November 11, 2013November 15, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay) Moon Goddess: Primordial Trinity and Cosmic/Personal Heritage by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

[Author’s note: This essay is an evolved version of an excerpt from Chapter 2 of her book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion.] The triple-aspected female metaphor Read More …

November 8, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay) The Temple and the Forest by Luciana Percovich

In one of her most beautiful essays (Da Circe a Morgana, 1942), Momolina Marconi[i], Professor of History of Religions at the University of Milan for many years, discusses the Mediterranean Read More …

November 6, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Light over Waters by Angelika Heike Rüdiger

Sunlight is singing Over opalescent waters A high and ephemeral tune Heart-breaking, longing, loving. I see the salmon jumping Sheer silver essence of the deep Both sweet and savoury. I Read More …

November 4, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay) El Día de los Muertos by Jayne Marie DeMente

We know that the essence of El Día de los Muertos festival dates back to at least to 1800 BCE, then later becomes a mixture of indigenous & the Catholic All Saints festivities. El Día de Read More …

November 2, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Tzitzimine by Lydia Ruyle

Tzitzimine is birthing Ixchel as a green serpent. From the ancient mother ancestors, new life is born. Tzitzmitl are ancestor spirits, usually feminine. They are depicted as skeletons and honored Read More …

October 30, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin4 Comments

(Poem) Subterranean Rage by Mary Saracino

Deeper than bone deeper than muscle or sinew or tenacious tendon this howl of ages rivers through bloodlines, ancient as oceans salty as the primeval seas this is what happens Read More …

October 29, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Meet Mago Contributor, Marla J. Selvidge, Ph.D.

Marla J. Selvidge is currently Director, Professor, and founder of the Center for Religious Studies at the University of Central Missouri. The Center currently offers online programs in Religious Studies. Read More …

October 28, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin3 Comments

(Essay) Farewell for Now to a Beautiful Mother by Harriet Ann Ellenberger

On 19 May 2013, my mother died, four days after her hundredth birthday. She’d been living for weeks on ice chips and low-dose morphine, regularly leaving her body to walk Read More …

October 26, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art Poem) Comforter of the Afflicted by Yvonne M. Lucia

COMFORTER OF THE AFFLICTED O Comforter of the Afflicted, hide me in the shelter of your wings. See me with the tender sight of your many-eyed vision. Caress my Read More …

October 25, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Novel 2) Demimonde, The Other Story by Marla J. Selvidge

Part 2 It began in Capernaum. I had been staying with a Jewish woman while visiting the baths, the healing centers in Galilee. Everyone I visited for help told me Read More …

October 24, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Itzpapalotl by Lydia Ruyle

Itzpapalotl is a fearsome skeletal being with jaguar talons and obsidian tipped wings. In addition to Mexico, black obsidian glass is the gift of other volcano goddesses at Catalhuyuk in Read More …

October 23, 2013October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem) Fuerza Ancestral/Ancestral Strength by Xánath Caraza (in Spanish and English)

Fuerza ancestral Fuerza de mujer Delicada Que fluye en aguas rojas Pensamientos concéntricos Fuerza que renace Se enreda en las copas de los árboles Cihuacóatl Fuerza creadora que canta Que Read More …

(Art) India Oaxaqueña by Ramón Cano Manilla

Painting by Ramón Cano Manilla (1888-1974). This work is dated 1928, and is held in the Museo Nacional de Arte, Mexico. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
(Book Excerpt 2) “Placental Thinking: The Gift of Maternal Roots” by Nane Jordan

[This and the ensuing sequels are from a Chapter from Placenta Wit: Mother Stories Rituals, and Research, edited by Nané Jordan, Demeter Press, 2017, pp. 142-155.] RELATIONAL DESIGNS As a young midwives’ assistant, I became used to cleaning up and disposing of the blood naturally shed in birth. I was also learning how to handle and care for placentas during and after birth. I knew that the placenta had to be born in a timely way, that the umbilical cord was not cut until it had stopped pulsing, and that the placenta must appear whole without missing pieces. I especially remember the first time I was taught how to “read” a placenta up close. Learning with an experienced midwife, I peered curiously at the bright red placenta she brought from a recent birth in all its blood-red glory. Through close instruction, I began to see, to discern its shape. I was soon in awe of this seemingly sacred design and structure. There are two sides to a placenta: a mother side and a baby side. The mother side has groups of intersecting lobes that appear almost brainlike. The mother side attaches to the inside wall of her uterine muscle, connecting her life blood toward her baby’s nourishment. The baby side is full of roots, roots, roots—in networks of veins and arteries. They interconnect lacelike, fanning outwards in a circular pattern from the umbilical cord, which attaches itself near the centre of the placental mass. The baby side is smooth and cosseted by the amniotic sack, which rises from the edges of the placenta to surround the baby in utero. During pregnancy, the placenta is the key developmental link between mother and child. The umbilical cord transports blood from baby toward and away from the mother through the vascular root system of the placenta. Via placental interchange through capillary diffusion, nourishment and oxygen are drawn from the body of the mother while metabolic wastes are released from the baby for the mother to dispose of. The placenta is singular in its mission: it grows and is born to support and sustain the life of the new human in and from the body of the mother. It was not until after years of attending homebirths, working intimately with mothers and babies postbirth, and handling many placentas that I began to glean the morphological and spiritual wonders of this generative organ. Like a grand communicator, the placenta and umbilical cord define the paradox of the two bodies’ connection and separation. The placenta grows like an apparatus from the baby itself, facilitating a continual dialogue of blood with the mother. Our first language is truly one of maternal nourishment, which flows from mother to child in a heart-to-heart rhythm—an abundant mother stream that ensures the baby’s growth and survival. As a relational interface, this is not a fusion of bodies but a unilateral “gift” communication from mother to baby. Because of my studies and graduate research in women’s spirituality, I began to name the importance of the birth knowledge and wisdom that I had been privy to. I committed to writing and research that could transmit what I and others knew about birth, seeking to expand understandings of social philosophy from birth-based perspectives, which were missing from the Western philosophical tradition—dominated by male-centered thinking that did not take birth experience into account. In these traditions, birth and birth giving are devalued and accorded lower value than social, cultural, and spiritual production, as if mothers and birth are not connected to social and cultural life at its core (O’Brien). Birth mysteries have been invariably silenced, lost, or co-opted through socialized and patriarchal disconnections of our birth-based origins from actual mothers and women. As a foundational experience of human life, revisioning birth in mother-centred ways can provide socially transformative values. In this, I aim for a society that supports, values, and loves mothers, babies, and children at the centre of life rather than at the social and economic peripheries. I aim for this not to essentialize women only as birth givers but to liberate mothers toward the meaning and leadership that is theirs at the core of life. (To be continued) (Meet Mago Contributor) Nane Jordan.
(Art Essay) The Politics of Dragons, Horses and Pagan Warrior Queens by Claire Dorey

