December 27, 2019December 23, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Dryad, Tree Nymph by Pegi Eyers

Dryads are Greek or Hindu tree spirits. Bonded to their tree for life, both the nymphs and the gods punished any mortals who dared to harm the trees. “Her soul message Read More …

December 26, 2019July 25, 2021 Mago Work Admin4 Comments

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

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Read More …

December 24, 2019December 23, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Book Excerpt 4) How to Live Well Despite Capitalist Patriarchy by Trista Hendren

Evaluate All Relationships Your most important relationship is the one you have with yourself. So, make sure you are treating yourself well and keeping the promises you make. If you Read More …

December 23, 2019January 26, 2020 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art & Prose 1) Making the Great Mother by Frances Guerin

Last week I awoke in fright from a dream of a thousand outstretched dark hands, and voices that cried out, “We are making the Great Mother” I wandered downstairs, made Read More …

December 18, 2019November 8, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay 2) Private Religion in Pompeii: An examination of two lararia from Pompeii by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

Two Lararia from Pompeii The intermingling of deities, both insiders and outsiders, is most evident in private contexts, where no formal stricture limited personal religious expression, most notably in Read More …

December 16, 2019December 8, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay 4) The Blending of Bön, Buddhism and the Goddess Gemu in Mosuo Culture by Krista Rodin

[Editor’s Note: This series is included as a chapter in Goddesses in Culture, History and Myth .] The Blending of Bön, Buddhism and the Goddess Much of the literature on the Mosuo and Read More …

November 14, 2019November 14, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poetry) A Practice of Religion by Harriet Ann Ellenberger

The woods are my churchbecause everyone in them lives by the law.If you take more than you need there,your surplus will be stolen by brown bears,for dessert. I take to Read More …

November 12, 2019November 15, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Prose & Art 2) The Goddess: The Foundation of My Spirituality by Noris Binet

The Alchemy of Revelations through our Dreams The avenue where I found a direct path to the realm of the creative matrix of the great Mother Goddess is through the Read More …

November 11, 2019November 12, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem & Photography) The Doorway by Sara Wright

When I look into his face I wonder what he is thinking as he loses himself in sweet mountain mist. He’s alone now. His fear of the unknown keeps him Read More …

November 8, 2019November 6, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay 3) The Blending of Bön, Buddhism and the Goddess Gemu in Mosuo Culture by Krista Rodin

[Editor’s Note: This series is included as a chapter in Goddesses in Culture, History and Myth .] Goddess Gemu’s Influence on Mosou Traditions Children are thought to become adults at a ceremony when Read More …

November 7, 2019April 15, 2020 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay 7) The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen

[This part and the forthcoming sequels are an elaborated version of the original article entitled “The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia—a late Shamanistic Read More …

November 6, 2019November 4, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art & Prose) Bloodmoon Blessing – a prayer, picture and poem by Lucy Pierce

May the wombs of all daughters be blessed, as eggs in the ovaries of their mothers, inside the wombs of their grandmothers, blessed at their conception and blessed at their Read More …

November 1, 2019November 1, 2019 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

(Prose) Separatism and Prehistory of Women by Susan Hawthorne

In 1976 I was studying Philosophy. It was my Honours year and I had decided to write a thesis (10,000 words) entitled In Defence of Separatism. This year I decided Read More …

(Essay 6) Future of Identity: Reclaiming the Northern Pagan Tradition by Jillian Burnett

Art by Jillian Burnett Power of Ritual The power of ritual will always have significance culturally—to atheists, practitioners, non-believers, and the curious. Just as for winter solstice, when folks celebrate the solar minimum—the rituals has importance in the northern hemisphere. The northern pagan tradition celebrates Yule and the new year; inaugurating the return of the sun’s light and renewal. Smaller family rituals also honor handfasting, blót, family ceremonies—birth and death. For these rites people gather privately or publicly. The spaces are decorated and cleansed—often with natural ingredients like juniper and holly or fresh pine cones. There is live music and song at these food-filled family-oriented gatherings. Included in these rituals often is a feast where ancestors and other-worldy energies are invited as well. Some intentions that may be set can be to move out bad luck and burn it away, sending it into fire along with the yule log. Other rituals may distribute positivity and blessings. Yet others feast and invite and honor the dead. As folk come together to recall their ancestry and tell their stories, they identify into their group’s power. This has ramifications that can have grave impact. On a forward-looking basis this undertaking aims to understand how the revival of the northern pagan community and its practices will accelerate societal transformation.Modern northern pagans will be influenced by their past in various ways. If seeking economic advice whether for individual, organization, or as state policy,the Eddas and anglo-saxon texts advise that a person should manage their own household, keep close ties with kin, and be generous to people when times are prosperous. Overall however the practices of self-sufficiency could tend towards policies of populism, protectionism, or isolationism. To a beneficial degree, populism can support workers. Unfortunately in the efforts to support the common worker, companies respond by shifting abroad as well as outsourcing or automating. Populism has an interesting pivot point as voting demographics of northern pagans aligne to more liberal and left leaning policies; overall voting to support benefits to the blind, widows, veterans, and any in society that have need. In terms of economic policy, expansion of the nanny state is a hot-button topic that both left and right argue; investments and wealth and economy are complex—requiring multi-vector analysis. Society runs on subsidies whether they be to petrol or to sugar, to gas or electricity. The lights on the roadsides and the fire brigades all are a part of how we envision our lives in the first world. Kindergarten and public schools for every child is hardly something society will give up on the basis of taxation. Economic policy may be hard to derive exactly—if we look to the past for guidance. Today’s sensibilities are moreso based in equity and sharing, and the past teachigs often value closeness with kin and self-sufficiency; although generosity is seen as a true virtue. Within the northern pagan tradition, no quick solution may be viable. Another way the past practices resurface is in the handfasting tradition. Marriage as an institution to say the least—is changing. No longer are conveniences that convenient. And the cost of money and the cost of time are not comparable. When couples want to meaningfully bind themselves in spiritual union many are now turning to the northern pagan practice of handfasting. Symbolically the couple is joined with a knot or tied cloth—each end borne by both. In ritual both families are seen as being joined. Spiritually as sound embodied in chant, often in a heterosexual marriage the sky father would be called to join the earth mother. These metaphors are drawn down from ancient times and are present in the couple’s knot tying ritual. Normally this rite takes place outdoors under the sun and trees surrounded by community. An important concern of the past to consider is conflict resolution. When a harm was done or a crime committed; offense was noted legally. There was a price that could be paid to mitigate blood retribution, but this weregeld often did the minimum to assuage the loss or heal hurts. Financial compensation was paid for many kinds of harms, including theft, sheep slaughter, or abduction of brides without consent. The northern pagan tradition had many legalities, and restitution was always paid. This did not stop blood feuds however, as revenge and anger are a part of human experience. Normal expectation of payment through monetary fines would not suffice the egos, and so the sagas tell of generational blood feuds. While we don’t have an Allthing to formally bring up all our woes within community to seek repayment and restitution, what we can learn from the past—is to mediate conflict with communication. The Allthing was a way to reconcile fighting parties by finding a middle ground for them to move forward from pain. This arbitration helped societies to stay together, instead of fracturing families as we see with today’s trends. These past practices can positively influence today’s northern pagans. The day to day living routines of modern folk who follow the northern pagan traditions are impacted by the philosophical rationales and perspectives derived from ancient mythos and cosmology. As many pagans leave their house, they can knock on the structure or walls of their home to awaken their house spirits—to keep watch. Many of these spirits are believed to be able to roam around the dwelling. This spirit being can take the form of a person or dog or have a ghost like appearance. Awakening a consciousness to protect the home is quite common for pagans. According to scholars in fields ranging from philology, anthropology, archaeology, and mythology, hearth dwelling spirits known as húsvættir were considered guardians. In the northern tradition sometimes these house spirits can be tricksters or have a naughty aspect to them. But ultimately their sugar and spice nature makes for an integrally balanced environment. A practitioner of the northern pagan tradition sees themselves completely inseparable from all phenomena—this is what it truly means to understand the web of wyrd. The interlocking of the …
(Art) Santa Niña—South American Saint of Winds & Breezes by Sudie Rakusin

