocentric mind: the precise placing of huge stones in circles such as found at Stonehenge and the creation of complex sites such as Silbury Hill may be expressions of some priority, indicating that econocentric thinking – such as tool making, finding shelter and food, was not enough or not separate from the participation in Cosmic events. Ritual seems to have expressed, and still does actively express for some peoples, something essential to the human – a way of being integral with our Cosmic Place, which was not perceived as separate from material sustenance, the Source of existence: thus it was a way perhaps of sensing “meaning” as it might be termed these days – or “relationship.” Swimme and Berry note that the order of the Universe has been experienced especially in the seasonal sequence of dissolution and renewal; this most basic pattern has been an ultimate referent for existence.[vi] The seasonal pattern contains within it the most basic dynamics of the Cosmos – desire, fullfilment, loss, transformation, creation, growth, and more. The annual ceremonial celebration of the seasonal wheel – the Earth-Sun sacred site within which we tour – can be a pathway to the Centre of these dynamics, a way of making sense of the pattern, a way of sensing it. One enters the Universe’s story. The Seasonal Moments when marked and celebrated in the art form of ceremony may be sens-ible ‘gateways’ through the flesh of the world[vii] to the Centre – which is omnipresent Creativity. Humans do ritual everyday – we really can’t help ourselves. It is simply a question of what rituals we do, what story we are telling ourselves, what we are “spelling”[viii] ourselves with – individually and collectively. Ceremony is actually ‘doing,’ not just theorizing. We can talk about our personal and cultural disconnection endlessly, but we need to actually change our minds. Ceremony can be an enabling practice – a catalyst/practice for personal and cultural change. It is not just talking about eating the pear, it is eating the pear; it is not just talking about sitting on the cushion (meditating), it is sittingon the cushion. It is a cultural practice wherein we tell a story/stories about what we believe to be so most deeply, about who and what we are. Ceremony can be a place for practicing a new language, a new way of speaking, or spelling – a place for practicing “matristic storytelling”[ix] if you like: that is, for telling stories of the Mother, of Earth and Cosmos as if She were alive and sentient. We can “play like we know it,” so that we may come to know it.[x] Ceremony then is a form of social action. NOTES: [i] Spretnak, States of Grace, 145. [ii] Swimme and Berry, The Universe Story, 153. [iii] I will use either or both of these terms at different times: I generally prefer “ceremony” as Kathy Jones defines it in Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess, 319. She says that ritual involves a repeated set of actions which may contain spiritual or “mundane” elements (such as a daily ritual of brushing one’s teeth), “whereas ceremony is always a spiritual practice and may or may not include ritual elements.” The PaGaian seasonal celebrations/events are thus most kin to “ceremony,” although I do not perceive any action as “mundane.” However, “ritual” is more commonly used to speak of how humans have conversed with cosmos/Earth. [iv] Spretnak, States of Grace, 145. [v] Swimme and Berry, The Universe Story, 152-153. [vi] Ibid. [vii] Abram speaks of “matter as flesh” in The Spell of the Sensuous, 66, citing Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Invisible and the Invisible (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1968). [viii] Starhawk used this term on her email list in 2004 to describe the story-telling we might do to bring forth the changes we desire. [ix] A term used by Gloria Feman Orenstein in The Reflowering of the Goddess (New York: Pergamon Press, 1990), 147. [x] As my doctoral thesis supervisor Dr. Susan Murphy once described it to me in conversation REFERENCES: Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. Jones, Kathy. Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess. Glastonbury: Ariadne Publications, 2006. Orenstein, Gloria Feman. The Reflowering of the Goddess. New York: Pergamon Press, 1990. Spretnak, Charlene. States of Grace: The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993. Swimme, Brian and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
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.
