June 22, 2022June 16, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(2022 Pilgrimage 2) A visual Journey of the Goddess as Protectress from the Neolithic to Present in Eastern Europe by Krista Rodin

The transition from the 6th to 5th millennium BC opened the era of metal/copper ore processing. Simultaneously, archeological evidence suggests that there was an increase in the use of personal Read More …

June 21, 2022June 23, 2022 Mago Work Admin4 Comments

(Tribute 2) My Loving Father (7/31/1935-10/10/2020) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

I was able to visit South Korea last month to be with the spirit of my father who passed away about 20 months ago. I missed my father’s presence strongly. Read More …

June 20, 2022June 16, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem from Refuge/Solstice) Winds of Change by Sara Wright

Hemlock hidingin the gorgeSpring seepingNeedled twigsGreening. Abandoned nestWaxing lightFledglings soarSummer’s dawning. Moon summonedby tidesblossomingpearl loosinggolden pollen. Sun slipping lowbittersweet changeabrupt reversalflips flamingorange round. Postscript: I think the young hemlock tree Read More …

June 17, 2022June 17, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Video) SF Open Studio features Cynthia Tom by Cynthia Tom

In lieu of visiting Cynthia’s studio in 2020, we provide a short glimpse at her studio and her work. Enjoy. Created by ArtSpan Open Studios – San Francisco to address Read More …

June 15, 2022June 15, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Prose) Commerce takes us away from happiness by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

Commerce, capitalism, and the economy, this is the driving force behind the stress in our lives. We must work to live, but we are told we should live to work. Read More …

June 14, 2022June 12, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Tribute 3) In Loving Memory of Eve Helene Wilkowitz by Jack Dempsey, Ph.D.

From there, through the next 42 years of travail—Why is this my culture’s “norm”?—there’s not a day or step or book of mine that isn’t hers. I have curled Read More …

June 13, 2022June 1, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem & Photography) Crowning the Mother Tree by Sara Wright

Crowning the Mother Tree Crown the trees that feed the bees, one more keystone species. Crown the trees that purify poisoned air, ground, water, create clouds for rain, return Read More …

June 10, 2022May 30, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Navigating by the Star Goddesses by Carolyn Lee Boyd

I hike a conservation trail in late afternoon as a heavy hush infuses the air. Pink sun rays tinge the first fall leaves scarlet and a snake rustles the trail’s Read More …

June 9, 2022June 16, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(2022 Pilgrimage 1) A visual Journey of the Goddess as Protectress from the Neolithic to Present in Eastern Europe by Krista Rodin

In January of 2022, I planned a trip to Northeastern European capital cities to see what I could find in the archeological sections of the national museums that related to Read More …

June 8, 2022June 13, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

The Empress’s New Clothes (an American Myth) by Freeda Cathcart

Long, long ago and far away in the land of fantasy lived an Empress. She was a beautiful woman and had served her country well. She had borne four children Read More …

June 4, 2022May 31, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Freeda Cathcart

Freeda Cathcart is a mother living in Southwest Virginia with her husband. She raised four children and homeschooled them until they went to college. She is a founding shareholder of Read More …

June 3, 2022May 29, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Prose) Language makes us by Susan Hawthorne

Language makes us. But we too remake language. And ourselves. If we listen, imagine, invent. Listen to me. Listen to my language. Once upon a time it was the Read More …

June 2, 2022May 26, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Tribute 2) In Loving Memory of Eve Helene Wilkowitz by Jack Dempsey, Ph.D.

Eve is on the verge of her 21st birthday that Spring: a smart strong happy outgoing person grown up in Oakdale, Long Island, and moving now from Bay Shore Read More …

