January 20, 2026January 21, 2026 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Nine Sister Networks E-Interview) Freia Serafina Titland and The Divine Feminine Film Festival by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Editor’s Note: Return to Mago E-Magazine (RTME) introduces Sister Organizations under the banner of the Nine Sister Networks as a way of consolidating Matriversal Feminism previously known as Goddess Feminist Activist Spirituality. Read More …

December 23, 2025January 21, 2026 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Feminism and Religion Blog Editors by Carolyn Lee Boyd

December 16, 2025January 21, 2026 RTM Co-Editor M Saracino1 Comment

(Nine Sister Networks E-Interivew) Peg Elam and Pearlsong Press by Mary Saracino

October 21, 2025January 21, 2026 RTMeditorsKG2 Comments

(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Trista Hendren’s Girl God Books by Glenys Livingstone

October 7, 2025January 21, 2026 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Nine Sister Networks E-Interview) Danica Anderson’s Kolo Work by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

September 30, 2025January 21, 2026 RTM Co-Editor M Saracino5 Comments

(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Leslene della-Madre’s Winged Women Return by Mary Saracino

September 16, 2025January 21, 2026 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Glenys Livingstone’s PaGaian Cosmology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

June 10, 2025June 18, 2025 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(E-Interview) Judy Grahn by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Helen Hye-Sook Hwang It is my honor to e-interview Dr. Judy Grahn. Sometimes life turns serendipitously. I did not think that I would be working with Judy Grahn even two Read More …

October 24, 2024October 25, 2024 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(E-Interview) Kaalii Cargill by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Helen Hye-Sook Hwang I have known Dr. Kaalii Cargill for more than a decade. Kaalii came to The Mago Work through the first volume of She Rises: Goddess Feminist Activist Read More …

October 9, 2024December 6, 2025 ANewvine1 Comment

(Intercosmic Kinship Conversations) Revealing and Reweaving Our Spiralic Herstory with Glenys Livingstone by Alison Newvine

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Glenys Livingstone for the fifth episode of Intercosmic Kinship Conversations. Glenys Livingstone PhD was born and lives in Australia where she Read More …

August 29, 2024September 1, 2024 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(E-Interview) Mary Ann Beavis by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mary Ann Beavis stands at the edges of Christianity and has held the academic identity of a feminist scholar, which I respect and rely on for The Mago Work. I Read More …

August 28, 2024December 6, 2025 ANewvineLeave a comment

(Intercosmic Kinship Conversations) Symbols and Subconscious with Claire Dorey by Alison Newvine

After a summer break, I’m happy to bring to you the fourth installment in the Intercosmic Kinship Conversation series, a spinoff of the anthology Celebrating Intercosmic Kinship of Goddess (CIKG). Read More …

August 26, 2024September 1, 2024 ANewvine4 Comments

(E-interview) Trista Hendren by Alison Newvine

Trista Hendren founded Girl God Books (GGB) in 2011 to support a necessary unraveling of the patriarchal worldview of divinity. Her first book—The Girl God, a children’s picture book—was a Read More …