Beltaine/High Spring within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 4 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Samhain/Deep Autumn are: Northern Hemisphere – October 31st/November 1st Southern Hemisphere – April 30th/May 1st though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, thus actually a little later in early May for S.H., and early November for N.H., respectively. A Samhain/Deep Autumn Ceremonial Altar In this cosmology, Deep Autumn/Samhain is a celebration of She Who creates the Space to Be par excellence. This aspect of the Creative Triplicity is associated with the autopoietic quality of Cosmogenesis[i] and with the Crone/Old One of the Triple Goddess, who is essentially creative in Her process. This Seasonal Moment celebrates the process of the Crone, the Ancient One … how we are formed by Her process, and in that sense conceived by Her: it is an ‘imaginal fertility,’ a fertility of the dark space, the sentient Cosmos. It mirrors the fertility and conception of Beltaine (which is happening in the opposite Hemisphere at the same time). Some Samhain/Deep Autumn Story This celebration of Deep Autumn has been known in Christian times as “Halloween,” since the church in the Northern Hemisphere adopted it as “All Hallow’s eve” (31st October) or “All Saint’s Day” (1st November). This “Deep Autumn” festival as it may be named in our times, was known in old Celtic times as Samhain (pronounced “sow-een), which is an Irish Gaelic word, with a likely meaning of “Summer’s end,” since it is the time of the ending of the Spring-Summer growth. Many leaves of last Summer are turning and falling at this time: it was thus felt as the end of the year, and hence the New Year. It was and is noted as the beginning of Winter. It was the traditional Season for bringing in the animals from the outdoor pastures in pastoral economies, and when many of them were slaughtered. Earth’s tilt is continuing to move the region away from the Sun at this time of year. This Seasonal Moment is the meridian point of the darkest quarter of the year, between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice; the dark part of the day is longer than the light part of the day and is still on the increase. It is thus the dark space of the annual cycle wherein conception and dreaming up the new may occur. As with any New Year, between the old and the new, in that moment, all is possible. We may choose in that moment what to pass to the future, and what to relegate to compost. Samhain may be understood as the Space between the breaths. It is a generative Space – the Source of all. There is particular magic in being with this Dark Space. This Dark Space which is ever present, may be named as the “All-Nourishing Abyss,”[ii] the “Ever-Present Origin.”[iii] It is a generative Place, and we may feel it particularly at this time of year, and call it to consciousness in ceremony. Some Samhain/Deep Autumn Motifs The fermentation of all that has passed begins. This moment may mark the Transformation of Death – the breakdown of old forms, the ferment and rot of the compost, and thus the possibility of renewal.[iv] It is actually a movement towards form and ‘re-solution’ (as Beltaine – its opposite – begins a movement towards entropy and dissolution). With practice we begin to develop this vision: of the rot, the ferment, being a movement towards the renewal, to see the gold. And just so, does one begin to know the movement at Beltaine, towards expansion and thus falling apart, dissolution. In Triple Goddess poetics it may be expressed that the Crone’s face here at Samhain begins to change to the Mother – as at Beltaine the Virgin’s face begins to change to the Mother: the aspects are never alone and kaleidoscope into the other … it is an alive dynamic process, never static. The whole Wheel is a Creation story, and Samhain is the place of the conceiving of this Creativity, and it may be in the Spelling of it – saying what we will; and thus, beginning the Journey through the Wheel. Conception could be described as a “female-referring transformatory power” – a term used by Melissa Raphael in Thealogy and Embodiment:[v] conception happens in a female body, yet it is a multivalent cosmic dynamic, that is, it happens in all being in a variety of forms. It is not bound to the female body, yet it occurs there in a particular and obvious way. Androcentric ideologies, philosophies and theologies have devalued the event and occurrence of conception in the female body: whereas PaGaian Cosmology is a conscious affirmation, invocation and celebration of “female sacrality”[vi] as part of all sacrality. It does thus affirm the female as a place; as well as a place.[vii] ‘Conception’ is identified as a Cosmic Dynamic essential to all being – not exclusive to the female, yet it is a female-based metaphor, one that patriarchal-based religions have either co-opted and attributed to a father-god (Zeus, Yahweh, Chenrezig – have all taken on being the ‘mother’), or it has been left out of the equation altogether. Womb is the place of Creation – not some God’s index finger as is imagined in Michelangelo’s famous painting. Melissa Raphael speaks of a “menstrual cosmology”. It is an “ancient cosmology in which chaos and harmony belong together in a creation where perfection is both impossible and meaningless;”[viii] yet it is recently affirmed in Western scientific understanding of chaos, as essential to order and spontaneous emergence. Samhain is an opportunity for immersion in a deeper reality which the usual cultural trance denies. It may celebrate immersion in what is usually ‘background’ – the real world beyond and within time and space: which is actually the major portion of the Cosmos we live in.[ix] Samhain is about understanding that the Dark is a fertile place: in its decay and rot it seethes with infinite unseen complex golden threads connected to the wealth of Creativity of all that has gone before – like any …