(Prose) Sequana and Blessed Water by Deanne Quarrie

Water is the daily necessity for earth’s creatures. When the Continental Celts were looking for a new homeland, they ventured west from the known river valleys of the great landmass we call Eurasia. Just beyond the great mountains, the Alps, they discovered sweet and abundant water, fertile soil, expansive woodlands, and the plentiful fish, game, berries, grasses, fungi and broad-leafed plants necessary to support their tribe.
(Book Review) Women in Greek Mythography: Pythias, Melissae and Titanides by Max Dashu, Reviewed by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Cover photo: Eos, titanis of Dawn, Black-figure lekythos attributed to the Sappho Painter, Athens, circa 500 bce (Public Domain, courtesy of New York Metropolitan Museum) Demeter and Persephone, Hera, Athena, Medusa, Artemis, and their Roman counterparts are often the first, sometimes only, goddesses modern women experience, and they have profoundly influenced our 21st century attitudes about gender, violence, and more. Yet, as Max Dashu says in her new book, Women in Greek Mythography, Greek history has “served as a template for supremacy, from male domination and Hellenic colonization, to modern Eurocentric ideologies about history” (xi). While most Greek scholarship generally glosses over these malevolent influences and ignores women’s lives, Dashu focuses on “female spheres of power, priestesses, witches, and of course systemic patriarchy” (xi) in order to “map realities of women’s lives, both their spiritual authority and their subjugation; the spaces they carved out, their ceremonies, and the stories they wove into their tapestries” (xi). Women in Greek Mythography is not only a fascinating historical story of Greek myth and religion to be read cover-to-cover, but a rich sourcebook. Dashu meticulously documents her sources so that readers can continue their own research while being assured that her assertions are true. She draws from scholarly works of history and mythography, as well as analyzing images on vases, friezes, sculpture and more that are essential in the absence of literary sources from the earliest periods. She has carefully rendered 270 drawings of these images so that readers can judge their meaning for themselves. She delves into language, seeking out the origins of words that may indicate where goddesses and myths originated and their relationships to one another. She demonstrates that goddess mythologies often had many variations, sometimes conflicting, with many “countless regional deities that were subsumed under Olympian names, the local origin myths, ceremonies and customs” (xiv). Women dancing in leafy belts: not the Greece we were shown. © 2022 Max Dashu. Let’s follow some of the book’s major themes. We begin at the very beginning of the universe. Creation myths of the Titan goddesses, or titanides, who werethegoddesses before the more familiar Olympians, offer beauty, mystery, and a celebration of female divinity, strength, and wisdom. As Dashu says, “Mythic genealogies are a way of explaining the nature of reality and understanding the world. These beings are not personalities but powers of Nature, realms of existence” (3). Nyx, or Night, was “the first cause” in some Orphic poetry and “the source of vital essence, eternal in nature” (4). Next comes Gē, or Gaia, named in a Homeric Hymn as “Mother of all, eldest of all beings,” (9) whose altars or temples were known in many Greek cities. Meet Tethys, “a primeval sea-goddess” (12) and Thetis who “emerges from the unformed primordial unity, and she shapes and lays out the order of things” (14). In the myth of Eurynome, “The primordial earth, sky, and sea existed as an undifferentiated mass within a great Egg, the cosmic mold” and Eurynome came forth when “everything burst out and separated into form” (18). Other titanides are essential to the cosmic order. Among those Dashu cites are Themis, the goddess of divine law and her daughters, and the Horai, who are “the Seasons, Hours, and All the Cycles of Time” (31). One of the Horai is Dikē, “whose wheel represents the coursing of the sun, moon, and stars through the universe…It is she who endows every living being with its own true nature” (31). The Moirai, the Fates, “sing fate as they spin, measure, and cut the strands of lives” (35) and “spin time, the present from the past, and shape the future” (36). In the face of injustice, the Fates became the Furies, known as the Erinyes (also known as Eumenides). Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory or remembrance and her nine daughters are the Muses. Nemesis, a goddess remembered in our own word “nemesis,” “represents the inexorable justice of divine Law toward all who violate the Order of Nature” (44). Finally, we come to Hekate, widely revered in ancient times, who “determines success or failure in human affairs, and her aid is invoked in most areas of life” (52). Helen recaptured by Menelaos, the husband she left for a Trojan prince. © 2022 Max Dashu. Around 2000 BCE, Indo-European conquerers“imposed their language and political rule on the ancient Aegean peoples, while intermixing and eventually absorbing culture from them” (57). Waves of Indo-Europeans mixed with other populations from mainland Greece and the islands showing that Greece was not one, homogenous population or culture but an ever-changing mix of tribes and peoples whose origins and relationships to one another are still being discovered and debated by scholars, archeologists, linguists, and others. In time, a Hellenic culture developed borrowing from others in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the “Cretans, Egyptians, Libyans, Phoenicians, Cypriots, and Anatolians” (59). Among them, Crete is noteworthy for being peaceful and relatively matricultural, with outstanding art featuring goddesses and women in positions of religious power. The mainland Greek Mycenaean culture began to rise about 1600 BC and was somewhat similar to Crete in that it featured images of goddesses and women leading ceremonies, dancing, at altars, and other elements that indicated women were powerful in the religious sphere. It was, however, more warlike and participated in conquests and enslaving. While the Mycenaean culture finally collapsed about 1200 BCE, the Greeks who came after them glorified the Mycenaeans and their exploits in the Trojan War, especially, in poems including the Iliad and the Odyssey. Dashu shows clearly how in these stories violence against mortal women and goddesses became celebrated in Greek culture. Iphigeneia is sacrificed by her father in order to sail off to Troy at the beginning of the Trojan Warand, at the end, Polyxena “is slain at the grave of Akhilles” (76). The women who are captured are inevitably raped and enslaved. Helen is often blamed and shamed in Greek literature for causing the Trojan War, though she was fleeing a despised …
(Music) With Voices Strong ~ Winter Solstice Playlist by Alison Newvine

Music nestles deeply in many of our hearts. As Winter Solstice approaches in the Northern Hemisphere, I offer you this Utterly Eclectic Constellation of Yuletide Ballads, ReImagined Carols and Unique takes on Traditional Tunes. This playlist includes Pagan Yuletide chants and ballads as well as traditional holiday melodies with reworked, Goddess-inspired lyrics. The middle portion of the playlist explores the depths of winter, darkness and the unknown. There are also some conventional songs sung by artists with strong Pagan and/or alternative spirituality leanings such as Loreena McKennit, Alanis Morissette and Sinead O’Connor. For our beloved southern hemisphere sisters and siblings, there is a Summer Solstice Playlist available as well. If you are feeling a desire for a community sing-along that weaves together the nostalgia of the holidays with Sacred Feminine principles and ideals, please join us via zoom on Tuesday December 17th at 4pm PST for Solstice Carols with the Goddess: A Divine Feminine Sing Along and Concert. Come sing with us to ground yourself in peace, healing, joy, and community as we head into Winter Solstice! We will be joined by Trista Hendren of Girl God Books, my band Spiral Muse and several Goddess oriented musicians, who will lead us in Solstice Carols and songs centered on the Sacred Feminine. Our Concert/Sing-along is donation-based and will be recorded and sent to everyone who has registered. Included on the Winter Solstice playlist is the newest release from Spiral Muse, Longing for Her Rebirth, a tribute to the late Rev. Jann Aldredge Clanton, Feminist Christian scholar and author who rewrote hundreds of traditional Christian hymns to reflect Sacred Female values and visions. Spiral Muse will be leading this song live during the Solstice Carols event next week. Lyrics below honor Sophia, divine emanation of wisdom, and are written by Jann Aldredge Clanton and sung to the tune of “Coventry Carol.” Our weary world in anguish cries, longing for Her rebirth We yearn to bring Sophia nigh, longing for Her rebirth When will Her peace and love increase? When will all know Her worth? Sophia yearns to help us learn wisdom for Her rebirth For ages long, Sophia’s song rings out through all the earth We seek today Her peaceful way, longing for Her rebirth Wisdom Sophia helps us see everyone’s sacred worth With voices strong we sing Her song, longing for Her rebirth! https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/
(2022 Pilgrimage 2) A visual Journey of the Goddess as Protectress from the Neolithic to Present in Eastern Europe by Krista Rodin