Santa Niña inspires us to bend with the harsh winds of change, and to treasure the caresses of the gentle breezes that move through our lives. Wind is an incredibly powerful force of nature. Hurricanes form when the ocean absorbs too much energy from the sun. Air rises, forming a vortex, and the speed increases enormously, becoming a spinning storm of destruction that spans tens of thousands of square miles. These heavy winds carry away all that is in their path, and what they leave in their wake is unrecognizable. Sometimes the affect of the wind is much quieter, wearing down rock over centuries, carving grooves into canyons and shifting sands. It sweeps across the land, changing its texture, sculpting its surface with its chisel. Many earthly wonders have been marked by the wind’s hand. Like the air around us, our lives do not stand still. Pressure shifts, the strength and direction of the wind changes. There are seasons for monsoons and hurricanes, seasons in which change blows through our lives, blustery and devastating, leaving no room for us to ignore its passing. Eventually its power ebbs into a breeze that caresses our face more softly. Artist’s Note: The natural flow in my Feminist practice and Spiritual belief was to become an ardent and dedicated spokeswoman for animals and the environment. I am a vegan. My decision to stop eating meat was always an ethical and spiritual one. I cannot take another life for my subsistence. I believe animals have their own reason for being and they have the right to live out their purpose, not one we impose upon them. My art reflects my passion and love for animals as well as my respect and appreciation for the Earth. I paint, draw, and sculpt the world I dream of inhabiting. A place where the natural world is treated with deference and there is no hierarchy among humans and animals. In my world, we all walk the Earth in harmony. My art is the best way I know to express these feelings. www.sudierakusin.com (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin.
(Essay 3) Circe the Island Witch by Hearth Moon Rising

Third in a series. Earlier segments are here and here. I call Circe’s mythical island, Aeaea, The Island of Vowels, but Robert Graves says the name means “wailing.” If so, perhaps the wailing refers to the falcon colonies which nest on islands in the Adriatic Sea. Graves claims Circe’s name means “falcon.” There is some confusion as to whether Circe is really a goddess, a demi-goddess, a mythical heroine, or a historical woman. Circe’s parents are supposedly a god (Helios) and queen (Pasiphae), suggesting a demi-goddess (half-human, half-god). Alternatively, Circe’s mother is an ocean-deity, which would make her a goddess. Roman oil lamp depicting Odysseus and Circe. Photo: Matthias Kabel/Wikimedia Commons. Circe marries the prince of Colchis, a city-state along the Black Sea, and rules there for a time, again suggesting she is human. As queen, she kills her royal husband, which is a mythic trope. In Celtic romance, this sequence is read as goddess-of-the-year vanquishing the winter god, who will be reborn as the summer god. But Circe appears in Classical mythology, where allegoric subterfuge to escape Christian censors is not necessary. She could be read straightforwardly as a heroine performing a well-worked theme. Yet Circe presides over a willow cemetery in Colchis, which might suggest she is a priestess of Hecate. At least one Classical scholar argues that Hecate is the mother of Circe, making Circe, once again, a goddess. Legend has it that Circe is whisked away in the chariot of her father Helios to the island of Aeaea, as punishment for killing her husband. Leaving aside the fantastical method of transportation, Circe behaves much like a stereotypic sorceress on Aeaea, living apart from male rule while blending potions that heal or wound. Turning men into animals suggests an above-average level of magical proficiency, but she is nearly human when she meets Odysseus. Her assistance in his travels is classic shamanic work: she prescribes a journey to the land of the dead; she makes an animal sacrifice for a propitious journey; she provides counsel and framework for his journey to the underworld; and she interprets his experiences for him upon his return. In her most famous appearance in Greek myth, it’s hard to see Circe as anything but a priestess, albeit an extraordinarily powerful one. Scylla. Boeotian red-figure bell-crater, 450–425 BCE. Photo: Jastrow/Wikimedia Commons The appearance of Scylla dashes upon the rocks the theory of Circe nothing more than a mortal sorcerer. Scylla is a sea nymph transformed by Circe into a dangerous beast: beautiful from above, a many-headed death hound from below. Scylla characteristically captures sailors and vessels and savagely wrecks them, and circumventing her is one of the obstacles Odysseus most manage on his route home. Circe offers Odysseus advice in escaping Scylla’s clutches. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Scylla as the spirit embodying a rocky outcrop in the Adriatic Sea, an outcrop with a strong multi-faceted whirlpool. It does seem a stretch to give credit for Scylla’s monstrosity to any mortal woman. Perhaps Circe is given credit for creating Scylla’s fate because she “owns” Scylla by revealing to Odysseus how to escape her. Perhaps the sorceress Circe, as animal shapeshifter, is presumed to have shapeshifted Scylla, since this Scylla supposedly yelps like a dog. The geological formation that is Scylla’s body was reported to emit a hound-like sound, and hounds are associated with the Greek underworld. Another explanation is that Circe is a death goddess, like Hecate, who creates other manifestations of death. Men on Aeaea being turned into animals. 560-550 BCE. Photo: Lucas aka Ancient Art Podcast//Wikimedia Commons The island of Aeaea itself seems to embody divinity. It is surrounded by Alder trees, which, because they bleed red, are considered trees of death. Odysseus senses a bewitching atmosphere about the island as he moors his vessel. He soon kills a deer to feed his crew, a propitious sign the mistress of animals is disposed to help him. On his way to meet Circe, Odysseus is given the mysterious life-giving “moly” herb, offered by Hermes, who is known as Messenger of the Gods. Is Hermes thwarting Circe or conveying her protection? We now have a very complex Circe archetype, one that stretches from the Black Sea to the Adriatic. She is a legendary queen, a semi-divine priestess, and a bona fide goddess – mistress of animals and ruler of death. Beneath all of this we have the word “falcon.” There are reasons for considering Circe a falcon goddess independent of Graves’s etymology. The next essay will examine a denizen of the Mediterranean called Eleonora’s Falcon. https://www.magoism.net/2013/04/meet-mago-contributor-hearth-moon-rising/
(Pilgrimage 1) A Day in the Kalash Valley of Pakistan by Krista Rodin, Ph.D.