Art by Clare Dorey Even though the timelines don’t work, and he didn’t visit these shores, legend claims the bare patch in the chalk, on top of Dragon Hill, beneath the chalk White Horse at Uffington in England, was where George killed the Dragon. This legend has embedded itself in our national psyche. Investigating the mythology of St George, the Patron Saint of England, led me down ancient tracks, to Boudicca, raising the question, “Why don’t we have a Matron Saint (or the Pagan equivalent)?” Ireland has both: Matron Saint, Brigid and Patron Saint, Patrick. St. George has been in the news a lot recently. I’ve never taken much notice of him until now, because we are experiencing a spate of St. George’s Cross graffiti and flag hanging in some communities, unusual in England because flags are typically only raised on special occasions: regattas, state visits, coronations. There is a historical tradition of carving horses into chalk hillsides in England. Recently even the Westbury chalk Horse, and Kilburn White Horse have been draped in a red fabric crosses. Without going too far into the politics, this is deemed a symbolic show of patriotism and “englishness” by some, meanwhile others believe it is a territorial act, countering immigration. The flag hanging and graffiti is considered divisive. The irony is, the Patron Saint of England is a multicultural saint. He never stepped foot in England, nor was he English, neither was the flag. It was Genoese. English ships raised, the red cross on a white ground, around 1190 CE. The flag was later adopted by the Crusaders, a multi-national European bunch, whose aim was to capture and control Jerusalem and the Holy Land. St. George was a Roman soldier, born in Cappadocia, present day Turkey, around 275 CE. His father was Cappadocian Greek and his mother, Polychronia, was Palestinian. According to Kay Winchester [1] St. George is revered by both Muslims and Christians. As a Roman Christian, denouncing Roman Paganism, he was executed by Diocletian, the emperor he served, becoming part of the martyrology of the Roman Catholic Church. The truth is St. George reflects England’s multicultural heritage, with an underlying story of invasion, treasure hunting and princesses being touted as knight’s trophies. So why did St. George, a Roman soldier, become an English saint, representing “Englishness,” as opposed to, English born, Boudicca, who attacked the invading Romans, driven to do so, when they raped her daughters, and destroyed the Druids, Britain’s religious order? The key to sainthood is: St. George is male and he is Christian. His martyrdom represents the moral high ground assumed by the Crusaders, cementing their place within the mythology of the Christian patriarch. St. George was seen as a holy warrior, a star in their black and white story of good versus evil, justifying invasion, slaughter and looting artefacts, in a string of wars, during the Middle Ages, that are simply too numerous to mention. The legend of, St. George Slaying the Dragon to rescue a sacrificial princess, possibly a legend derived from a cocktail of Christian martyrology and Greek mythology, may have originated in Cappadoccia in the 11th Century. It became part of British folklore around the 13th Century. This Christian mythology somehow got mixed into our Pagan past, specifically the chalk, White Horse at Uffington. In Europe there was a tradition of church building upon Pagan spiritual sites, meaning if Pagans wanted to visit their sites they had to go to church. Likewise, it appears an overlay of Christian mythology has masked Pagan mythology. The White chalk Horse, created in the late Bronze Age, is, in my view, a hybrid deity, with the body of a horse and the head of a serpent. It has a viper-V and a forked tongue, so it could be seen as a dragon. Perhaps this hybrid-deity is a fusion of Bronze Age deities, similar to horse Goddess Epona and shape-shifting, Celtic, serpent Goddess, Corra. The serpent Goddess is linked to fertility and Earth wisdom. The horse Goddess, a psychopomp, symbolizes fertility, abundance, rebirth and protection for travelers. For simplicity, I’ll refer to it as a horse. Having stood upon the heady heights, above the chalk White Horse, over looking the expansive plain, and peered down upon Dragon Hill, the top of which has been flattened by human hands, its easy to imagine Dragon Hill as a stage for Pagan ritual. Let’s not eclipse the possibility these rituals were led by women. At this site there is a Neolithic earth tomb, and a Neolithic fort, with a prehistoric path, the Ridgeway, running behind it. The Ridgeway connects to the Icknield Way, an ancient track stretching from Norfolk to Dorset. Pilgrims walked the Ridgeway on their way to Silbury Hill, before joining the processional way, a ritualistic pathway, leading to Avebury Stone Circle. The Ridgeway is sacred. It is possible that the Icknield Way was named after the Iceni, Boudicca’s tribe, although the etymology is not confirmed. Head facing east, perhaps the horse-serpent hybrid pulled the sun across the sky by day, then, at night, down into the underworld, rather like the Bronze Age Trundholm sun chariot. If we are going to understand and connect with our ancient past, in the absence of written language, it is important to seek meaning in symbolism, by meditating upon its placement within landscape, and orientation towards the cosmos. As viewed from Dragon Hill, looking towards the White Horse, “On the winter solstice, the sun rises along the edge of White Horse Hill at such an angle that it evokes the horse pulling the sun behind it as it moves off the edge of the hill into the sky.” – The unconquerable: Attitudes to the sun throughout history – English Heritage [2]. There are similarities between the linear, stylized White Horse and the way horses are drawn on coins of the indigenous, pre-Roman-British tribal population, including Boudicca’s tribe the Iceni, the Trinovantes, Catuvellauni [3], Atrebate, Belgae and Dobunni. Both White Horse and coins point …
(Art poem) Raggedy Ann on Edge by Phibby Venable
(Art) Mago by Lydia Ruyle

Mago of old Korea and East Asia, also known as Magu, Mako, Samsin Halmeoni (Triad Grandmother Goddess) and Cheonsin (Heavenly Deity), is the Great Goddess. Mago is the progenitor, creatrix, and ultimate sovereign. Early gynocentric cultures venerated Her in many forms. Her multivalent identities include an immortal, mendicant, crone, shaman, and/or nature-shaper of mountains, rocks, caves and seas. In art, Mago often carries a basket of lingzi mushrooms, medicinal herbs and flowers–all symbols of immortality. Source: Painting c. 1400 CE by Seokgyeong. Joseon Dynasty. Korea Meet Mago Contributor, Lydia Ruyle.
(Music) Litha Playlist: Songs for Summer Solstice with Andrea Redmond’s art, “Grainne,” by Alison Newvine