(Video) Winter Solstice Breath Meditation by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Winter Solstice/Yule Southern Hemisphere – June 20 – 23. Northern Hemisphere – December 20 – 23 Winter Solstice is a celebration of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Triple Goddess in particular – as both Solstices may be, as dark or light come to fullness. Winter Solstice Moment celebrates the ripe fullness of the Dark Womb, and the gateway from that fullness back into new growing light. It is a Birthing Place – into differentiated being, and Her birthing happens in every moment in the breath, and is seamlessly connected with all layers of being – of self, Earth and Cosmos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDsVZzXtoyM The Text in the Meditation[i] Take a deep breath and let it go. Notice the Void at the bottom of emptying your breath … feeling it, and feeling the Urge to breathe as it arises. And again … feeling it over and over – this breath that arises out of the full emptiness in every moment, birthing you in every moment. – Recall some of the birthings in your life, your actual birth – see it there in your mind’s eye … you coming into being – your Nativity, your Nativity. Recall projects you have brought into being, new beings within yourself, perhaps children, new beings in others, how you have been Creator and Created – even at the same time … who was birthing who? Staying for a while with the many, many birthings in your life. – recalling now Earth-Gaia’s many birthings out of the Dark everyday … the dawn is constant as She turns. See Her in your mind’s eye – the constant dawning around the globe, the constant birthing. Recall Earth’s many births right now of all beings – as day breaks around the globe – the physical, emotional, spiritual births. Her many, many birthings everyday, and throughout the eons. recalling now Universe-Gaia’s many birthings – happening in every moment – right now in real time and space … supernovas right now, stars and planets being born right now. Her many, many birthings in every moment and throughout the eons. – recalling now Universe-Gaia’s many birthings – happening in every moment – right now in real time and space … supernovas right now, stars and planets being born right now. Her many, many birthings in every moment and throughout the eons. Come back to your breath – this wonder – none of it separate … the Origin Ever-Present, birthing you in every moment – out of Her Fertile Dark, in real time and space. Feeling this breath, Her breath. NOTES: [i] Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, Winter Solstice ceremonial script, p. 195-196. Reference: Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology. Music: Fish Nite Moon by Tim Wheater, permission generously given Images: – Birth of the Goddess, Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, pl. 155. See https://pagaian.org/book/cover-goddess-image/ – Winter Solstice window, MoonCourt Australia 2016 – some sources unknown
(Slideshow) Beltaine Goddess by Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D.

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

A bird for this season is the Kingfisher, also known as the Halcyon. The Kingfisher is associated in Greek myth with the Winter Solstice. There were fourteen “halcyon days” in every year, seven of which fell before the winter solstice, seven after; peaceful days when the sea was smooth as a pond and the hen-halcyon built a floating nest and hatched out her young. She also had another habit, that of carrying her dead mate on her back over the sea and mourning him with a plaintive cry. Pliny reported that the halcyon was rarely seen and then only at the winter and summer solstices and at the setting of the Pleiades. She was therefore, a manifestation of the Moon-Goddess who was worshiped at the two solstices as the Goddess of Life in Death and Death in Life and, when the Pleiades set, she sent the sacred king his summons for death. Kingfishers are typically stocky, short-legged birds with large heads and large, heron-like beaks. They feed primarily on fish, hovering over the water or watching intently from perches and they plunge headlong into the water to catch their prey. Their name, Alcedinidae, stems from classical Greek mythology. Alcyone, Daughter of the Wind, was so distraught when her husband perished in a shipwreck that she threw herself into the sea. Both were then transformed into kingfishers and roamed the waves together. When they nested on the open sea, the winds remained calm and the weather balmy. Still another Alcyone, Queen of Sailing, was the mystical leader of the seven Pleiades. The heliacal rising of the Pleiades in May marked the beginning of the navigational year and their setting marked the end. Alcyone, as Sea Goddess protected sailors from rocks and rough weather. The bird, halcyon continued for centuries to be credited with the magical power of allaying storms. Shakespeare refers to this legend in this passage from Hamlet: Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long; And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow’d and so gracious is the time. Hamlet, I, i 157 When I was a young mother, and my children were little, we lived in a house that had a creek in the back yard. There were small trees along the far bank of this creek and every day, a kingfisher would sit in the branches overlooking the creek. Sometimes he sat there very quietly for a very long