The transition from the 6th to 5th millennium BC opened the era of metal/copper ore processing. Simultaneously, archeological evidence suggests that there was an increase in the use of personal household shrines. The Vinča civilization was part of this transition; they were the proto-Europeans along the Danube, so their culture and their art were important for later European developments. The Vinča archeological site near Belgrade was used from ca. 5,700 BCE to 1,600 CE. The Neolithic lasted until ca. 3,200, followed by the Bronze Age with the Vatin culture, which used metal tools. The archeological dig relating to f the last period ca. 800-1,600 has uncovered the largest Serbian necropolis. The Vinča Culture is somewhat earlier than the Varna’s that I had mentioned in the Bulgarian blogs. Early on, the Vinča main import was obsidian or volcanic glass from the Carpathian Mountains in Slovakia, Spondylus and Glycymeris shells from the Aegean Sea and salt from the Carthathians. Salt was the most precious commodity in the ancient world, but obsidian was prized as it was hard enough to use as an efficient tool and weapon. The shells were used for jewelry and ornamentation. Ornamentation was an important facet of Vinča art. The Vinča votive figures have sculpted faces with pronounced eyes and noses. They are moulded in clay according to fixed patterns and frequently have birdlike stare, which is very similar to those of the Varna culture in Bulgaria from approximately the same timeperiod. They too have explicitly depicted sexual traits, curly female locks, are naked or dressed, some have engraved hair, and some are without a clearly discernable gender. The figurines are an expression of the Neolithic spiritual life along the Danube. At the peak of the development of the Vinča world, in the Bronze Age, when the “baroque” aesthetic became ubiquitous, the sculpted art yielded figurines with bodies entirely covered by ornaments. Some figurines were given distinct facial characteristics. Over time, however, the detailed artistic expressions disappeared and more mask-like faces appeared. (Borić-Breškovič 37) Vinča Civilization – Serbia Vinča Neolithic goddess, Vinča Museum, Serbia Vinča Neolithic figurines, Vinča Museum, Serbia Neolithic Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia Neolithic figurines, Kosovo Museum, Kosovo Neolithic Figurines, Kosovo Museum, Kosovo (To be Continued) Meet Mago Contributor, Krista Rodin Ph.D. https://www.magoism.net/2018/09/meet-mago-contributor-krista-rodin-ph-d/
(Essay 2) The Kiss of Nong Toom: High Stakes in the Semiotic Arena by Matthew Chabin

(PART II) In her exemplary work Erotic Beasts and Social Monsters: Shakespeare, Johnson and Comic Androgyny, Grace Tiffany outlines two traditional representations of the androgyne/ hermaphrodite figure: the sacred vs. the satirical. Wikipedia commons The sacred androgyne is rooted in myths, particularly origin myths of primal unity, and is a positive, salutary, even salvific figure. As she explains: “Classical myths concerning the androgyne, like those found in numerous other cultures, used him/her to demonstrate a principle of relatedness: of potent human connectedness and progress, or what the Greeks called ‘eros.’ Eros, according to the androgynous principle, is far more than sexual libido. It is a metamorphic power that compels human creativity, procreation, and personal and social growth through intimate connectedness…. [quoting Laurens van der Post], ‘The spirit of Eros’ is ‘a process of metamorphosis,’ of which ‘all of us…are not only capable…but driven…by the collective unconscious’ that ‘unites all humankind.’” It is important to remember that this sacred androgyne is in no way deprived of positive masculine traits (Tiffany associates it with such virile figures as Hercules, Odysseus, Dionysus and Shiva), but is rather the fruition of both gender potentials in tandem, true man and true woman, (M/F). Tiffany traces its genealogy through a number of culture zones and literatures, finding it especially well represented in the work of William Shakespeare—his cross-dressing, shape-shifting champions of Eros vs. his tragic/villainous rejecters and saboteurs of same. On the other side of the coin we find what Tiffany dubs the satiric androgyne, which she links to “a misogynistic classical ethic that, as early as the seventh century B.C, confronted and warred with the older myth of the sacred androgyne.” This rival androgyne is typically vulgar, immodest, hypersexual (yet impotent/barren), lacking both the grace and generative power of the feminine and the virility and agency of the masculine. It is grounded in a dispassionate, separatist, intellectual critique (as opposed to the passionate involvement of erotic experience), and is characterized by “distrust in personal and social relationships, particularly in relationships with women.” Its rhetorical M.O. involves what Matthew Hodgart calls “destruction of the symbol,” which Tiffany explains: “When the image of the androgyne is separated by the satirist from its mythic roots, it becomes simply this “thing in itself”: not a multiform, polynomial, fluid symbol of multiple selves, but one single effeminate male or inappropriately aggressive, ‘manly’ female who, so far from figuring communal wholeness, appears as an unhealthy impediment to the productive life of the community.” This, then, is the double negative, neither male nor female, (-M/-F) which opposes and seeks to annihilate the positive, male and female (M/F). All of this is vividly realized in the 2003 biopic film Beautiful Boxer by Singapore-based director Ekachai Uekrongham. The film chronicles Nong Toom’s journey, from her childhood in rural Thailand, to her initiation into Muay Thai, through the stages of her controversial career as a top fighter, and finally her decision to undergo a sex-change operation and resolve the contradictions of mind and body once and for all. There are many scenes worthy of comment, but the key scene, for our purposes, comes about two thirds of the way through. Nong Toom, (sensitively played by actor/boxer Asanee Suwan), stands in the ring, comely and dignified in her customary lipstick and rouge. Her opponent is Ramba, a grotesque—bearded, garlanded, and garishly made up. This unsightly thing minces and sashays about the ring in a caricature of womanly mannerisms to the raucous cheers of the spectators. Mythically it appears as a projection of the ignorant crowd, born of their derision; psychologically it is also Nong Toom’s own shadow made hideous flesh. This clownish, false, satirical androgyne, this demonic mockery, neither man nor woman, arises to traduce and slay the hero, to counter her erotic power and eradicate her very tenuous identity. What started as a boxing match has become a harrowing ritual, an enacted myth, and yet there is nothing pre-scripted or guaranteed or safely contained here. The stakes are jacked to an all or nothing, existential showdown, and all the world is watching. At first the demon’s wicked mojo seems to work; Toom is stunned, clearly offended. She is blindsided by a sudden, vicious attack. In the course of the fight she regains her poise, turns the tide, and gives Ramba a vengeful thrashing. It’s no surprise, really, that the demon isn’t much of a fighter. Its very nature is negation; when it comes down to it, it isn’t much of anything. In the end, the shameless creature begs for mercy, pleading “We’re both girls!” “Yes,” says Toom, “but girls like you give girls like me a bad name.” Her next punch knocks Ramba out cold, and this time there’s no kiss. Psychologically,and mythically, this scene opens the way for Nong Toom’s further initiationinto the feminine sphere. She startstaking hormones, and while the treatment favors her transformation, it weakensher in the ring. She absorbs morepunishment and starts losing fights. Sadas it is, this decline also supports the mythic reading, for as she becomesmore and more a woman, she sacrifices the male aspect of the androgyne,forfeiting certain potentials and powers, like closing down wings of a greathouse. The process culminates in herfinal, surgical transformation, after which she is banned entirely fromentering the ring, as per the ancient, patriarchal rules of the sport.[4] On a sociological level, we may not thegalling irony that the official acceptance of her as woman takes the form ofbanishment. But in a mythic sense, wesee her delivered from the semiotic arena and its crucible of warringcategories. She has died to herself andbeen reborn. She is free. (To be continued) (Meet Mago Contributor) Matthew Chabin.
(Essay) Las Posadas at Abiquiu Pueblo by Sara Wright

