February 19, 2026January 18, 2026 RTM Co-Editor M Saracino

(Nine Poets Speak) On My Mother’s Lap by Noris Binet

[Editors’ Note: Learn about how the “Nine Poets Speak” series came to be in place here.]

Photo (c) by Noris Binet

I felt asleep last night 
in my mother’s arms 
I allowed myself 
To melt
Without even knowing
Who she was
But there was a resonance 
Between us 
I took a chance
And let myself go…
All the way onto her lap
In a deep embrace….
Merging  
I woke up to myself!


Noris Binet, © 5/13/19; Noris Binet’s work can be viewed online at http://sonomawriters.blogspot.com  or on her website at
 www.norisbinet.org.

(Meet Mago Contributor) Noris Binet – Return to Mago E*Magazine

2 thoughts on “(Nine Poets Speak) On My Mother’s Lap by Noris Binet”

Jsabél Bilqís says:

February 20, 2026 at 6:20 AM

This was delightful to soak in! Thank you for writing.

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Sara Wright says:

February 20, 2026 at 6:11 AM

beautiful – She was there after all!

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(Music) Gentle Rebel ~ Songs for the Resistance by Alison Newvine

Recently, I’ve been finding refuge and inspiration in the protest songs of the 60s, 70s and beyond. The spirit of resistance and the impassioned prayers for justice and kindness that live in this music serve as reminder that we have always been reaching for the good in the midst of atrocities and overpowering systems of harm. Music as a form of protest weaves together a gentleness of spirit with a refusal to accept cruelty as the norm. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5p7DDYSHuFrY9KWE25fDlC?si=a61188d3750e47fa Headlining this collection of songs are Holly Near, Joanne Shenandoah, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell and, my personal heroine and patron saint of gentle rebellion, Sinead O’Connor. This playlist centers the voices of women while also including the music of gentle rebels such as Bob Marley, Phil Ochs, John Lennon, Stevie Wonder and John Denver. Also featured are more contemporary voices such as Alanis Morissette, Tracy Chapman, Indigo Girls, Black Eyed Peas, Anohni and Sara Bareilles. Reaching even further back in time we have Billie Holiday, Woody Guthrie and Big Mama Thorton. May this collection of songs support your spirit during this time of rapidly increasing chaos, oppression and the utter madness of patriarchy. This songlist is a living document and I’d love to add to it if there are songs/artists you recommend. https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/
(Poem) Each Day, I Howl by Mary Saracino

Photo by Mary Saracino My heart is heavy sorrow is rooted in my cells I weep, remembering what they did to my great, great, great grandmothers burned them at the stake of dogma to silence their voices erase their uterine knowledge control their lives, eliminate their sovereignty over body, mind, spirit. And now, this, in the 21st century, the inquisition returns to eviscerate us again. I howl at the moon, at the stars, the sky, the astonished faces of my sisters. We weep together. A dirge erupts from our open, wailing mouths, our eyes burn bright with rage, with grief. The trees offer solace, the birds sing bearing gifts for my weary soul, providing guidance in these troubling times. They console us, telling us to remember our power; they cannot kill us all, they affirm, even though they will try. There is strength in resistance there is power in our numbers. In sisterhood, we must never forget that we have a right to love, to live, to thrive to overthrow all that oppresses us. Together. Forever. We must trouble the troubled waters and wade through the roiling storm Meet Mago Contributor, Mary Saracino – Return to Mago E*Magazine
(Essay 2) Reinterpreting Female Figures in the Bible by Francesca Tronetti

[Author’s Note; I am going back to feminist reinterpretations of the Bible, this one focusing on the work of Alice Bellis. I especially love her reexamination of Ruth. I remember watching the movie on TCM when I was in middle school, and it stuck with me. Even in the movie, made in 1960, Ruth is an active character, choosing her destiny and not passively accepting men’s plans for her. That is a definite lesson many interpretations of the story leave out, focusing instead on Boaz as the hero and YHWH’s protection.] In my previous article on women in the Bible, I discussed two pieces of fiction that attempted to describe women’s lives during the period. However, the issue many feminist scholars have with Biblical texts is not with fictionalized depictions but instead with how the primary source material is interpreted now and has been interpreted over the last two thousand years. It is a religious text first, which for the people it was written for meant that it contained their history, laws, traditions, and proof that theirs was the correct spiritual path to follow. When the text was left in the hands of priests and bishops, statesmen, and scholars, they looked to it for guidance on laws and justification for their power. In the last century, women have joined their ranks, each looking for something different. Some to find a feminine view of the Divine, some to prove the Bible did not say what they were told it said, and some seek to prove the Bible is the true word of the Divine to be obeyed, and for other reasons. Analysis of a sacred text, even one as old and well-studied as the Bible, is a deeply spiritual and personal experience. It is an autoethnographic history of those who first told the stories, retold, and translated over and over again until we reach the point that it was finally written down, around the 4th century CE. It is folklore and oral history transmuted through time and presented to us through the eyes and pens of those who finally gathered together to piece these stories into a single coherent text. Most likely, these men who wrote what we now call the Bible did bring their own opinions and interpretations to it when the text left them with questions unanswered or stories unclear. Thus, it is not wrong or disingenuous for scholars to bring their points of view to the study of the text, particularly those that deal with named women in the Bible. Old Testament scholar Alice Bellis, in her book Helpmate, Harlots, and Heroes, used feminist literary and language analysis to reexamine the named central women in the Hebrew Bible. She presents a variety of feminist and womanist interpretations of female characters in the biblical text, inspiring readers to engage with these perspectives. The book is structured with each chapter focusing on women in different books of the Bible, such as Judges, Kings 1 and 2, Prophets, etc., and with two chapters dedicated to specific women, one to Eve and another to the ‘Subversive Women in Subversive Books’ those women being Ruth, Ester, Susanna, and Judith. Bellis writes, “This is a story about stories. It is a story of feminist and womanist interpretations of sacred stories.” The stories of the Bible have framed Western thinking about women for centuries. Women who were outspoken in public were labeled ‘disobedient Eves,’ and African American women were called Jezebels to suggest that they were more sexually available than white women. The negative influences of the stories of Eve, Jezebel, Delilah, and others have continued even into the 21st century. Bellis takes these stories out of the male interpretation and introduces us to the women of the Bible we had heard about but never met before. As Bellis explores each female character, she includes other feminist and womanist interpretations of the text. She allows us to sample multiple interpretations, some of which complement each other, and some stand in opposition. We are not simply reading what biblical scholars think these texts mean but also the interpretations of scholars from different fields, such as archaeology, anthropology, and sociology. Bellis stresses that we cannot read our modern morals and biases regarding topics like racism and slavery back into the biblical text and that we, as interpreters, must acknowledge our bias. She is very direct about this and writes, “I spent years studying Hebrew and other related languages. Thus, I confess a certain bias in the direction of interpretations that look closely at the Hebrew text.” Letting the reader know her bias does not leave us guessing what influences her interpretation. We know where she is coming from. There are two primary points I drew from this text. First was the need to acknowledge the broad and diverse range of biblical interpretations, even among feminist scholars. Second, it is important not to read back our modern values into the text but instead use the text, in part, to understand the values of the time. These texts are not all completely true stories. They may be dramatized retellings, parables, or entirely fictional accounts of times long past. Having a range of interpretations in one book is helpful and a good reminder of the necessity of such variety if we later need interpretations of biblical or non-biblical texts. Before her re-analysis of women in the Hebrew Bible, Bellis used hermeneutical analysis and women’s ways of knowing to examine the book of Ruth and the story of Rachel and Leah to demonstrate the solidarity and support women in the Bible could have for each other that has often been missed or downplayed by male scholars. Her article “Ruth: Sweet or Salty” reexamined the story of Ruth as a positive one for women using women’s ways of knowing. A widow travels with her mother-in-law back to the home of her husband’s people, works to support them, marries a wealthy man, and has a child to continue her late husband’s line. But who …
(Art) Juárez City Mothers (with Frida Kahlo) by Eileen Haley