time. Suddenly he would dive from his perch straight into the creek. Every time he did he came out and up into the air with a fish. It gave me great pleasure to watch him from my kitchen window. I love birds. I love learning about their habits because it teaches me ways of being that are closer to nature. I love drawing birds as well. When I was a young and more able, I was an avid bird watcher, out with my friends hoping for a sight never seen before. I love the story of the kingfisher and her connection to the Halcyon Days of the Winter Solstice. It is for most of us the busiest time of year. Whether it is for the Solstice or Christmas (often both) we are in a frenzy to get things done, making sure everything is just right and perfect. I celebrate the Winter Solstice. As a priestess, my days right now are very busy creating ritual. It is at the Solstice that many passage rites are happening with the women I work with. And of course, I celebrate with my family with our magical Yule Log each year. But I try to honor those seven days before and the seven days after by trying to have the frantic moments before the Halcyon Days begin and then even when busy, hold the peace and calm of that beautiful smooth sea in my mind. Peace and love and joy surrounding the Winter Solstice make it perfect. May the Peace of a Halcyon Sea be yours in this Solstice Season. Do hold the image of that little kingfisher in mind! Meet Mago Contributor, Deanne Quarrie
(Prose) Desire: the Wheel of Her Creativity by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from the concluding chapter (Chapter 8) of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Place of Being is a passionate place, where desire draws forth what is sought, co-creates what is needed[1]; within a con-text – a story – where love of self, other and all-that-is are indistinguishable … they are nested within each other and so is the passion for being. I begin to understand desire afresh: this renewed understanding has been an emergent property of the religious practice of seasonal celebration: that is, the religious practice of the ceremonial celebration of Her Creativity. It has been said She is “that which is attained at the end of desire[2].” Within the context of ceremonial engagement and inner search for Her, I begin to realize how desire turns the Wheel. As the light part of the cycle waxes from Early Spring, form/life builds in desire. At Beltaine/High Spring, desire runs wild, at Summer Solstice, it peaks into creative fullness, union … and breaks open at that interchange into the dark part of the cycle – the dissolution of Lammas/ Late Summer. She becomes the Dark One, who receives us back – the end of desire. It has been a popular notion in the Christian West, that the beautiful virgin lures men (sic) to their destruction, and as I perceive the Wheel, it is indeed Virgin who moves in Her wild delight towards entropy/dissolution; however in a cosmology that is in relationship with the dark, this is not perceived as a negative thing. Also, in this cosmology, there is the balancing factor of the Crone’s movement towards new life, in the conceiving dark space of Samhain/Deep Autumn – a dynamic and story that has not been a popular notion in recent millennia. Desire seems not so much a grasping, as a receiving, an ability or capacity to open and dissolve. I think of an image of an open bowl as a signifier of the Virgin’s gift. The increasing light is received, and causes the opening, which will become a dispersal of form – entropy, if you like: this is Beltaine/High Spring – the Desire[3]that is celebrated is a movement towards dis-solution … that is its direction. In contrast, and in balance, Samhain/Deep Autumn celebrates re-solution, which is a movement towards form – it is a materializing gathering into form, as the increasing darkness is received. It seems it is darkness that creates form, as it gathers into itself – as many ancient stories say, and it is light that creates dispersal. And yet I see that the opposite is true also. I think of how there is desire for this work that I have done, for whatever one does – it is then already being received. Desire is receiving. What if I wrote this, and it was not received or welcomed in some way. But the desire for it is already there, and perhaps the desire made it manifest. Perhaps the desire draws forth manifestation, even at Winter Solstice, even at Imbolc/Early Spring, as we head towards Beltaine – it is desire that is drawing that forth, drawing that process around. Desire is already receiving; it is open. Its receptivity draws forth the manifestation. And then the manifestation climaxes at Summer and dissolves into the manifesting, which is perhaps where the desire is coming from – the desire is in the darkness, in the dark’s receptivity[4]. It becomes very active at the time of Beltaine, it lures the differentiated beings back into Her. So the lure at Beltaine is the luring of differentiated beings into a Holy Lust, into a froth and dance of life, whereupon they dissolve ecstatically back into Her – She is “that which is attained at the end of Desire.” And in the dissolution, we sink deeper into that, and begin again. All the time, it is Desire that is luring the manifest into the manifesting, and the manifesting into the manifest. Passion is the glue, the underlying dynamic that streams through it all – through the light and the dark, through the creative triplicities of Virgin-Mother-Crone, of Differentiation-Communion-Autopoeisis[5]. Passion/Desire then is worthy of much more contemplation. If desire/allurement is the same cosmic dynamic as gravity, as cosmologist Brian Swimme suggests[6], then desire like gravity is the dynamic that links/holds