April 20, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Black Ink by Xánath Caraza

[Author’s Note: these poems are from my new manuscript, Tinta negra/Black Ink. The poems do not have titles; they are simply numbered. Both poems were originally written in Spanish and translated Read More …

April 19, 2016November 15, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Tribute) In Loving Memory of Lydia Ruyle (1935-2016) by Mago Circle Members

We posthumously honor Lydia Ruyle (August 5, 1935-March 26, 2016) as Patron of Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality. Mago Circle Members on June 11, 2016. Glenys Livingstone I feel blessed Read More …

April 17, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Maya Daniel

Maya Daniel is a pen name, living in the Philippines, in my 50s, and i am dishing out rebel poetry.

April 15, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem) Bones of a Generous Woman by Phibby Venable

Open this woman and she pours a torrent of sweet butter Tender shoots stretch her arms Her hands are a gentle torment washing away the grit of damaged lovers Dazzling Read More …

April 14, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(2015 Mago Pilgrimage) Neuk-do (Serpent Island) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

I wanted to visit Neuk-do because of the Mago story told in the region. Its name Neuk-do, which means the Serpent Island (구렁이섬), whispers a deep memory of the gynocentric Read More …

April 13, 2016November 15, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Video) Behind the Screen Interview with Joan Marler for Signs Out of Time by Donna Read

April 12, 2016July 27, 2022 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

(Book Review) Genevieve Vaughan’s The Gift in the Heart of Language: the Maternal Source of Meaning by Kaarina Kailo

(Book Review) The Gift in the Heart of Language: the Maternal Source of Meaning by Genevieve Vaughan (Mimesis International 2015) Genevieve Vaughan has published her third book regarding the reality Read More …

April 8, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Art Poem) Star of the Sea by Yvonne M. Lucia

April 7, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Nicole Schwab

Nicole Schwab is author of The Heart of the Labyrinth, a young woman’s poetic journey across the Andes, in search of our lost connection with the sacred feminine. It has Read More …

April 6, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Spanish/English Poem 1) Excerpts from Tinta negra/Black Ink by Xánath Caraza

April 5, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Liona Rowan

Liona Rowan: Founder and Priestess in Residence of 10K Sanctuary Goddess Temple ( www.10KSanctuary.com ). Liona Rowan completed a traditional year and a day apprenticeship in Ecclectic Wicca in 1995 Read More …

April 1, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Prose) The Goddess and the Song of the Universe by Mary Petiet

Mystics, poets, and scientists have long suspected that the universe is singing to us. Last September, scientists proved it when they recorded the sound of two black holes colliding billions Read More …

March 28, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Book Review) Hendren & Baartz’s New Love: a reprogramming toolbox for undoing the knots, reviewed by Elizabeth Hall Magill

I have often written of the work of undoing patriarchal thought—facing our assumptions, our fears, our wounds. While we all must do this inner work, to face patriarchal thought as Read More …

(Audio) Restoring Dea/Female Sacrality/Goddess Within Us, and Within Whom We Are by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This is an edited excerpt of a recording of a radio program, from a twelve part series named Re-membering the Great Mother, authored and put to air by Glenys Livingstone in 1994, for 2BLU-FM 89.1, community radio in the Blue Mountains, Australia. I was a novice in radio presentation and in the studio alone doing it all; so please forgive imperfections. I created this radio series after a personal shattering and underworld journey, as I re-created myself and embarked more fully on the path of Goddess. In this series, I used the terms “Virgin”, “Mother”, and “Crone”, to speak of the three qualities/aspects of Goddess/Dea, which may not be understood in these times, and which I have since re-storied in my work over the years, described in my books, and also re-named as the “Urge to Be”/She Who Will Be, the “Place of Being”/She Who Is, and “She who Creates the Space to Be”/She Who Returns Us to All, respectively. I have come to understand these qualities as resonant with the three qualities of Cosmogenesis as described by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme in The Universe Story (1992: 66-79): characteristic of a triplicity that runs through every part of the universe, as author Caitlin Matthews describes in The Celtic Spirit (2000: 366), and identified by Celtic peoples as the Triskele. Notes: All of the sponsorship advertisements have been edited out, and also most of the music, for copyright reasons mostly, though some remnants remain for artistic purpose. Those remnants (in order of play) are a few to several seconds of each of: The River by Irene Papas and Vangelis, from their Odes album. Secret Vows by Yanni, from his Out of Silence album. Women With Wings by Sister Magick, which is no longer available. Waterfall by Cris Williamson, from her The Changer and the Changed album. I also edited out the interview with Trish Quinn which had been part of the program. This edited program excerpt begins with a quote from Monique Witting, Les Guérillères (NY: Avon Books, 1969), 8-9. The text that follows includes some quotes from Robin Morgan’s poem “The Network of the Imaginary Mother”, which is in her book Lady of the Beasts (NY: Random House, 1976), 61-88, interspersed within my own words. References for most of the text may now be found in my books: the first one being PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion (NE: iUniverse, 2005), which was an outcome of my doctoral work completed in 2002 at the University of Western Sydney, and the second book being A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony (Bergen: Girl God Books, 2023), which is a documentation of the emergent poetic ceremonial process practiced over decades. Image credit: Book cover of PaGaian Cosmology, by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.: all references here: https://pagaian.org/book/cover-goddess-image/
(Poem) The Revolution Is in the Voices of Women by Stephanie Mines

