May 9, 2025May 1, 2025 RTM EditorLeave a comment

Betsy’s Garden #3 by Susun Weed

Moonrise over the mountain behind Betsy’s house. Purple cactus. Palo verde. Bougainvillea. And, of course mitochondria. Let yourself be drawn into the quiet. Soon it will be cool, dark, quiet. Read More …

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

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

The Sunset Crater Volcano from Wikimedia Commons Crystals of frost in the air-I see my breath-Cascading vapors making shapes of imagined animals of anyone’s guess-The silver light of the moon illuminates the forest at the farthest reaches of my sight-The trees stand like evergreen brushes painting the sky-Dipped with the moons silver light-Perhaps the great artist painted the stars with the moons silver-And illuminated the canvas with flame of the sun-Perhaps we are the audience to the greatest artistry ever-But the canvass scale is titanic, we are struck dumb-What we can see as we gaze with enraptured eyes-Is a morsel of unbelievable beauty-In the swatch all of earth lies-Oceans, waterfalls, lands of fantastic majesty-Zebras, whales, elephants, on natures tapestry-The songbirds music,a dolphins song,and the howling wolfs nighttime call-How honored to be featured in this work at all-In a portrait so vast it’s easy to lose sight-But try to remember in the painting of a silver night- https://www.magoism.net/2024/01/meet-mago-contributor-william-matthews/
(Poem) lingua ignota by Donna Snyder

the rule–theless common than aindefinite more common than definitea code herelingua ignotathe litterae ignotaehere with no Hildegarde to translateno sybilline instructorher latinate Rheinish codea DNA of visionsa hierarchy of angels and symbolsa more common than thea secret alphabet of sistersspies everywherea secret langugeanother hierarchy stillbut of words as symbolthe Benedctine rule of orderused to bend Vatican lawa Catholic near saint still subversivenearer to being protestant than papishsoon to be declared a saint by the Holy Seea secret language of sistersstudents and teachersconfessors and confidantesspies everywhereHildegarde and her Juttatap into your FXP20bend your mouth around the name of her JuttaJudith her Yittya teacher who recognized the extraordinary studentHildegardemore rare than angels dancingshe who created words and lettersin the beginning was the Wordand the Word is Godwords and letters usedsigns communicatedmusical notes used to create prayersto preach perfectibilityshe who gave voice to perpetuate silenceher hierarchical language hiddenhiding power and thought from the Church hierarchythe truth of visions and remedieseffulgence unsuppressedemanations of glory extend far beyond Rhinelandish valleysbeyond Latinate Romebeyond continents and centuriesnothing in her mind not first in heaven’s naturenature more common than ecstasya secret language of flowersherbs and angelsthe code herea code herea more common than the
(Poetry & Art) Tiger Lover by Alex Purbrick

‘SHE flies with tigers’ painting by Alex Purbrick When I tell you my secret I think you will understand dear Friend That I can never be in love with you When my lover lives in the wild. How can I give you my heart dear Friend? When my heart is in the Earth, with all life that is nameless, yet is One. By loving me you will capture my heart in a golden cage Where I spend my days longing to return to my lover, my soul. Let me be free dear Friend So I can run with the tiger, my lover in the wild. (Meet Mago Contributor) Alex Purbrick https://www.magoism.net/2015/07/meet-mago-contributor-alex-purbrick/
(Music) Fire of Hope by Alison Newvine