us to our Place, to “that which is”, as philosopher Linda Holler describes the effect of gravity[7]. Held in relationship by desire/allurement we lose abstraction and artificial boundaries, and “become embodied and grow heavy with the weight of the earth[8].” We then know that “being is being-in relation-to”[9]. Holler says that when we think with the weight of Earth, space becomes “thick” as this “relational presence … turns notes into melodies, words into phrases with meaning, and space into vital forms with color and content, (and) also holds the knower in the world[10].”Thus, I at last become a particular, a subject, a felt being in the world – a Place laden with content, sentient: continuous with other and all-that-is. Notes: [1]“…as surely as the chlorophyll molecule was co-created by Earth and Sun, as Earth reached for nourishment; as surely as the ear was co-created by subject and sound, as the subject reached for an unknown signal.” As I have written in PaGaian Cosmology, p. 248. [2]Doreen Valiente, The Charge of the Goddessas referred to in Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, p.102-103. [3]I capitalize here, for it is a holy quality. [4]Perhaps the popular cultural association of the darkness/black lingerie etc. with erotica is an expression/”memory” of this deep truth. [5]These are the three qualities of Cosmogenesis, as referred to in PaGaian Cosmology, Chapter 4, “Cosmogenesis and the Female Metaphor”: https://pagaian.org/book/chapter-4/ [6]Brian Swimme, The Universe is a Green Dragon, p.43. [7]Linda Holler, “Thinking with the Weight of the Earth: Feminist Contributions to an Epistemology of Concreteness”, Hypatia, Vol. 5 No. 1, p.2. [8]Linda Holler, “Thinking with the Weight of the Earth: Feminist Contributions to an Epistemology of Concreteness”,Hypatia, Vol. …
(Art & Poem) Spring Equinox by Sudie Rakusin & Annie Finch

A SEED FOR SPRING EQUINOX . . . till I feel the earth around the place my head has lain under winter’s touch, and it crumbles. Slanted weight of clouds. Reaching with my head and shoulders past the open crust dried by spring wind. Sun. Tucking through the ground that has planted cold inside me, made its waiting be my food. Now I watch the watching dark my light’s long-grown dark makes known. Art and poem are included in Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2017). (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch

(Art) Mago by Lydia Ruyle

Mago of old Korea and East Asia, also known as Magu, Mako, Samsin Halmeoni (Triad Grandmother Goddess) and Cheonsin (Heavenly Deity), is the Great Goddess. Mago is the progenitor, creatrix, and ultimate sovereign. Early gynocentric cultures venerated Her in many forms. Her multivalent identities include an immortal, mendicant, crone, shaman, and/or nature-shaper of mountains, rocks, caves and seas. In art, Mago often carries a basket of lingzi mushrooms, medicinal herbs and flowers–all symbols of immortality. Source: Painting c. 1400 CE by Seokgyeong. Joseon Dynasty. Korea Meet Mago Contributor, Lydia Ruyle.
(Mago Pilgrimage video 2) Ganghwa Island by Robert (Taffy) Seaborne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ANT2cPDN-g The first day of Mago Pilgrimage 2014 to Korea, organised by Dr.Helen Hwang, was to Ganghwa Island, starting actually on Gyodong Peace Island: the group included locals, and together we walked up to the Rock of Constellation Marks located atop the Ruin of Hwagae “Castle”/Stronghold. The scenic view up there is from the Ruin of Gwanmi Stronghold (not a fortress, as present minds may think, but a “strong” place). I state all this here about the name because there was a bit of confusion in my mind when making the video. Along our way we came across an ancient sweat lodge – named Hanjeung-mak – shaped like a womb and similar to ancient constructions in other lands. As we walked we could also at some points, see across to the Demilitarized Zone and North Korea, and some in our group expressed deep distress about the loss and splitting of families, with this division.
(Goma Article Excerpt 2) Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea and Her Mythology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture, published in 2018 by Mago Books]. Background Discussions Hanung (Her Title) and Sindansu (Divine Goma Tree) We will peel off the layers of patriarchal and Sinocentric devices that conceal her unparalleled supreme manifestations. In a conventional interpretation, we are told that Goma and Hanung are two different persons as the mother and the father of Dangun. This proves to be an androcentric invention to divest Goma of supremacy. Goma is not the consort of Hanung. Nor Hanung the male counterpart of Goma. Goma and Hanung refer to the same figure, not a heterosexual couple. It is her title (Hanung 桓雄) that is split from her (Goma) and made into a male ruler. Androcentric interpreters have noted the two homonyms “Ung (熊 bear)” and “Ung (雄 hero)” but made them two different figures. Thus, they deem that the former “Ung” refers to Ungnyeo, the bear-woman, whereas the latter “Ung” to Hanung, the male ruler. However, the latter “Ung” does not mean a male. It is true that logographic characters are characteristically polysemic. And Ung is no exception as it means “a hero,” “a great person,” or “a male bird.” When it is used to mean a male, it refers to a male bird or animal. The literal meaning of Hanung should be the heroic ruler (Sovereign) of Han (the People of the Creatrix). In short, the character “Ung (Hero),” as is in Cheonung (天雄 Heavenly Hero) and Sinung (神雄 Divine Hero), refers to Goma, the heroic founding ruler (Sovereign) of Danguk. The idea that Hanung is the male ruler remains unsupported. First