Dedicated to Olena Zelenska The revolution is in the voices of women Who speak to everyone in the room, Tuned to the rhythms of the Earth. The revolution is in the voices of women Who are not waiting for anyone or anything else. We are the weavers of merciful compassion and authentic outrage. We make the future into now. Our bodies are the economics of the new world. We are ancient and innovative Nurturing economics that leave no bowls empty. That was always the design. The revolution is in the voices of women who know that Vision, dream, planning, implementation, manifestation Are one and the same gesture of simplicity From the unified field of being. The revolution is in the voices of women Who have moved beyond trauma to wholeness. If you can hear us, then It is done. https://www.magoism.net/2024/08/meet-mago-contributor-stephanie-mines-ph-d/
(Essay) Private Religion in Pompeii: An examination of two lararia from Pompeii by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

Two Lararia (household shrines) in the House of the Faun, Pompeii Private worship in the home is perhaps the oldest form of ritual worship practiced by people who had settled into towns and villages. Before there were temples, churches, and citied devoted to religion, there were private altars and personal offerings to the deities. The use of private home altars continues today and there is not much of a change between the altars of the past and the altars used by people today. Individuals of all faiths may set up an altar or sacred space in their home where they place icons, images, candles, or offerings. I will examine two lararia, a household shrine, uncovered during excavations at Pompeii. One from a shop[1] and the other from the Casa dei Vetti, a large two-story house. My goal is to examine any links between how the household gods were worshipped and the status or occupation of the people who worshipped them in order to answer the question of whether the status of the person changes the location of the lararium was and what images adorned it. The Roman city of Pompeii, founded in 80 BCE and destroyed in 79 CE, offers archaeologists and researchers a rare snapshot of ancient Roman life. Buried and preserved by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius Pompeii, and other areas such as Herculaneum and several villas retains images and artifacts of ancient Roman civilization that are not found in such entirety anywhere else in the Roman world. In Imperial, Rome religion could be practiced in several different spheres. There was the public sphere of state-sponsored festivals and temples in which sacrifices were made to the gods of the Roman pantheon. The other was the cultic or group sphere in which one or a pair of gods was worshipped at specific times during the year[2] in rituals that were not open to public viewing. The cults of Rome were deeply personal spiritual paths, and a person had to be initiated into the cult to attend and participate in the rituals. Lastly there was the private worship of gods in the home, in rites, “performed on behalf of individual persons, households, and clans” and not associated with public worship[3]. Function and Decoration of a Lararium The most sacred, the most hallowed place on earth is the home of each and every citizen. There are his sacred hearth and his household gods, there the very centre of his worship, religion, and domestic ritual[4]. According to John Bodel, much of Roman domestic or household religion was centered around the worship performed by the individual. The lararium of a house was usually a wall-niche. This wall-niche was decorated with painted representations of the household gods, which flanked a figure of the genius[5] in the act of offering sacrifice[6]. In these wall-niches, statuettes of personal deities would sometimes be placed, and each would have had a personal meaning to the occupants of the household. In Pompeii many such statuettes were found with the remains of those attempting to flee the city, while some remained in place in the lararium[7]. One group of household gods were the Lares, the gods of household supplies. The Lares were primarily worshipped by the slaves and the servants of the household[8] and could be found in various places within the house. In the towns surrounding the Bay of Naples they were most often found in kitchens, but also in atria, peristyles, and gardens[9]. Bodel argues that painting or setting up a pair of Lares may have meant nothing more than that the individual believed in the sanctity of house and home. His reasoning is that “since ‘household’ shrines are found in many work establishments as well as in houses at both Pompeii and Ostia[10],” the Lares did not have a deeply religious meaning. For Bodel, the Lares were a way to show clients and visitors that the owner of the establishment had a sense of family and home. Another set of gods were the Penates. These were the personal gods inherited by the family; they could be expressed through tokens and images collected by individuals. These gods were believed to bring wealth and provisions into the house[11]. The Penates were “fluid and open[12],” and could be changed and evolve with the household. In this way, they were unlike the more static Lares or even the genius, which could be considered a revered ancestral figure. In the lararia of Pompeii, serpents are perhaps the most readily identified image. In some Pompeian lararia, the image of the snake is the only one depicted[13]. Images of snakes are not limited to the lararium. In Pompeii, they are found on public shrines, street crossings, and the crossroads. The pictures on the roads are identical in every respect to those found on the household shrines. The image of the serpent can be found alone or in a pair. The snakes painted on the shrines were often depicted as receiving offerings. It can be concluded from the work of archaeologists and researchers that several of the symbols and images depicted on the lararium were standard images of protection such as the Lares, serpents, and genii, masculine spirits. This allows us to narrow our study of lararia to the pictures that are not found to be shared or common among them. In the more elegant homes of Pompeii, two lararia are often found. One would be incorporated into the architecture as a wall-niche. This lararium would be set up in a public room, such as the atrium or peristyle garden. The lararium would be richly decorated and painted. Sometimes they were flanked by columns or painted garlands. Another lararium would be in the services quarters. This lararium would be humbler, painted on the wall, and would not contain an image of the Penates, only the Lares. Even in smaller Pompeian houses without separate servant’s quarters, many times, there is found a second lararium or independent household …
(Poem) The language of the serpent by Susan Hawthorne