(Essay 2) The Role of Myths in Paganism by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note: It’s based on one of my lectures for my CHS class on Pagan Theology. I’m looking to rewrite the book and will be doing more articles as this project moves along.] Diorama_of_a_Cunning_Woman_in_the_Museum_of_Witchcraft_and_Magic, Wikimedia Commons Pagans today take spiritual guidance from myths, but this is tempered with what Kraemer calls “The sophisticated ethical thinking of Western philosophy.” Or, as I tell my middle and high school students, don’t be a jerk. How the sentence is worded might lead one to believe that ethical thinking is purely a product of Western thought, as though no other group ever developed ethics. And using myths doesn’t lessen Paganism’s truth or spiritual impact on its followers. All religions and faiths come from legends. Even the “religions of the book” are based on mythology. What is the Torah, the Bible, or the Quran but a collection of oral stories passed down through generations before eventually being written down? Myths have become part of history through retellings or to make a political point. Columbus was the first to think the world was round. Myth. Most people in Europe knew this to be true. Mrs. O’Leary’s cow started the great Chicago fire. Myth. Two newspaper reporters made up the story to stoke hatred against the Irish. With enough retellings, fiction can become fact, but that doesn’t mean that Pagans don’t have facts to support them. Pagan origins are often framed in terms of history, the existence of cunning folk in the 1600s who cured or made predictions. Rumors of groups of witches in the countryside, what some now call hidden covens. But, while some groups can claim a written history, such as revivalist pagans, limiting the origin of paganism to a historical question ignores the part that myth plays in the origin stories. Again, this issue of how the word myth is perceived and understood is the problem. “It’s a myth” is used as a derogatory term. It’s dismissive of someone’s ideas or assertions in movies or TV; of course, the myth is often proved to be correct in a film. An ancient monster is coming to eat you, or a creature is hunting to reclaim its territory. The SciFi channel’s summer movies use mythical creatures as their monsters or make up a myth to help the story along. In school, we are taught that a myth is a story that isn’t true. It’s a relic of a pre-industrial society that didn’t understand science, was ruled by religious fear, and didn’t have logical explanations for natural events. These explanations are accurate because myths have existed for as long as humans can communicate. Long before we understood germ theory, plate tectonics, and the solar system’s movement, this doesn’t mean myths are devoid of truth. Of course, there are modern myths that aren’t true, but these are myths that evolved from bad science or conspiracy, like the myth of racial superiority, the lizard people running the government, or the Lake Erie monster. Pagans don’t like to admit that their belief is based on myth. They want it to be truth, to have a history backed up by facts. Because when an event or person is recorded in the historical record, it becomes true to most people. This is problematic because we know history as it is currently written is one-sided. The dominant culture wrote it. From the Christian perspective, the victors of wars, the colonizers. Myths “are things that never happened but always are.” Again playing into the idea that a myth is untrue. But myths, legends, and folk tales often originate in events that happened, mixed with events that didn’t happen. Greer proposes that “it’s not the source that defines something as myth, but the function; not whether the thing happened, but whether it is – whether it goes beyond the merely factual into the realm of meaning and ultimate concern.” Myths are at their heart, stories people use to teach themselves. They shape human understanding and experience. Biblical scholars now believe that many of the stories in the Old Testament are retellings of stories from Mesopotamia. The Atrahasis is the flood story, and the Lud Low is Job. We shouldn’t point to them and say, “Oh, these are from an earlier religion, so they can’t have anything to do with YHWH.” Instead, we need to look at them and ask what in them was so fundamental to people’s understanding of humans, the universe, and the nature of the Divine that these stories transcended millennia, cultures, languages, geographical changes, and belief systems. On the other hand, myths have come to be treated with suspicion in postmodernist circles because problems arise when myths are accepted as unshakeable truths that no number of facts can counter. Trying to destroy myths as an understanding of life, as was done during the Scientific Revolution, replacing them with history and science creates new myths. People will use facts as the basis for new myths, and because they have a basis in fact, they will draw you in. Postmodernists see history as another mode of fiction, bringing more problems. As discussed before, yes, history is written from a certain point of view and cherry-picked to heck by those who want to support their agendas. Dissenting opinions are ignored, and gaps in the story are filled in because they seem to fit. Again, the Bible is full of places where we have filled in the gaps because there is a break in the story or because there are several unnamed characters of the same gender, and we want to form a cohesive story. Sybil_Ludington_stamp, Wikimedia Commons Think back to the story Humpty Dumpty you read as a child. What did Humpty look like in the illustrations, in your mind? I’ll get back to that. Lastly, we come to the issue of moral dualism, good vs. evil, which in theory is rejected by pagans, but mythology is often couched in those terms. The world isn’t dualistic, all good or all bad, it’s shades of …
(Invocation) Sekhmet of the Red Power, Blood Power, the Devourer by Nuit Moore

Photograph: Ritual Dance of the Activated Red Sekhmet from the author’s performance in 2013. O Sekhmet! Of the red power Blood power The devourer We hear your roar on the crescent shore- now is the hour! Lion Queen fertile breasted Scarlet zenith crested Flame of the eclipse glow and the lunar crimson flow You reveal the visceral raw Unveiling all, Unveiling all, In the abyss of the maw. O Sekhmet! Of the red power Blood power The devourer https://www.magoism.net/2019/02/meet-mago-contributor-nuit-moore/
Paganism and American Folk Magic Traditions by Francesca Tronetti