Grainne by Andrea Redmond In the Northern Hemisphere, we are approaching the Pagan festival of Litha, more popularly known as Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. The light and energy have been building and reach their apex on June 20th. Litha is a fire festival celebrating midsummer, often with dancing, feasting and bonfires. Ever since I was a child, music has carried me through the seasons. It was my earliest connection to my severed Pagan roots. I listened to certain music at certain times of year, if for no other reason than I had done it the year before and I was trying to create some sense of cyclical continuity in a modern, American life that was often out of sync with the cycles of nature. Songs of Litha is a playlist I created last year for a small women’s circle Summer Solstice gathering. The playlist features the songs of twenty eight Goddess musicians and groups to set the mood the summer season. Songs honoring the elements and Mother Earth, the energy of expansion, opening and sacred celebration, as well as several songs specifically about Litha. While it would be quite lengthy to describe each of the artist and bands featured in this collection of songs, I would like to highlight a few of my favorites. Mariee Siou Mariee Siou writes songs that are pure poetry, enigmatic, embedded in the body of Mother of Earth. She describes using music “to fill a cultural void left by severed connections to her Polish, Hungarian, and Indigenous North American heritages and to thereby address the broader cultural voids felt by Americans today.” Her song “Coyote with the Flowering Heart,” begins with the words, I’ve bathed in the yarrow and the roseRemember it’s not just babies that growThough they might hold the miracle first breathAir’s not the only beginning you’ll know Aurora Norwegian singer, songwriter and record producer Aurora is a self-described “forest person,” who loves to be in isolated places in nature, climbing trees and being near the ocean. With an etheric voice and eccentric personality, Aurora’s music is other-worldly. Featured in this Summer Solstice collection is her song “Queendom,” reclaims and revamps patriarchal language to imagine a realm where we “hunt the ground for empathy,” and where “the sun on my head is my crown.” Mary Isis Beautiful Chorus Mary Isis is a healer, teacher, singer-songwriter and musician who creates what she calls “Visionary Medicine Music.” Her songs are power prayers and transmissions that evoke reverence, praise and celebration. She is featured twice on Songs of Litha, with two tracks from her album, “Elemental Being.” Of this album she writes, “We are all a part of this sacred web of life and we have the power to intentionally co-create our realities as embodied “elemental beings,” and become clear channels to the source of power that created this dream of life.” Another group I featured twice is Beautiful Chorus, an angelic foursome who create what they call “High Frequency Love Music.” Created by Alexandra Love, “Beautiful Chorus” is truly a divine chorus of women, dedicated to rhythmic, fun and loving music, resonance therapy, meditative bliss, and personal alignment. Their song “Breath It In” is a simple, mystical breath meditation while “I Wanna Live,” the closing song of the playlist, is an affirmation of our personal commitment to being alive on this planet to grow and participate fully in the evolution in human consciousness. What follows is a collage poem comprised of the first line of each song to give you a sense of the narrative of the songs and their coming together as a whole. We are the women, we come to drum, we are the channel between the earth and the sun Deep down deep into the Earth my roots grow Rise up daughter greet the sun The earth, the air, the fire, the water Here and now connect down deep to your elemental being Breath it in, let it out I give back to the forest, I give back to Mother Earth We all come from the Goddess I remember your eyes amplified, old and golden beside the fire On the earth my feet do go May the circle be open and unbroken When I look to the east I see sunrise, I see light The underdogs are my lions, the silent ones are my choir Grandmother speak to me, I am the Earth and the Earth is singing Like the potter, spinning time, like the weaver, weaving lines Look at the river as it winds down, rise like a tear goin’ down cheek-side creek From the highest mountains down to the seas Let us enter the forest, sylvan abodes of faeries and fauns And who are you, my pretty fair maid, who are you me honey? Now welcome Somer We are a coven of wildflowers Before the dawn on the longest day I’ve bathed in the yarrow and the rose Who is this one who calls, whispering so late in the night and in the light? Fire, sacred fire, burning through the night Sun shine out strong, make the day last long I am whole, I am filled with light I wanna be here, I wanna shift, I wanna grow, I wanna live https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine
(Poetry and Photography) Dying into Life by Sara Wright