There’s a serpent in my headgrowing wings. How can I learn the grammarof the serpent? The pronouns, the particles, thecoiling syntax. The language of the imaginaryreading out from the centreof the spiral— The grammar of theserpent language. But the language of the serpentis silent still. Notes This is an old poem, written sometime in the early 1990s. I have a long fascination with snakes and the photo below was one I saw last week. It is a Jungle Carpet Python (Morelia spilota cheynei) and was slowly crossing the road near where I live. It is non-venomous. Jungle Carpet Python (Morelia spilota cheynei), Photo by Susan Hawthorne I remember learning about carpet snakes at school. I learned that they lived in Queensland, in the tropics, where I now live. The colouring is beautiful and the yellow markings on this snake were much brighter than they appear in the photo. My quest continues looking for friendly snakes. The snake you might wind around your arms as in the snake goddess sculptures of Crete and elsewhere. The poem is from my book Bird and other writings on epilepsy (1993). https://www.magoism.net/2013/12/meet-mago-contributor-susan-hawthone/
(Poem) Reborn Again by Amina Rodriguez

I am reborn from facing the sun back into myself, into solace the innermost innocence once wounded, thrice reminded the mind/devil/ego/human nature was never to blame the shadows once faced may never return if I can come out the other side intact and blameless. The richness of the void swallowed me whole birthing me out renewed. Mother Earth brings forth her truth: To messengers weary of being the message, now know, self-acceptance grows unity organically as in all of nature and in blameless unison we know freedom again. (Meet Mago Contributor) Amina Rodriguez.
(Art Essay 1) The Essence of Round by Lena Bartula

Offerings Another full moon has passed, a spectacular solar eclipse looms, and I am noticing a pattern of circles popping up in my photos. Because I live too far south to witness this coming cosmic event, I decided to share my personal circular activity here on this blog. May we all celebrate the energy of circle, the essence of round. Dark and light, intense and subtle, large and small, this energy is about all of us. It IS all of us. The full moon, the sun, planet Earth and all the planets in the cosmos, all are circles. Even our eyes with which we view them are circles. In exploring the concept of circle, I find it represents unity, wholeness and life cycles. Without beginning or end, it represents inclusivity and its affiliate number is one. We can imagine that when we sit within a circle, we are all equal, one and the same. Being inside the circle, we also feel the safety and protection from anything outside that zone. When someone says they’re in or out of their ‘comfort zone’ I picture that as a circle. Here are some huipiles from the 365 4 2015 series, in which I made one small huipil every day in the year 2015. Looking back at them now from a different viewpoint, I wonder what led me to create so many circular forms. The circular motion of joining hands says inclusivity. It takes all of us working together to bring balance to our Mother planet) It’s not a crime to be Black. Living while black, driving, walking or any other daily event, it’s all part of a broken system that needs changing. Occasionally a day goes just right, you come up with a solution that works, and the term for that sums it up in these circles. Shiva the Destroyer Crushing the demon of ignorance, Shiva’s dance recallsthe cycles of birth, death and rebirth. All is circular. This one is like “follow the money” when we’re trying tounderstand how the world works. It’s not in “mysterious ways.” We all wish for miracles, and maybe they do happen, butI’m not convinced. What do you think? “Life is a full circle, widening until it joins the circle motions of the infinite.” ― Anaïs Nin (To be continued) https://www.magoism.net/2017/08/meet-mago-contributor-lena-bartula/
(Poem) A Meditation on the Orchestra of Mother Earth by Sarah Wolfe