Wikimedia Commons Pagans are people seeking spirituality. Not always religion, but true spiritual growth and freedom. Due to this desire, many seek out and learn from older cultural traditions, viewing these practices as purer and more in tune with the universe. This has led to multiple clashes between pagans and those whose cultures they seek to draw from. This is called cultural or spiritual appropriation, and there are dozens of articles, and probably a book or two, on the subject already. To avoid this conflict, many white spiritual seekers have begun looking to older European traditions such as those of the Celts and the Norse. However, worship of the ancient Norse deities has been linked to white supremacy in the last decade, so understandably many avoid the label. In the United States, there has been a steady resurgence of interest in American Folk Magic Traditions, especially those of the Appalachians, known as hoodoo, conjure, and rootwork. However, pagan interest in this folk magic is not always welcome and can bring them into conflict with practitioners of the craft. Until the 1960s, there were few studies of the lifestyles and traditions of Appalachian people. Then in 1966, the magazine Foxfire was first published. Proposed as a writing project by teacher Elliot Wigginton at the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Georgia, students collected stories from relatives and neighbors about how people had lived in their area. The magazine published these stories about the crafts, skills, and lifestyles of the people in their area, everything from lessons on raising and butchering hogs to how to build a spinning wheel. The magazine was an immediate success, partially owing to the interest in communes, the back to the land movement, and organic farms developing in the United States. Today for $15 a year, you can subscribe to the magazine, which has been in publication since 1966, and in 1972 the first of the Foxfire books was published. These books remain popular and are still sought after by collectors and enthusiasts today; I have six of the original books and one of the more recent publications in my library. Foxfire is also a museum of Appalachian history whose members continue to record the area’s oral history. It also serves as a classroom where people come to learn homesteading and traditional medicine using herbs. The work of the Foxfire group inspired others to take an in-depth look at the culture and traditions of the mountain people, rather than labeling them simple backwoods folk who need to be taught, not learn from. Because of the work of the Foxfire group and other dedicated researchers, we now have a better understanding of the folk magic traditions of the area. Hoodoo, conjure, rootwork, mountain magic, and granny magic are African-inspired religious practices that are sometimes called mountain magic. Hoodoo is a set of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs that were created and concealed from slaveholders by enslaved Africans in North America. Many of these enslaved people attempted to escape, and some, unwilling to risk the long trek north, headed deep into the Appalachian mountains. In this area, already established groups of Native Americans and small settlements of formerly enslaved people began to take shape. The Native Americans, having no love for the white man who also enslaved them, lived in relative peace alongside their neighbors and taught them the herbs of the land. Eventually, European immigrants settled in the area and soon discovered that the promised land was not a fertile plain where life came easy. Mountain life is tough, and you need to depend on your neighbors to survive, especially if you have never lived in an area before and do not know which herbs and roots you can eat, which will heal, and which will kill. When members of the Pennsylvania Dutch arrived, they had their own folk magic traditions, already influenced by their interactions with the Native American groups who lived in PA. The formerly enslaved people and their descendants incorporated some of these traditions into their belief practices and created what we today call hoodoo. Still, this knowledge was shared with their neighbors, which is why you will find white people who claim their families have practiced hoodoo for generations. Because they probably have. Hoodoo and conjure are uniquely American magical traditions, born out of the intersection of at least three, and possibly more, cultures who all wished to live their lives and remain free. The spells and incantations are in English, the herbs used are those which grow locally, and practitioners for centuries have been white. For those seeking a spiritual path linked to herbalism and one in which a charge of cultural appropriation cannot be made against Appalachian folk magic would seem to solve their problems. However, they would be mistaken in thinking this type of magic is open to everyone regardless of background. Hoodoo and conjure are not pagan, and many practitioners are Christian. While there is a belief in spells, curses, and evil spirits, the people have a solid Christian belief as their bedrock. The spells are based on Psalms and Bible passages, and invocations are made to Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit, and the Saints. Appalachian folk magic is a branch of Christianity for all intents and purposes. Perhaps not one which many Christians outside of the geographic area would acknowledge, but it is still deeply rooted in the Christian faith. This has led to some online conflict between those who see this tradition as one which can be incorporated into the umbrella term pagan and those who resist their beliefs being placed alongside those of admitted witches. American folk magic occupies a unique place, being at the interception of Christianity and magic, but this does not mean that their beliefs and practices are open for anyone to use. To claim it as one’s own could be a type of cultural appropriation, on par with claiming the spiritual traditions of Native Americas or Afro Caribbean practices without understanding the deep cultural …
Call for Poems for Nine Poets Speak: Forging New Visions and Hopes

Return To Mago E-Magazine (RTME) is a platform that values poets who witness the arrival of AI waves and sing for the Way of Life that values human creativity. We are inviting poets to submit their poems for posting on Return to Mago E-Magazine (RTME) as part of our ongoing Nine Poets Speak posts. Please include an image/photo for each submitted poem (along with information acknowledging the name of the person who created the image/photo). If you have not contributed to RTME before, also include a brief bio and a photo of yourself so we can create a Meet Contributor post for you. Email to Mary Saracino (Marysar1004@msn.com). Go to (Ongoing) Call for Contributions.
(Film Review) The Book of Jane by Judith Laura

The Book of Jane, an Antero Alli Film (Vertical Pool 2013), 117 minutes. Written and Directed by Antero Alli; Cinematography by Antero Alli. Also available as a DVD. As this intriguing film opens, the wind blows, a raven calls, and a Crone-like woman in black coat, jeans, and dark blue cap walks with the aid of a walking stick made from a tree limb. With a backpack and attached baby doll dressed in red, the woman limps around a college campus, We may not be sure if what she is saying is coherent, but it is poetic: “The world is a busy place, a very very busy place. The world is in the business of consuming the planet. But the planet has other plans. The world is burning. The world is burning with the business, the busy business of saving the planet. But the world is not the planet and the planet does not need saving….Gaia is calling the shots now….” The woman continues her soliloquy for a bit, and then laughs and laughs. Possibly related to the word “Book” in its title, this film is divided into chapters. As Chapter 1, “Signs and Omens” proceeds, the woman, Jane (Luna Olcott), speaks of “Mother Rhea” and goes beneath a bridge that spans a brook. As she takes a nap, we share the first of the wonderful dream sequences in this film, this one with music from the beautiful Ad Astra by contemporary composer Marie-Anne Fischer. In Chapter 2, “The Muse and Her Artist,” we meet two blonde women in their apartment, one a few years older than the other. The younger woman reveals a portrait she has just completed and set on what could be considered an altar. The portrait shows the slightly older woman as a crowned Goddess. We are then taken back to Jane sitting on a campus bench. She prays to Morpheus as she takes pain pills and tells of her first-born and only child, Brigit. Elsewhere on the campus, we see the older of the two blonde women sitting on a bench. Jane notices her but at first passes her by to pick up a feather, which she appears to listen to. She then turns around and brings the feather to her lips before speaking to the woman on the bench, who introduces herself as Alice (Marianne Shine). Alice explains she is a professor of comparative religious studies. Jane asks for the topic of her dissertation. At first Alice tries to dodge the question by saying she is busy, but Jane persists, and Alice replies, “Ancient Goddess Mythologies: PreHellenic Era.” As the conversation continues, Alice refers to Jane as “homeless.” But Jane says that she prefers the term “nomadic.” Jane also mentions the pain she’s in is related to the fact that she “can’t shit….it’s all backed up.” Alice continues to alternate between being fascinated with and being impatient with Jane, but eventually is won over by her knowledgeable and wise remarks, which include, “Goddess never advertises.” Though clearly quite intelligent and informed, Jane speaks mostly from the heart. Alice approaches, or tries to approach, matters intellectually. To me this conversation is the start of a theme related to an issue that has interested me for some time: the intellectual approach to Goddess studies compared with the experiential approach to understanding Goddess. Is it a comparison or is it a conflict? Does the intellectual focus on Goddess studies in a university (or other setting), which, though it establishes the legitimacy of anthropology, archeology, and history of Goddess veneration, detract from our deeply experiencing Goddess? Can we have both? This theme continues, often subtly, throughout the film.
(Art) Hetaira by Kaalii Cargill