Spiral Muse. Copyrighted by Alison Newvine https://open.spotify.com/album/0AQRN4EORgPCL1KFvA6ClE This year on Imbolc, Spiral Muse is releasing our forth album, “Fire of Hope.” Spiral Muse is a feminist folk rock band dedicated to the Goddess. This project reflects our journey as a band over the past several years, beginning with our pandemic-era hibernation phase. During that time, our band went through a death process with the relocation of one band member to the east coast. We thought that meant our days of making music together were over, but the Divine Mother had other plans for us. Over the past year we’ve been rebirthed as a “bicoastal band,” creating and recording music long distance. The album story begins in the deep past. The voices of our Indigenous European ancestors rise from the ashes of the witch burnings through the haunting, unaccompanied piece “We Are.” From the deep past, we move into the energy of “Deep Winter,” a drum and voice invocation. We hear the sounds of wind, ancestors, animals and other-worldly beings calling out from the coldest, darkest moment of midwinter. Next, we summon Celtic Fire Goddess Brigid who begins rebirthing us into spring. By the forth track our energy is growing as we dance and drum to shed layers of patriarchal conditioning. Playfully, yet determinedly, we begin to “Conjure” and reconnect to our inner magic. The fifth track is our title piece, in which we re-light our “Fire of Hope,” stepping out of the winter of oppression and into the returning spring. During the second phase of the album, we are both integrating loss and celebrating creative rebirthing. “Muse” tells the story of disconnection from the creative fire and learning how to enter the void and allow the past to die in order for the muse to be reborn. “Beloved” is both a lullaby to the inner child and an anthem proclaiming the power of music to engender freedom and healing. “She Believes” brings the voice of the Goddess directly to survivors of sexual and other forms of violence who have experienced silencing and outright denial of their experiences. This song is very gentle, invoking the natural elements to bring comfort and allyship to survivors. In “Walk this Path Anew,” we hear a prayer for inner peace, consolidating an understanding of the presence of the Divine Mother to comfort and guide us in our healing. The end of the album celebrates the all-pervasive nature of the sacred and of the power of Her love moving through us all. “The One,” holds the energy of completion and feels like a finale. It is followed by an instrumental piece, “Melody of the Road,” that reminds us the journey is ongoing. We included a live version of our title song, “Fire of Hope,” at the very end of the album. All of the previous songs were recorded one track at a time, with Kathleen recording on the East Coast and Dionne, Lana and myself recording one at a time on the west coast. We wanted to include one track that was recorded live, with all of us in the same room singing and playing together during a recent visit. “Fire of Hope” is available for free on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon, Apple Music and other electronic platforms. While the album is very personal to us, we believe the themes will resonate with everyone. Death and Rebirth cycles weave through all of our lives and through our collective experience. The Fire of Hope is a flame we all continue to tend as we work in our myriad realms to bring Her consciousness to our suffering world. We hope these songs will comfort, nourish and sustain you through this long patriarchal winter as we pray together for Her rebirth in spring. https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/
(Essay) The Air We Breathe by Kaalii Cargill