Photo by Sarah Wolfe I laugh when humans say— meditation is quiet. I implore my children, to again try it. Slow and steady is the breath; in my bosom you lay. Close your eyes now, you can see better that way. Listen closely for the first drumbeat; coming from your chest— a percussion of life-giving blood & oxygen. Next comes the wind rustling mid-summer leaves, like chimes played by fairies dancing in the breeze. Do you hear the woodpecker? Playing the congas in the trees; never for a minute off-beat. The frogs have joined and are now a steady choir, all chirping along to the deep note of E minor. Here comes the buzzing of the bees— humming notes about service in perfect harmony. The rain falls like thudding gifts from the sky, hitting the earth in perfect meter & perfect time. Now comes the thunder, lightening up the sky with a booming bass & wonder. The waves roar loudly against the rocks in a voice so ancient & soulful— calling the whales to rise from the depths, to sing back-up vocals. The wolves now join in from the cliff above the shore, howling in unison about all their adventures: a haunting encore. My Children of the Earth, My song is ubiquitous; My old hymn is infinite & endless. Just remember that you need to go in, to find it. https://www.magoism.net/2025/06/meet-mago-contributor-sarah-wolfe/
(Book Review) Chickie Farella’s Ciao Giulia by Mary Saracino

Ciao Giulia, Chickie Farella (iUniverse, 2024) available at Amazon.com: Ciao Giulia: 9781663266569: Farella, Chickie: Books Chickie Farella’s Ciao Giulia is a performance piece etched into prose that transcends the genres of fiction and creative nonfiction. It has all the drama of an opera, without the arias. Although its words sing out with a force that is unstoppable. This powerful, emotionally vibrant novel addresses rape, sexual abuse, ethnicity, class, and the suppression of women’s herstory and identity through the lens of the lived female experience, ultimately, drawing parallels between the rape of women and the rape of the Earth/environment. I found myself laughing, crying, shouting out loud as I read Farella’s unflinching work. In this book, she dares to go where few writers go. And she does it with courage, fortitude, and an unwavering determination to speak truth to power. At times I wanted to slam my fists on the table and shout, “Basta” (Enough), at the ways the women in this book are treated by their cultural and societal norms and some of the men in their lives. Through sisterhood and solidarity, and the unwillingness to no longer remain silent, they eventually overcome and reclaim their power, voices, and sovereignty. In many ways, this book is a spiritual feminist’s manifesto. The story shifts between Chicago and Sicily and centers around Jackie, the book’s protagonist, and her fight to reclaim her voice in a family, culture, society, and world that seeks to silence women. In doing so, Jackie emboldens her cousin, Carmie, her sister Gina, and their Sicilian cousin Giulia, and eventually her own mother, Palma, into casting off the shackles of silence and speaking their truth—in solidarity. Farella’s portrayal of sisterhood, the unbreakable bond among the women across generations, is central to the healing power of this story. That she also addresses the interconnection between feminism and eco-feminism (the women fighting to reclaim their voices and championing the “voice” of the Earth), strengthens this compelling tale. Fasten your seatbelt for a wild romp. Giao Giulia is a remarkable story of resistance, fortitude, reclamation, silence-breaking, and fierce truth-telling. https://www.magoism.net/2013/05/meet-mago-contributor-mary-saracino
(Poem) she was found wandering on by Barbara Mor

“….she was found wandering on the street, bleeding, with a naked baby in her backpack. she had apparently delivered herself alone, by caesarian section, cutting herself open with a pocket knife, sewing herself up afterward with needle & thread. the newborn daughter weighs 2 pounds, & will survive. the mother is being held for psychiatric evaluation….” poem heard on the radio, 8-8-81

(Special Post) BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE FOR EL PASO ARTIST MARIO COLÍN by Donna Snyder