The Goddess in all Her faces weaves Her way through my life, calling, guiding, demanding, nourishing. In 2014, I made four life-size Goddess panels, and each one demanded an immersion in form and essence. Even as I began to form my vision of Her, She entered, and the form changed . . . Hetaira: This face of the Goddess is not one of passive “beauty”. This is the face of deep, luscious beauty, soft, strong folds and layers of grace, sensuality, and connection to the wellspring of laughter, lust, and inspiration . . . She is crafted from fabric chosen for color and texture – blood red, labia purple, black lace – and sewn into folds and creases to create a fusion of a Magdalene-type robe that segues into ripe, feminine, embodied sensuality. I adapted Her for the cover of the Mago Books anthology – She Rises, Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? – removing Her ethnicity to allow Nature to shine through . . . Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill
(Essay) The Beautiful Crone at the Heart of the World by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Cailleach Beira, Wondertales from Scottish Myth and Legend, 1917, Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons The beautiful crone goddess — and all crones are beautiful — is the heart of the world. Old women goddesses create, destroy, and rebirth the world, protect human and non-human life, determine humanity’s fate, heal, and counsel the young. Yet, since the suppression of Old European culture, retellings of ancient myths from Europe, as well as our modern media, show women’s age and ugliness as going together. Old women are depicted as having matted white hair, lolling eyes, and frail, hunched over bodies that are symbolic of the objectification, commodification, and even demonization of not only women but the sovereignty and life-giving generosity of the planet with which crone goddesses are associated. Perseus and Graeae, shown as ugly old women, Helen Stratton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons It is easy for those in our contemporary society to accept this judgement that we lose beauty as we age when we have been surrounded by this message since birth. But what if we are projecting the ageism and fear of spiritually powerful older women of our recent times onto these images? What if underneath descriptions of old women in ancient stories lies a contrary attitude rooted in very different values of the Old European culture from which the oldest myths sprang? Might all women experience instead our beauty as changing, ever deepening like our wisdom, as we age? And if we did, might that not be a first step to returning to the best of Old European attitudes about women and the Earth? Marija Gimbutas found extensive evidence that aged women were revered in Old Europe. In Poland in about 5000 BC, the graves of older women held grave goods including, in one case, “copper beads, a necklace of animal teeth, a belt of shell beads, and a vase” while that of an older man had none1. Over a grave of a 70-year-old woman in another Polish settlement was a large structure likely used for rituals2. Older women alone were buried either inside or near the home or in sacred spaces. “An older woman was the ancestor whose blessing was sought to ensure continuity of the family she had started and who was honored by burial beneath one of her houses or temples”3 Gimbutas says. Max Dashu notes that in the past “Heathen communities called upon ancestral grandmothers to bless, counsel, protect, and provide assistance to their living kindred”4. Elizabeth Wayland Barber describes how in Eastern Europe “…old women, while not active in most rites other than funerals, served as coaches— repositories of information on how to do things. In short, the lonely old widow served as a keeper of traditional knowledge, a ‘knower’ or ved’ma”5. Not surprisingly, given the respect for old women in Old European society and those cultures with vestiges of Old Europe, some crone goddesses are considered to be beautiful. The Greek Graeae, whose name means, according to Patricia Monaghan, “the crones” were also considered to be swan maidens who were “beautiful though gray-haired”6. The Sudice, goddesses of fate in Eastern Europe, were “beautiful old women”7. And, of course, we have the Sheela-na-gigs, statues on medieval churches of smiling older female beings holding open their vaginas. One meaning of their name is “holy lady”8. According to Monaghan, “Laughter and passion, birth and death, sex and age do not seem to have been so incompatible to the ancient Irish as they are to the modern world”9. Crone goddesses are also strong and powerful. The Cailleach, the Celtic Creatrix crone goddess, was known for outworking the male farm laborers she hired and dropped boulders from her apron to form mountains10. Bugady Musun, a Siberian crone goddess was, “very old and very strong” and ruled all life11. The Scandinavian goddess Elle, who symbolized aging, bested Thor in a wrestling match because, as Monaghan says “No one can beat old age”12. When we relook at all these positive, dynamic, and vibrant images of older women, perhaps it is time to reconsider the characteristics that cause us to envision crone goddesses as “ugly.” One of the most prominent is that single eye, a feature of the Cailleach13 and the Irish Muireartach14. Eastern European Poldunica had two eyes, but they were “staring”15. According to Gimbutas, eyes were among the most sacred parts of the body in Old European culture. Gimbutas says the large eyes were “all-seeing” and represented a Divine Source16. “Eye Goddesses” of 5000 to 3000 BCE found throughout Old Europe were made of bone with large staring eyes and were associated with the spiritual power of death17. The Cailleach18, Muireartach19, and Poldunica20 are all described as having matted hair. However, the Greek stories of Medusa and the Gorgons with their snakes for hair show the power of unbound tresses. Masks dating back 7000 years from Bulgaria also show hags with unruly, matted hair21. Could matted hair really symbolize wild, unrestrained power? The colors white, black and red, associated with life, death, and rebirth in Old Europe, were often associated with crones. In Moravia, Poldunica was portrayed as a white gowned old woman22 while the Sudice also wore white clothes23. Some crones were also associated with black such as the Cailleach, sometimes described as having a blue-black face24. The Scandinavian goddess Hel, who oversaw the souls of those who died from disease or old age, was half white and half black25. The Cailleach’s white cow had red ears26 while the Irish Muireartach was “bald-red”27. Angelique Kidjo, HankBate123, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons Could it be that in Old Europe old women were both valued and considered to be beautiful?When we look at women of all ages we should see beauty, power, and wisdom, and for older women, persistence and decades of hard work, of love given and received, laugh lines and lines where sorrowful tears were channelled to the Earth. Truly, the beauty of women in their third age is ageless. Aged women …
(Poem) Meanderings by Anne Wilkerson Allen