Women from Juárez, Mexico, demonstrate for justice for their daughters, victims of the high rate of femicide for which their city is notorious. The predominance of pink reflects the use of this colour in the campaigns conducted by the mothers to emphasise the youth and femininity of the victims.
(Mosaic Art Essay) Mary Magdalene, from the Shadows and into the Light by Lilian Broca

This is my fourth series of art works based on myth and biblical stories that impart models of human behaviour. For many years I had been inspired by mythological stories, as they speak of, in the words of Mircea Eliade, the eminent Romanian scholar of religious studies, the eternal aspects of life such as love, beauty and heroism, all of them giving great value and profound meaning to life. Over the last two decades, as our society sees rapid technology advancement, a large number of artists have been turning to computers for inspiration creating mostly abstract art. However, after all this time of computer generated artworks I believe that now there is a need for the return to a more humanist approach to art and the artistic experience. This type of art satisfies our emotional and spiritual needs, a tradition that spans many centuries. Its insightful and invaluable aspects contributed immensely to the advancement of civilization. Today when we enter museums and view the art work, we imagine and appreciate those long gone artists painting, printing or carving, with diligence and with reverence. In creating mosaics with a humanist outlook, aside from the emotional and spiritual nourishment gained, I am also able to convey my respect for the preceding centuries of artistic output; moreover, the humanist approach provides another means of viewing narratives in art, another window into the soul without relying on the written word. A great deal of research was required in order to understand and execute mosaics for the present series highlighting the biblical figure, Mary Magdalene. As with the previous series, I did not consider the historicity of the biblical figures I chose to work with in the Mary Magdalene series. I regard biblical and apocryphal stories in my research as mythology; consequently, as mythological female figures, my protagonists become essential archetypes for the role models needed in maintaining a balanced and healthy society. In the last 2,000 years we have been offered almost exclusively masculine achievements immortalized in mosaics and other permanent materials as heroes and hence role models, an aspect totally detrimental to women. In order to render the female experience equal in cultural and perhaps even in religious value to that of the male, I offer the veneration and acceptability of Mary Magdalene equal to the profuse and extravagant representation of male heroes in mosaic art seen throughout the ages. This was achieved by using monumental sizes for my mosaic panels and costly material for their execution, such as hand-made Venetian glass, gold and semiprecious stones. Dr. Angela Clarke, the curator of this Mary Magdalene mosaic exhibition, writes in her essay “Breaking Down Barriers: Antiquity and Post Modernity:” In art history and literature discourse the work of women artists and women’s stories are always associated with the intimate and the small, as if they dare not take up valuable space and time. Broca expressly desires that these stories of women should take up space, time and even more room should be made for female achievement in future. By telling these stories of ancient heroic women in monumental media she demands space for diversity of opinion. Most importantly she wants to construct a history which reveals to future generations that the voice and face of history is not entirely a masculine one, even in the militarized world of antiquity.[1] In my previous narrative mosaic series on biblical Queen Esther and apocryphal Judith, I clearly depicted the tactics used by these two wise and courageous, young female heroines. Youth was the only window of opportunity for all women in ancient times if they were to use their feminine beauty to achieve a desired goal. During that strategic but narrow window, beautiful Esther and Judith employed the only weapon they possessed—female sexuality—in their fight for survival for themselves and for their community. Unlike them in many respects, yet equally courageous, loyal and determined, Mary Magdalene survived not only fierce enemies wishing her harm once Yeshua or Jesus died on the cross, but also the ensuing 2,000 years of denigration, defamation and vilification. I chose Mary Magdalene as the series’ protagonist because she qualifies for the courageous woman who left her sanctuary, her family home, to follow a single man without a fixed address or a permanent job, travelling the country accompanied by 12 other men, teaching God’s words. She joined Jesus and followed Him despite being a single female living in a patriarchal society when women were in general terms treated as lesser mortals with few of the privileges bestowed on men. By leaving behind her family and her comfort zone, Mary Magdalene showed a sense of independence and self-assurance rarely found in women of her time. At the start of this new Mary Magdalene mosaic series, as usual, extensive research came first. Eight months of reading on the subject even before I began sketching, provided me with one of several versions of this ancient story that I decided to explore. While the canonical Gospels portray Mary Magdalene as the repentant sinner who abandons her wicked ways to follow Yeshua, or Jesus, several Gnostic writings, usually dated to 2nd and 3rd centuries, paint a drastically different picture of her. These depict Mariam (Mary) as Yeshua’s most beloved disciple, as his rightful successor and even as a potential wife. In addition, it is written that she was endowed with knowledge, vision and insight far exceeding that of the Twelve Disciples. The Gnostic Gospel of Philip names Mary Magdalene as Jesus’ companion; Gnostic writings also describe tensions and jealousy between Peter and Mary Magdalene, as well as between her and the other disciples. Deciding on which scenes would best portray Mary Magdalene as the protagonist and the job of hiring live models, followed. At this point another very important aspect of a cohesive series of works had to be decided on, namely, the common motif which appears in every mosaic. This unifying motif acts as a visible continuity in all the panels, a consistency and connection of …
(Book Announcement 2) Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D. & Mary Ann Beavis, Ph.D.