Born in Juárez in 1959, Mario Colín lived his entire life in the Five Points area of Central El Paso, where he attended Houston Elementary and Austin High School. From the age of fifteen, he worked as a construction worker, building silos and other large construction projects across the U.S.A., at some point hitch hiking from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic shores. In his late twenties, he began to focus all his attention and energy on art, which had been an interest since early childhood, working as a muralist and portrait painter. Much of his art is of a religious nature, although he also painted secular art, portraits, and historical scenes. Colín painted his first mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe in collaboration with deceased artist Chuck Zavala in 1987 at Esparza’s Grocery, a small store in Central El Paso. It has now become a shrine, with community members building a stone arch and bringing flowers and candles, and has been pronounced a religious site by the parish church. Since that first mural, Colín has painted over 40 pieces of public art, many of which have become landmarks. Many of those murals are in that same Central El Paso neighborhood, on or near Piedras, including the House of Pizza, Los Alamos Grocery, The Elbo Room bar, the former Sanitary Plumbing at Piedras and Fort Boulevard. Colín twice painted a 25 foot mural of the Virgin of Guadalupe, at Alameda and Zaragoza, across from the Ysleta mission. The first version, painted in 1997, became decayed, but was a popular landmark. That mural has appeared in periodicals, art books, calendars, many newspaper articles, and in photographs exhibited in the El Paso Art Museum and galleries. In 2004, Señor José Villalobos donated and members of the community contributed money to pay laborers to replaster the wall of the century-old adobe building where it is located, and Colín repainted the entire mural for donations from passers-by and community members. Colín’s work has also been featured on the International History Channel and Canal 44, XHUI TV, in a Ford television commercial, and numerous times in the El Paso Times and the defunct El Paso Herald-Post, as well as in periodicals such as Texas Monthly, Dallas Morning News, Texas Observer, Austin American Statesman, Stanton Street magazine; literary journals such as Mezcla and GypsyMag.com; in documentaries including Walls that Speak: El Paso’s Murals, directed by Jim Klaes; in art books such as Colors on Desert Walls: The Murals of El Paso and Texas 24:7, and in various editions of Chicano Studies: Survey and Analysis, a text book used throughout the country.
(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.
(Special Post) Discussion on Mother-Daughter Wound by Mago Circle Members

[Mago Circle members discussed and answered the question, “What do you think of this (the topic article below)? If you are a feminist, it is something that you would promote? If so, why? If not, why not?” The discussion took place on May 15, 2017 and shortly thereafter in The Mago Circle.] Topic Article: “For The Daughters Who Don’t Love Their Mothers – Screw Mother’s Day” by Sade Andria Zabala Everyone talks about a mother’s unconditional love. But what if it doesn’t exist? Daughters are socially expected to be close with their mothers. But are you one of the women who aren’t? Mother’s Day isn’t just for celebrating moms. It’s a day some of us dread because we are reminded we grew up (or are still) unloved, not good enough. (Read the whole article here.)