A thousand threads have woven wings of love, mounting us on the wind. Images of ancients have caressed our eyes, revealing new shapes and colors. Drums of women have kindled memories forgotten, thrumming the cadence of our hearts. Poets and musicians have sailed us on rivers of passion, touching empty spaces with fever. Waves, like dervishes, have swept us from the abyss, spinning us into ecstasy. Wisdom, in full raiment, has sent her shafts of light, illuminating our truths. Is it any wonder that we choose to sail these seas with fellow travelers?
(Intercosmic Kinship Conversations) Revealing and Reweaving Our Spiralic Herstory with Glenys Livingstone by Alison Newvine

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Glenys Livingstone for the fifth episode of Intercosmic Kinship Conversations. Glenys Livingstone PhD was born and lives in Australia where she has facilitated seasonal ceremony for decades, taught classes and mentored apprentices. She has published four books with Girl God Books and contributed to numerous GGB and Mago anthologies. Her work fuses the indigenous traditions of Old Europe with scientific theory, feminism and a poetic relationship with place. Her chapter of our anthology, “Celebrating the Triple Spiral: a PaGaian Cosmology” discusses the omnipresence of spiral symbology, and in particular triple spiral motifs, that appear across Western Europe dating back to the Ice Age. (Available at Mago Bookstore) When I first read Glenys’s chapter, I was intrigued by the Creative Triplicity she describes, weaving together Thomas Berry’s concept of the three features of cosmogenesis- Differentiation, Communion and Autopoeisis, with the Maiden-Mother-Crone triplicity we in the world of Goddess Studies know well. I asked her to speak in depth on these subjects as well as the wheel of the year, another concept she has made her own and discusses in the CIKG chapter and her own books. We also talk about her second chapter in CIKG “Mooncourt: Goddess Ceremonial Space.” It was touching to hear the story of how Goddess Studies and personal and community practice led to the development of a physical space to hold these seasonal celebrations. The cycle of creating, sustaining and destroying is illustrating through Glenys’s journey with Mooncourt. During our interview, Glenys shares images of her PaGaian Wheel of the Year and the gorgeous ceremonial space of Mooncourt. She also leads through the Triple Goddess Breath meditation she developed and regularly practices. Glenys has gifted generations to come with our reclaimed and rewoven history by elucidating the relationship between science and the work of other feminist foremothers such as Marija Gimbutas, Charlene Spretnak and Starhawk. Her numerous youtube videos invite you into ceremonial space and provide guidance for PaGaian seasonal and sacred feminine practices. It was an honor to sit with such an accomplished and knowledgable wise woman for whom the delight of the dance of being is so clearly alive in how she speaks, moves and smiles. https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/

(Special Post 3) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality? A Collective Writing