May is a month of dying into the flaming fire, the white heat of spring. You circle overhead as the Hawk does in my dreams… Broad russet wings and tail, a golden eye piercing illusions of separateness intertwining the two – Winter and Summer- Both, Cycles of Becoming. May is a month of dying into the flaming fire, the white heat of spring. Bittersweet orange heat and bleached blue sky bend olive trees with thorns, as leaves unfurl casting sage green shadows over serpentine waters. Willows glow – burnishing gold wands at dusk. May is a month of dying into the flaming fire, the white heat of spring. Communing underground thirsty cottonwoods gulp much needed water, give thanks for Red Willow River as do I. May is a month of dying into the flaming fire, the white heat of spring. If only rain would come, these mighty trees with elephantine arms would surely drop pendulous russet flowers, uncurl scalloped leaves inviting us to sit awhile under rough textured bark to reflect upon this canopy woven out of supple hearts. May is a month of dying into the flaming fire, the white heat of spring. Secrets are revealed among arching tree boughs, trunks, roots, and fungi, truths we cannot bear to hear. Dying into life is a message we need to feel. (Meet Mago Contributor) Sara Wright.
(Whale Essay 1) Whales in Korean Linguistics by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[This and the subsequent essays are an earlier version of the forthcoming book manuscript, tentatively entitled The Salvific Bond between Whales and Matriarchs: Magoist Cetaceanism in Traditional Korea.] Although Magoist Cetaceanism remains subliminal today, the love and fascination for whales are still palpable among Koreans. Modern Koreans are proud of the native names of the worldwide whale species. The Institute of Korean National Marine Life Science has recently announced the names of all 89 whale species in Korean, 37 cetacean species inhabiting the Korean sea territory and 52 ones beyond.[1] Prior to this, the same institute had designated Korean names for the 37 Korea-inhabiting cetaceans. At that time, the 52 species had been addressed by their Korean translated names. This event marks a watershed in the sense that Koreans have the vernacular names for all world-wide whale species. Scholars have suggested the Korean vernacular names for those 52 abroad-inhabiting whales. These distinctive names are indicative of ancient Korean attitudes toward whales: Whales are favored, celebrated, and revered. The two parvorders are: Suyeom Gorae (수염고래 Mustache Whales) for Baleen Whales (Mysticeti) and Ippal Gorae (이빨고래 Teeth Whales) for Toothed Whales (Odontoceti). Some cetacean species are named in Korean as follows: Gwisin Gorae (귀신고래 Spirit Whale) also known as Soe Gorae (쇠고래 Cow Whale) for Gray Whale, Daewang Gorae (대왕고래 Great Ruler Whale) or Huin Gin Suyeom Gorae (흰긴수염고래 White Long Mustache Whale) for Blue Whale, Hokdeung Gorae (혹등고래 Hump-back Whale) for Hump-back Whale, Beom Gorae (범고래 Tiger Whale) for Killer Whale or Orca, Heukbeom Goare (흑범고래 Black Tiger Whale) for False Killer Whale, Oeppul Gorae (외뿔고래 Single Horn Whale) or Ilgak Gorae (일각고래 Single Horn Whale) for Narwhal, Hyang Gorae (향고래 Fragrant Whale), Hyangyu Gorae (향유고래 Fragrant Oil Whale) or Malhyang Gorae (말향고래 Fragrant Incense Whale) for Sperm Whale, Soe Hyang Gorae (Cow Fragrant Whale) or Kkoma Hyang Gorae (꼬마향고래 Little Fragrant Whale) for Pygmy Sperm Whale, Keun Gorae (큰고래 Big Whale) or Gin Suyeom Gorae (긴수염고래 Long Mustache Whale) for Fin Whale, Bori Gorae (보리고래 Barley Whale) for Sei Whale, Bukgeuk Gorae (북극고래 Arctic Whale) for Bowhead Whale, Cham Gorae (참고래 True Whale) for Right Whale, Bukbang Gin Suyeom Gorae (북방긴수염고래 Northern Long Mustache Whale) for North Pacific Right Whale, Buri Gorae (부리고래 Beak Whale) for Beaked Whale, Soejeongeori Gorae (쇠정어리고래 Cow Sardine Whale) for Minke Whale, Geodu Gorae (거두고래 Big-head Whale) for Pilot Whale, Cham Geodu Gorae (참거두고래 True Big-head Whale) for Long-finned Pilot Whale, Deulsoe Gorae (들쇠고래 Wild Cow Whale) for Short-finned Pilot Whale, Goyangi Gorae (고양이고래 Cat Whale) for Melon-headed Whale, Dol-Gorae (Pig-Whale) in Korean refers to both Dolphins and Porpoises. The family of Cham Dol-Gorae (True Pig-Whale) and Gang Dol-Gorae (River Pig-Whale) indicates Dolphins, whereas Soe Dol-Gorae (Cow Pig-Whale) refers to Porpoises. Keun Dol-Gorae (큰돌고래 Big Pig-Whale) for Common Bottlenose Dolphin, Soe Dol-Gorae (쇠돌고래 Cow Pig-Whale), Jwi Dol-Gorae (쥐돌고래 Rat Pig-Whale) or Jageun Gopdeung Dol-Gorae (작은곱등돌고래 Little Hump-back Pig-Whale) for Harbor Porpoise, Sanggwaengi (상괭이 Smiling One) or Soe Mul-Gwoeji (Cow Water-Pig) for Narrow-ridged Finless Porpoise, Baemmeori Gorae (뱀머리고래 Snake-head Whale) for Rough-toothed Dolphin, Nambang Keun Dol-Gorae (남방큰돌고래 Southern Big Pig-Whale) for Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin, Huin Dol-Gorae (흰돌고래 White Pig-Whale) for Beluga Whale, Kkachi Dol-Goare (까치돌고래 Magpie Pig-Whale) for Dall’s Porpoise. It is difficult to assess how old these names are in general. Some names were possibly given in 2017. However, it is certain that each of the newly given names was chosen in consideration of the vernacular names of the related species.[2] According to a source, the names of the following large species of Korea-habitating whales are known as pre-modern in origin: Daewang Gorae for Blue whale, Cham Goare for Right Whale, Bori Gorae for Sei Whale, Minke Gorae for Minke Whale, Hokdeung Gorae for Hump-back Whale, Gwisin Gorae for Gray Whale, and Hyang Gorae for Sperm Whale. While such utterance betrays inaccuracy (Minke Gorae appears a modern name for example), what follows is informative. The small Korea-inhabiting cetaceans are known for their indigenous names, which include Gondo (곤도), Gopsaengi (곱생이), Cham Gopsigi (참곱시기), Sakkkwaengi (상쾡이), Guro (구로), and Akanbo (아칸보).[3] These indigenous names convey a sense of friendliness and fascination in meaning. Names are mutually informative about the named and the namer. So are the Korean cetacean names. They inform not only the whale’s bio-ecological features including their sizes, colors, characteristics, and habitats but also Korean Cetaceanists themselves and their socio-cultural aspects: agricultural, matricentric, and pacific. Noticeably, none of these names reflect hostile, disapproving, or necrophilic inclinations. Compared with their Korean counterparts, these English names convey the opposite qualities: “Killer Whale” (Tiger Whale in Korean) violent, “Narwhal” (Single Hone Whale) corpsy, and “Sperm Whale” (Fragrant Whale in Korean) masculine. Many names are taken after land animals as in Beom Gorae (Tiger Whale) for Killer Whale; Heukbeom Goare (Black Tiger Whale) for False Killer Whale; Soe Gorae (Cow Whale) for Gray Whale; Soejeongeori Gorae for Minke Whale;Deulsoe Gorae (Wild Cow Whale) for Short-finned Pilot Whale; Goyangi Whale (Cat Whale) for Melon-headed Whale; Jwi Dol-Gorae (Rat Pig-Dolphin) Harbor Porpoise; Baemmeori Gorae (Snake-head Whale) for Rough-toothed Dolphin; and Kkachi Dol-Goare (Magpie Pig-Whale) for Dall’s Porpoise. Dolphin and Porpoise species are referred to as Dol-Gorae (Pig-Whale). “Dol” in “Dol-Gorae (돌고래)” is derived from “Dot,” which means a pig, in Dot-Gorae (돝고래). Dol-Gorae shares the prominent feature of a pig, its protruding mouth. Dol-Gorae is alternatively referred to as Mul-Dwaeji (물돼지 Water Pig), Haedon (海豚 Sea Pig), Gangdon (江豚 River Pig), or Haejeo (海猪 Sea Pig). In North Korea, Dol-Gorae is called Gopdeungeo (곱등어). Among land animals, the cow is most associated with whales. Soe Gorae (Cow Whale), Seulsoe Gorae (Wild Cow Gorae), and Soe Dol-Gorae (Cow Pig-Whale) convey that they are, like a cow ploughing the land, ploughing the bottom of the sea. Thus they are given the appellation the farmer of the sea. “Beom Gorae (Tiger Whale)” for “Killer Whales” is equated with a tiger in land, an apex predator in the sea preying on other mammals while no animal preying on them. That a cetacean species …
(Poem) The Calling by Angelika Heike Rüdiger