Beltaine/High Spring within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 8 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Beltaine/High Spring are: Southern Hemisphere – October 31st or 1st November Northern Hemisphere – April 30th (May Eve) or 1st May though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, thus actually a little later in early November for S.H., and early May for N.H., respectively. The twin fires lit in older times on hilltops in Ireland for Beltaine likely represented the two eyes of night and day.[i] With this vision, Goddess as Sun and Moon sees Her Land, and with the power of Her eyes (Sun and Moon) brings forth life and beauty. With the fire eyes, Goddess“reoccupied and saw her whole land…”[ii] The twin fires later came to be used to run cattle between as they headed out to Summer pasture, for the purpose of burning off the bugs and ticks of Winter; the fires may thus be understood to serve a cleansing effect and likely the origins of the tradition of the ceremonial leaping of flames by participants in Beltaine festivities. In PaGaian Cosmology this is poetically expressed as the Flame of Love that burns away the psyche’s “bugs and ticks,” and sees the Beauty present, and calls it forth. The Beltaine flames may be a celebration of Sun entering into the eye, into the whole bodymind: a powerful creative evocation upon which the Dance of Life depends, and as the cleansing power of love and pleasure. PaGaian focus for Beltaine is on the Holy Desire/Passion for life, and it may be accounted for on as many levels as possible … the complete holarchy/dimensions of the erotic power. On an elemental level, there is our desire for Air, Water, the warmth of Fire, and to be of use/service to Earth. There is an essential longing, sometimes nameless, sometimes constellated, experienced physically, that may be recognized as the Desire of the Universe Herself – desiring in us.[iii] We may remember that we are united in this desire with each other, with all who have gone before us, and with all who come after us – all who dance the Dance of Life. Beltaine is a time for dancing and weaving into our lives, our heart’s desires; traditionally the dance is done with participants holding ribbons attached to a pole or tree (a Maypole in the Northern Hemisphere, which may be renamed as a “Novapole” in the Southern Hemisphere), wrapping the pole with the ribbons. This is not simply the heterosexual metaphor as is thought in modern times (thanks largely to Freudian thinking) – it is deeper than that. As Caitlin and John Matthews point out: it is symbolic of a far greater exchange than that between men and women – in fact between the elements themselves. … the maypole, a comparatively recent manifestation in the history of mystery celebrations, can be seen as the linking of heaven and earth, binding those who dance around it … into a pattern of birth, life and death which lay at the heart of the maze of earth mysteries.[iv] Beltaine is a celebration of Desire on all levels – microcosm and on the macrocosm, the exoteric and the esoteric.[v] It brought you forth physically, and it brings forth all that you produce in your life, and it keeps the Cosmos spinning. It is felt in you as Desire, it urges you on. It is the deep awesome dynamic that pervades the Cosmos and brings forth all things – babies, meals, gardens, careers, books and solar systems. We have often been taught, certainly by religious traditions, to pay it as little attention as possible; whereas it should be the cause of much more meditation/attention, tracing it to its deepest place in us. What are our deepest desires beneath our surface desires. What if we enter more deeply into this feeling, this power? It may be a place where the Universe is a deep reciprocity – a receiving and giving that is One. Brian Swimme says, in a whole chapter on “Allurement”: You can examine your own self and your own life with this question: Do I desire to have this pleasure? Or rather, do I desire to become pleasure? The demand to ‘have,’ to possess, always reveals an element of immaturity. To keep, to hold, to control, to own; all of this is fundamentally a delusion, for our own truest desire is to be and to live. We have ripened and matured when we realize that our own deepest desire in erotic attractions is to become pleasure … to enter ecstatically into pleasure so that giving and receiving pleasure become one simple activity. Our most mature hope is to become pleasure’s source and pleasure’s home simultaneously. So it is with the allurements of life: we become beauty to ignite the beauty of others.[vi] Beltaine is a good time to contemplate this animal bodymind that you are: how it seeks real pleasure. What is your real pleasure? Be gracious with this bodymind and in awe of this form, this wonder. Beltaine is also a good time to contemplate light, and its affects on our bodyminds as it enters into us; how our animal bodyminds respond directly to the Sun’s light, which apparently may awaken physical desires. Light vibrates into us – different wavelengths as different colours – and shifts to pulse. It is felt most fully in Springtime (“spring fever”), as light courses down a direct neural line from retina to pineal gland. When the pineal gland receives the light pulse it releases “a cascade of hormones, drenching the body in hunger, thirst, or great desire.”[vii] We respond directly to Sun as an organism: it is primal. NOTES: [i] Michael Dames, Ireland, 195-199. [ii] Ibid., 196. [iii] I have been inspired and informed by Swimme’s articulations about desire, particularly in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 2 “The Primeval Fireball,” video 5 “Destruction and Loss,” and video 10 “The Timing of Creativity.” [iv] Matthews, The Western Way, 54. And for more, see “Creativity …
(Slideshow) Beltaine Goddess by Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D.