After spending about a week exploring Gandharan Buddhist sites and art in Northern Pakistan in September 2021, I had the unexpected opportunity to visit an area that I thought was closed to foreign visitors, namely the Kalash Valley. This valley is famous for the indigenous matriarchal religion that persists even in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. When I expressed my interest in the Kalash culture my guide, Amyn, and driver, Iqbal suggested we detour to Chitral and then to Kalash rather than heading directly to Hunza, which was our next scheduled stop. I jumped at the chance. Neither of them had been there either, so this was going to be an adventure for all of us. After a long day of driving north from Mingora through Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border we finally arrived in Chitral towards dusk. We stayed in the very pleasant Mountain Inn, with separate cabins and a large garden with a tree whose leaves are supposed to be good for dealing with diabetes. Locals use much of the vegetation from the surrounding hills and mountains for herbal cures, and this tree was just one example of how ancient wisdom is maintained even in tourist areas. The young man running the hotel came from Kalash Valley and was helpful in giving us information on the people and culture that we were going to visit the following day. Before heading up to Kalash, however, I wanted to stop at the Chitral Museum, which is located by their polo field. Polo is a national pastime in this region, even more than soccer or cricket. (Well, perhaps equal to cricket…). The museum is small, just a few rooms, but it did have a number of Kalash artifacts including some Gandau effigies. These are carved from a single piece of wood and are said to represent the soul of the person who has died. When an important person dies, a gandau is placed on the grave. The term is also used for the three day ceremony to install the effigy. Family members select the best piece of wood from the forest to carve the image and the name of the deceased is constantly recited during the carving process. After the image is complete, a procession takes it to the Jestakhan, where they dance for twenty-four hours before heading on to the cemetery. There are three kinds of gandaus: standing, sitting and those on horseback. Sometimes the horses have two heads, which supposedly means that the deceased was quite powerful and/or influential. Women are usually represented in a sitting position on ornately carved chairs wearing caps with four horns. According to Kalash tradition, a goat with four horns is seen as an auspicious omen. This may harken back to the earlier pre-historic traditions, as this valley was cut off for centuries. Gandao, male god & three images of the goddess Dezalic There were a number of other interesting artifacts in the museum, including one where help is needed to identify the script. There is a stone with an unknown ancient inscription, and it would be helpful if someone could identify it and let me, or the Chitral Museum, know. It would also be helpful if we could have the name and contact of a scholar who might be able to decipher it. Here is a photo of the stone: After the museum we headed up to the Kalash Valley. We had to change cars in a small village near the base of the windy narrow hilly road as the Toyota Corolla we were driving wouldn’t make it up the jeep track. The driver of an old broken down, but drivable, vehicle we hired was from Kalash, spoke the language and was able to act as a local guide. There are fourteen small villages in the Kalash Valley, each with somewhat unique traditions, but all within the same general framework. They, like many in Hunza are said to be relatives of the troops who left Alexander’s army to stay put where they were. After seeing all the mountains they had to cross, I can completely empathize with their decision. The valley is lush with water from the surrounding glaciers, fruit trees grow in abundance, as well as grapes for wine and apricots for fruit and schnaps. We visited a room where three centenarians were in the process of making the latter. It seems if one can survive the winters when young, a hearty long life is entirely possible. I was surprised that the valley is known for its wine as alcohol is not permitted in the Islamic Republic. It seems that the tribe has a special exemption as wine and schnaps are used in their sacred rituals. It is said that the cultivation of wine stems from Alexander’s Dionysian legacy. The red wine was quite good as were the grapes that people would pluck off the vines for us. The exemption is for their entire cultural heritage, not just for wine and schnaps. Centenarians making schnaps The people of the Kalash Valley have a different language and the elder generation did not speak Urdu, so the conversation had to be translated from English to Urdu to Kalash and back again. How much was lost in translation, I can’t begin to guess. The translators were quite reluctant to ask my questions or provide any responses to questions regarding the Kalash sacred traditions. Most of what I could gather was from the museum descriptions, the plaques near some of the buildings and from the internet. What I did understand was that their funeral rites entail giving the soul back to the creator; life is temporary and there is another life after this one. There are a number of annual festivals according to an agricultural calendar, and the festival of Madaik is equivalent to the Catholic All Souls Day. The departed souls live forever. The bed of the deceased is turned over on their grave so that they have their resting place in …
Convergence by Samantha Ledger