For the past couple of days my friend Iren and I have been preparing for the Christmas party at the Pueblo. Every year Iren, who is a gifted artist, works with the local children helping them to make ornaments, cards, and god’s eyes to sell at this special gathering, and this year I worked with her and the children. Iren also made beautiful cards to sell. Every penny of the proceeds goes to augment the funds for the Abiquiu Pueblo Library and Cultural Center. The day before the party we went into the canyon, gathered pinion boughs and then black pine (from Iren’s house) to decorate the tables for the festivities. We included fragrant black sage and blue green juniper berries as part of the whole. This is the second time I have attended the Christmas party at the Pueblo and once again I was delighted by the delicious food, the animated conversation between friends and joyful live music. I am also so pleased with the bright red ceramic peppers, a hand painted stone, and the beautiful cards (made by Iren) that we purchased last night. These are my winter solstice offerings… This year the night of the party also marked the beginning of Las Posadas, a Hispanic tradition that Abiquiu Pueblo observes. This nine – day festival has multiple variants but the basic story is the same, and is reenacted around Mary and Joseph who are searching for a place of “repose” as Mary prepares to give birth. When the luminary – a fire – was lit in the church courtyard I went out the door and followed a few others as they approached the flames. Within a few minutes the church bells rang and people gathered at the church door, knocking on it and singing a song about being invited in that was answered by singing from within the church. Eventually the doors opened and we entered the church that was festooned with live trees and a crèche with Guadalupe overlooking the scene. A Catholic Church service followed (unexpectedly for me because I thought I was about to witness an actual reenactment of a story that originated with Saint Francis in 1200 AD!). I am not a Catholic, or for that matter a Christian. I am an animist, that is, a person who believes that spirit and soul resides in every living tree, stone, star, plant – and that the natural world is a holy place. However, my father was an Italian immigrant and once, a Roman Catholic, so I have Christian roots… When the Asian priest gave a homily I found myself listening with reverence and deep respect because the core of his message was that Abiquiu was a most beautiful and sacred piece of earth and that if one looked into the mirror of Abiquiu Lake and saw the moon reflected upon the waters, or the stars in the sky, then one could feel peace. The choice was ours, he said, in these times that threaten war and destruction we could choose peace or war. It was up to us. When I left the church I realized that this message was what I had come to hear. I too would consciously make the choice this approaching solstice eve (12/20) to choose peace in my personal and political life as best as I could as we move towards this next turning of the wheel. I will also light a Faralito on the night of the winter solstice and put it in my window to invite the Spirit and the Soul of Peace of Nature to enter and find repose. (Meet Mago Contributor) Sara Wright
(Book Review) Jezebel: the Untold Story of the Bible’s Harlot Queen by Max Dashu