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Helen Hwang I study and advocate Goddess feminism or Magoism because it is a way of living for me. I find myself in Mago (the Great Goddess) who in turn leads me to the Way wherein I learn how to become the person who I can be. It has to be Mago, the Female Divine, because She is real! She is the Primordial Mother who is the Beginning and the End of everything to us on the planet Earth. She teaches me the real. I can’t negotiate Her to anything less. Helen Hye Sook Hwang, Ph.D. California http://magoism.net Bridget Robertson A Goddessian I was introduced to a form of meditative journeying by a resident in my grandmother’s retirement community. She approached to me. I know she was at least part Native American, and that alone made her the topic of much gossip in the building. Her Rose colored lipstick, deep brown eyes, wrinkles that only helped illuminate her face and a chiffon scarf that matched none of her clothes. I thought she needed help with her groceries. She didn’t. She had me stop the elevator. and directly asked about my looking tired. My response was about being, busy balancing all the areas of my life. In fact I was exhausted doling out time like pieces of pie.
(Special Post 8) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. Special thanks to Trista Hendren, founder and author of The Girl God, who passionately and painstakingly promotes the message of each contributor via Facebook’s memes. Without Trista’s devotion to the advocacy, this collective effort would not have continued. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Marija Krstic-Chin To remember who we really are (nature, cycles, network, creative force, one, infinite…) for the benefit of all of humanity and all living things; and to unite and unify as we broadcast, hand down, protect and defend this truth and each other against the oppressive intentions and actions of patriarchal perpetrators, puppets, and pawns who seek to enslave us by various old and new divide-and-conquer strategies.
(Special Post 5) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I have come across the origin of the Dokkaebi (image, Heavenly Ruler Chiu, 14th Hanung of Danguk. Chiu represented the Magoist rule aided by her 81 giant sister clan allies (nine groups of Nine Hans) fought Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), one of the ancient rulers of pre-historic China. Chiu is known as the empeor of Guri-guk or Guryeo-guk (Nine Ri State or Nine Ryeo State), which is alternatiely referred to as Goryeo-guk and Goguryeo-guk by East Asians. She was worshipped as the deity of war and remembered/depicted for her helmet made of copper and iron. Records about her war against Hungdi inundates ancient Korean and Chinese texts and myths. About Chiu or Chiyou, it is too complex to discuss here. It is a topic to be treated in its own right. Suffice to say that even some of basic information from Wikipedia is illuminating. “Chiyou (蚩尤) was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎) in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era in Chinese mythology. For the Hmong people, Chiyou was a sagacious mythical king. He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under Dongyi, Miao or even Man, depending on the source and view. Today, Chiyou is honored and worshipped as the God of War and one of the three legendary founding fathers of China.” “According to the Song dynasty history book Lushi, Chiyou’s surname was Jiang (姜), and he was a descendant of Yandi. According to legend, Chiyou had a bronze head with a metal forehead. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. In some sources, Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was that of a human. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers. Historical sources often described him as ‘cruel and greedy’, as well as ‘tyrannical’. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom. Chiyou knows the constellations and the ancients spells for calling upon the weather. For example, he called upon a fog to surround Huangdi and his soldiers during the Battle of Zhuolu.” “Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎, RPA White Hmong: Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources. However, his exact ethnic affiliations are quite complex, with multiple sources reporting him as belonging to various tribes, in addition to a number of diverse peoples supposed to have directly descended from him. Some sources from later dynasties, such as the Guoyu book, considered Chiyou’s Li tribe to be related to the ancient San miao tribe (三苗). In the ancient Zhuolu Town is a statue of Chiyou commemorating him as the original ancestor of the Hmong people. The place is regarded as the birthplace of the San miao / Miao people, the Hmong being a subgroup of the Miao. In sources following the Hmong view, the “nine Li” tribe is called the “Jiuli” kingdom, Jiuli meaning “nine Li”. Modern Han Chinese scholar Weng Dujian considers Jiuli and San Miao to be Man southerners. Chiyou has also been counted as part of the Dongyi.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyou Above all, her depiction by ancient China is of a pejorative one. As we will see in the next part, she is contrasted with her opponent Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), a triumphantly depicted ancient hero of ancient China. Above Wikipedia. See her images created by ancient Koreans, the middle one in the three figures, depicted as a woman with female breasts, one of Dokkaebi images. There are other records that describe one of her allies. as one adorned with snakes in the head, which reminds me of Medusa. Silla (left), Baekje (Center), Goguryeo (right) http://lasvegaskim.com/Etc_Poem_55.htm Max Dashu: Oe-ri, Buyeo, in the Baekje period. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: That is where the rooftile at the center is excavated. That is the original image of Dokkaebi that Lydia Ruyle chose and depicted in her banner work. I could not connect this image with Chiu until now. We have the female ruler who subdued the patrilocal force of Yellow Emperor, the forebear of ancientChinese emperors. There are lots of myths and data that I have found on them. Chiu is also numerously depicted as Dokkaebi faces, which makes me think of its connection to the iconography of Medusa and Gorgon (who comes as Three Sisters). Eight-snake-headed Medusahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa Gorgon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/art-dokkaebi-by-lydia-ruyle/ Lizzy Bluebell: ‘Gonggong’ is not a far stretch phonetically from ‘Gorgon’ – I note. Briefly here – because it is a complex explanation – much more can be said about the etymology. For example, “gorge” relates to deep mountain passes with water flowing through them as well as the human throat or gullet, (relating the word to both speech and eating) and mountains are/were Goddess terrain, later usurped by MON-A-Ster-ies. The masculine name Ge-Orge is code which relates to GE/Gaia/Gay as well as to ‘orgy’. Sanskrit “garg” begets English ‘gargle’, and a guttural (gut-her-all) sound. I’ve always seen the archetypal Medusa/Gorgon’s ‘snaking curls’ as the energy emmitted from her head by her Wild I-Deas, which returns us to the theme of the Pythia/Oracle/Snake connections too. “In Greek mythology, a Gorgon (/ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means “dreadful”, and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit word “garğ” (Sanskrit: गर्जन, garjana) which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast,[1] thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters […]