There is a convergence of two selves that allows my heart to grow. For with the beating of my wings comes the chaos of life and the rain that flows from the rivers to the sea. How deep must we bury our histories to ensure they rot peacefully, silently. The slumber of children is disturbed, strung from clouds by the bone idle fingers of that which we believe we have left behind.I have built my home upon the shore, to ensure I remain of the water but with foundations buried deep enough they still touch dry land. Love runs its course, ever sprung from the spring whose source I dare not seek, for I fear the truth shall weaken me. Mine is not to question why I am loved, only to lay myself down to it, openly, bloodily. There is a rush and pulse of affection that throbs indignant of your shadow, that stretches evenly toward the centre of yourself. Always then, we are between two worlds. As I must be. For it is who I am.The ravens call from the woods, we are back to that wood again. It follows me from place to place, as does the sea. I am pulling, always, a vast ocean of remembering behind my body. My back has started to curve with the weight, and Atlas laughs from time to time at my plight, now freed of his own insurmountable burden. Time comes and goes, turns to me and cups my face; we are old bed fellows, lovers, enemies, siblings, parents of one another. We have promised to turn from each other and return to where we came, but I will not relent and refuse. This was always a story of defiance. My story, your story, the story.Branches sway in March winds; the sound of a swing needing oil pierces the air, metronomic, tick ticking. The flame of the candle in the window smokes black, staining the glass so my soot-covered fingers must be licked to see out again. We all have such days and the bandaged winged robin still takes food from my hand. Ilex aquifolium pricks my mouth, as common as my mother when she laid in the ditches to play in the mud and middle with the rotting leaves. Some never die when they are meant to, so the rest of us suffer the consequence from birth. Some are marred by their histories, and some are made.I am building the foundations of my life in plaster and wooden posts, with spit and sweat and blood. There is oil on the floor, but we do not weep because of it; we throw handfuls of sand to soak the stain from the ground and begin again. There is no oil slick, I am no longer chocking; such things I have laid down and hold close only when sleeping. This is my milieu; there is no disaster. Read more of Samantha Ledger’s work.
(Poem) The Mother of Us All by Mary Saracino

“God was female for at least the first 200,000 years of human life on earth.” ~Barbara Mor & Monica Sjoo, The Great Cosmic Mother For 200,000 years we called you Mother honored the blood-red kisses you planted on our upturned brows. How did we forget our original womb from which we sprang, our hearts open our mouths searching for the nipple? Hungry now, we cry out lost between liminal memory and sacred thought, aching to return home. You are the primal seed, the gestation that bears all hope sustains us through drought and famine disease and dire sorrow. We spoke our first words to your wide eyes. Abundantly you reflected our future back into our open, expectant faces. Your sturdy hands cradled our fragile bones mended our tender muscles, ushered us into the bright round world of sky and earth, water and wood. In your breath, myth and memory merged science was born, art echoed its wisdom on the cool walls of dank caves language danced on the tongue-tips of cooing babies. You suckled our dreams as we tended community fires. You fed us stories to satiate the bellies of our minds, satisfy our growling need to fathom the unknowable. Sky lords severed our jubilant tongues, uncoiled your spiral, fabricated straight lines where once circles spun. Subjugation overthrew cooperation. Where once peace rivered through our veins, blood froze fearful of the silencing sword’s metallic, bitter edge. The icy marrow of amnesia impeded our way, although the moon and the stars, the sun and the winds always whispered your name, coaxing us to awaken from our long, fitful slumber. Though our twenty-first century minds may fail us, our cells remember: all life swells within the folds of your milky skirt, spinning and leaping out of darkness into light then back again into the primal, original sigh. All death awaits your embrace, the final kiss of comfort releasing us into the crook of your welcoming elbow nestling us into the soft curve of your breast — home once more the terrible exile undone at long, long last. Note: “The Mother of Us All” was originally published in OCHRE: Journal of Women’s Spirituality, Spring 2007 Mary Saracino is a novelist, poet, and memoir writer who lives in Denver, Colorado. She is the co-editor She Is Everywhere! Volume 3: an anthology of writings in womanist/feminist spirituality (iUniverse 2012). Her most recent novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press, 2006) was a 2007 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist. Her forthcoming novel, Heretics, will be published in 2014 by Pearlsong Press. For more information about Mary visit: www.marysaracino.com; www.pearlsong.com/newsroom/marysaracino/marysaracino.htm; www.redroom.com/author/mary-saracino; http://www.authorsden.com/marysaracino; http://sheiseverywhere.net
(Poetry) Women philosphers in the ancient world by Susan Hawthorne