A very short review of Lesley Hazelton’s book Don’t let that last part of the title fool you. Hazelton shows that this ancient queen of Israel, a Phoenician princess married to king Ahab in Samaria, was never a harlot. She is not only reclaiming Jezebel but lays bare the way fundamentalist totalitarianism works. She provides a really important analysis of the way that Elijah and Elisha dragged down the Israelite kingdom by their attacks on religious pluralism and on the queen specifically. (Jehu to Yoram: “What peace, when your mother Jezebel’s harlotries and sorceries are so many?”) Their actions turned two allies, Phoenicia and Syria, into enemies and quickly resulted in Israel (the northern kingdom) being made into a tributary province of the fell Assyrian empire. There are some errors in the book, most of them minor. The most serious is her casting Astarte as wife of El (that’s actually Athirat, Asherah in Hebrew, who is not the same as Ashtart) but this does not affect her main thesis. She does a good job of breaking down the equation of polytheism with “harlotry” (zanah) and how this eventually made Jezebel to be regarded as a whore in the historical record and still today in popular cultures. On this topic, she has a wonderful discussion of how the notion of “sacred prostitution” was canonized by 19th and early 20th century (European/American) scholars, a development we are still seeing the effects of even among some Goddess-oriented scholars today. It’s worth quoting her on this: “The old-style gentlemen scholars, hampered by Orientalism and blinkered by misogyny, simply could not conceive of women as priests. To the, there was only one possible explanation for the presence of women officiating in the temples of the Middle East: a consecrated woman could only be consecrated to sex.” (75) Also, she identifies the “Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess” that John of Patmos denounced in Revelations 2:20-23, as the popular Christian teacher Thyatira. The true name of the original Jezebel is Ithabaal, “woman of Baal (lord)”. Hazelton says that the Bible writers twisted this name into a form that translates as “woman of dung.” She has something to say about that too. Although the book has extensive endnotes, it is written in an easy to read style, at times journalistic and occasionally poetic. She doesn’t fail to draw parallels to modern fundamentalisms. (Originally published here: http://www.suppressedhistories.net/articles/jezebel.html)
(Essay 1) The Worship of Cybele in the Ancient World by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note: This essay and its sequels are part of a longer chapter for a book I am working on. The book is based on my dissertation research at the Maetreum of Cybele in Palenville NY. I wanted to share some of my historical research and I will be presenting more essays on Mother Goddess worship in the ancient world and contemporary interest in the Feminine Divine.] Museum of Anatolian Civilizations In the Neolithic Age[1], there were deities however they were understood to be spirits of nature and the universe. Images of these beings are found on cave walls, from figurines found in the remains of homes, and from reliefs carved in temples. However, we cannot be sure of the names and characteristics of these deities. Scholars have had to learn to interpret other sources of information and worked backward to attempt to understand the people of the time using the myths and religious texts written by the people or their neighbors. These scholars know that the first stories recorded would be those critical to the people, their religious beliefs, and their history. Second, scholars examine iconography, repeated symbols, animals, or objects that appear with a deity in prehistory and then look at a goddess with these same symbols and objects depicted during the written era. Using this research, they can make a connection across time and culture from prehistory to the historical period. Humanity is built on connections: connection to the family, a country, a religious community, or a community of friends. How communities are formed is not the central issue; it is that our community provides people with the connections that they need which is essential. In the practice of pagan religions, this often involves trying to trace back the roots of the faith to a more ancient path. Unfortunately, this leads some researchers to grasp at iconographic straws to make connections. The practice of building a non-existent link between ancient religions and contemporary Pagan and new age religious groups is so common that both Ronald Hutton and Margot Adler, have dedicated books to debunking the supposed ancient roots of some Pagan groups.[2] This does not stop lay researchers and serious scholars from using archaeological evidence to try to prove that contemporary Paganism does have some ancient roots. The Great Mother, the Mother Goddess, the Mother of the Gods, the Divine Feminine, Mother Earth, and Gaia are some of the names of Goddesses found across the world throughout time. That mother goddesses existed is not in dispute. However, this does not mean that a contemporary Goddess is a direct “descendant” of a more ancient Goddess. At the very least this claim cannot be made without evidence. In the case of the Goddess Cybele, some scholars find the evidence to be lacking while others point to iconography as proof of her continuity of worship. Philippe Borgeaud, in Mother of the Gods, states that because the name Cybele first appears in the sixth century BCE on an engraved façade in a Phrygian Sanctuary then that is the oldest her worship can be. From this first inscription, he traces the name of Cybele or the “Mother of the Gods” through to the sixth century CE via the established trade networks which linked Asia Minor and Phrygia to Greece and Rome.[3] His view grants Cybele a 1,200-year history of worship around the Mediterranean, and he dismisses any claims of older worship of the goddess. It is my opinion that this hesitancy to connect Cybele with the more ancient Mother Goddesses is partly due to fear. Many in the field of women’s spirituality are familiar with the resistance scholars experience when they reinterpret what male scholars have already defined as real. Marija Gimbutas’ work on Goddess figurines found in old Europe combined the fields of archaeology and mythology[4] and Gimbutas herself coined the term archaeomythology to describe this field. However, her work is politely marginalized or openly mocked by parts of the scholarly community because she did not have written records to prove her claims.[5] Never mind that the previous scholars who wrote about the Neolithic also did not have written documents or the archaeological evidence from later digs that she oversaw. Female and feminist scholars must fight through a least two centuries of entrenched male-dominated cultural dogma to rewrite a history which to them seems obvious. In fact, according to mythologist and poet Robert Graves, The whole of Neolithic Europe to judge from surviving artifacts and myths, had a remarkably homogeneous system of religious ideas based on the many titled Mother Goddess, who was also known in Syria and Libya… The Great Goddess was regarded as immortal, changeless, omnipotent; and the concept of fatherhood had not yet been introduced into religious thought.[6] Before the discovery of evidence pointing, if not to worship then at least, to the adoration of the mother giving birth, it was so for scholars to agree that yes, there was a time when Goddesses were important. Some scholars claim the ancient Goddess worshipping societies were not matriarchal societies, but it is likely that they were matrifocal or at least egalitarian based on graves and artifacts.[7] Continued excavations at Old Europe cites, such as Catal Huyuk have provided evidence which supports the conclusion that these early societies were egalitarian. I believe that there is proof of Cybele’s connection to Anatolia especially from Catal Huyuk in Turkey, around 6000 BCE based on archaeological finds. This view is supported by the work of other scholars including Merlin Stone, Lynn Roller, Elinor Gabon, and M.J. Vermaseren who wrote the first significant work on the worship of Cybele. These scholars point out attributes, titles, animals, and similar names as evidence that Cybele had a past which stretches back to Neolithic Anatolia. I explore the history of Cybele from a standpoint that based on the material evidence she is a very ancient Goddess. Cathryn Platine, the Battakes[8] of the modern revival and a lay scholar on Goddess history, believes that Cybele can be …
(Poem) Sarasvatīkanthabharana: Sarasvatī’s Necklace by Susan Hawthorne

so you who are to blame for all the world’s ills you who dance in ever expanding spiralsturning the universe on a point you who speak as if you are the world’s know-all you whose smallest lapse becomes earth’s fault line you who sweep the sea’s tides into our arms you whose hair is a chaos of cunning you who cut the layers of learning with your eye you whose boat hides behind clouds or is starlit you for whom we sing a never-ending cycle of song you for whom the snakes and bees dance your sacraments are our lives your river is a necklace of ponds you moon-carrier, sky-wanderer no weapon is greater than you notes Sarasvatī is the Hindu goddess of knowledge, writing, music, art and wisdom. Her name comes from saras which can mean both speech and pooling water and vati, she who possesses.kantha: means necklace. (Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne, Ph.D. [Author’s Note: This poem is from my book The Sacking of the Muses which is available internationally: North America http://www.ipgbook.comUK and Europe https://www.gazellebookservices.co.uk/Australia and everywhere else http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/]