The Passing of Last Summer’s Growth by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ as is experienced and contemplated in the Season of Deep Autumn/Samhain, may be a metaphor for the passing of all/any that has come to fullness of being, or that has had a fullness, a blossoming of some kind, and borne fruit; and in the passing it has been received, and thus transforms. The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ may be in hearts and minds, an event or events, a period of time, or an era, that was a deep communion, now passed and dissolved into receptive hearts and minds, where it/they reside for reconstitution, within each unique being. Samhain is traditionally understood as ‘Summer’s end’: indeed that is what the word ‘Samhain’ means. In terms of the seasonal transitions in indigenous Old European traditions, Summer is understood as over when the Seasonal Moment of Lammas/Lughnasad comes around; it is the first marked transition after the fullness of Summer Solstice. The passing and losses may have been grieved, the bounty received, thanksgiving felt and expressed, perhaps ceremonially at Autumn Equinox/Mabon; yet now in this Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn it composts, clearly falls, as darkness and cooler/cold weather sets in, change is clearer. In the places where this Earth-based tradition arose, Winter could be sensed setting in at this time, and changes to everyday activity had to be made. In our times and in our personal lives, we may sense this kind of ending, when change becomes necessary, no longer arbitrary: and the Seasonal Moment of Samhain may be an excellent moment for expressing these deep truths, telling the deep story, and making meaning of the ending, as we witness such passing. What new shapes will emerge from the infinite well of creativity? And we may wonder what will return from the dissolution? What re-solution will be found? We may wonder what new shapes will emerge. In the compost of what has been, what new syntheses, new synergies, may come forth? Now is the time for dreaming, for drawing on the richness within, trusting the sentience, within which we are immersed, and which we are: and then awaiting the arrival, being patient with the fermentation and gestation. Seize the moment, this Moment – and converse with the depths within your own bodymind, wherein She is. Make space for the sacred conversation, the Conversing with your root and source of being, and take comfort in this presence. We may ponder what yet unkown beauty and wellness may emerge from this infinite well of creativity. The Samhain Moment in the Northern Hemisphere is 17:14 UT 7thNovember this year. Wishing you a sense of the deep communion present in the sacred space you make for this holy transition.
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 3) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) Free PDF available at Mago Bookstore. MAPPING THE MAGOIST CALENDAR According to the Budoji, the Magoist Calendar was fully implemented and advocated during the period of Old Joseon (ca. 2333 BCE-ca. 232 BCE) whose civilization is known as Budo (Emblem City). Indeed, the Magoist Calendar is referred to as the Budo Calendar in the Budoji. Budo was founded to succeed Sinsi and reignited Sinsi’s innovations including the numerological and musicological thealogy of the Nine Mago Creatrix. The Budoji expounds on the Magoist Calendar as follows: The Way of Heaven circles to generate Jongsi (a cyclic period, an ending and a beginning). Jongsi circles to generate another Jongsi of four Jongsi. One cycle of jongsi is called Soryeok (Little Calendar). Jongsi of Jongsi is called Jungryeok (Medium Calendar). Jongsi of four Jongsis is called Daeryeok (Large Calendar). A cycle of Little Calendar is called Sa (year). One Sa has thirteen Gi (months). One Gi has twenty-eight Il (days). Twenty-eight Il are divided by four Yo (weeks). One Yo has seven Il. A cycle of one Yo is called Bok (completion of a week). One Sa (year) has fifty-two Yobok. That makes 364 Il. This is of Seongsu (Natural Number) 1, 4, 7. Each Sa includes a Dan of the big Sa. A Dan is equal to one day. That adds up to 365 days. At the half point after the third Sa, there is a Pan of the big Sak (the year of the great dark moon). A pan comes at a half point of Sa. This is of Beopsu (Lawful Number) 2, 5, 8. A Pan is equal to a day. Therefore, the fourth Sa has 366 days. At the half point after the tenth Sa, there is a Gu of the big Hoe (Eve of the first day of the month). Gu is the root of time. Three hundred Gu makes one Myo. With Myo, we can sense Gu. A lapse of 9,633 Myo-Gak-Bun-Si makes one day. This is of Chesu (Physical Number), 3, 6, 9. By and by, the encircling time charts Medium Calendar and Large Calendar to evince the principle of numerology.[12] KEY TERMS Calendric Cycles Jongsi (終是 Ending and Beginning): Cyclic periods Soryeok (小曆 Little Calendar): One year Jungryeok (中曆 Medium Calendar): Two years Daeryeok (大曆 Large Calendar): Four years Names of Year, Month, Day, Week Sa (祀 Rituals, year): One year refers to the time that takes to complete the cycle of rituals. Gi (期 Periods, month): One month refers to the period of the moon and menstruation cycle. Il (日Sun, day): One day refers to the sun’s movement due to Earth’s rotation. Yo (曜 Resplendence of seven celestial bodies, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, week): Each weekday is dedicated to seven celestial bodies. Bok or Yobok (曜服 Duties of the Celestial Bodies, completion of a week): One week refers to the veneration of the seven celestial bodies. Names of Monthly Transition Days Hoe (晦 Eve of the first day of the month, 28th) Sak (朔 First day of the month, 1st, the dark moon) Names of Intercalation Days Dan (旦 Morning): Leap day for New Year Pan (昄 Big): Leap day for every fourth year Names of Time Units Gu (晷 sun’s shadow): Time measure, 1/300 Myo Myo (眇 minuscule): Time measure, a total of 300 Gu Myo-Gak-Bun-Si (眇刻分時 minuscule, possibly 15-minutes, minute, hour): Time measure, 9,633 Myo-Gak-Bun-Si is equal to a day Names of Three Types of Numbers in Nine Numerology Seongsu (性數Natural Number): 1, 4, 7 in the digital root Beopsu (法數 Lawful Number): 2, 5, 8 in the digital root Chesu (體數 Physical Number): 3, 6, 9 in the digital root THREE SUB-CALENDARS The Way of Heaven circles to generate Jongsi (a period, an ending and a beginning). Jongsi circles to generate another Jongsi of four Jongsi. One cycle of jongsi is called Soryeok (Little Calendar). Jongsi of Jongsi is called Jungryeok (Medium Calendar). Jongsi of four Jongsis is called Daeryeok (Large Calendar). The universe is infinite without beginning and ending. Everything runs the course of self-equilibration in relation to everything else. The Way of Heaven or the Way of the Creatrix circles and makes possible the infinite time/space to be measured and calculated. As the Way of Heaven circles, we are able to perceive Our Universe in finite measures of time/space. Time becomes measurable, as space is stabilized. Seasons and days-nights are demarcated in cyclic patterns, as the Earth makes the three cyclic movements of rotation, revolution, and precession. Calendar, born out of the inter-cosmic time, synchronizes human culture with the song/dance of the universe. The term Jongsi, which means an ending and a beginning, is equivalent to “a cyclic period” that is marked by the beginning and the end. Time (a day, a month, and a year) circles, as space (the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun) spirals. The Magoist Calendar has three sub-calendars: The period of one yearly cycle is called Little Calendar, whereas the period of two yearly cycles is called Medium Calendar and the period of four yearly cycles, Large Calendar. To be continued. (Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hye-Sook Hwang) Notes [12] Budoji, Chapter 23. See Bak Jesang, the Budoji, Bak Geum scrib., Eunsu Kim, trans. (Seoul: Gana Chulpansa, 1986).
(Music) Songs for Samhain by Alison Newvine