Kaalii Cargill, Ph.D. The polytheistic worldview does not compare to the monotheistic one. They are not compatible worldviews; there is no harmony possible between them, no way to fit them together philosophically or metaphysically, no way for them to co-exist. Robin Artisson These words got me thinking about how we engage Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality. Do we approach Goddess as a female version of the Abrahamic God? Is Goddess immanent or transcendent? Can She be both? For me Goddess is not a female version of the Abrahamic God. She is the air we breathe, the fire that warms us, the water that flows through us, the earth that is our bodies. Goddess is not ideal or omnipotent or a transcendent mystery. She is not beyond Nature. Goddess is Nature. Nature is Goddess/Great Mother. Engaging Goddess this way informs my feminism, activism, and spirituality. How do you sort the elements of your engagement with Goddess? Do you see Goddess as omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent? Theologians use these characteristics to describe the nature of the Abrahamic God. What happens if we apply them to Goddess? Omnipotence means God can do what he wants. He has power over wind, water, fire, earth gravity etc. Power over an element is very different from inherently being (within) an element. Omniscience means all-knowing, aware of the past, present, and future with total knowledge. That suggests a sort of over-seeing that is very different from being present within an element or a season or a moment in time. Omnipresence means all-present, capable of being everywhere at the same time. The Abrahamic religions interpret God as transcending the physical, a sort of over-arching everywhere presence. This is different from being the substance of creation/life. When we let go of these transcendent principles, we can engage Goddess through relationship, mindfulness, attention, lived experience, meaning, honouring, enchantment, and the sacred. Relationship is a living thing, a ‘third body’ that forms between elements or beings. We also have relationship with ourselves. We can work to develop a more vital and aware relationship between our everyday sense of self and the other layers of consciousness that we might call the unconscious or intuition or imagination. We can become more aware of the internal dynamics that determine our thoughts, moods and behaviours and become more able to live consciously in relationship with self, others, and the world. Mindfulness is a state of being fully present in the moment with attention available for whatever is happening. Mindfulness allows us to hear the wind whispering in the leaves, to notice when the moon is full, to feel the changing of the seasons. Embodied experience is authentic, connected, and immediate. Being present in our bodies supports connections between mind and body, thoughts and feelings, memories and current life events, and between ourselves and the world around us. We experience all the sights, sounds, smells, sensations, and emotions of life. The energetic or relational field is the invisible web of connection that surrounds each engagement in our lives. This is the way we can sense when someone is upset or when someone is bursting with excitement. By sensing the energetic field we become a living part of the world soul, the interactive web or field connecting us to ourselves, each other, and the world. Meaning involves a sense of value and importance that is subjective rather than objective or collective. The central question is ‘What does this mean to me?’ so that rather than conditioned ideas of ‘wrongdoing’ and ‘rightdoing’ we are engaging deepest value and meaning. This is closely related to the idea of honouring whatever emerges in our lives. This can take the form of drawing or painting an image, sculpting a form in clay, writing in a journal, moving to music etc. This creative expression of images, symbols, memories, sensations, sounds etc. is a way of valuing the elements of our lives. ‘Enchantment is a spell that comes over us, an aura of fantasy and emotion that can settle on the heart’ (Thomas Moore: The Reenchantment of Everyday Life). This involves a sense of mystery in which we find value, love, and union with the world around us by attending to the rhythms and cycles of nature, the moon, the seasons, and our own mindbody systems. Experience of the sacred follows from meaning, honouring, and enchantment. We may be informed by some of the great myths of human herstory in the form of story, images, and enactment. We may develop and enact rituals that develop spontaneously or are planned to honour specific times or elements. https://www.magoism.net/2014/05/meet-mago-contributor-kaalii-cargill/ https://www.magoism.net/donate/
(Essay) Physical Origins of The Goddess? by Judy Foster

First Wave: The Lower Palaeolithic Period – On the Physical Origins of the Goddess: Mother Earth The ability to think has always been necessary to create, express and apply knowledge gained through good or bad experiences, and the most useful information, the basis for tradition. Theoretical physicist David Bohm and Mark Edwards (1991)1 argue that, as well as experiencing a growing awareness of metaphysical powers existing beyond human control, early humans around 3-2 million years ago had begun to gradually develop ways of thought. For the earliest humans, the part of a context which had value and was relevant to people’s circumstances was selected and given an image and a purpose. Relevant goals and values were achieved by community cooperation, and led to emerging complex social, cultural and religious systems. Just as the natural forces underlying devastating events beyond their control were gradually identified, early humans also began to recognise Mother Nature as the provider, the guide, the protector… Caves came to be regarded, not only as shelter, but also as mysterious places of birth and regeneration relating to the metaphysical world, (a view not shared by those in the more recent historic period).
(Book Review) Amazon Grace: Read it Aloud by Harriet Ann Ellenberger