for G. N. & R. E. J. Such sweetness in Your voice You are the Honey of Wild Bees Your gentle touch Soft branches of the yew tree Brushing past my face when finding the blue flower in the shade next to the spring-root, an opener of ways and foxglove-fairyglove the guardian of wild strawberries fruit of the other land Your kiss of promise and enchantment.

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

Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld is one of the most fascinating myths ever told. Not just because it is profound and enlightening, although it is certainly that. It’s an exciting journey that ignites the imagination, and female characters are at the hub of the action. This is a tale of power: power that is demanded, power that is won, power that is appropriated, and power that cannot be escaped. The story follows the fertility goddess Inanna, who brought civilization to Mesopotamia, as she seeks to expand her realm by venturing into the world below. Inanna’s experiences in the great below, her escape, and the wild events that unfold as a result of her caper are the focus of the tale.
(Special Post 2) "The Oldest Cilivization" 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 2) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Here is another image of the nine-headed Lernaean Hydra slain by Herakles. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(mythology)… Glenys Livingstone: Yes, the Hercules story is more documentation of the Old Battle, of the rise of the “hero” to slay the Mother, when in the earliest of times he served with his beauty and labours. It is so interesting to see the analogies in other cultures/places as you are doing Helen, especially in Asia – it seems important work. Your perseverance is paying off, and will. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Glenys, I am re-reading a book on Chinese mythology and found a lot more on the nine Magoist symbolism. Someday, I hope to write about the topic in its own right. Glenys Livingstone: This chapter’s work is good re the Old Battle in Greek mythology: Valaoritis, Nanos. “The Cosmic Conflict of Male and Female in Greek Mythology”, in From the Realm of the Ancestors: An Anthology in Honor of Marija Gimbutas. Joan Marler (ed). Manchester CT: Knowledge, Ideas and Trends Inc., 1997, p.247 – 261. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Now back to the female divine who is depicted with the nine heads. See the nine-headed Guanyin/Kannon/Gwaneum. Also note that her icon comes in eleven-headed (the 8 Daughters and the Triad Creatrix, which makes eleven). http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/kannon.shtml Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: The symbol of nine dragons was adopted by imperial China. See the Nine Dragon Wall China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-Dragon_Wall Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: We connect the dots. When Guanyin is depicted with nine dragons, it conveys that the nine symbolism was/is once deemed sacred. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/17/b3/4a17b33d9a4ae53bad6466a0eaf11722.jpg How popular the Guanyin icon, three headed and eight armed, to this day! Simply Google “eight armed Guanyin.” Below is from the Late Ming Dynasty, China. https://www.google.com/search?q=eight%20armed%20guanyin… She comes in a different name, Ushnishavijaya, in Tibetan Buddhism. https://www.himalayanart.org/items/65445 Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: We can draw that the female deity such as Guanyin and Ushnishavijaya, just to name two, is venerated in association with the nine symbolism. Within the mytho-history of Magoism, I infer that Guanyin or Ma Guanyin is a persona embodying Goma, the Magoist Shaman ruler of Danguk (3898 BCE-2333 BCE), the head of Nine Hans (Magoist Koreans). Note that Magoist shamans or priestesses are called “Mago.” See my essay, “Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea and Her Mythology,” in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Lytle Creek, CA: Mago Books), 2018. The insight that the major Goddesses in East Asia and beyond point to the same and old divine persona is NOT farfetched, considering that the nine-headed snake or dragon representing the female sovereignty of pre-patriarchal times is slain by male heroes across cultures. Judy E Foster: I’d have to agree with you here. As usual, interesting information! Patty Kay: My meditation this morning was on a history of mysticism. While I’m in the midst of appropriating all of the wonderful beliefs I find here, I also have found a strand in my own tradition that helps me understand why all the Divine Feminine stuff makes so much sense to me. I’ve been trying to determine when the patriarchal world view took over. According to this history, mysticism began to emerge in about 800 to 500 BCE. Could it be that mysticism kept alive the ancient understanding of the cosmos? This is just speculation, but in it I’m answering my own questions. (To be continued) Join us in The Mago Circle https://www.facebook.com/groups/magoism/.