of all, the present myth is rife with female symbols and images including the cave initiation, the divine tree, conception, and procreation. Indeed, the Goma myth is a completely pacific or rather pacifying story, void of conquering, killing or raping. Secondly, the idea of Hanung as a male founder is left without a direct connection with the bear clan (Ungjok) and the Goma words, a topic to be explicated in detail at a later section. Most critically, if Hanung were the male ruler, his association with Sindansu would be too superficial to give due meaning to the Korean foundation myth. The present myth ascertains that the protagonist of the Sindansu (Divine Goma Tree) motif is a female. Sindansu, the tree of life or the world tree, to be explicated at a later section, is credited with one of the most pivotal mythemes, if not the most, of the Korean foundation myth. It is the cosmic tree, which Goma envisioned for the common origin of all beings from the Triad Creatrix and prayed for conception without a male partner. The syllable, “dan (檀)” in “Sindansu,” refers to the divine tree in Mount Taebaek. It is the eponymous root of the terms that indicate the Goma people. It is used in such words as Danguk (Goma State), Dangun (Head of the Goma State), and Danmok (Goma Tree), to name a few. Note that “Danguk was the strongest among the states of the bear clan,” headed by queens,[1] indicating that Danguk was the the confederal mother state that led the nine daughter states. Put differently, Danguk represents the matriarchal (magocratic, referring to a society ruled by a Magoist shaman queen) confederacy of the bear clan states.[2] Goma’s alternative epithets including “Ungssi-ja (Decendant of the Goma Clan), “Ungssi-wang” (Ruler of the Goma Clan), and “Ungssi-gun” (Head of the Goma Clan) substantiate that she is the ruler and head of the bear clan.[3] Also note that Dangun, Goma’s dynastic successor, “was enthroned as the Descendant of Heavenly Sovereign, as she established the capital in Danmok, Asadal, succeeding Danguk.”[4] Danmok is another word for Sindansu. Its alternative meaning “the birch” comes from the sound of “bakdal (박달).” Prominent Koreanists tend to agree that the character “dan” is related to “barkdal (밝달),” “baekdal (백달),” and “baedal (배달),” all of which indicate the Korean people.[5] However, they do not seem to see the multi-connection among Sindansu, Danmok, Baedal and Goma (Ungnyeo). Thus, they fail to see the Magoist context of the Goma myth. The Goma myth is about Danmok and Sindansu, Goma’s tree in Mount Taeback (Great Resplendence). The Divine Tree of Mount Taebaek is wherein Hanung Goma descended to rule the world. Goma has been commemorated as Ungsang (熊常Eternal Tree) and Dangmok (堂木 Shrine Tree) throughout history. The Goma tree sheds light on the origin of the tree worship in Korea and beyond. According to the Handan Gogi, the veneration of Ungsang originated from the time of Danguk and revived throughout the period of Dangun Joseon.[6] In traditional Korea, it is enshrined as Dangmok (Shrine Tree) in village shrines, Seonhwang-dang. It is not haphazard that Korean women are noted for their prayers of conception under the shrine tree. Splitting Goma into Ungnyeo and Hanung has resulted in awkward phraseology especially concerning her procreation in the story. Ultimately, it proves to be an androcentric device to dismiss the mytheme of her parthenogenetic birth to a child, the virgin birth, a contradictory concept to the patriarchal mindset. She, the shaman queen of the bear clan, was enthroned as Hanung, the dynastic founder Hanung of Danguk. Also, her offspring, Dangun, is the new queen-founder of Joseon who succeeded Danguk, rather than her biological son. The Goma myth is the story of a polity not a family. I maintain that the shaman rulers in Old Magoism (Hanguk, Danguk, and Joseon) are predominantly women.[7] In addition to “Hanung,” other titles of Goma include “Cheongwang (天王 Heavenly Ruler),” “Cheonung (天雄Heavenly Sovereign),” “Sinung (神雄 Divine Sovereign),” “Cheonhwang (天皇 Heavenly Empress),” “Seonhwang (仙皇Immortal Empress), and “Daeung (大雄Great Hero).” The Goma worship in Korean culture remains too pervasive to be recognized. As suggested in these alternative epithets, it has shaped the landscape of Korean popular religions, in particular Shamanism and Buddhism. Most prominently, the Goma worship manifests in the form of revering the Shrine Tree (Dangmok) in Seonhwang-dang (Seonghwang-dang or …
(Budoji Essay 1) The Magoist Cosmogony by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Great Goddess Myth is the first and last revelation to humankind. Where the Primordial Mother is, there is Home!” Part 1 Introduction When I first read the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), the principal text of Magoism, my life journey took an unexpected turn. The power of the Magoist cosmogony began to work on me, and suddenly I was returning Home with/to/in Mago, the Great Goddess! Before, “Home” had seemed an unreal destination, a mirage that lured voyagers to its abyss of nowhere. I had been stripped of “Home.” The Magoist cosmogony gifted me with a vision of what I had been seeking as a feminist voyager. I meant to return Home. In Mago, I felt no longer free-floating, but this was not without its price. My radical feminist searches brought me no material benefits; rather, to become Myself was the reward. Layer after layer of patriarchal deception had to be peeled off. And for women who, like me, came from the non-Western, formerly colonized world, reversing the reversals required a deeper analysis of racism, ethnocentrism, and colonialism. I underwent the process of becoming Me, a process which also