The history of philosophy is mostly the history of men and their minds. However, this is not the whole story and there are a significant number of women who are remembered as philosophers. Given how hard it is to be remembered if you are a woman, these women who names appear must have been outstanding. The following two poems are about women from Ancient Greece and Ancient India. There is some information about them on the internet but quite a lot of it has to be taken with a grain of salt (the entries have improved in recent years). Reading between the lines is good feminist practice. string two what the philosophers say Diotima how the words on the page are to be read measured understood that old bull Socrates calls an afternoon meeting a nosh up of food and talk all about love they go around the circle each one in the steers’ stall taking his turn to speak at length Socrates can’t stop talking about the concept of fecundity at the heart of my philosophy since the bull walks off how can we expect him to invent a theory of existence founded on the metaphor of pregnancy? I’m no figment of his imagination too real to conceive through solitary thrills becoming he calls it a dynamic philosophy concocted over my kitchen table a trapeza two equilateral triangles how the dots on the page are to be read measured understood a stack of wood intervals the lambda letter from the snake’s mouth when I’m in full flight my intellect swings I explore not static existence but moments of between-ness the metaxu the amphibious zone between existence and reality a method of communication the wall at the dead end the means by which prisoners speak trapeza: Greek: table; also a rectangle comprised of two triangles of ten dots. metaxu: Greek: between. Gargi how words are heard a great listener I am I have to be because my words are not welcome my name is Rishini Gargi I am plain precocious a composer of hymns daughter of a sage I challenge Yajnavalka who claims that being cannot be named a word weaver stringing him along I ask on what is the world woven warp and woof? he demeans me don’t think too hard girlie your head will burst haven’t we all heard that thinking will make you unattractive? and so I persist I keep on asking questions he has an answer for everything not impressed I accuse him of being incapable of listening incapable of thinking I think why bother? stand up and leave walk through the between space flanked by impermanence the matrix the otaprota the woof and warp of existence reality stitched the universe a sound strung string bag dilly bag on the other side sanatana the old eternal philosophy the unchanging nature of immortals the wall which divides these prisoners how history is passed down not vertically but by twists and turns a knot in the labyrinth of lies and dead ends Rishini: Sanskrit: female sage. otaprota: Sanskrit: woof and warp; matrix. sanaatana: Sanskrit: unending, eternal. If you want to know more about Diotima see my 1994 article: “Diotima Speaks through the Body”. In Engendering Origins: Critical Feminist Essays in Plato and Aristotle, Bat-Ami Bar On (ed), State University of New York Press, Albany. Women philosophers have a hard time being remembered. Diotima, although Socrates talks about her at length and with some respect, is considered to be lying about her existence by the domain of male philosophers. I find it fascinating how often some man will say, Oh, that woman can’t be real. It is usually self-serving rubbish on the part of the male speaker. In my 1994 article (which I wrote in 1982) I analyse the language of Socrates and suggest that he could not have known as much about pregnancy and birth without instruction from a woman, namely Diotima. The photo of Diotima online shows her headless; Wikimedia Commons Gargi was born about three centuries before Diotima, around 700 BCE. She is said to have written hymns in the Rg Veda. Her debate with Yajnavalka on questions concerning the soul (atman) is one of the things she is best remembered for. This debate is recorded in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The poems in thispost are from my book, Cow (2011), Spinifex Press © Susan Hawthorne, 2019 (Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne.
(Video) Embodiment of Mother-Creator Quality of Goddess/Dea by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This contemplation was originally part of a Re-Storying Goddess class series that I facilitated throughout the 1990’s, and then some until 2011. These classes were originally offered over 6 weeks, often at a Women’s Health Centre, sometimes over a weekend, sometimes at university Continuing Education programs, or at my home. This class series formed the basis of much of my subsequent writing, my doctoral work, and eventually the authoring of PaGaian Cosmology in 2005, and another book in 2023. Our bodies hold memory of the entire evolutionary history just as Earth holds the memory … seen most obviously in fossils. And just as Earth’s movements have uncovered some of her memories, so our movements and body posture can release some of our memories … or awaken us to something new. This is an exercise in imagination – extending our imaginations – something very human and powerful. I suggest pausing the video where it suits you, to add or extend your own processing and participation. I have made short spaces in the video where it could be paused. To enhance your participation, you may like to have a good wholesome small (round) loaf of bread, ready for breaking, some wine/juice ready for serving, and perhaps some cut up fruit, for the Communion at the end. Use my words as a guide – take the journey, but enjoy yourself as you need. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brfkQzaVqrA&t=9s Below is the text which is in the video. Standing if you are able, feet slightly apart, soft at the back of the knees, eyes gently closed if you like. As we progress through this meditation allow your body the freedom to move/posture, as and if you feel you’d like. Be aware of your sensations and breath. Take a deep breath … let it go, relax your jaw and your body. Listen /feel for your breath, noticing as it rises and falls. Enjoy it … as you might an ocean. Feel this power within you – the Breath that breathes you. Imagine, as you draw your breath that you are drawing up energy and pride and integrity from the Earth through your feet. Imagine roots coming out of your feet deep into the Earth – all the way to Her core. This is the truth of where you come from. So imagine these roots. As you draw each breath imagine drawing up energy and pride from Mother Earth through your feet. Feel it as whatever you desire – pride, creativity, nurturance, wisdom, integrity. Draw it again and let it fill all your cells of your bodymind. Imagine yourself a plant/tree drawing up water from the Earth to fill and enliven your wilting parts. Trust your natural intelligence to draw what you need from Her. And as it fills you there is an interchange – She in you, you in She – a reciprocity, a Sacred Communion. As you exhale, let the energy, pride, wisdom, creativity flow through you, out of you, let it go, give it away. There is more. With each breath, drawing it in again … feeling it peak, fill you – the Sacred Interchange – Birthing you – Birthing Her … then the ebb, the letting go. Open yourself to the cycle… now. You are whole and complete, yet you are open. Filling up, pouring it out. Feel your wholeness and your openness. Breath it in, draw what it is you need, feel it all filling you to capacity, until you can draw it no longer, then let it go, give it away. You who are the beauty of the green earth & the white moon among the stars and the mystery of the waters – you are this same integrity … whole and open. Feel Her now within you – the Sacred Place, the Reciprocity. You are this. Visualize a round full moon … see her now in your mind’s eye. Remember how Her light feels as it comes into your eyes, how you have seen Her so many times. See Her now in your mind’s eye. Feel her photons of light touching you, filling you. She is the Mother, the power of fruition and fullness, manifestation … the power to sculpt life, to weave it, to gestate it. Feel your own fullness as your breath peaks … your own power to create reality/life for yourself and for others … breath it in, this power – your power, to nurture, to sustain, to craft, to weave, to build and to make manifest. See the full moon there in your mind’s eye – and remember you are Creator … feel her now. You are Creator, you are the Source of everything; it is All within you. Imagine it All within you, peaking with your breath – keep drawing it in now (note G: picking up energy) … All that is – you are filling with it …. filling to your capacity. Feel the need now to birth it, to give it away, to express it, to pour it forth – to let the All go. Begin to imagine it now … imagine yourself now with your body, with your hands, however it is you create, about to do it – to pour forth creation … creating your world the way you would have it … begin to imagine it now. Let us go back to the beginning of it All, where it All began … the Original Ovulation – and there you are, you are Creator, you are Source. Feel it all in you, it has filled you to your capacity. You desire to pour it from you – irrepressible, ecstatic. You are filled with desire … for matter, for expression. You are She. Let it be so. Be bold, have courage … dare. What beauty do you imagine, is in you to pour forth. Pour it forth. Begin now. … first the protons, then the atoms, and the light – rushes away from you into the aeons. Feel it go from you, into the aeons. And hydrogen comes forth, helium. Now …
(Poem) Sunset Grocery Temple of Isis by Robin Scofield

Enchantments of Isis, the green parrots light on the bougainvillea and the scarecrow with a straw hat. I want you to be the first to know how many lovesongs of fresh water I have sung to the Beloved, who falls off the cliff without looking back for his dog. A red flower in brunette hair, the color of fresh blood, a carnation, not a poppy.