Mary Daly’s Amazon Grace: Re-Calling the Courage To Sin Big, New York and Hampshire, England: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006 reviewed by Harriet Ellenberger I want all of us to read Mary Daly’s latest book, sooner rather than later, and to read it aloud. Here’s why: Amazon Grace transmits energy at bolt-of-lightning levels, even more so when the sound of the words intensifies their meaning. Amazon Grace exposes made-in-the-USA fascism with such fierceness that reviewers in the homeland of homeland security have been leery of touching it. I think it’s our political responsibility to not let this book be buried. Amazon Grace sums up and takes off from a lifetime of the author’s philosophical work, work that is both solid and wide-ranging. Amazon Grace begins by announcing itself as “a challenge and an invitation hurled out to Daring, Desperate Women everywhere” – and it is – but the interweaving of idea, fact, metaphor, and story in Amazon Grace can prove central and illuminating for anyone desiring that life continue on earth. I love the cut-to-the-chaseness of Amazon Grace – Daly wastes zilch time in getting to the point. Patriarchy is the global terrorist system that targets the planet and its life forms for destruction; woman-hating, nature-hating, life-hating, are at its core; and women who once knew this perfectly well, as well as those just learning it, need to begin again generating the energy between and amongst ourselves to name the system, confront it, transcend it. Even if, or especially if, the situation appears hopeless. To emerge from despair, do something. I also love the time-traveling aspect of the book. Daly and nineteenth-century feminist Matilda Joslyn Gage hold frequent and fervent conversations throughout; Mary shows Matilda the televised bombing of Baghdad and briefs her on the history of atomic weapons; they travel together to 2056 B.E. (Biophilic Era) to meet with the survivor women of Lost and Found Continent. These parts of the book work well if read as flights of the imagination, fictional devices to make vivid the author’s points about what has been, what is, what can be. But I’m noticing something additional going on with these time-travel stories: in telling them, Mary Daly performs the classic work of the tribal medicine woman or shaman. On behalf of the collective, she journeys into the realms of non-ordinary reality and brings back knowledge to make whole the life of her people. Her people are, to begin with, the daring and desperate women everywhere whom she addresses; through them, the circle enlarges to encompass the living beings of earth. She connects us to the intelligent powers of the universe, and this is a medicine woman’s job. Finally, let me not fail to mention that the animals in Amazon Grace, from Mary’s cat Cottie, who, in ordinary reality, paws out significant volumes from Mary’s bookshelves, to Brontie, the telepathic brontosaurus who sets out on a vacation and ends up teaching Mesozoic-Era wisdom to the inhabitants of Lost and Found, are a pure delight. In 1973, when Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation was published, Mary Daly seemed to me to be articulating the deepest desires and intuitions of an entire movement, myself included, and placing that movement at the center of hope for human survival. The fortunes of her work since then have mirrored the fortunes of the movement to which she devoted her thought and energy: first, she was made a sort of media star, then she was scapegoated, then her work was pigeon-holed and ignored. But the peril of women and all the creatures of earth that she described thirty-three years ago has only intensified in the meantime; the forces responsible for that danger have gathered strength and momentum and become more clearly visible; and the movement that could name and dispel them has been divided and dispersed, becoming an almost un-locate-able entity. Under these circumstances, a mourner part of myself resists any re-kindling of communal energy and hope, wanting only to disappear into the woods (get me out of this mess, puh-leeze), while the spirit part of myself longs as much as ever to live and act and be part of something that is authentic, passionate, directed. I hate to drag Shakespeare into it, but “to be or not to be” really does seem to be the question du jour, for each of us. And be-ing confronting non-being has always been the focus of Mary Daly’s work. That’s what makes her books essential reading, more timely now than when they were first written. Harriet Ellenberger was an activist in the U.S. civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements and a founding member of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Women’s Center (1971). She founded and edited the lesbian feminist journal Sinister Wisdom with Catherine Nicholson (1976-81), was a founding member of the bilingual feminist bookstore L’Essentielle in Montreal (1987), published a small feminist journal on the web called She Is Still Burning (2000-2003), and co-edited with Lise Weil several issues of Trivia: Voices of Feminism (2004-8). She lives in rural New Brunswick, where she and her partner are renovating an old farmhouse.For an updated list of works published in TRIVIA, please see this author’s contributor page. Originally published in Trivia: Voice of Feminism.
(She Summons Excerpt) The 2020 Vision of MotherWorld by Kathy Jones