(Review) Journey into Dreamtime by Munya Andrews, reviewed by Glenys Livingstone

Although the term “Dreamtime” is often not considered an adequate translation of the cosmology, religion or spirituality of Indigenous Australians, Munya Andrews of the Bardi people from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, acknowledges this and chooses to name her recently published book with it, explaining that: “I love the term … For me, it conjures up a magical and mysterious world.”, and she feels that the term aligns perfectly with the common global religious concept that Diety is beyond words and human understanding. For me, as Munya Andrews describes “Dreamtime”, it seems resonant with the sense of “ever-present Origins”[1]; that is, original space and time that is omnipresent. This is a space/place that I understand to be referred to as “between the worlds” and “beyond the bounds of space and time”, by Indigenous Europeans (Pagans), a tradition with which I am familiar. I understand it to be a sentient world in which we are immersed actually, and which may be revealed to the observant person in synchronous moments. With practice one may live with clearer everyday connections with this world, and Munya’s book is an important contribution to making those connections from within the cosmology of her people; and for “all beautiful souls to keep the Dreamtime alive”, as she says in the book’s dedication. This book provides informative story that should be part of every Australian’s education at various levels: it lays a groundwork and also elicits deepening understandings. The teachings offered in Journey into Dreamtime should be considered essential knowledge for living on this land named Australia, whereas heretofore most present occupants have often not had easy access to such learning. This very readable and small book provides some basic facts: for example, that there are “250 or so Indigenous nations, each having their own language, their own names and ‘country’ or tribal lands.”; and that terms such as Koori, Nunga or Murri are “pan-Aboriginal” names taken on since colonisation, for the sake of asserting a distinct Indigenous identity, in the face of forced removal from families and land. In the course of the seven chapters Munya develops understanding of Dreamtime, and also understandings of Indigenous Law, Songlines, sacred sites, bush doctors/bush medicine, Rainbow Snake, and Kindredness. I found all of this really helpful, an invitation into a world of being and relationship; and it is told with frequent analogies from Western science and academic and spiritual texts, with which the reader may be more familiar, enabling the bridge into Indigenous science and worldview. There is a list of suggested readings offered, along with links and details for further connection and learning. At the conclusion of each chapter of Journey into Dreamtime there are “Dreamtime Reflections”, posing questions for personal consideration, inviting personal participation and pathways into some actual sense of an alive self in relationship with the alive world described. This book needs to be in spaces/places where everyday people can read it, like waiting rooms of all kinds (where there are frequently Bibles); as well as in every library, and especially Australian libraries. I highly recommend Journey into Dreamtime as an educational resource, for your self, for educational programs, and/or for any group that you may gather. Aunty Munya, as she names herself, has an impressive track record of speaking engagements, mentioned at the conclusion of the book, and invites you to have her speak to your organisation. She describes her life purpose as “to create better understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal people and to leave behind a legacy of Dreamtime wisdom for generations to come.” May it be so, as readers of Journey into Dreamtime absorb its teaching and resources. To order a copy of Journey into Dreamtime visit Evolve Communities NOTES: [1]“ever-present origin” is the English translation of Jean Gebser’s Ursprung und Gegenwart, Stuttgart, Deutsche Verlag, 1966.
(Special Post 5) 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: I have come across the origin of the Dokkaebi (image, Heavenly Ruler Chiu, 14th Hanung of Danguk. Chiu represented the Magoist rule aided by her 81 giant sister clan allies (nine groups of Nine Hans) fought Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), one of the ancient rulers of pre-historic China. Chiu is known as the empeor of Guri-guk or Guryeo-guk (Nine Ri State or Nine Ryeo State), which is alternatiely referred to as Goryeo-guk and Goguryeo-guk by East Asians. She was worshipped as the deity of war and remembered/depicted for her helmet made of copper and iron. Records about her war against Hungdi inundates ancient Korean and Chinese texts and myths. About Chiu or Chiyou, it is too complex to discuss here. It is a topic to be treated in its own right. Suffice to say that even some of basic information from Wikipedia is illuminating. “Chiyou (蚩尤) was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎) in ancient China. 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. For the Hmong people, Chiyou was a sagacious mythical king. He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under Dongyi, Miao or even Man, 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. According to legend, Chiyou had a bronze head with a metal forehead. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. 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. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers. Historical sources often described him as ‘cruel and greedy’, as well as ‘tyrannical’. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom. 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.” “Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎, RPA White Hmong: Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources. 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. Some sources from later dynasties, such as the Guoyu book, considered Chiyou’s Li tribe to be related to the ancient San miao tribe (三苗). In the ancient Zhuolu Town is a statue of Chiyou commemorating him as the original ancestor of the Hmong people. The place is regarded as the birthplace of the San miao / Miao people, the Hmong being a subgroup of the Miao. In sources following the Hmong view, the “nine Li” tribe is called the “Jiuli” kingdom, Jiuli meaning “nine Li”. Modern Han Chinese scholar Weng Dujian considers Jiuli and San Miao to be Man southerners. Chiyou has also been counted as part of the Dongyi.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyou Above all, her depiction by ancient China is of a pejorative one. As we will see in the next part, she is contrasted with her opponent Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), a triumphantly depicted ancient hero of ancient China. Above Wikipedia. See her images created by ancient Koreans, the middle one in the three figures, depicted as a woman with female breasts, one of Dokkaebi images. There are other records that describe one of her allies. as one adorned with snakes in the head, which reminds me of Medusa. Silla (left), Baekje (Center), Goguryeo (right) http://lasvegaskim.com/Etc_Poem_55.htm Max Dashu: Oe-ri, Buyeo, in the Baekje period. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: That is where the rooftile at the center is excavated. That is the original image of Dokkaebi that Lydia Ruyle chose and depicted in her banner work. I could not connect this image with Chiu until now. We have the female ruler who subdued the patrilocal force of Yellow Emperor, the forebear of ancientChinese emperors. There are lots of myths and data that I have found on them. Chiu is also numerously depicted as Dokkaebi faces, which makes me think of its connection to the iconography of Medusa and Gorgon (who comes as Three Sisters). Eight-snake-headed Medusahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa Gorgon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/art-dokkaebi-by-lydia-ruyle/ Lizzy Bluebell: ‘Gonggong’ is not a far stretch phonetically from ‘Gorgon’ – I note. Briefly here – because it is a complex explanation – much more can be said about the etymology. For example, “gorge” relates to deep mountain passes with water flowing through them as well as the human throat or gullet, (relating the word to both speech and eating) and mountains are/were Goddess terrain, later usurped by MON-A-Ster-ies. The masculine name Ge-Orge is code which relates to GE/Gaia/Gay as well as to ‘orgy’. Sanskrit “garg” begets English ‘gargle’, and a guttural (gut-her-all) sound. I’ve always seen the archetypal Medusa/Gorgon’s ‘snaking curls’ as the energy emmitted from her head by her Wild I-Deas, which returns us to the theme of the Pythia/Oracle/Snake connections too. “In Greek mythology, a Gorgon (/ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means “dreadful”, and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit word “garğ” (Sanskrit: गर्जन, garjana) which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast,[1] thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters […]
(Special Post 6) 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.] Esther Essinger “Why Goddess, when “GD” is perpetrating so much grief? 1) First, it’s vital to know that Goddess is NOT “GD” in a skirt. It is demanded of NO one that they “believe” or “have faith”, so there can be no guilt (and no punishment! (No Hell below us, thank you John) in NOT choosing to interest oneself in these particular Stories, myths, legends and tales which center the Cosmic Female, the Universal Mother, Mother Earth /Mother Nature at their core. No evangelism happening here!