Forthcoming 2017 by Mago Books. Editors: Helen Hye-Sook Hwang and Mary Ann Beavis Below from Introduction READING CELEBRATING SEASONS OF THE GODDESS Mary Ann Beavis As co-editor of this volume, my primary role has been editorial. As such, I have, as with She Rises II, chosen, along with my co-editor, to respect various English spelling and punctuation conventions (U.S., U.K., Canadian, etc.), rather that forcing uniformity. As one of the first readers of the entire volume, I have been impressed and educated by the many perspectives on Goddess
(Translation) The Heart’s Perfect Wisdom, Mantra of the Heart Sutra by J. A. Burnett

The Heart Sutra: A Dual Language Translation in Verse Palms pressed, I lower my gaze to Guanyin, who hears all sorrows Shifts of consciousness and expanded awareness are effects that have interested humanity since the beginning. Using chanting and language—gaining signifiers bound to sounds is one way to engage pure awareness of mind to effect change. This can be termed various things, such as radical consciousness, or energy manipulation. But whatever the system or phenomena is called, there is something undeniable in tying sound-vibration to intention. Mantras are a part of the ancient practice of chanting. But to all readers, power without guidance is foolish danger. If you choose to follow the path a teacher’s guidance is recommended. In the Heart’s Perfect Wisdom, known famously as the Heart Sutra, the mantra we will examine is the last line of the work. That was my start. Moons ago, when I started this study, I was curious as to what the words could mean from the perspective of the modern vernacular languages that derive from Sanskrit. From the standpoint of a reverse-engineered folk-etymology—I started my translation. I kept this style of backwards looking because I wanted to see if this mantra stood the test of time. I gave it a modern treatment. Would its transcendent nature prove timeless? I’ll explain below. On the Narrative: When the blessédBodhisattva Avalokiteśvara realized how to forever liberate all beings from suffering and sorrow, she taught the way to her student. This sutra, a sacred Buddhist scripture, explains that moment. On the Heart’s Perfect Wisdom: Easily the most popular Buddhist teaching, the Heart Sutra is an exposition of many profound truths; Some lines say that things do not have any permanent, inherent, or absolute nature. Other lines express that phenomena do not arises alone; all is subject to the interdependency of mutual causes and conditions in oneness. This is expressed as the Bodhisattva Guanyin tells the Heart’s Perfect Wisdom to her one student, teaching him the mantra that moves worlds. On the Global Heart Sutra: This sacred teaching is considered to be the cosmic birthplace of all who awaken. Across different lineages of Buddhist teachings from India, Tibet, China, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan. the Heart Sutra is considered to be the final revelation that expounds the final and fundamental truth. This path is a process to awakening individual primordial awareness, and to free the mind. As the last word in Buddhism, it is considered the pinnacle and summation of all Buddhist thought. The Heart’s Perfect Wisdom is considered auspicious, purifying and most holy. It is chanted worldwide, having a place at life events and Buddhist rituals. This Sutra began India in the time of the oral tradition. It was first scribed in the 1st century and additional written documents of the class of prajnaparamita literature has been found and dated to the 7th century. On Mysticism: As a musician I’ve spent decades discerning playing notes, aiming to get closer to the truth. Frequencies intone vibration, giving them a house for energy. In this sutra, the sound and meanings of sacred mantras provide a vibrational powerhouse of energy. I am still on my journey to literacy in translation of Hindi and Sanskrit considering semantics, inflection and cadence as well as respecting the multivalency of language. From there I dance with various metrical forms of verse to smith the perfect sounds and cement their meanings. प्रज्ञापारमिताहॄदय सूत्रं ॐ नमः सर्वज्ञाय ॥ तद्यथा । गते गते पारगते परसंगते बोधि सवाहा ॥ The Heart’s Perfect Wisdom. Uttering the sound of the three states of existence I enter mystic union of oneness with the entire cosmos In the three worlds, in the three times, my breath Binds the sound AUM purifying the body, speech and mind. I take refuge and invoke the awakened mind of the Goddess who knows all and hears all suffering. Gone gone crossed over gone Completely beyond gone to the far shore Awakened And all is good Notes on Translation On Contemplation: When studied the Maha Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutra, (The scripture of the Heart’s Transcendental Perfect Wisdom) known as the “Heart Sutra,” I contemplated it for a long time. I let it take residence in my voice box, subtly sounding the vibrations as I integrated this Sutra into my spiritual practice. This sacred recitation mainly lived in my spoken voice. After seasons of holding this Sutra close to me, I felt my own heart awakening, blossoming like a lotus. On Form: The verse form of the line is also measured with vowel harmony over the entirety of the line through assonance expressed with glides, nasals, and liquids throughout. On Diction: The sutra and its mantra are timeless. To do justice to the timeless nature of this ever-present wisdom, I have tried to render the words into everyday speech. The translation of the mantra of the Heart Sutra uses modern language. This mitigates the need for historical or spiritual context into Buddhist cosmology or culture and abandons the intellectualism of the orthodox and normative Buddhist type of translation glosses. In doing so I maintain the tradition of the effortless view by keeping the diction to what is simple straightforward speech. This was the aim of my words and their expression. On Pronunciation: I have some background speaking Hindi from the impressions of the sounds speakers from Kolkata. In those traditions I have learned the majority of my prayers, rituals and general accent. When this sutra is chanted in Sanskrit, nasalization can be employed to demarcate the end of a passage or phrase. This changes the vowels and consonant syllables slightly as their voicings are intoned through the nose. The View: All is good, and the view is luminous and spontaneous space. With various traditions, views and lineages, different interpretations abide. These ideas confer assignments of different philosophical positions as well as practices of yoga and meditation. Sometimes ideas are expressed as a philosophical view taken, other times these energies enact as a ritual within meditation. There are …
(Art) Temperance (Cetaceans and the Cosmic Uterus) by Susan Abbott