Photo by Ann Cook MotherWorld is the society in which Mother Earth, Mothers and the values of mothering and caring for each other and for all Her creatures and Nature – are placed in the centre of our lives and communities. MotherWorld is the society in which creative, nurturing and life-affirming values, actions, insights and awareness are honoured and encouraged in women, men, children and all genders. It is the society that is grounded in the fact that we all live upon our Mother Earth. She is our Great Mother, the Source and Foundation of all that we are and all that we have. We are Her offspring. We need to take care of our Mother, of each other and of all life. Human Mothers gift life and love to our babies. Mothers carry new life in our wombs usually for nine months and give birth to children, who are dependent upon us for many years. Mothers are the primary caregivers in the world who nurture and raise children. We do not do this alone, but with the loving support of fathers, the wider family and society. These children are the future of our human species, of our world. If we do not care for and support mothers, that lack of support damages the ability of mothers to unconditionally gift love and care to our children. In turn children go on to become damaged adults, and so the cycles of harm continue. Our families and societies need to honour and take care of all Mothers. At this time especially we are all experiencing the effects of the Corvid 19 virus pandemic and people are calling for a quick return to ‘normal’. However this is a great opportunity to not return to the patriarchal ‘normal’, but to create a new MotherWorld, with new values, insights and awareness. Throughout the pandemic the important roles of carers of all kinds have been brought to the fore. Without the dedicated gifted work of mothers, fathers, carers, hospital staff, social careworkers, support staff in food supply and transport, all who have placed themselves in harm’s way for the good of others, many more thousands of people would have died from the effects of the virus. For the first time their always vital underpaid, under-valued work is being recognised and honoured. We do not want to return to the old ways of doing things. This Vision of MotherWorld calls for a sea-change (from Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’) in the ways in which we live upon our Mother Earth, and in how we recreate and develop our societies for the future, especially at this time of opportunity. It encourages all individuals and communities to recognise and honour Mothers, all Women, and all who care for others, our thoughts and feelings, our bodies, our experiences, our voices and our values. This Vision asks that we all open to the Deep Feminine in our personal and collective lives. The primary values for the new MotherWorld are: Honouring Mother Earth as a living being. Protecting and taking care of the Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Space, and all beings living in Her world. Honouring all forms of mothering, honouring fathers, honouring all carers, and the celebration and nurture of children and young people. Love for each other, kindness, support, respect, care and compassion. Suggested values for the new Motherworld include: Honesty, personal integrity, authenticity, relationship, diversity, choice, discernment, inclusion, trust, beauty, emotional expression, listening, hearing, clear boundaries, reflection, soul development, empowerment, shadow-healing, compassion, happiness, the pursuit of wisdom, the encouragement of self-respect, self-responsibility, self-worth, self-confidence, self-discipline, self-reflection and self-love; prayer, ceremony, service, connection, partnership, generosity, sharing wealth, gifting, receiving, humour, creativity, education for all, non-violent methods of resolving conflict, honouring and protecting Mother Nature and all living beings, ethical production of goods and services, the protection of the vulnerable, and valuing the Wisdom of the Elders and of the Ancestors. MotherWorld is the society where the patriarchal structures and values of dominance, power-over control and coercion, greed, excessive profit, destructive competition, violence, rape, war, slavery, suffering, hunger, poverty and the pollution of Mother Earth and Her atmosphere, are recognized as shadow expressions of humanity, which need to be challenged, deconstructed, transformed and healed. In MotherWorld healing practices for individuals, communities and for the Earth Herself are encouraged and made readily available to all. 236 MAGO BOOKS In MotherWorld it is recognized that all human beings carry wounds from our patriarchal conditioning – emotional and mental patterns which may be activated as we try to change our world. Within our Glastonbury Goddess Temple community we are particularly aware of our shadow material, which includes envy, jealousy, judgment, competitiveness, undermining, back-biting, blaming, collusion, resentment, naming and shaming, projection of negative emotions, of anger, rage, fear, loneliness, abandonment, lack of self-love, lack of self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, all of which are the result of individual cultural and karmic life experiences. In MotherWorld one of our first works is to love and support each other in taking responsibility for our repressed and often hostile shadow emotions. These shadows can undermine all our best endeavours to change the way we act in our personal and social relationships, in our lives as Goddess-loving people living in a patriarchal world. They often prevent us from experiencing true empowerment. We have developed skills and techniques of emotional expression, such as really listening to each other and offering reflection and support when needed, so that we may heal these wounds. This personal healing work needs to and can, accelerate at this time with the help of the MotherWorld community, which holds us in compassionate safety as we work to heal our wounds. The name MotherWorld comes from Barbara Walker’s novel ‘Amazon’, where it describes an ancient fictional matriarchal society living close to the Earth. This Vision is not a return to such a society. It is a groundswell forward movement to a new kind of mother-life-centred community, where all are valued, supported and appreciated, and where we can experiment …