led me to WE. Personally, Homecoming means an integration of myself within the mytho-historical-cultural context of Magoism. However, Homecoming in the Great Goddess can never be an isolated individual act. Magoism unfolds the Primordial Home wherein all beings are kindred. The Primordial Home is for everyone. Everyone is destined to return Home in the Great Goddess because She is Here for us all. She will be Here for as long as humanity survives. Homecoming is a harbinger; it signals the arrival of WE, a very old concept that was misconstrued if not tabooed in patriarchy. The nature of my life has changed. “I” is no longer in the way of “WE.” “I” and “WE” do not stand against each other. Furthermore, “I” is transformed by “WE,” just as are all things in the universe. Scalar turns to vector. Chaos yields to order. The labyrinth leads to the Source. My feminism is rewarded with gynocentrism, the Goddess Matrix in which the female principle by far surpasses patriarchy. As many admit, Myth, the story of the divine, is etiological, meaning it explains the origin of things. I hold that only the gynocentric cosmogonic myth can be fully etiological, shedding light on the primal beginning. Myth is inherently gynocentric, for it is derived from the perception of the Primordial Mother, the oldest divine in human history. Put differently, Myth tells us that the Divine is She, that Female is the original divine. Myth is ultimately inseparable from the Great Goddess. The Primordial Mother is the macrocosmic translation of a mother. She is the Metaphor for life-giver and life-raiser. Divinity issues from Her. In Her, everything, including the God, is endowed with divinity. The etiological and metaphoric nature of Myth is fully illumined only in the story of the female beginning. The Goddess Myth told to/by us testifies to what patriarchy can’t or doesn’t tell. It is a language distinguished from that of patriarchy, dominating if not violent. The nature of Its language is persuasive and pacific. The truth It tells awakens one to Home. It is intrinsically soteriological, and herein lies the urgency of Myth: It shows the Way that humanity needs to know and follow in order to survive and flourish. The Great Goddess Myth is the first and last revelation to humankind. Where the Primordial Mother is, there is Home! Mago is not necessarily the “creator” of things. In the Magoist cosmogony, there is no one who created or creates anything alone. (I have used the term “cosmogony” in place of “creation” to avoid the conflation of Magoist thought with the origin-stories of patriarchal religions.) Instead, all things are interdependent and the power of auto-genesis is embedded within the universe itself. In explaining that, the Magoist cosmogony does not employ a magical or a logical jump. In the time of beginning, cosmic rays dance in accordance with the law of nature. Mago and primordial matter are self-born through the movement of cosmic music. Mago is, above all, the Cause of human existence. All things on Earth are indebted to Mago for She initiated the process auto-genesis of the Earth itself. In short, She is the Source of Life on Earth. Without Her, nothing is possible for us.
(Bell Essay 4) The Ancient Korean Bell and Magoism by Helen Hwang

Part IV Asking the Dangerous Question: How Old is the Symbol of Nine Nipples? An inquiry about the origin of an ancient female symbolism is subversive in nature. It shakes the ground of patriarchal premises come to be believed rather than understood. The question here is the provenance of the nine nipples sculpted on ancient Korean bells. A focus on the female principle that nine nipples represent hurls the inquirer into uncharted territory. Note that official [read Sinocentric] historiography of East Asia leaves no means to navigate through the beginning of gynocentric civilizations. Where there is no written history, archaeologies and mythologies are rendered anomalous if not obsolete. Thus, tracking the provenance of nine nipples is made to face a quandary, without the mytho-history of Old Magoism. The relief of nine nipples on the ancient Korean bell has its predecessors. From Silla, a wind chime called pungtak from Gameun-sa (Temple of Gameun) appears to be an immediate model. Much smaller in size (27.8 cm), pungtak is to be hung on the eaves of a pagoda or a Buddhist temple building. Given that the Gameun-sa was completed in 682 CE, the nine nipples of pungtak may well be considered as the precursor of the Sangwon-sa bell (cast 725 CE). Unfortunately, however, we are unequipped to trace the pre-Silla Korean examples of nine nipples under the standard view of Sinocentric ancient Korean history. This will need another space to discuss. That said, how old is the symbol of nine nipples? Extant ancient bronze bells with nine nipples suggest that it dates back to as early as the introduction of bronze metallurgy in East Asia. On the other hand, however, the existence of nine nipples on ancient pottery bells throws a new light on another scenario that they may predate the Bronze Age. That the use of clay preceded the use of metal is incontestable. Interestingly, a good number of ancient bronze bells with nine nipples are from the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600 BCE-ca. 1046 BCE) and the Western Zhou dynasty (1046 BCE-771 BCE) of China. Seong Nakju, in his article tracing the origin of ancient Korean bells, states that bells with the nine protruded knobs emerged for the first time between the late Shang and the early Zhou period (see Seong Nakju below in Sources). When something of the female principle, ultimately like the provenance of Mago, is dated to the Shang dynasty [Shang dynasty to be the earliest