Watercolor by Susan Abbott This was a study I did for the Temperance card of the Tarot deck. Lots going on in the cosmic uterus with the whale, the dolphin, the fetus, the night sky cosmos, the pouring of water on fire the steam that creates.(Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Abbott.
(Photo Essay 3) Goddess by Kaalii Cargill

[Author’s note: This series of photo essays is inspired by themes that have emerged for me as I’ve been visiting with the Grandmothers in Nature, archaeological sites, and museums around the World.] “Once upon a time, when women were birds, there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated.” Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice. Grandmothers across cultures remind us of the time “when women were birds” . . . Predynastic Egypt, 3500-3400 BCE Vinča culture, Serbia, c5000 BCE Syria, 1450-1200 BCE Boeotia, Greece, c500 BCE Corinth, Greece, 1300-11180 BCE Mycaenean Bird Goddess with child, 1400-1100 BCE. Winged Isis, Philae, Egypt, 282-145 BCE. The damage to the faces on the carvings is said to have been done by early Christians in the time of Emperor Justinian (c 550 CE) Meet Mago Contributor KAALII CARGILL

(Special Post 6) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hwang Without knowing nine numerology, it is NOT possible for us to understand the depth of Magoism, an anciently originated tradition of Old Korea/East Asia that venerated the Creatrix. “Giants” are the hallmark for the Goma, the people of Danguk (nine-state confederacy led by Goma, the Magoist Shaman queen). Those giants are not described as a singular people. They come in “81 brothers,” as mentioned below. We know what “brothers” mean, it is 81 sisters! Changing or translating a female-connoted term to the male proves its agent to be patriarchal. And Chiyou or Chiu (in Korean) is the ruler of Nine Ris (Guri), another name for Nine Hans (Guhan). Check this out: “Chiyou (蚩尤) was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎) in ancient China.[1] He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era in Chinese mythology.[1][2][3] For the Hmong people, Chiyou[4] was a sagacious mythical king.[5] He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under Dongyi[1]Miao[5] or even Man,[5] depending on the source and view. Today, Chiyou is honored and worshipped as the God of War and one of the three legendary founding fathers of China.” “According to the Song dynasty history book Lushi, Chiyou’s surname was Jiang (姜), and he was a descendant of Yandi.[6]According to legend, Chiyou had a bronze head with a metal forehead.[1] He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand.[7] In some sources, Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was that of a human.[7] He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers.[7] Historical sources often described him as ‘cruel and greedy’,[6] as well as ‘tyrannical’.[8] Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom.[5] Chiyou knows the constellations and the ancients spells for calling upon the weather. For example, he called upon a fog to surround Huangdi and his soldiers during the Battle of Zhuolu. TRIBE Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎, RPAWhite Hmong: Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources.[1] However, his exact ethnic affiliations are quite complex, with multiple sources reporting him as belonging to various tribes, in addition to a number of diverse peoples supposed to have directly descended from him.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyou Helen Hye-Sook Hwang Below is from my article, “Goma, The Shaman Ruler Of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea, And Her Mythology,” included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018). Goma is also credited for designating queens of the bear clan to state rulers. Another account of the Goma myth reads, “She looked after numerous spiritual persons and wise persons. Accepting women of the bear clan, Hanung made them rulers (后). Goma chose queens of the bear clan to make them nine state rulers. Note that Danguk is a nine state confedearcy. That Danguk’s nine states were headed by the queens of the bear clan is, among others, corroborated by Chinese mythological accounts. Chinese myth informs that Chiu, Huangdi’s opponent in an epic war, was aided by “a tribe of giants from the far north.”[1] In Chinese mythology, Gonggong and her minister, Xiangliu, symbolized as a dragon with nine heads in the body of a snake, are depicted as an enemy of Emperor Yu of Xia (ruled c. 2200–2100 BCE). Such a story is aligned with Sinocentrism inscribed in Chinese mythology that antagonizes pre-Chinese history of Old Magoist Korea/East Asia. In Chinese mythology, Gonggong (龔工) is described as a sea monster whose minister Xiangliu (相栁 Mutual Willow) is told to have been defeated by Yu, the Great.[2] Assuming the character hu (后 xia in Chinese pronunciation) to mean a male ruler’s wife, androcentric scholars have translated the above account as “Hanung received his queen from the bear clan. And he instituted the rite of matrimony.” This proves to be a modern androcentric bias in that hu originally means a “ruler.” This is the case of the logographic character whose original meaning has changed from “a female ruler” to “a male ruler” and to “the wife of ruler” over time. Ancient Chinese texts betray ample evidence. For example, Xiahou (夏后 Ruler of Xia) and Houyi (后羿 Ruler of Yi) respectively refer to a male ruler. Xiahou refers to Yu of Xia. Other ancient Chinese texts include the Classic of Poetry (詩經商頌玄鳥), the Zuozhuan (左傳) and the Book of Document (書經).[3] [1] C. Scott Littleton, ed. Mythology: The Illustrated Anthology of World Myth & Storytelling (San Diego: Thunder Bay Press, 2002), 414. Cited in Hwang, Finding Mago, 239 in note 494. [2] Lihui Yang, Deming An and Jessica Anderson Turner, Handbook of Chinese Mythology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 214-5. [3] Goma, “Goma, The Shaman Ruler Of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea, And Her Mythology” Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018), 272. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang I am realizing that even ancient Chinese people depicted Chiyou as female. When her image is cropped from the whole frame, it is hard to tell. But see her in the attached image of the whole frame. In comparison with Chinese heroes (supposedly including Yellow Emperor) on the left side, she and her ally are depicted as a figure in a curvy body line. Of course, Chiyou was pejoratively depicted as she was an opponent to the future Chinese emperor, […]
(Special Post 1) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality? A Collective Writing