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

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

Day of the Dead altar, via Wikimedia Commons According to Celtic tradition, on Samhain (October 31 for those in the north and April 30 for those in the south) the doors between the human and spirit worlds open. Faeries, demons, and spirits of the dead pour out of the Otherworld to walk the Earth. In the past, some would try to hurry ghosts past their houses or ward off evil spirits by setting jack o’lanterns in their windows. They avoided going outside, especially past cemeteries, lest they be snatched away to the Otherworld. In ancient times, some offered sacrifices to propitiate deities. However, others have invited in the souls of friends and family who have passed away. In Brittany, according to W.Y. Evans-Wentz’s Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, people would provide “a feast and entertainment for them of curded-milk, hot pancakes, and cider, served on the family table covered with a fresh white tablecloth, and to supply music” which “the dead come to enjoy with their friends” (p. 218). Other cultures also have such welcoming traditions. In Korea, as so beautifully described by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang in her posts about her family’s mourning for her father (Part I and Part II), in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, and elsewhere, food and flowers are brought to cemeteries to honor those no longer in the realm of the living. Many of us live in a society where death is pushed out of sight and Samhain’s sacred traditions have devolved into Halloween, a commercialized children’s holiday. Still, it seems to me that the pandemic, climate catastrophes, and war have made death much more present in our everyday thoughts over the past couple of years than before, so perhaps this year’s Samhain offers us the opportunity to re-examine Celtic and other practices of the past and present to see what insights and meaning they may have for us. Jack o lanterns: By Mihaela Bodlovic, via Wikimedia Commons All these ancient practices respect the spirit world and its power. Whether you believe that the Otherworld can wreak havoc on us at Samhain or not, the realm where spirits dwell clearly has power. Its allure can take us away from focusing on mundane, daily challenges or, more positively, open our eyes to the value of relating to forces that can give richness and meaning to our lives. At the same time, we must remember that each domain has its own power. We can use our physical bodies in beneficial ways that those in the Otherworld cannot. We must respect the power of the Otherworld as well as our own. Some kinds of healing are only possible when we welcome those from the Otherworld into our lives in a healthy way, whether through holiday visits or every day through remembrance, meditation, prayer, or other means. I’m of an age when many of my beloveds are in the Otherworld and so I am beginning to find that the idea of being able to sit with someone I have lost is cause not for fear, but rather joy and comfort. Perhaps those who have longstanding wounds from the past can heal by remembering those we have lost at Samhain and forgiving them or ourselves or realizing that we are no longer bound to those who have hurt us and are now gone. Samhain can also reassure us of the truth of our intuitive sense that our beloveds who we grieve are with us still, in some way, on this night and throughout the year. When we participate in the celebration of Samhain’s opening of doors to the Otherworld, if only for a day, we are honoring our own participation into the great cycle of life, death, and rebirth. We are expanding our vision of ourselves to be more than our bodies on the Earth and experiencing ourselves as connected to many realms, seen and unseen, spirit and human. We are accepting that at some time we will also become ancestors, with all the responsibility that entails and the fulfillment of taking our place in the complex matrix of being that is our universe. When we interact with the souls of those we have lost in ways that are healthy for us, however we may choose and believe that happens, we can also better celebrate the realm of the living. Just as we may listen in various ways for positive messages from those whom we have lost, we can ensure that we are expressing important guidance to those who will come after us by who we are and how we live our lives. We can express that life is worth living, even with all its traumas, and that we respect both the boundaries and the doors between the worlds so that we may continue living fully in our physical bodies on our beautiful, awe-inspiring Earth. I hope my message to my descendants will be: Love your lives. Build on what we have done and do better. Leave behind what we left you that no longer serves. If you feel alone, remember that you have thousands of generations of mothers sending you unconditional love and also generations of women coming after you eager to pick up where you left off. According to Mary Condren in The Serpent and the Goddess, in the most ancient times, “Samhain had been primarily a harvest feast celebrating the successful growth and gathering of the fruits of the past year” (p. 36). While we in the north are coming into the season of death, those in the south are experiencing Beltane, the first moments of spring when the doors between the worlds are also open. The eternal cycle of life, death, and regeneration turns again. Whether you are celebrating Samhain or Beltane, know that this holy time offers us all a chance to enter into the task of maintaining harmony with those we have loved before and for bringing balance between life and death, winter and summer, and the realm of the living and …
(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
(Essay) Ceremony as “Prayer” or Sacred Awareness By Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. MoonCourt Ceremonial Space set for Autumn Equinox ceremony, 2013 Ritual/ceremony is often described as “sacred space.” I understand that to mean “awareness of the space as sacred”: all space is sacred, what shifts is our awareness – awareness of the depth of spacetime, and of the depth of all things and all beings. I understand “sacred awareness” as an awareness of deep relationship and identity with the very cosmic dynamics that create and sustain the Universe; or an awareness of what is involved in the depth of each moment, each thing, each being. Ceremony is a space and time given to expression, contemplation and nurturance of that depth … at least to something of it. Ceremony may be both an expression of deep inner truths – perceived relationship to self, Earth and Cosmos, as well as being a mode of teaching and drawing forth deeper participation. Essentially, ceremony is a way of entering into the depth of the present moment … what is deeply present right here and now, a way of entering deep space and deep time, which is not somewhere else but is right here. Every-thing, and every moment, has Depth – more depth than we usually allow ourselves to contemplate, let alone comprehend. This book, this paper, this ink, the chair, the floor – each has a history and connections that go back, all the way back to Origins. This moment you experience now, in its particular configuration, place, people present, subtle feelings, thoughts, and propensity towards certain directions or outcomes, has a depth – many histories and choices that go back … ultimately all the way back to the beginning. Great Origin is present at every point of space and time – right here. In ceremony we are plugging our awareness into something of that. In this holy context then – in this mindframe of knowing connection, everything one does is a participation in the creation of the Cosmos: for the tribal indigenous woman, perhaps the weaving of a basket; for another, perhaps preparing a meal; for you, perhaps getting on the train to go to a workplace. It is possible to regain this sense, to come to feel that the way one breathes makes a difference – that with it, you co-create the present and the future, and you may even be a blessing on the past. In every moment we receive the co-creation, the work, of innumerable beings, of innumerable moments, and innumerable interactions of the elements, in everything we touch … and so are we touched by them. The local is our touchstone to the Cosmos – it is not separate. Ceremony may be a way into this awareness, into strengthening it. Ceremony is actually ‘doing,’ not just theorizing. We can talk about our personal and cultural disconnection endlessly, but we need to actually change our minds. Ceremony can be an enabling practice – a catalyst/practice for personal and cultural change. It is not just talking about eating the pear, it is eating the pear; it is not just talking about sitting on the cushion (meditating), it is sittingon the cushion. It is a cultural practice wherein we tell a story/stories about what we believe to be so most deeply, about who and what we are. Ceremony can be a place for practicing a new language, a new way of speaking, or spelling – a place for practicing “matristic storytelling”[i] if you like: that is, for telling stories of the Mother, of Earth and Cosmos as if She were alive and sentient. We can “play like we know it,” so that we may come to know it.