Tara, Hallie Iglehart Austen, p.122 On November 7th at 22:56 UTC EarthGaia crosses the midpoint in Her orbit between Equinox and Solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the Season of Beltaine – a maturing of the Light, post-Spring Equinox. Beltaine and all of the light part of the cycle, is particularly associated with the Young One/Virgin aspect of Goddess, even as She comes into relationship with Other: She remains Her own agent. Beltaine may be understood as the quintessential annual celebration of Light as it continues to wax towards fullness. It is understood to be the beginning of Summer. Here is some Poetry of the Season: Earth tilts us further towards Mother Sun, the Source of Her pleasure, life and ecstasy You are invited to celebrate BELTAINE the time when sweet Desire For Life is met – when the fruiting begins: the Promise of early Spring exalts in Passion. This is the celebration of Holy Lust, Allurement, Aphrodite … Who holds all things in form, Who unites the cosmos, Who brings forth all things, Who is the Essence of the Dance of Life. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express this quality of Hers. And also for consideration, is the fact that most ancient images of Goddess are multivalent – She was/is One: that is, all Her aspects are not separate from each other. These selected images tell a story of certain qualities that may be contemplated at the Seasonal Moment of Beltaine. As you receive the images, remember that image communicates the unspeakable – that which can only be known in body – below rational mind. So you may open yourself to a transmission of Her, that will be particular to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGRoVjQQHY Aphrodite 300 B.C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). This Greek Goddess is commonly associated with sexuality in a trivial kind of way, but She was said to be older than Time (Barbara Walker p.44). Aphrodite as humans once knew Her, was no mere sex goddess: Aphrodite was once a Virgin-Mother-Crone trinity – the Creative Force itself. The Love that She embodied was a Love deep down in things, an allurement intrinsic to the nature of the Universe. Praised by the Orphics thus: For all things are from You Who unites the cosmos. You will the three-fold fates You bring forth all things Whatever is in the heavens And in the much fruitful earth And in the deep sea. Vajravarahi 1600C.E. Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A Dakini dancing with life energy – a unity of power, beauty, compassion and eroticism. Praised as Mistress of love and of knowledge at the same time. Tara Contemporary – Green Gulch California ,Tibetan Buddhist. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). “Her eroticism is an important part of her bodhisattvahood: the sweetpea represents the yoni, and she is surrounded by the sensual abundance of Nature. One of Tara’s human incarnations was as the Tibetan mystic Yeshe Tsogyal, “who helped many people to enlightenment through sacred sexual union with her”. – Ishtar 1000 B.C.E. Babylon (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Associated with passionate sexuality (and with Roman Goddess Venus) – which was not perceived as separate from integrity and intelligence … praised for Her beauty and brains! Her lips are sweet, Life is in Her mouth. When She appears, we are filled with rejoicing. She is glorious beneath Her robes. Her body is complete beauty. Her eyes are total brilliance. Who could be equal to Her greatness, for Her decrees are strong, exalted, perfect. MESOPOTAMIAN TEXT 1600 B.C.E. Artemis 4th Cent.B.C.E. Greece. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess) – classic “Virgin” image – wild and free, “Lady of the Beasts”, Goddess of untamed nature. As such, in the patriarchal stories She is often associated with harshness, orgiastic rituals but we may re-story “wildness” in our times as something “innocent” – in direct relationship with the Mother. She is a hunter/archer, protector, midwife, nurturing the new and pure essence (the “wild”) – in earlier times these things were not contradictory. The hunter had an intimate relationship with the hunted. Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. Tibetan Goddess and God in Union: it could be any Lover and Beloved, of same sex. Image from Mann and Lyle, “Sacred Sexuality” p.74. Sacred Couple –Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE “Lovers Embracing on Bed”, Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Diane Wolkstein and Samuael Noah Kramer. Represents the sacred marriage mythic cycle – late 3rd and into 4th millennium B.C.E. (See Starhawk, Truth or Dare). This period is the time of Enheduanna – great poet and priestess of Inanna. Xochiquetzal 8th century C.E. Mayan (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Her name means “precious flower” – She is Goddess of pleasure, sexuality beauty and flowers. Sometimes represented by a butterfly who sips the nectar of the flower. “In ancient rituals honouring her, young people made a bower of roses, and, dressed as hummingbirds and butterflies they danced an image of the Goddess of flowers and love.” Her priestesses are depicted with ecstatic faces. (called “laughing Goddesses” !!) She and Her priestesses unashamedly celebrated joyful female sexuality – there is story of decorating pubic hairs to outshine the Goddess’ yoni. https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/meet-mago-contributor-glenys-livingstone/ REFERENCES: Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess. Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. Mann A.T. and Lyle, Jane. Sacred Sexuality. ELEMENT BOOKS LTD, 1995. Starhawk. Truth or Dare. San Fransisco:Harper and Row, 1990. Walker, Barbara. The Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983. Wolkstein,Diane and Kramer, Samuel Noah. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth. NY: Harper and Rowe, 1983. The music for the slideshow is “”Coral Sea Dreaming” by Tania Rose.
(Video) A Samhain Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVRoK2XNeqw The purpose of the video is for ceremony and I suggest pausing the video where it suits you, to add your own processing, embellishments and/or your own drum, percussion and voice wherever you please. I have made short spaces in the video where it could be paused. For more full participation in the ceremony, you could have some past photos of yourself, an altar with ancestor photos, a gingerbread snake, some apples sliced up, and some apple juice. The script for this Samhain ceremony is offered in Chapter 4 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. However I want to acknowledge here the inspiration and some text of Robin Morgan’s poem “The Network of the Imaginary Mother” in her book Lady of the Beasts, for which I was given permission in my book. I also acknowledge here the paraphrase of some words by Starhawk in her book The Spiral Dance, used in the rite of Sailing to a New World. I also use a line from the poem Song of Hecate by Bridget McKern. 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). For the rite of the Transformation Journey (remembering old selves) I use an adaptation of a children’s game “In and Out the Windows”, where each participant travels in and out of upraised and linked arms of the circle, and when ‘in’ may speak and /or show photos of themselves from the past. Some may choose to remember any self from the entire evolutionary story, with whom they would like to identify. The game seems appropriate to what each being does existentially in so many ways, over the eons as well as in our personal lives. The chant can be found on YouTube. The photos used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Samhain ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Samhain ceremonies I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space in NSW Australia, Darug and Gundungurra country. Music credit: All music used in this video is by Tim Wheater, which has previously generously allowed me to use in my work. The pieces used are from Tim’s CD Fish Nite Moon: they are Ancient Footsteps, Fish Nite Moon, Spiritbirth, and Conception. I thank my partner Robert (Taffy) Seaborne for his participation in the creation of the video.
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) …
(Video) A Beltaine Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