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Introduction by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang and Wennifer Lin-Haver Helen Hye-Sook Hwang I am asking each of us to consider writing a sentence or paragraph on “Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality?” This idea is prompted by Wennifer Lin-Haver, Founder of Mother Tree Sanctuary, and I agree that we need to and can create a sort of collective writing on the topic. What we write below will be included and published in The Girl God, Mother Tree Sanctuary, and Return to Mago. As a subaltern minority as we seem at the current point of time, Goddessians/Magoists [the term Mago means the Great Goddess] need to make extra efforts to make our voices and presences exposed to the public and inner circles. Length and style are open. Please also include your name, region/state/country, title, and/or website URL. We strongly encourage you if you are located in a place where Goddessians are rarely around. We intend to make a collective testimonial tapestry of WE as Goddessians/Magoists! Please keep this in your mind and join us in this collective effort. Thank you in advance. March 6, 2014 AF (Archaic Future)! Wennifer Lin-Haver Our “call” started as a conversation between Helen and me where I was expressing to her the real need for Mother Tree Sanctuary to be more articulate with exploring the significance and importance of Goddess in our lives. I was prompted to give such a response, when asked “why” we had to differentiate God and Goddess. “Isn’t everything God?” She asked. And “Isn’t Goddess also God?” “Isn’t it all the same as long was we’re all coming from our ‘higher’ self?” she asked. So I saw this warranted a longer and much deeper discussion. I initially thought I should formulate a response and post it as a Page or Tab in our website, but after some reflection with Helen, I saw how much better it would be if we replied to this question as a diverse and creative collective. I surely do not have all the answers as an individual but perhaps together, we can come up with something more whole, colorful and satisfying. I do hope you will contribute a little something! We are always grateful for all that you have to share.
(Special Post 2) Multi-linguistic Resemblances of “Mago” by Mago Circle Members

Artwork, “The-great-mother” by Julie Stewart Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Magi/Magus, from Magi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Magi (/ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; singular magus /ˈmeɪɡəs/; from Latin magus) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest. Pervasive throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia until late antiquity and beyond, mágos was influenced by (and eventually displaced) Greek goēs (γόης), the older word for a practitioner of magic, to include astronomy/astrology, alchemy and other forms of esoteric knowledge. This association was in turn the product of the Hellenistic fascination for (Pseudo‑)Zoroaster, who was perceived by the Greeks to be the Chaldean founder of the Magi and inventor of both astrology and magic, a meaning that still survives in the modern-day words “magic” and “magician”. In the Gospel of Matthew, “μάγοι” (magoi) from the east do homage to the newborn Jesus, and the transliterated plural “magi” entered English from Latin in this context around 1200 (this particular use is also commonly rendered in English as “kings” and more often in recent times as “wise men”).[1] The singular “magus” appears considerably later, when it was borrowed from Old French in the late 14th century with the meaning magician. … An unrelated term, but previously assumed to be related, appears in the older Gathic Avestan language texts. This word, adjectival magavan meaning “possessing maga-“, was once the premise that Avestan maga- and Median (i.e. Old Persian) magu- were co-eval (and also that both these were cognates of Vedic Sanskrit magha-). While “in the Gathas the word seems to mean both the teaching of Zoroaster and the community that accepted that teaching”, and it seems that Avestan maga- is related to Sanskrit magha-, “there is no reason to suppose that the western Iranian form magu (Magus) has exactly the same meaning”[4] as well. But it “may be, however”, that Avestan moghu (which is not the same as Avestan maga-) “and Medean magu were the same word in origin, a common Iranian term for ‘member of the tribe’ having developed among the Medes the special sense of ‘member of the (priestly) tribe’, hence a priest.”[2]cf[3] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gaia, from Gaia (mythology) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In Greek mythology, Gaia (/ˈɡaɪə, ˈɡeɪə/ GHY-ə, GAY-ə;[1] from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of Γῆ Gē, “land” or “earth”),[2] also spelled Gaea (/ˈdʒiːə/ JEE-ə),[1] is the personification of the Earth[3] and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the mother of Uranus (the sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods) and the Giants, and of Pontus (the sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.[4] … The Greek name Γαῖα (Gaĩa)[5] is a mostly epic, collateral form of Attic Γῆ[6] (Gê), Doric Γᾶ (Gã, perhaps identical to Δᾶ Dã)[7] meaning “Earth”, a word of uncertain origin.[8] Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[9] In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (transliterated as Ma-ga, “Mother Gaia”) also contains the root ga-.[9][10] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Greek mythology of Gaia’s family tree is remotely evocative of the Magoist genealogy written in the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), the principale text of Magoism. In Korean, “Mama” is also an honorary title referring to the royal family including ruler, ruler’s mother, father, grandmother and so on. This suggests that “ma” means “mother,” “ruler,” and “Goddess” all at once in gynocentric/gynocratic (Magoist/Magocratic) societies, pre-patriarchal in origin. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I came to search the etymology of “montgomery” in relation to Mt. Mago or Mt. Goya and am led to such related terms as Gomer, Gog, Magog. Montgomery (name) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Montgomery or Montgomerie is a surname from a place name in Normandy.[1] Although there are many stories of its origin,[2][3][4][5] An old theory explains that the name is a corruption of “Gomer’s Mount” or “Gomer’s Hill” (Latin: Mons Gomeris), any of a number of hills in Europe named in attribution to the biblical patriarch Gomer,[2] but it does not explain the final -y or -ie (the phonetical evolution would have been *Montgomers) and it does not correspond to the old mentions of the place name Montgommery in Normandie : Monte Gomeri in 1032 – 1035, de Monte Gomerico in 1040 and de Monte Gumbri in 1046 – 1048.[6] More relevant is the explanation by the Germanic first name Gumarik,[7] a compound of guma “man” (see bridegroom) and rik “powerful”, that regularly gives the final -ry (-ri) in the French first names and surnames (Thierry, Amaury, Henry, etc.). Moreover, the name is still used as a surname in France as Gommery,[8] from the older first name Gomeri.[9] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gomer below from Wikipedia. Gomer (גֹּמֶר, Standard Hebrew Gómer, Tiberian Hebrew Gōmer, pronounced [ɡoˈmeʁ]) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the “Table of Nations” in the Hebrew Bible, (Genesis 10). The eponymous Gomer, “standing for the whole family,” as the compilers of the Jewish Encyclopedia expressed it,[1] is also mentioned in Book of Ezekiel 38:6 as the ally of Gog, the chief of the land of Magog. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gog and Magog from Wikipedia. Gog and Magog: They are depicted as monsters and barbarians from the East/Eurasia. Gog and Magog (/ɡɒɡ/; /ˈmeɪɡɒɡ/; Hebrew: גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג Gog u-Magog; Arabic: يَأْجُوج وَمَأْجُوج Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj) are names that appear in the Hebrew bible (Old Testament), the Book of Revelation and the Qur’an, sometimes indicating individuals and sometimes lands and peoples. Sometimes, but not always, they are connected with the “end times”, and the passages from the book of Ezekiel and Revelation in particular have attracted attention for this reason. From ancient times to the late Middle Ages Gog and Magog were identified with Eurasian nomads such as the Khazars, Huns and Mongols (this was true also for Islam, where they were identified first with Turkic tribes of Central Asia and later with the Mongols). Throughout this period they were conflated with various other legends, notably those concerning Alexander the Great, the Amazons, Red Jews, and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and became the subject of much fanciful literature. In modern times they remain associated with apocalyptic thinking, especially in the United States and the Muslim world. Helen […]