historical polity of China], it suggests that it was there before the beginning of Chinese history. On these ancient Chinese bells, the nine knobs are placed in three rows of three in its four corners just like yudu (nipples) of the Korean bell. Nonetheless, there is, among others, a distinction to be mentioned here. The nine knobs of Zhou bells are called “mae” (枚, classifier for small things, mei in Chinese) not “yudu.” The female connotation is absent in ancient Chinese bells. This gender shift or female castration to be precise, however casual it may seem, is no small factor. It has allowed a chasm in the forthcoming history of Chinese bells. Bells were no mere object for the ancients. They were the channel of epiphany, sacred in short. They represented the divine power derived from Old Magoism during which female shamans ruled. The patriarchal enthronement that took seizure in the course of history, however, marked a discontinuity and changed the nature of the bell’s symbolism to be only nominal, lacking reality. The bell as the symbol of the female principle was no longer effective under patriarchal rules. Why? It was deprived of the reality of the Goddess with which it could reverberate. Thus, it lost its ultimate purpose, to create music, in that the patriarchal ruling principle itself was not “musical,” but dissonant with the rest of the world. One who breaks the harmony can’t own the music! Bells are rendered as a thing that points to the meaning of the past. This is how bells during the era of patriarchal rules came to be objectified as a royal belonging, as seen in the Qing bell of a later time. Ancient sages or even kings and queens of East Asia may have noticed what had gone wrong with the bell and agonized to restore it, the effort for which they were praised as the great thinker or sage ruler. The imposing air of authority had to be made visual precisely because the bell could no longer do the magic, engendering the divine power. Thus, highly embellished designs and classifications of various bells were made to cover up the void. Later on, the magnitude of the bell was employed to convey (pseudo-)power, deranged from the female principle. Nonetheless, the nine nipples seemingly survived in many bells of the Zhou dynasty. I present here some specific bells such as yongzhong (a bell with a cylindrical handle on top), niuzhong (a bell with a semi-circular knob on top), and yangjiaozhong (a bell shaped like ram’s horns) to highlight the various styles of mae. After all, pyeonjong (bianzhong in Chinese, metal chime bells) is a variation of pyeongyeong (bianqing in Chinese), the stone chime bells (see Part I). This suggests that the making of ancient bells needs to be seen in a continuum rather than as a new invention in the Bronze era. However, we do not have pyeongyeongs with nine nipples. Stone chimes do not seem to have nine nipples. If ancient East Asians had not carved the nine nipples on a stone bell, then they did it on clay. Pottery bells with nine nipples are found to have co-existed with bronze bells. The level of sophistication and precision in artistry is there as well, as shown in the images. It may be, as experts would explain, that ceramic bells were created to substitute for the costly bronze bells during the Zhou dynasty. However, that should not be always the case. Prior to the Bronze Age, humans invented terracotta technology and brought it to its zenith from which, in fact, metallurgical techniques are likely to have derived. In short, ceramic bells of the Zhou dynasty suggest that the origin of nine nipples predates the …
(Photo Essay 4) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hwang

Part IV: Revival of the Gurang (Nine Maidens) Gaeyang Halmi There is more to reveal. As I write this part of the photo essay, I have encountered new information, previously made available online by individuals and organizations. It is reported that the “Suseong-dang” (水聖堂, Sea Saint Shrine) was once called the “Gurang-sa” (九娘祠, Nine Maidens Shine), of which I never heard before.[i] That Suseong-dang is a fake name blew my mind! Note the difference of gender between “the Nine Maidens Shrine” and “the Sea Saint Shrine”! The female-connoted term was stolen just like that! “Gurang-sa,” a female-referenced term as the character “rang” means a maiden, had to go due to its overt female representation. It is not without grounds that I was taken aback to see its present logography, “the Sea Saint Shrine,” on the information board.[ii] I almost heard a voice warning me, “This is not the place that you think it is!” That voice attempted to force me to leave the place without further investigation. However, I intuitively took a mental note, “Something is not correct here.” And I was right! Its name change sheds a consistent light on the meddling of patriarchal distortion/deception done to the tradition of Gaeyang Halmi. Readers are reminded of the lost painting of Gaeyang Halmi, which was replaced by that of the Sea God explicated in Part 2 of this photo essay (also Part 3). Like “the Sea God,” “the Suseong-dang” constitutes no reality. It is not only a conceptual deception but also a theft of the intangible cultural heritage, righteously committed by faceless patriarchal men disappeared into the lapse of time. It is clear that systematic erasure of the Female/Goddess has been in operation. Female power embodied whether in the name of the shrine or in the iconography was stripped away. However, it is proven once again that the Female is immortal because it constitutes the root of patriarchy. People smuggled the forbidden knowledge of the Female to later generations through oral stories. Thus, we find the folklore of the Female subversive.