(Essay 2 Part 1) Why Do I Love Korean Historical Dramas? by Anna Tzanova

Part 1 Fans, journalists, critics, and academia in multiple fields have studied this world phenomenon; have written blogs, articles, books; and presented in conferences, dissecting, and making predictions. Still, the magic and mystery of its success persists to be as thrilling as ever. This is the way I see it: DELIGHTING THE SENSES
(Essay 1) Making the Gynocentric Case: Mago, the Great Goddess of East Asia, and Her Tradition Magoism by Helen Hwang

Making the Gynocentric Case: Mago, the Great Goddess of East Asia, and her Tradition Magoism[i] This study documents and interprets a substantial body of primary sources concerning Mago [麻姑, also known as Magu or Mako] from Korea, China, and Japan. Much of this material has never been brought to light as a whole. In working with these various and sundry data including folklore, paintings, arts, literature, poetry, toponyms, rituals, historical and religious records, and apocryphal texts, I encountered an organic structure that relates these seemingly unrelated materials and named it Magoism. Magoism refers to an anciently originated gynocentric cultural and historical context of East Asia, which venerates Mago as supreme divine. Although “Magoism” is my coinage, its concept is not new. Magoism is referred to as the Way of Mago, the Origin of Mago, the Event of Mago, Reign of Mago, Heavenly Principle, or simply Mago in historical sources. In the West, its partial manifestation is known as the cult of Magu within the context of Daoism. One of the earliest verified records, the Biography of Magu (Magu zhuan) written by Ge Hong (284-364) dates back to proto-Daoist times.[ii] Nonetheless, “Mago” remains largely forgotten and misrepresented to the world especially in modern times. More incisively, her sublime divinity is made invisible despite strong evidence. No scholarship in the West has treated Mago as a topic in her own right. Mago’s multiple identities ranging from the cosmogonist to a grandmother, from the progenitress to the Daoist goddess, from the sovereign to a shaman/priestess in Korea, China, and Japan remain unregistered in modern scholarship. When mentioned, her transnational manifestation is not recognized cogently. She is often lumped together with other parochial goddesses from China. Other times, she is fetishized as a Daoist goddess of immortality. She is also known, among other representations, as the giant grandmother (goddess) who shaped the natural landscape in the beginning of time among Koreans. In any case, Mago is not deemed on a par or in relation with Xiwangmu (the Queen Mother of the West in Chinese Daoism) and Amaterasu, (the Sun Goddess of the Japanese imperial family), both of who represent the East Asian pantheon of supreme goddesses to the West. I hold that the paramount significance of Magoism lies in the fact that it redefines the female principle and proffers a gynocentric utopian vision to the modern audience. Its utopian cosmology is no free-floating abstract idea but imbedded in the mytho-historical-cultural reality of East Asia. I suggest Magoism as the original vision of East Asian thought. Put differently, Magoism is an East Asian gynocentric testimony to the forgotten utopian reality. In the sense that Magoism presents an East Asian gynocentric symbolic system, this study is distinguished from Western and androcentric discourse. In other words, its gynocentric universalism should not be subsumed under the discourse of Western or patriarchal universalism. Magoism prompts an alternative paradigm of ancient gynocentrism that redefine major notions of the divine, human, and nature in continuum. Mago, the great goddess, is the unifying and at the same time individualizing force in this system. Magoism enables a macrocosmic view in which all individualized parts are organically co-related and co-operating. As a religious system, it is at once monotheistic and polytheistic. That is, Mago is the great goddess in her multiple manifestations. Underlying the patriarchal edifices, the Magoist principle is the Source from which the latter is derived.
(Essay) Reviving and Celebrating the Nine-Goddess Symbolism by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

In my ongoing research on the Great Goddess known as Mago, I have discovered the number nine gynocentric symbolism as the most prominent current that constitutes Magoism and named it the Nona (Number Nine) Mago religion/civilization/mythology. Like other civilizational inventions such as the calendar and musicology, numerology is an intellectual system of knowing the Way of Nature/Universe/Creatrix. And the number nine is no arbitrary number but is the numeric code of the Creatrix or the Primordial Mother. It codifies the cosmogonic beginning of the Primordial Mother, that is, the Primordial Mago Household. It refers to the primordial principle of the solar/terrestrial beginning.

Author: Mago Work Admin

(Spanish/English Poem 2) Excerpts from Tinta negra/Black Ink by Xánath Caraza

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S/HE: IJGS V5 N1 2026 (B/W Paperback)

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Mago Pod Bulletin #85 August-September 2026

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