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

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

“Ma” in “Mago” and “Ma-Gaia” Mother Goddess, ca.7250-6700 BCE, Catal Huyuk Turkey [Conversation between Carol P. Christ, Ph.D. and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.] Carol P. Christ (CPC): Below is culled from “Gaia” in Wikipedia: The Greek word γαῖα (transliterated as gaia) is a collateral form of γῆ (gē, Doric γᾶ ga and probably δᾶ da) meaning Earth, a word of uncertain origin. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (trans. as Ma-ga, “Mother Gaia”) also contains the root ga-. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang (HHH): “Mago” and “Goma” are closely linked. Gom or Goma means the bear and Magoist shaman queen of the late fourth millennium BCE. She is also related with the Big Bear constellation. “Go” is used as a modifier referring to Mago or the Goddess in various texts of East Asia. “Mago” is related with “magi,” whose singular form is “magus” or “magos.” Will have to check for more details and the source. CPC: My intuition is that “ma” and “na” are baby talk for mother. In other words, preceding any language. Mycenean is IE language, “Pre-Greek” is not IE. CPC: Below is “Mother” from Wikipedia: Synonyms and translations The proverbial “first word” of an infant often sounds like “ma” or “mama”. This strong association of that sound with “mother” has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language. Familiar or colloquial terms for mother in English are: Aama, Mata used in Nepal Mom and mommy are used in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Philippines, India and parts of the West Midlands including Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Mum and mummy are used in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Ireland. Charles, Prince of Wales publicly addressed his mother Queen Elizabeth II as “Mummy” on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. Ma, mam, and mammy are used in Netherlands, Ireland, the Northern areas of the United Kingdom, and Wales; it is also used in some areas of the United States. In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply: Maa, aai, amma, and mata are used in languages of India like Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu etc. Mamá, mama, ma, and mami in Spanish Mama in Polish, German, Russian and Slovak Māma (妈妈/媽媽) in Chinese Máma in Czech and in Ukrainian Maman in French and Persian Ma, mama in Indonesian Mamaí, mam in Irish Mamma in Italian, Icelandic, Latvian and Swedish Māman or mādar in Persian Mamãe or mãe in Portuguese Mā̃ (ਮਾਂ) in Punjabi Mama in Swahili Em (אם) in Hebrew A’ma (ܐܡܐ) in Aramaic Má or mẹ in Vietnamese Mam in Welsh Eomma (엄마, pronounced [ʌmma]) in Korean In many south Asian cultures and the Middle East, the mother is known as amma, oma, ammi or “ummi”, or variations thereof. Many times, these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child’s life. HHH: The name for Goddess seems as ancient as the language itself. [“Ma” being the first intentional word to be spoken by a baby.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Scholars and mythologists agree that “ma” means both one’s mother and the Goddess, I quoted it in my dissertation written in 2004. Judy E Foster: Brilliant discussion, Helen and Carol! So many revelations… hard to keep up! But do continue, its fascinating – makes so much sense. (To be continued)Join the discussion of this and other topics in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group.
(Special Post) Why I choose to be an RTM contributor by Glenys Livingstone

The contribution of my writing to Return to Mago E-Magazine has evolved since it began four years ago, into a deeply mutually enhancing relationship. The time and effort taken to write carefully and in alignment with my heartfelt passions and insights, and then to be able to publish to a receptive audience, has always been rewarding – for me personally and apparently for many who received it.

The Ceremonial Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

Seasonal Wheel of Stones Both Summer and Winter Solstices may be understood as particular celebrations of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Creative Triplicity of the Cosmos (often named as the Triple Goddess). The Solstices are Gateways between the dark and the light parts of the annual cycle of our orbit around Sun; they are both sacred interchanges, celebrating deep relationship, communion, with the peaking of fullness of either dark or light, and the turning into the other. The story is that the Young One/Virgin aspect of Spring has matured and now at Summer Solstice her face changes into the Mother of Summer. Summer Solstice may be understood as a birthing place, as Winter Solstice may also be, but at this time the transiton is from light back into dark, returning to larger self, from whence we come: it is the full opening, the “Great Om”, the Omega. I represent the Summer Solstice on my altar wheel of stones with the Omega-yonic shape of the horseshoe. I take this inspiration from Barbara Walker’s description of the horseshoe in her Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets, as “Goddess’s symbol of ‘Great Gate’[i]”; and her later connection of it with the Sheil-na-gig yoni display[ii]. Sri Yantra. Ref: A.T. Mann & Jane Lyle, p.75 Summer Solstice is traditonally understood as a celebration of Union between Lover and Beloved, and the deep meaning of that is essentially a Re-Union: of sensed manifest form (the Lover) with All-That-Is (the Beloved). This may be understood as a fullness of expression of this manifest form, the small selves that we are, being all that we may be, and giving of this fullness of being in every moment: that would be a blissful thing, like a Summerland as it was understood to be. The boundaries of the self are broken, they merge: all is given away – all is poured forth, the deep rich dark stream of life flows out. It is a Radiance, the shining forth of the self which is at the same time a give-away, a consuming of the self.In traditional PaGaian Summer ceremony each participant is affirmed as “Gift”[iii]; and that is understood to mean that we are both given and received – all at the same time. The breath is given and life is received. We receive the Gift with each breath in, and we are the Gift with each breath out. As we fulfill our purpose, as we give ourselves over, we dissolve, as the Sun is actually doing in every moment. The “moment of grace”[iv]that is Summer Solstice, marks the stillpoint in the height of Summer, when light reaches its peak, and Earth’s tilt causes the Sun to begin its “decline”: that is, its movement back to the South in the Northern Hemisphere (in June), and back to the North in the Southern Hemisphere (in December). Whereas at Winter Solstice when out of the darkness it is light that is “born”, as it may be expressed: at the peak of Summer, in the warmth of expansion, it is the dark that is “born”. Insofar as Winter Solstice is about birth, then Summer Solstice is about death, the passing into the harvest. It is a celebration of profound mystical significance, which may be confronting in a culture where the dark is not valued for its creative telios; and it is noteworthy that Summer Solstice has not gained any popularity of the kind that Winter Solstice has globally (as ‘Christmas’). The re-union with All-That-Is is not generally considered a jolly affair, though when understood it may actually be blissful. Full Flowers to the Flames Summer is a time when many grains ripen, deciduous trees peak in their greenery, lots of bugs and creatures are bursting with business and creativity: yet in that ripening, is the turning, the fulfilment of creativity, and it is given away. Like the Sun and the wheat and the fruit, we find the purpose of our Creativity in the releasing of it; just as our breath must be released for its purpose of life. The symbolism used to express this in ceremony has been the giving of a full rose/flower to the flames. Summer is like the rose, as it says in this tradition[v]– blossom and thorn … beautiful, fragrant, full – yet it comes with thorns that open the skin. All is given over. All is given over: the feast is for enjoying With the daily giving of ourselves in our everyday acts, we each feed the world with our lives: we do participate in creating the cosmos, as many indigenous traditions still recognise. Just as our everyday lives are built on the fabric of the work/creativity of all who went before us, so the future, as well as the present, is built on ours, no matter how humble we may think our contribution is. We may celebrate the blossoming of our creativity then, which is Creativity, and the bliss of that blossoming, at a time when Earth and Sun are pouring forth their abundance, giving it away. In this Earth-based cosmology, what is given is the self fully realized and celebrated, not a self that is abnegated – just as the fruit gives its full self: as Starhawk says, “Oneness is attained not through losing the self, but through realizing it fully”[vi]. Everyday tasks can be joyful, if valued, and graciously received: I think of Eastern European women singing as they work in the fields – it is a common practice still for many. We are the Bread of Life Summer Solstice celebrates Mother Sun coming to fullness in Her creative engagement with Earth, and we are the Sun. Solstice Moment is a celebration of communion, the feast of life – which is for the enjoying, not for the holding onto. We do desire to be received, to be consumed – it is our joy and our grief. Brian Swimme says: “Every moment of our lives disappears into the ongoing story of the Universe. Our creativity is energising the whole[vii]”. As it may be ceremoniously affirmed: we are (each is) …
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 …
Artful Ceremonial Expression by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This article is an edited excerpt from Chapter 7 of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. I always wore a special headpiece for the Seasonal ceremonies when I facilitated them over the years, and I feel that any participant may do so, not just the main celebrant. My ceremonial headpiece with its changing and continuous Seasonal decoration took on increasing significance over the years; it became a personal central representation of the year-long ceremonial art process of creating, destroying and re-creating. For the research period of my doctoral studies particularly, when I was documenting the process, I realised that this headpiece came to represent for me the essence of “She” – as Changing One, yet ever as Presence – as I was coming to know Her. In my journal for the Mabon/Autumn Equinox process notes one year I wrote: As I pace the circle with the Mabon headpiece in the centre, I see “Her” as She has been through the Seasons … the black and gold of Samhain, the deep red, white and evergreen of Winter, the white and blue of Imbolc, the flowers of Eostar, the rainbow ribbons of Beltane, the roses of Summer, the seed pods and wheat of Lammas, and now the Autumn leaves. I see in my mind’s eye, and feel, Her changes. I am learning … The Mother knowledge grows within me. The headpiece, the wreath, the altar, the house decorations, all participate in the ceremony: they are part of the learning, the method, the relationship – similar to how one might bring flowers and gifts of significance to a loved one at special moments. Then further, the removal and re-creation of the decorations are part of the learning – an active witness to transformation through time.
(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: …