[ii] Ceremony then is a form of social action. I have found it useful to describe ceremony using and extending words used by Ken Wilber to describe a “transpersonal practice,” which is needed for real change: he said it was a practice that discloses “a deeper self (I or Buddha) in a deeper community (We or Sangha) expressing a deeper truth (It or Dharma).”[iii] My extension of that is: ceremony may disclose a deeper beautiful self (the I/Virgin/Urge to Be/Buddha), in a deeper relational community (the We/Mother/Place of Being/Sangha), expressing a deeper transformative truth (the It/Old One/Space to Be/Dharma). This is the “unitive body,” the “microcosmos” that Charlene Spretnak refers to in States of Grace.[iv] Since ceremony is an opportunity to give voice to deeper places in ourselves, forms of communication are used that the dreamer, the emotional, the body, can comprehend, such as music, drama, simulation, dance, chanting, singing.[v] These forms enable the entering of a level of consciousness that is there all the time, but that is not usually expressed or acknowledged. We enter a realm that is ‘out of time,’ which is commonly said to be not the “real” world, but it is more organic/indigenous to all being and at least as real as the tick-tock world. It is a place “between the worlds,” wherein we may put our hands on the very core of our lives, touch whatever it is that we feel our existence is about, and thus touch the possibility of re-creating and renewing ourselves. NOTES: [i] A term used by Gloria Feman Orenstein in The Reflowering of the Goddess (New York: Pergamon Press, 1990), 147. [ii] As my doctoral thesis supervisor Dr. Susan Murphy once described it to me in conversation. [iii] Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything (Massachusetts: Shambhala, 1996), 306-307. [iv] 145. [v] As Starhawk notes, The Spiral Dance, 45. REFERENCES: Livingstone, Glenys. A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Girl God Books: Bergen, Norway, 2023. Orenstein, Gloria Feman. The Reflowering of the Goddess. New York: Pergamon Press, 1990. Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. New York: Harper and Row, 1999. Wilber, Ken. A Brief History of Everything. Massachusetts: Shambhala, 1996.
(Essay) The Emergence celebrated at Spring Equinox by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The Spring Equinox Moment occurs September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere, March 21-23 Northern Hemisphere. The full story of Spring Equinox is expressed in the full flower connected to the seed fresh from the earth; that is, it is a story of emergence from the dark, from a journey, perhaps long, perhaps short, through challenging places. The joy of the blossoming is rooted in the journey through the dark, and an acknowledgement of the dark’s fertile gift, as well as of great achievement in having made it, of having returned. Both Equinoxes, Spring and Autumn, celebrate this sacred balance of grief and joy, light and dark, and they are both celebrations of the mystery of the seed. The seed is essentially the deep Creativity within – that manifests in the Spring as flower, or green emerged One. the full story: the root and the flower As the new young light continues to grow at this time of Spring, it comes into balance with the dark at Spring Equinox, or ‘Eostar’ as it may be named; about to tip further into light when light will dominate the day. The trend at this Equinox is toward increasing hours of light: and thus it is about the power of being – life is stepping into it. Earth in this region is tilting further toward the Sun. Traditionally it may be storied as the joyful celebration of a Lost Beloved One, who may be represented by the Persephone story: She is a shamanic figure who is known for Her journey to the Underworld, and who at this time of Spring Equinox returns. Her Mother Demeter who has waited and longed for Her in deep grief, rejoices and so do all: warmth and growth return to the land. Persephone, the Beloved Daughter, the Seed, has navigated the darkness successfully, has enriched it with Her presence and also gained its riches. Eostar/Spring Equinox is the magic of the unexpected, yet long awaited, green emergence from under the ground, and then the flower: this emergence is especially profound as it is from a seed that has lain dormant for months or longer – much like the magic of desert blooms after long periods of drought. The name of “Eostar” comes from the Saxon Goddess Eostre/Ostara, the northern form of the Sumerian Astarte[i]. The Christian festival in the Spring, was named “Easter” as of the Middle Ages, appropriating Goddess/Earth tradition. The date of Easter, which is set for Northern Hemispheric seasons, is still based on the lunar/menstrual calendar; that is, the 1st Sunday after the first full Moon after Spring Equinox. In Australia where I am, “Easter” is celebrated in Autumn (!) by mainstream culture, so we have the spectacle of fluffy chickens, chocolate eggs and rabbits in the shops at that time. There are other names for “Eostar” in other places …the Welsh name for the Spring Equinox celebration is Eilir, meaning ‘regeneration’ or ‘spring’ – or ‘earth’[ii]. In my own PaGaian tradition, the Spring Equinox celebration is based on the Demeter and Persephone story, the version that is understand as pre-patriarchal, from Old Europe. In the oldest stories, Persephone has agency in Her descent: She descends to the underworld voluntarily as a courageous seeker of wisdom, and a compassionate receiver of the dead. She represents, and IS, the Seed of Life that never fades away. Spring Equinox is a celebration of Her return, Life’s continual return, and thus also our personal and collective emergences/returns.We may contemplate the collective emergence/returns especially in our times. I describe Persephone as a “hera”, which of old was a term for any courageous One. “Hera” was a pre-Hellenic name for the Goddess in general[iii]. “Hera” was the indigenous Queen Goddess of pre-Olympic Greece, before She was married off to Zeus. “Hero” was a term for the brave male Heracles who carried out tasks for his Goddess Hera: “The derivative form ‘heroine’ is therefore completely unnecessary”[iv]. “Hera” may be used as a term for any courageous individual: and participants in PaGaian Spring Equinox ceremony have named themselves this way. The pre-“Olympic” games of Greece were Hera’s games, held at Her Heraion/temple[v]. The winners were “heras” – gaining the status of being like Her[vi]. At the time of Spring Equinox, we may celebrate the Persephone, the Hera, the Courageous One, who steps with new wisdom, into power of being: the organic power that all beings must have, Gaian power, the power of the Cosmos. This Seasonal ceremony may be a rejoicing in how we have made it through great challenges and loss, faced our fears and our demise (in its various forms), had ‘close shaves’ – perhaps physically as well as psychicly and emotionally. It is a time to welcome back that which was lost, and step into the strength of being. Spring Equinox/Eostar is the time for enjoying the fruits of the descent, of the journey taken into the darkness: return is now certain, not tentative as it was in the Early Spring/Imbolc. Demeter, the Mother, receives the Persephones, Lost Beloved Ones, joyously. This may be understood as an individual experience, but also as a collective experience – as we emerge into a new Era as a species. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme speak of the ending of the sixty-five million year geological Era – the Cenozoic Era – in our times, and our possible emergence into an Ecozoic Era. They describe the Ecozoic Era as a time when “the curvature of the universe, the curvature of the earth, and the curvature of the human are once more in their proper relation”[vii]. Joanna Macy speaks of the “Great Turning” of our times[viii]. Collectively we have been away from the Mother for some time and there is a lot of pain. At this time we may contemplate not only our own individual lost wanderings, but also that of the human species. We are part of a much bigger Return that is happening. The Beloved One may be understood as returning on a collective level: …