(Special Post Mother Teresa 4) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

Part IV: Illumination and Consensus Reached [Editorial Note: The following is an edited version of the discussion that took place spontaneously on Mago Circle from March 1, 2013 for about two weeks. It was an extensive, heated, yet reflective discussion, now broken into four parts to fit the format of the blog. We thank each and all of the participants for your openness, generosity, and courage to stand up for what you believe and think! Some are marked as anonymous. As someone stated, something may have been “written in the heat of the moment” and some might like to change it at a later time. So we inform our readers that nothing is written in stone. As a matter of fact, the discussion is ongoing, now with Magoism Blog readers. Please comment and respond as you wish.] Diane Horton: [C], how is it that you do not see that MT had no right to sacrifice other people for any purpose whatsoever? None of us have the right or the place to “sacrifice those we care about” for anything. She was not “above them”. And she had abundant means to do far more for them, to cure and comfort them. If indeed she imagined she had some lofty motivation as you so fervently believe, to use the power she had to withhold medical care from the poverty stricken sick and dying in some misguided and ultimately cruel attempt to bring the world’s attention to their suffering and produce compassion within those who would not otherwise feel it is the most monstrous miscarriage of any expression of what you might refer to as “love” that I have heard of outside of Jim Jones killing all of his followers in Ghana. That’s not Love. That’s not Compassion. That is Manipulation, and manipulation is ego-based. Anne Wilkerson Allen: Yes. It is an indoctrination so deep and so prolonged that it takes a lifetime to overcome…and we rely on the love and compassion of others to help bring us to this understanding….thanks, Diane. Diane Horton: Love you, Anne. [C]: Is thinking that any human being sacrificing inside their very soul, their morals, & all that entails, is actually of lesser value than outside human pain, suffering, even death itself, right? Diane Horton: I’m not sure I understand the question really, but I’ll try a response: one’s inner and outer life are of equal importance because they are all the whole person.
(Special Post 1) "The Oldest Civilization" and its Agendas by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: The following discussion took place in response to an article listed blow by the members of The Mago Cirlce, Facebook group of Goddessians/Magoists from May 6 to May 10, 2016. Readers are recommended to read the original article linked below that has invoked the converation.] “The Danube Civilization: Oldest in the World” in The Ancient Ones upon the ruins of our ancestors, published April 3, 2016.
(Special Post Mother Teresa 1) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