(Video) A Beltaine Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Beltaine/High Spring: the traditional dates are Southern Hemisphere – October 31st or 1st November Northern Hemisphere – April 30th (May Eve) or 1st May The actual astronomical date varies, and 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pODpbkzfrIU The purpose of the 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, music, and voice wherever you please. I have made short spaces in the video where it may be paused. The script for this Beltaine ceremony is offered in Chapter 8 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. 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 name the direction, which I only do at the beginning. The images used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Beltaine ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Beltaine ceremonies that I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space, in Gundungurra and Darug country, Blue Mountains Australia. To enhance participation in the ceremony, you may like to have the following: the element of Water flavoured with rose water. the element of Earth in a large dinner plate and card paper large enough for handprints, along with a bowl of water for washing hands after. a small bouquet of scented flowers and/or herbs for the element of Air. a firepot for the element of Fire. This may be a clay pot of sand into which a small amount of methylated spirits will be poured and lit: it produces a soft flame that will not set off fire alarms, though care should still be taken. a larger firepot or two – either near the altar or located where suitable, for either leaping the flames, or simply passing your hand over flames. This firepot may be a larger version of the one for the element of Fire. coloured ribbons, ideally attached to a pole/tree, but it is possible to manage this rite in another creative manner. a pink ring cake, topped with rose water and honey and petals, sliced ready for serving, but whole. sweet pink wine/juice and glasses for serving. Dance Instructions: Celebrant as #1, person next on right as #2. All 1’s face right, all 2’s face left. All 1’s go in & under first, all 2’s go out & over first. The chant for the dance around the tree (a “Novapole” in the Southern Hemipshere, a “Maypole” in the Northern Hemisphere): “We are the Dance of the Earth, Moon and Sun We are the Life that’s in everyone We are the Life that loves to live We are the Love that lives to love.” (Note: This is a slight variation of the chant written and taught to me by thea Gaia. Music credits: A few clips from Coral Sea Dreaming by Tania Rose: https://www.taniarose.net A clip from Benediction Moon by Pia from her album by that name, New World Music, 1998. A clip from “Shedville 28th Nov 05” by Nick Alias, who has generously shared his music, and given permission for me to use it. Image credits: Ishtar (Middle East, 1000 BCE), Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.131. Aphrodite (Europe, 300 BCE), Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.133. Xochiquetzal (Mayan, 8th century CE), Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.135. Inanna/Ishtar (Mesopotamia 400 B.C.E.), Adele Getty, Goddess: Mother of Living Nature, p.39. Birth of the Goddess, Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, plate 155. Milky Way photo: Akira Fujii, David Malin images. Beau Ravn’s “Goddess” and “God” artworks (2000). Sri Yantra (1500 CE.), A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle, Sacred Sexuality, p.75.
(Essay) Walking with Bb by Sara Wright