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

Part III Nipples and Breasts of the Ancient Korean Bell, Revival of Old Magoism in Silla (57 BCE – 935 CE) Female sexuality and the divine are seamless. The ancient Korean bell bespeaks the divine, derived from female sexuality. Emitting reverberation, it casts a spell on the hearer. It is the sound that connects one with the Goddess and with one another. However, lapse of time has never been neutral. It has wrought the change of gender principle in society and in human consciousness. The female principle is severed from the divine. The divine without regard to the female is only astray or make-believe. When the seamlessness is broken, the bell loses its power to enchant. The ancient Korean bell, as a time capsule, sets us to the task of undoing the gender reversal. Unfettering of the arcane knowledge of Magoism is the gain. In proportion to the patriarchal progress in East Asia, Magoism, the gynocentric historical and cultural context, has been submerged. The fact that Magoism remains unregistered is a sign that moderns have drifted too far from the Female Origin. As a result, the female symbology of the bell is rendered irrelevant, if not obsolete. The bell and Buddhism are dysfunctional, if not mismatched. Or, maybe the Sillans who commissioned the bells in the 8th century CE saw Buddhism differently. Keeping at bay what makes the bell as the bell — the female symbology, Buddhist patriarchs have set a maze, heading only to “nothingness.” The sonority of the bell travels to the ear of people. However, deep hearing is thwarted by the patriarchal concept of the divine. Part III begins to deprogram the patriarchal conceptual barrier by shedding light on the core of its female symbology, the Nipples, the Bell Breasts, and the Breast Circumferences. Four Dimensional Mandala Is Here The relief of Nipples depicted elegantly and realistically is an attention grabber. For fear of being mistaken for something else especially by the generation to come, Sillan ancestors named them yudu (breast nipples). To be certain, they named the seat of the nipples jongyu (bell breast) and the enclosure of the breast yugwak (breast circumference). Detailed and refined artistry radiates the spirit of honor and veneration. As seen below, the nipples come in various styles showing the mastery of the bell casters in metallurgic technology. [The following images of Nipples are from the bells of different periods including Silla. The structures of nipples and breasts remain the same throughout history, characterizing Korean bells.] Sometimes, the nipples are depicted as the studs of lotus blossoms. Other times they are seated in lotus petals. Less frequently, the nipples are rendered as flat lotus flowers, perhaps to mitigate the graphic look. Regardless, the viewer can’t miss the number of the Nipples, nine. The nine nipples are aligned in three rows of three in the Bell Breast, which is enclosed by the Breast Circumference. Considering that the triad is the symbol of Mago as Samsin Halmi (The Triad Goddess), the three rows of three represent the triad in all ways, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. One is surrounded by the triad in all directions; an epiphany is stored to enact. Now the bell caster conjoins the number three symbol with the number four symbol. In ancient East Asia, the four corners represent all directions, that is, the whole world. Placed in four corners, thirty-six nipples in all (a set of nine nipples in four directions) represent the female occupying the whole world. Seong Nakju in his inquiry about the thirty-six nipples of an ancient Korean bell states that the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (the first state that united China) divided “the world” into 36 heavens in 221 BCE. (Seong Nakju, see below in Sources.) Unlike the rule of the first Qin emperor infamous for tyranny, the 36 Nipples hint at neither domination nor the hierarchical power of the patriarchal monarch. Instead, they saturate the whole world with the female anatomy. To be discussed at a later point, the nine nipples that came from the 8th century are a time-proven means through which we may enter the consciousness of the Bronze Age, if not earlier when they originated and of the times whenever they reappeared. The four dimensional mandala is revealed, biding its time to evoke one to the fifth direction. The bell delivers the triumph of the Goddess (female principle) to the world in an utterly outlandish manner! Her Way is peace, integration, and beauty. Behold, She is enthroned. Gom (Ungnyeo) and the Nine-State Confederacy of Old Magoism What does a set of nine nipples signify? What does it mean that the ancient Korean bell has four sets of nine nipples? In Magoism the nine nipples are not an isolated symbol. They are on a par with the nine-tailed fox and the nine dragons from East Asia. These are the ancient representations of the female divine. I have delineated elsewhere that the nine-tailed fox is associated with Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West) and the nine dragons with Gwaneum (Guanyin, Kannon). Other times, Goddess Herself manifests as of the nine forms. As I discussed, the nine maidens of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, is a good example (see “Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea,” Part IV). The nine-female symbology goes beyond East Asia. The concatenation includes the nine Muses, the nine forms of Durga, and the African Goddesses of Oya and Mumbi who are known to have nine daughters. As such, evidence of the nine-female symbolism is intense and cross-cultural. The recurring symbolism of nine in East Asia suggests the once prevalent mytho-history of Old Magoism. Old Magoism is characterized by the rule of Magoist shamans who invented and spread the gynocentric civilization of pre-Chinese East Asia worldwide. Precisely, the nine-female symbolism refers to Gom (Ungnyeo, Bear/Sovereign Woman), founder of the nine-state confederacy in pre-Chinese times (see Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, Part V). In short, the framework of Magoism …
(Essay 1) How Did I Fall In Love with Korean Historical Drama? by Anna Tzanova, M.A.