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

(Video) An Autumn Equinox Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Autumn Equinox/Mabon Northern Hemisphere – September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere – March 21-23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRJNY1LSvIs&t=1175s …oOo… The purpose of this video is for ceremony, and I suggest pausing the video where it suits you, to add your own processing, embellishments and/or your own drum, percussion and voice wherever you please. I have made short spaces in the video where it could be paused. The script for this Autumn Equinox/Mabon ceremony is offered in Chapter 11 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. In particular I mention here, credit for the story of Demeter and Persephone as told by Charlene Spretnak in her book Lost Goddesses of Early Greece. For more full participation in the ceremony, you could have one or more stalks of wheat or native grain tied with a red thread/ribbon, a garden pot with soil, a small garden trowel, a flower bulb (daffodil type), food and drink, that may represent your “harvest” – ready for eating and drinking. The elements of Water, Fire, Earth and Air on the altar in this video are placed in directions that are appropriate to my region in the Southern Hemisphere, and East Coast Australia: you may place yours differently, and transliterate when I mention the direction (which I do minimally). The images used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Autumn Equinox ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Autumn Equinox ceremonies I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space in NSW Australia, Darug and Gundungurra country. My partner Robert (Taffy) Seaborne who has participated in all the Seasonal ceremonies since Samhain 2000, adds his voice to this video. Image credits: Demeter and Persephone (500 B.C.E. Greece). Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.72. Art of Demeter and Persephone on MoonCourt wall: Cernak Herself Music credit: “Gentle Sorrow” by Sky: which he has previously allowed me to use in my work. This piece of music is also used in the Autumn Equinox meditation on my PaGaian Cosmology Meditations published 2015.
A Southern Hemisphere Perspective on Place by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from the Introduction to the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion, which was an outcome of her doctoral research/thesis entitled The Female Metaphor – Virgin, Mother, Crone – of the Dynamic Cosmological Unfolding: Her Embodiment in Seasonal Ritual as Catalyst for Personal and Cultural Change. This doctoral work was in turn a documentation and deeper research of the Seasonal ceremonial celebrations that the author was already engaged in for over a decade. The whole of the process is here named as her “Search”. photo credit: David Widdowson, Astrovisuals. The site of seasonal ceremonial celebrations will always be significant. In my case, the place in which I have created them has been notably in the Southern Hemisphere of out Planet Earth. The fact of my context being thus – the Southern Hemisphere – had contributed in the past to my deep internalized sense of being “other”, and dissociated from my senses, since almost all stories told were based in Northern Hemisphere perspective. Yet at the same time this context of inhabiting the Southern Hemisphere contributed to my deep awareness of Gaia’s Northern Hemisphere and Her reciprocal Seasonal Moment: thus, awareness of the whole Planet. My initial confusion about the sensed Cosmos – as a Place, became a clarity about the actual Cosmos – which remained inclusive of my sensed Cosmos. PaGaian reality – the reality of our Gaian “country” – is that the whole Creative Dynamic happens all the time, all at once. The “other”, the opposite, is always present – underneath and within the Moment. This has affected my comprehension of each Sabbat/Seasonal Moment, its particular beauty but also a fullness of its transitory nature. Many in the Northern Hemisphere – even today – have no idea that the Southern Hemisphere has a ‘different’ lunar, diurnal, seasonal perspective; and because of this there often is a rigidity of frame of reference for place, language, metaphor and hence cosmology[i]. Indeed over the years of industrialized culture it has appeared to matter less to many of both hemispheres, including the ‘author-ities’, the writers of culture and cosmos. And such ‘author-ity’ and northern-hemispheric rigidity is also assumed by many more Earth-oriented writers as well[ii]. There has been consistent failure to take into account a whole Earth perspective: for example, the North Star does not need to be the point of sacred reference – there is great Poetry to be made of the void of the South Celestial Pole. Nor need the North be rigidly associated with the Earth element and darkness, nor is there really an “up” and a “down” cosmologically speaking. A sense and accountof the Southern Hemisphere perspective with all that that implies metaphorically as well as sens-ibly, seems vitally important to comprehending and sensing a whole perspective and globe – a flexibility of mind, and coming to inhabit the real Cosmos, hence enabling what I have named as a ‘PaGaian’ cosmological perspective, a whole Earth perspective. It has also been of particular significance that my Search has been birthed in the ancient continent of Australia. It is the age of the exposed rock in this Land, present to her inhabitants in an untarnished, primal mode that is significant. This Land Herself has for millennia been largely untouched by human war, conquest and concentrated human agriculture and disturbance. The inhabitants of this Land dwelt here in a manner that was largely peaceful and harmonious, for tens of thousands of years. Therefore the Land Herself may speak more clearly I feel; one may be the recipient of direct transmission of Earth in one of her most primordial modes. Her knowledge may be felt more clearly – one may be taught by Her. I think that the purity of this transmission is a significant factor in the development of the formal research I undertook – in my chosen methodology and in what I perceived in the process, and documented; from my beginnings as a country girl, albeit below my conscious mind in the subtle realms of which I knew little, to the more conscious times of entering into the process of the Search. In this Land that birthed me, ‘spirit’ is not remote and abstract, it is felt in Her red earth[iii]. Aboriginal elder David Mowaljarlai described, “This is a spirit country”[iv], and all of Her inhabitants, including non-Indigenous, may be affected by the strength of Her organic communication. It took me until the later stages of my research to realize the need to state the importance of this particular place for the advent of the research: the significance of both the land of Australia, and the specific region of the Blue Mountains in which I was now dwelling, as well as the community of this particular region, which all lent itself to the whole process. The lateness of this perception on my part, has to do with the extent of my previous alienation; but the fact that it did occur, is perhaps at least in part attributable to the unfolding awakening to my habitat that was part of the project/process. The specific region of the “Blue Mountains” – as Europeans have named them – is significant in that I don’t think that this project/process could have happened as it did in just any region. David Abram says, “The singular magic of a place is evident from what happens there, from what befalls oneself or others when in its vicinity. To tell of such events is implicitly to tell of the particular power of that site, and indeed to participate in its expressive potency[v]”. Blue Mountains, Australia: Dharug and Gundungurra Country The Blue Mountains are impressive ancient rock formations, an uplifted ancient seabed, whose “range of rock types and topographical situations has given rise to distinct plant communities”[vi]; and the presence of this great variation of plant communities, “especially the swamps, offer an abundance and variety of food sources, as well as habitats for varied fauna”[vii]. I feel that this is the case for …
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 …
(Art & Poem) Candelmas/Imbolc by Sudie Rakusin & Annie Finch