Walking with Bb: a story exploring the psychic connection between one woman and her bear. Preface: The black bear – hunting season in Maine is brutal – four months of bear hell – five if one includes the month where hunters can track bears for “practice” with hounds – separate mothers and cubs, terrorize them, tree them and do anything but legally kill them. During the legal slaughter, Hunters bait bears with junk food by putting old donuts etc. in cans and shoot the bear while he or she is eating. Most bears (82 percent) are slaughtered in this manner, the rest are killed by hounding and trapping. The season begins in August and lasts through December. Trapping, by the way, is illegal in every state but Maine. Black bears are hated, and that hatred will, of course, eventually result in their extirpation. I had a shy (male) year old black bear visiting my house this past summer with whom I developed a friendship, and what follows is part of our story: Last Saturday I was walking down the road when I remembered that I had not done my daily “circle of protection” imaging for Bb (standing as he was the day he visited me at the window early in August). When I began to do this another picture of Bb moving on all four feet with his face turned towards mine super-imposed itself over his standing image. I could almost see his expression, but not quite. I didn’t know what this imaging meant beyond that we were communicating in some unknown way, and he was in the area (not a good thing on hunting Saturdays). He had not been coming in most nights and I was worried… That night he came. He is still making nightly visits five days later, the most sequentially consistent visits since September 15th, the day I believed that he had been shot. This experience prompted me to write about telepathy and precognition. It is close to All Hallows and the full Hunter’s moon (Nov 3). I keep listening to Charlie Russell’ story which reminds me that loving bears (especially male bears) is hard, almost a sure recipe for disaster, and that I was not alone in this deep concern for and fear of losing Bb. I can barely stand to remember my other bear losses and I can’t stand feeling them. Even after I wrote about the incident with Bb, the experience seemed to carry a charge that didn’t dissipate. Had I missed something? Next I wrote “Root Healer,” exploring the possibility that as I continued to act as Bb’s “little bear mother” now employing psychic techniques to keep him safe (in some desperation as it was the only means left open to me to protect this very vulnerable yearling), that Bb’s presence might also include a gift for me and that it might involve some kind of root healing for my body because Nature thrives on reciprocity. One idea I missed completely, for it was so obvious. Bb’s image was communicating to me that we were having a psychic conversation in that very moment. It was the first time in three months of imaging protective circles that moved with him that I had confirmation from him that we were communicating effectively in this unknown way. This rarely happens. Normally when I do this kind of work, I just do it. I don’t get direct confirmation that it’s working from the animal itself (except with Lily b). Knowing this helped me make another decision I might not have made so intentionally. The hunting season will last into mid December, and I will be traveling during that last month. I keep thinking that putting actual physical distance between Bb and I might pose more of a threat for his life and I have to remind myself that psychic phenomena are not distance dependent. I should be able to image that protective circle every day and feel that it is working. Bb has already shown me that it can but I fear adding distance because I don’t completely trust my own perceptions.* I suspect believing might be an additional dimension of ensuring success when it comes to psychic protection for this bear. But how do I incorporate belief into a picture that is so clouded with personal/cultural doubt? Half the time I don’t believe myself and virtually no one except Rupert Sheldrake, Iren and Harriet have ever taken my experiences seriously. I have to remind myself that I have done this work many times dealing with doubt and it worked anyway. The point of writing this reflection might be to put me on a new edge of increasing Bb’s odds of survival. If it’s possible that an attitude that embraces believing in what I do could help me protect Bb more effectively until hunting is over and its time for him to den in peace I want to claim it. The question I need to answer now is how to go about moving into a more trusting self as a woman who continues to walk with a bear at her side? The night after I wrote the above paragraph I dream of the doubters in the roles of my parents, and in a friend. I take these dreams seriously as doubters inside me and out. These dreams may be telling me that it is unreasonable to expect me to believe that what I do works when no one else does? The problem with this idea is that on some level I do believe. I feel as if I am walking with this bear, every single day. I think about him constantly. The only thing that got me out of the house yesterday was that he was out of chocolate donuts. Something is intensifying my relationship with Bb although I never see him. I am caught in a field of bear energy and information, perhaps through some version of beauty and the beast. That an archetype is …
(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.
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) 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
Lammas – the Sacred Consuming by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Lammas, the first seasonal transition after Summer Solstice, may be summarised as the Season that marks and celebrates the Sacred Consuming, the Harvest of Life. Many indigenous cultures recognised the grain itself as Mother … Corn Mother being one of those images – She who feeds the community, the world, with Her own body: the Corn, the grain, the food, the bread, is Her body. She the Corn Mother, or any other grain Mother, was/is the original sacrifice … no need for extraordinary heroics: it is the nature of Her being. She is sacrificed, consumed, to make the people whole with Her body (as the word “sacrifice” means “to make whole”). She gives Herself in Her fullness to feed the people …. the original Communion. In cultures that preceded agriculture or were perhaps pastoral – hunted or bred animals for food – this cross-quarter day may not have been celebrated, or perhaps it may have been marked in some other way. Yet even in our times when many are not in relationship with the harvest of food directly, we may still be in relationship with our place: Sun and Earth and Moon still do their dance wherever you are, and are indeed the Ground of one’s being here … a good reason to pay attention and homage, and maybe as a result, and in the process, get the essence of one’s life in order. One does not need to go anywhere to make this pilgrimage … simply Place one’s self. The seasonal transition of Lammas may offer that in particular, being a “moment of grace” – as Thomas Berry has named the seasonal transitions, when the dark part of the day begins to grow longer, as the cloak of darkness slowly envelopes the days again: it is timely to reflect on the Dark Cosmos in Whom we are, from Whom we arise and to Whom we return – and upon that moment when like Corn Mother we give ourselves over. This reflection is good, will serve a person and all – to live fully, as well as simply to be who we are: this dark realm of manifesting is the core of who we are. And what difference might such reflection make to our world – personal and collective – to live in this relationship with where we are, and thus who we are. We all are the grain that is harvested and all are Her harvest … perhaps one may use a different metaphor: the truth that may be reflected upon at this seasonal moment after the peaking of Sun’s light at Summer Solstice and the wind down into Autumn, is that everything passes, all fades away … even our Sun shall pass. All is consumed. So What are we part of? (I write it with a capital because surely it is a sacred entity) And how might we participate creatively? We are Food – whether we like it or not … Lammas is a good time to get with the Creative plot, though many find it the most difficult, or focus on more exoteric celebration. May we be interesting food[i]. We are holy Communion, like Corn Mother. Meet Mago Contributor Glenys Livingstone NOTES: [i] This is an expression of cosmologist Brian Swimme in Canticle to the Cosmos DVD series.