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.
(Essay) Conceiving, Imagining the New at Samhain by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

It is the Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere at this time. In the PaGaian version of Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony participants journey to the “Luminous World Egg” … a term taken from Starhawk in her book The Spiral Dance[i], where she also names that place as the “Shining Isle”, which is of course, the Seed of conception, a metaphor for the origins of all and/or the female egg: it is the place for rebirth. Artist: Bundeluk, Blue Mountains, Australia. The “luminous world egg” is a numinous place within, the MotherStar of conception: that is, a place of unfolding/becoming. The journey to this numinous place within requires first a journey back, through some of each one’s transformations, however each may wish to name those transformations at this time. The transformations for each and every being are infinite in their number, for there is “nothing we have not been” as has been told by Celts and others of Old, and also by Western science in the evolutionary story (a story told so well by evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris, particularly in her video Journey of a Silica Atom.) Ceremonial participants may choose selves from biological, present historical self, or may choose selves from the mythic with whom they feel connection; from any lineage – biological or otherwise. Selves may also be chosen from Gaia’s evolutionary story – earlier creatures, winged or scaled ones … with whom one wishes to identify at this time. Each participant is praised for their “becoming” for each self they share. When all have completed these journeys/stories of transformation, the circle is lauded dramatically by the celebrant for their courage to transform; and she likens them all to Gaia Herself who has made such transitions for eons. The celebrant awards each with a gingerbread snake, “Gaian totems of life renewed”[ii]. gingerbread snakes Participants sit and consume these gingerbread snakes in three parts: (i) as all the “old shapes” of self that were named; and (ii) remembering the ancestors, those whose lives have been harvested, whose lives have fed our own, remembering that we too are the ancestors, that we will be consumed; and (iii) remembering and consuming the stories of our world that they desire to change, the stories that fire their wrath or sympathy: in the consuming, absorbing them (as we do), each may transform them by thoughts and actions – “in our own bodyminds”. When all that is consumed “wasting no part”, it is said that “we are then free to radiate whatever we conceive”, to “exclaim the strongest natural fibre known” – our creative selves, “into such art, such architecture, as can house a world made sacred” by our building[iii]. This “natural fibre” is a reference to the spider’s thread from within her own body, with which she weaves her web, her home; and Spider has frequently been felt in indigenous cultures around the globe as Weaver and Creator of the Cosmos. Spider the Creatrix, North America, C. 1300 C.E., Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.13 In the ceremony, participants linked with a thread that they weave around the circle, may sail together for a new world “across the vast sunless sea between endings and beginnings, across the Womb of magic and transformation, to the “Not-Yet” who beckons”[iv]: to the Luminous World Egg whereupon the new may be conceived and dreamed up. Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony is an excellent place for co-creating ourselves, for imaginingthe More that we may become, and wish to become. This is where creation and co-creation happens … in the Womb of Space[v], in which we are immersed – at all times: and Samhain is a good season for feeling it. References: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005 Sahtouris, Elisabet. Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution. Lincoln NE:iUniversity Press, 2000. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. NY: Harper and Row, 1999. Swimme, Brian. The Earth’s Imagination.DVD series 1998. NOTES: [i]p.210 [ii]a version of this Samhain script is offered in Chapter 7 PaGaian Cosmology [iii]These quoted phrases are from Robin Morgan, “The Network of the Imaginary Mother”, in Lady of the Beasts, p.84. This poem is a core inspiration of the ceremony. [iv]“Not-Yet” is a term used by Brian Swimme, The Earth’s Imagination, video 8 “The Surprise of Cosmogenesis”. [v]note that creation does not happen at the point of some god’s index finger, as imagined in the Sistine Chapel – what a takeover that is!
(Video) An Autumn Equinox Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