IMBOLC DANCE From the east she has gathered like wishes. She has woven a night into dawn. We are quickening ivy. We grow where her warmth melts out over the ice. Now spiral south bends into flame to push the morning over doors. The light swings wide, green with the pulse of seasons, and we let her in We are quickening ivy. We grow The light swings wide, green with the pulse till the west is rocked by darkness pulled from where the fire rises. Shortened time’s reflecting water rakes her through the thickened cold. Hands cover north smooth with emptiness, stinging the mill of night’s hours. Wait with me. See, she comes circling over the listening snow to us. Shortened time’s reflecting water Wait with me. See, she comes circling From Calendars (Tupelo Press, 2003) Art is included in Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2017). (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(Prose & Photography) Equinox Reflection by Sara Wright

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

(Bell Essay 3) The Ancient Korean Bell and Magoism by Helen Hwang

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

[Author’s Note: I have created 13 basics of Mago Almanac, which are included in Mago Almanac Planner for Personal Journey: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Volume 6), Year 6 or 5920 MAGOMA ERA (Equivalent to 2023 CE). These 13 basics constitute the backbone of Magoist Cetaceanism as well.] It is a 13 month 28 day luni-menstrual-solar calendar of Old Magoist Korea. Insofar as one year marks about 365.25 days, a time taken for the earth to revolve around the sun, it is a solar calendar. The fact that both the moon and the female menstruation cycle mark 28 days, which makes 13 months or 364 days for one year. This makes approximately 1.25 a surplus. Thus, we have days outside the calendar grid. Each year has one extra day on the day before the New Year’s day. The New Year of Year 1 or 5915 Magoma Era was set on the new moon date before Winter Solstice in 2018 by the Gregorian Calendar. With one extra day, the year makes 365 days. Given that the actual period of the Earth’s revolution is approximately 365.25 days, we have the second extra day every fourth year. Setting aside the extra days, we have 364 days for one year. 364 days divided by 28 days is 13. That is how we have 13 months in a year. The Magoist Calendar championing the matricentric worldview is the very indication that our Mother Earth is stabilized in her own voyages. https://www.magobooks.com/update-on-mago-books/mago-almanac-13-month-28-day-calendar-book-a https://www.magoism.net/2013/07/meet-mago-contributor-helen-hwang/
(Essay 1) The Magoist Calendar: Mago Time inscribed in Sonic Numerology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This is my latest research that has led me to restore the 13-month, 28-day Mago Calendar, which will be included at the end of its sequels. See Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A), published in 2017.] Magoist Calendar is the inter-cosmic genealogical chart of the Creatrix in which all is found kindred. It unfolds the one standard unified time, which I call the Cosmic Mother’s Time or the Mago Time, wherein all beings in Our Universe from microcosmic quarts to macrocosmic celestial bodies are perceived in continuum. The Cosmic Mother’s Time is an inclusive time in which everyone is re-membered and celebrated. It is revelatory for its numinous nature, which some may call a mystery. The Mago Time is happening

Day: May 9, 2025

Betsy’s Garden #3 by Susun Weed

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Mago Almanac Year 9 Monthly Wheels

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