(Mago Almanac Planner Year 5 Excerpt 3) 13 Month 28 Day Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This and its sequences are a newly added portion in the Mago Almanac Planner Year 5, equivalent to the Gregorian Year 2022. Because the Budoji did not explain further about time units smaller than 1 day, I did not follow through some possible implications in previous Mago Almanac volumes. Next year’s Mago Almanac Planner for Personal Journey: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar Year 5 or 5919 MAGOMA ERA is forthcoming in Mago Bookstore (October 25, 2021). PDF version is available for purchase.] We set the new moon day of the Winter Solstice month in 2017 as the New Year of Year 1. With that, we are able to tap Magoist days into Gregorian days that we moderns use. Then, how do we bring down a Magoist time in the scheme of the Gregorian time? How do we determine the onset of New Year in the Magoist Calendar? When would be the midnight of New Year in Year 1? That requires a translation of Mago time into Gregorian time. We can designate midnight as a midpoint in time equidistant from the sunset of New Year’s Eve to the sunrise of New Year. As local times vary around the globe, the midnight of New Year varies in states and cities. In Los Angeles, California USA, the first Magoist midnight falls on 23:29 on December 17, 2017 for Year 1. That would be 07:29 on December 18, 2017 in UTC. Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Midnight12/17/2017 23:2912/17/2018 23:2912/17/2019 23:2912/16/2020 23:30Sunset16:45, 12/1716:45, 12/1716:45, 12/1716:44, 12/16Sunrise6:53, 12/186:53, 12/18 6:53, 12/186:53, 12/17 (Sunset and sunrise times in Los Angeles, USA) The below table shows the first Magoist midnight (around 0.33 AM) falls on December 18, 2017 in Gyeongju, South Korea. That would be 15:33 on December 17, 2017 in UTC. Year 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Midnight12/18/2017 0:33.512/18/2018 0:32.512/18/2019 0:32.512/17/2020 0:32.5Sunset17:11, 12/1717:11, 12/1717:11, 12/1717:11, 12/16Sunrise7:28, 12/187:27, 12/18 7:27, 12/187:27, 12/17 (Sunset and sunrise times in Gyeongju, South Korea) We can imagine a spiral progression of years from Little Calendar (one year) to Medium Calendar (two years) and to Large Calendar (four years). Every year has one leap day, whereas every fourth year has another leap day in the middle of the year. Cyclic time, as it progresses, creates rhythm and harmony in the human world. Little Calendar (1 year)13×1=13 months364 days+1 leap day=365 daysMedium Calendar (2 years)13×2=26 months2x(364 days+1 leap day) =730 daysLarge Calendar (4 years)13×4=52 months4x(364 days+1 leap day)+1 leap day=1,461 days (End of the series) https://www.magoacademy.org/virtual-midnight-vigil-to-new-year/ 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
(Goma Article Excerpt 1) 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.] This essay may be called a Magoist study of the Korean foundation myth, also known as the Dangun myth. It reinstates Goma, better known as “Ungnyeo (Bear/Sovereign Woman),” the shaman ruler of pre-patriarchal Korea, who is the main character of the Korean foundation myth. Here “Mago” stands for the Creatrix and “Magoism” for pre-patriarchally originated indigenous tradition of East Asia that venerates the Creatrix.[1] Identifying Goma as the ruler Goddess of Old Korea/East Asia is by no means a new effort. She is, although few in number, alluded to the eponymous Goddess of ancient Korean States (Goma State, for example) in both historical sources and modern research. In fact, “Ungnyeo” is one of the most studied topics by Korean linguists, mythologists, and historians for it concerns the identity of the Korean people. Nonetheless, those studies tend to be monodisciplinary or androcentric in their approaches and consequently fail to assess her full-fledged supreme identity as the ancestor ruler of East Asian nations. This chapter engages in transdisciplinary, comparative, and feminist approaches to elucidating the Goma myth. At the outset, we will rename “the Korean foundation myth” “the Goma myth.” That is corollary in that she is the central figure of the story. Also it introduces Old Korea as the One People of the Creatrix, anciently known as Nine Hans (九桓 Guhan). The Goma myth restores the gynocentric multi-meaning of “Nine Hans” and “Magoist Koreans/East Asians,” which is non-ethnocentric and supra-nationalist in origin. The character, “Han (桓),” in “Nine Hans” and “Hanguk,” is complex in meaning as it connotes “one,” “whole, “great,” “good,” “same,” “bright,” “many,” “correct,” “middle,” “full” and the like. Thus, “Nine Hans” refer to the People of the Creatrix who have those qualities of the character “Han.” Koreanists have designated as Hanism (the Han thought) this inclusive and polysemic nature of the word “Han” characteristic of traditional Korean worldview.[2] Although naming it Hanism is insightful, it may be misleading without a full-fledged hermeneutics of Goma mythology. Goma, known as Ungnyeo or Gom, remains underestimated and misrepresented among modern Koreans. A common understanding of the Korean foundation myth goes that she was the bear who became a woman and married Hanung, the divine sage ruler of Old Korea, and gave birth to a son, Dangun, the founder of the proto-Chinese Joseon dynasty (2333 BCE-232 BCE). Goma is diminished to the role of a mother of an assumed male hero at best. Consequently, she is redacted from the mytho-historical context of Old Magoist Korea/East Asia (the pre-patriarchal gynocentric people of the Creartrix), and divested of her supreme identity as the dynastic founder of Danguk (3898 BCE-2333 BCE). Given the immensity and complexity of the topic and its data, it is admittedly impossible to treat them comprehensively within a chapter. While many salient themes are discussed, many others are not treated. Among the untreated are Nine Numerology and its cross-cultural manifestations beyond East Asia. This essay aims the following: (1) It provides some pivotal background discussions as well as overall characteristics of the Goma myth. (2) It introduces and delineates the four narratives of the Goma myth selectively chosen from various written texts. The fact that the topic of Goma has rarely been brought to light in its own right in the West adds to the difficulty. This has to do with the fact that pre-Chinese Korean/East Asian history is deemed heterodox, if recognized, in mainstream (read Sinocentric and patriarchal) East Asian Studies. Not only her supreme identity but also her Magoist mytho-historical context remains as non-data in the institutionalized practice of Korean Studies. Our task necessarily involves a controversial feminist methodology, debunking conventional interpretations as a product of Sinocentrism. Mainstream Koreanists have endorsed or internalized the Chinese ethnocentric worldview that is patriarchal and imperialist. Reversing the multiple reversals, the current work, as a result, exposes what is written out of the official East Asian mytho-historiography. Summary of the Goma Myth Goma had a great spirit from birth. Because of her vision of “benefiting the human world widely,” she was entrusted by the last shaman queen, Hanin of Hanguk (桓國 State of One People, c. 7199 BCE – 3898 BCE), with the task of restoring the Reign of the Creatrix. Toward the end of the Hanguk confederacy, clan names and their customs grew apart. And a belligerent tiger clan rose. They raided and plundered neighboring tribes. Goma conceived a will to pacify a social problem caused by this unruly patrilocal clan. Determined to constrain the tiger clan, she requested Hanin to send her to the troubled region. Hanin granted her wish and sent her to the region, Mount Taebaek (Great Resplendence). Leading the royal bear clan of 3,000 people, Goma arrived at Mount Taebaek and settled adjacent to the tiger clan. Rather than a military solution, she proposed a covenant for both the bear clan and the tiger clan to observe. Both clans underwent a trial, which was to dwell in a cave hall and endure 100 days without seeing the sunlight, living on mugwort and chive. I call her proposal the cave initiation, a socio-spiritual pledge to undergo the ordeal of the cave environment in order to tap into one’s innate power of restoring true human nature. The cave is a physical and metaphorical place for the womb of the Primordial Mother, the sacred space/time of unity, wholeness, and rebirth, wherein everyone once dwelt. The cave initiation represents a returning to the knowing of the common origin of all beings, the Crearix. Goma proffered the tiger clan an option of changing their predatory behaviors but they could not endure the cave initiation. The bear clan endured for three seven days (21 days) and attained the female character, the true human nature. The tiger clan was expelled to a remote designated land outside Four Seas, the territory of Old Magoist East Asia, by verdict of the law that Goma legislated. …

(Nine Poets Speak) On My Mother’s Lap by Noris Binet

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