Go to online class, Korean Historical Dramas. “To become a kairomancer¹, you need to learn to trust your feelings as you walk the roads of this world, to develop your personal science of shivers, to recognize in your gut and your skin and in free-floating impressions that you know far more than you hold on the surface of consciousness. You need to take care of your poetic health, reading what rhymes in a day or a season. You want to expect the unexpected, to make friends with surprises, and never miss that special moment.” ~ Robert Moss² After a year and a half of work without a day off; driving 100-150 miles every other day; writing past midnight every night; at the end of July 2011, overwhelmed by fatigue, I finally decided to take a weekend off. Little did I know, that time off would last over seven months, during which I would not only change my job, but also acquire a new passion.
(Mago Stronghold Essay 3) The Forgotten Primordial Paradise by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Part 3: Indelible Old Magoism Encrypted in China’s “Mago Stronghold” The Mago word “Mago Stronghold” has narrowly survived patriarchal linguistic censorships. Sometimes it is preferably or deliberately employed as a euphemism. Other times, it is replaced with random words. But it has never been completely wiped out from written and oral texts. The Mago term, constituting the very foundation of patriarchy, is indestructible. Having survived, the term “Mago Stronghold” debunks the plot intent to magna-matricide. It unearths the buried and re-members the severed. Extant Mago Strongholds in Korea and in China differ not only in number but also in implication. Just like Magoist data in general, Korea surpasses China by a large number of extant Mago Strongholds. It is a corollary that China does not have much to do with Mago words in that ancient China “entered the stage of the patriarchal society around 5,000 years ago”.[1] Magoist materials are systematically dismissed as dubious or apocryphal data, as pre-Chinese Old Magoist Korea remains uncharted in Sinocentric East Asian historiography. Readers are reminded of the meaning of Old Magoist Korea, the socio-political-religious conglomeration of the People of the Great Goddess originated from pre-Chinese times. It is by definition non-ethnocentric and pre-nationalist.[2] Magoism substantiates the derivative nature of ancient Chinese history from Old Magoist Korea. It unveils that Old Korea was there long before the establishment of the Chinese patriarchal rule. The Mago Stronghold talk debunks the fantasy of ancient China as the forerunner rule. It is unknown how many Mago Stronghold places may have existed before or survived today in present China. One I found is located in Cangzhou, Hebei Province, according to the Atlas of Heavenly Harbor Government (天津府總圖, Tianjinfuzongtu) published in 1805. The historical accuracy of this place is backed by an earlier account in the Records of the United Great Ming (Damingyitongzhi 大明一統志), a fifteenth century geography book from the Ming dynasty. Its brief record concerns the visit of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE) to Mago Stronghold, as it reads: Mago Stronghold is located in Cangzhou on the border of old Qingchi-xian (Clear Lake County). Emperor Wu of Han took an administrative tour to this place and offered rites. Thus came the place-name, Mago Stronghold.[3] The Cangzhou Mago Stronghold, noted for the second century BCE anecdote, makes its history two millennia old at the least. When Magoism is made invisible, however, the long history or the royal association of Mago Stronghold is systematically censored as non-data in official historiography of China, which is the norm for East Asian historiographies. Given that Emperor Wu (141-87 BCE) of Han is known as one of the most accomplished rulers in Chinese history, it may appear odd that he is associated with the Mago term, “Mago Stronghold.” Indeed, the account may seem to mismatch Emperor Wu of ancient China with Mago Stronghold. And Chinese scribes would not have fabricated the anecdote. It is indeed a rare case that the Mago term has survived in Chinese official documents. That said, we want to ask if the two terms, Emperor Wu of Han and Mago Stronghold, are irreconcilable per se? My answer is no. They appear to be at odds only to the modern Sinocentric mind. In fact, the above anecdote is highly evocative of the concept of Heaven (天 Tian) worshipped by ancient Chinese rulers. Emperor Wu’s visitation and officiation at Mago Stronghold, which may have been known as Heavenly Stronghold (天城 Tiancheng),[4] account for the ancient ruler’s worship of Heaven. It is of utmost importance for Chinese rulers to observe rites and customs that venerate Heaven, for it is deemed that Heaven selects rulers and endows them with the right to rule. Accordingly, ancient Chinese rulers are known to have taken the title of “the Son of Heaven 天子” and ruled with “the Mandate of Heaven 天命.” Nonetheless, the problem with the Chinese thought of Heaven lies in the fact that Heaven is equated with the supreme god (上帝, Supreme Emperor) or an impersonal quality of the divine. That Heaven is a euphemism for “Mago” was known to the populace. In various sources, Mago is referred to as “Heavenly Deity.”[5] S/HE and Magoism are sometimes equated with the impersonal term, “Heaven.” For example, Mago Lake (Maguji in Chinese) is also called Heavenly Lake (天池 Tianchi in Chinese) in oral tradition.[6] The fact that, according to the Budoji, Heavenly Mountain is known as the residence of the Hwanggung, the eldest clan community in the post-paradise world, is no accident. When its semantic tie to “Mago” is lost, “Heaven” is stripped of the Magoist implication. The surviving term, “Mago Stronghold,” however, debunks magna-matricide in the modern mind. It is inferred that Emperor Wu officiated the Magoist rite at Mago Stronghold as the Son of Heaven according to the Mandate of Heaven. The scheme of Old Magoism puts the above anecdote into a context: Emperor Wu emulated the royal tradition of ancient Magoist shaman queens, the representative of the Great Goddess who is the ultimate sovereign of the Earth, Mago Stronghold. Emperor Wu and Mago Stronghold were not at odds with each other in an earlier time of ancient Chinese history. Written together, they indicate that Magoism was acknowledged by Emperor Wu of Han. Put differently, magna-matricide was not committed or completed in the second century BCE China. Were ancient Chinese rulers including Emperor Wu of Han Magoist? This question is difficult to answer, for each ruler of ancient China may have taken an ambivalent attitude toward Magoism to a varying degree. Some may have been pseudo-Magoists. Ancient Chinese rulers, representing the establishment of Chinese monarchy, which marked the onset of patriarchal history in East Asia, are distinguished from traditional Magoist shaman queens who defended the Magoist confederal system of Old Korea. Nonetheless, they needed the Oracle of the Great Goddess to legitimize themselves as rulers. In pre-patriarchal East Asia, Old Magoist Korea was the source of power, technology, and civilization for any ruler to draw from. Evidence shows that …

Author: Mago Work Admin

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