(Art) Mago by Lydia Ruyle

Mago of old Korea and East Asia, also known as Magu, Mako, Samsin Halmeoni (Triad Grandmother Goddess) and Cheonsin (Heavenly Deity), is the Great Goddess. Mago is the progenitor, creatrix, and ultimate sovereign. Early gynocentric cultures venerated Her in many forms. Her multivalent identities include an immortal, mendicant, crone, shaman, and/or nature-shaper of mountains, rocks, caves and seas. In art, Mago often carries a basket of lingzi mushrooms, medicinal herbs and flowers–all symbols of immortality. Source: Painting c. 1400 CE by Seokgyeong. Joseon Dynasty. Korea (Meet Mago Contributor) Lydia Ruyle.
(Mago Stronghold Essay 1) The Forgotten Primordial Paradise by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Part I Multivalent Meaning of Mago Stronghold Mago Stronghold (麻姑城, Mago-seong) refers to the center of the world (axis mundi) in the Magoist Cosmogony. It is a metaphor for the Source/Origin/Womb of Life for terrestrial beings. Mago Stronghold represents the forgotten paradise of the Great Goddess in patriarchy. In patriarchal times, it has become a code to unlock the hidden S/HE Reality. As one’s life in the body and mind is the very proof for the first mother, “Mago,” from whom one comes, the existence of Mago Stronghold in toponym and meaning is the very token to prove vital for the primordial home of terrestrial beings, also called the Earth. The Mago Stronghold talk, upon being fully deciphered, merits the bird’s eye view of human history from the cosmogonic beginning of the Great Goddess to this day. Its message is, among others, we are NOT locked out from the blissful time of S/HE beginning. We are NOT disconnected from our ancestors and deities. And we are NOT substantively different from our non-human sojourns. All in WE are found in Mago Stronghold. I present my investigation of Mago Stronghold, rather than a new theory, as an alternative mode of perceiving reality. The Mago Stronghold talk answers the ultimate question of “who I am” as a person and why we are here in our life journey. It is meant to engender metamorphosis, the process of awakening and navigating in S/HE Reality, for both an individual and the collective. We realize that no one is bound to patriarchal reality except those who create it. WE are HERE/NOW. However, the full-fledged implication of Mago Stronghold can’t be unveiled without naming the systemic working of mental blocks and lifting the limit. Official (read patriarchal) historiography is not the place where we nest our conversation. Linear thinking can’t help us arrive at the Scene. Thinking within ethnocentric and nationalist grids is among the mental blocks. We are invited to explore a whole new/old/original way of seeing and knowing matters. You and I across cultures, nationalities, and geographies have a lot in common to talk and think about. Precisely, the Mago Stronghold talk bridges the gap among moderns. Its implication is NOT confined to Korea or East Asia. One may wonder how it is so? The concept of Mago Stronghold, remembered by East Asian Magoists, concerns the common origin of all beings on Earth. Discourse on the Great Goddess/Primordial Mother/Creatrix can’t be parochial by nature. It maps out the gynocentric consciousness of WE, which redefines national/cultural identities as consanguineous. The Mago Stronghold talk works at multi-dimensions crisscrossing and connecting the personal and the collective, the local and the universal, and the physical and the symbolic. Mago Stronghold found across Korea and China is no ordinary cultural or historical landmark. It is also equated with Mago Mountain or Triad Mountain. The extant toponym of Mago Stronghold is a door to the Other Realm of the Great Goddess. Precisely, it signifies the Primordial/Perennial Home for not only the Mago Clan (Mago and HER divine and human descendants) but also all terrestrial beings, according to the Magoist Cosmogony. “Mago Stronghold” is an eponym for such socio-natural-architectural variations as castles, citadels, mountain villages, fortresses, stone walls, earthen walls, and ultimately the Earth. It is etiological, explaining the gynocentric origin of the axis mundi and the sacred mountain reverence known in many ancient worlds. Macrocosmically, Mago Stronghold refers to the Earth, the Splendid Land of the Primordial Mother. Residing in the Big Dipper (Seven Stars),[1] Mago governs the solar system and chooses the Earth as HER Garden.[2] S/HE delegates HER divine and human offspring to cultivate sonic resonance in harmony with cosmic music. In that sense, Earth IS HER Civilization. Its literal meaning, the Stronghold of the Great Goddess, conveys that all Earth’s civilizations are born of the Great Goddess. The Mago Civilization of Earth is aligned with the Law of Nature established by the marvelous working of the Great Goddess. Nature reflects HER Majestic Work. When the Creatrix (Cosmogonic Matrix) is made unthinkable, if not erased, in the course of patriarchal mytho-history, Mago Stronghold stands as an enigmatic cultural icon. It comes to us as a code to decipher. Much is to be unveiled for HER Paradise to be reinstated in the collective mind of humanity. Euphemisms that are severed from the Magoist implication in the course of history are linked back to the original Magoist words. The Mago Stronghold Code enchants us to the holistic view of the Great Goddess, the WE consciousness in S/HE, that is tabooed in patriarchy. Reminding people of the common origin from the Primordial Mother, Mago Stronghold opens a new horizon of the gynocentric reality, WE/HERE/NOW. We have been part of the Grand Plan of the Great Goddess. When it comes to the female, official historiography, which is after all a product of the patriarchal dominant group, offers little to, if not obstructs, the researcher. The history it calls is nothing other than a self-aggrandizing distorted view of the past events, or rather an imposed false view of the past by patriarchal colonizers. Patriarchal history should be called pseudo-history. It concerns not truth but domination and self-expansion. The history of self-sharers/altruists/Magoists never dies for it is about re-membering of all in WE. What happened is never left unanimated, according to the Law of Nature. It can’t be erased, for truth is the language of Life. As such, the collective memory that ancient (read pre-patriarchal) Magoists were the bearers of the Magoist royal lineage has survived official East Asian (read Sinocentric) historiography. It is imbued in such socio-cultural data as lore, literature, art, and place-names, as well as the so-called apocryphal texts. My task here is to decode the meaning of Mago Stronghold, unearthing non-official data and reading them between the lines of written records. (To be continued) See Meet Mago Contributor Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D. [1] The Big Dipper (Seven Stars) is favored by Koreans. Triad Deity (Samsin), another name for Mago, is …
(Photo Essay 1) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Part I: Living Tradition Bearers and Her Shrine, Suseong-dang I had the privilege to join a field trip to collect the folk stories of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess, in Buan-gun (Buan County), North Jeolla Province, South Korea July 10-12, 2012. The team comprised a group of graduate students studying Korean Literature at the Kunguk University (Kim Jungeun, Cho Hongyoun, Lee Won-Young, Hwang Sungup, and Lee Boohee) headed by Dr. Shin Dong-Hun, Dr. Park Hyeon-Suk, and myself.[i]

Author: Mago Work Admin

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