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

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

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

Mago, the First Mother from East Asia by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Excerpts from “Mago, the First Mother from East Asia,” Creatrix Media Live (CML) Roundtable Radio Talk with Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang. May 23, 2011] Jayne DeMente: Welcome Helen, I was fortunate to read some of your research and I applaud you because, we in the Western WSE movement have long needed to hear more from Asian women spiritual leaders and feminists and your reference to the Neolithic timeline… For our listeners and participants online, let’s lead with the question of who is Mago, was she a mother figure, what is Magoism, does any other deity pre-date her? Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: *Mago is the great goddess known to East Asians throughout history. She is the first mother of all, cosmogonist, and ultimate sovereign/ruler. She has many names. Among them are Triad Deity (Samsin), Grandmother (halmi), Auspicious Goddess (Seogo), Evil (Magui), and Old Goddess (Nogo). She is also known as the Giantess who shaped the natural and cultural landscape. Her manifestations are so multivalent that one may think they do not refer to the same goddess. She was well loved, given high esteem, celebrated by East Asians in the past. She was almost completely forgotten, however in modern times, up until the 1980s in Korea, when the principle text of Magoism, the Budoji, re-emerged. *Mago is a mother figure in the sense that she bore two daughters, Kunghee and Sohee, and managed her household called the Castle of Mago, the primordial paradise of humanity. She is the ancestor of all races. She takes care of everything on earth via the equilibrium of cosmic music/sound/vibration. *Magoism is the term that refers to the totality of culture/civilization venerating Mago as the great goddess. It is a tradition largely unnoted but co-opted and distorted in major East Asian religions. The concept of Magoism helps one identify and understand Mago’s multivalent manifestations that are found trans-nationally. It also makes possible to name the female-centered original/primal civilization that gave birth to the forthcoming East Asian civilizations and religions. *Whether Mago is the earliest deity known to East Asia is unknown. In fact, there are goddesses unearthed from “pre-historic” archaeological sites without their names. The life-sized goddess statue was unearthed in the site of Hongshan Culture, northeastern region of present China dating from 4,700 to 2,900 BCE. The heavy use of jade along with the partly bear-figured female icon is congruent with the account of Magoism in the Budoji. Also, of course, there are numerous female figurines called dogu excavated in Japan’s “pre-historic” times. The ancient origin of Mago or Magoism has a merit to explain some facts that remain a mystery, so to speak. Korea is also known as the land of dolmens. Half of the world megaliths are populated in the Korean peninsula. There are numerous pyramids found in mainland China. There is a documentary film about the sunken temple beneath the sea of Okinawa Japan, etc. dating to 10,000 years ago. *Then, how early does Mago date to? It is difficult to date the earliest evidence of Mago or Magoism simply because written history does not exist in pre-patriarchal times. As you see here, when we talk about the earliest of something, everyone assumes it is of Chinese. So let me follow this line of thought: Ge Hong’s record on Magu from China dates to the early fourth century CE (Ge Hong 283—343 CE). However, Daoist scholar Robert Ford Campany states that the cult of Mago dates back to the Stone Age. It is more difficult to date Mago in Korean records simply because ancient written records did not survive. Two books, the Budoji and the Handan Gogi, alleged to have been written in the late 4th or early 5th century and subsequent later times, which refer to Mago otherwise known as Samsin (Triad Deity) remain controversial. Considering that the name Mago is embedded in Korean language as in “gom,” “geum,” and “gam,” whose meaning indicates ruler, sovereign, and head, the origin of Mago is as old as these words. Likewise, most materials that recount Mago as cosmogonist are of folklore, place names, literature, arts, and debris of historical and religious records, most of which are difficult to date for its origin. Anniitra Ravenmoon: Thank you Helen, you have done much academic research and hold several degrees, can you explain to us how your education or experience informed you regarding Mago? Helen: *I would say that encountering Mago as a doctoral research topic is ultimately prompted by my intellectual quest as a Korean feminist. Following radical feminism of Mary Daly, I wanted to seek spirituality that is not only non-patriarchal but also East Asian and Korean. This made me study feminism and East Asian religions, histories, and cultures, etc. I end up with so much to study over the past decade and a half. I did not take up graduate studies as a means to develop an academic career. I loved reading and studies from youth. This kind of attitude is not that practical in the job market. However, I believe this is the right path for me. To look back, I did not follow the ready-made conventional path of life. I was a dreamer and idealist. I still value those qualities in myself and others. I used to think to myself, if I had remained a Christian, I would not have sought Mago. How could I? Likewise if I had resorted to Buddhism, I would not have encountered Mago. Because I wanted to carve out my own spiritual path as a Korean feminist, I was able to encounter Mago. Another factor at work in my study of Mago is the cultural or spiritual tradition of cultivating the Dao, the Way, in East Asia. I wanted to find out what the truth was, how I could make the most out of my life and etc. So I tried the shoes of a Catholic overseas missionary for a while. Leaving Christianity behind, however, helped me realize the cultural heritage that I have within. It was …
(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 …
(Book Excerpt 6) The Mago Way by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note] The following is from Chapter One, “What Is Mago and Magoism and How Did I Study HER?” from The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia, Volume 1. Footnotes below would be different from the monograph version. PDF book of The Mago Way Volume 1 download is available for free here.] Magoism, East Asian Religions, and Magoist Mudangs As mentioned above, Magoism refers to the totality of human civilization that is ultimately gynocentric. Speaking from a narrow perspective, Magoism is the primordial matrix from which such East Asian religions as Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism were derived. In the light of Magoism, a patriarchal religion is redefined as a pseudo-Magoism that which has co-opted the Way of the Great Goddess (Magoism) with the androcentric reversal of the female

Author: Mago Work Admin

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