The season of Samhain is upon us. This playlist is an offering for this descent into the sacred darkness, and a companion for the journey into the underworld. Invocation of Witches features music by Loreena McKennitt, Marya Stark, Inkubus Sukubus, Wendy Rule, my band Spiral Muse, and many others. It is a soundtrack for ceremony and each song expresses a different face of the spirit of the witch. May this Samhain season guide you gently into the dissolution of what no longer serves, the honoring of what is complete and the cultivation of the inner space that will gestate what is yet to come. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2CFNoH9exhloz3w95P3Rlb?si=270cf01fabb8421c https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/
(Essay and Video) Cosmogenesis Dance: Celebrating Her Unfolding by Glenys Livingstone

The dance begins with two concentric circles, which will flow in and out of each other throughout the dance, resulting thus in a third concentric circle that comes and goes. The three circles/layers are understood to represent the three aspects of Goddess, the Creative Triple Dynamic that many ancients were apparently aware of, and imagined in so many different ways across the globe. In Her representation in Ireland as the Triple Spiral motif, which is inscribed on the inner chamber wall at Bru-na-Boinne (known as Newgrange)[1], She seems to be understood as a dynamic essential to on-going Cosmic Creativity, as this ancient motif is dramatically lit up by the Winter Solstice dawn. It seems that this was important to the Indigenous people of this place at the time of Winter Solstice, which celebrates Origins, the continuing birth of all. Thus I like to do this Cosmogenesis Dance, as I have named it[2], at the Winter Solstice in particular. The three aspects that the dance may embody, and are poetically understood as Goddess, celebrate (i) Virgin/Young One – Urge to Be as I have named this quality – the ever new differentiated being (also known as Fodla in the region of the Triple Spiral)[3]. This is the outer circle of individuals. (ii) Mother – the deeply related interwoven web – Dynamic Place of Being as I have named this quality – the communion that our habitat is (also known as Eriu in the region of the Triple Spiral)[4]. This is the woven middle circle where all are linked and swaying in rhythm. (iii) Crone/Old One – the eternal creative return to All-That-Is – She who Creates the Space to Be as I have named this quality (also known as Banba in the region of the Triple Spiral)[5]. This is the inner circle where linked hands are raised and stillness is held. The three concentric layers of the dance may be understood to embody these. The Cosmogenesis Dance represents the flow and balance of these three – a flow and balance of Self, Other and All-That-Is. It may be experienced like a breath, that we breathe together – as we do co-create the Cosmos. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme have named the three qualities of Cosmogenesis in the following way: – differentiation … to be is to be unique – communion … to be is to be related – autopoiesis/subjectivity … to be is to be a centre of creativity.[6] The three layers of the dance may be felt to celebrate each unique being, in deep relationship with other, directly participating in the sentient Cosmos, the Well of Creativity. The Cosmogenesis Dance as it is done within PaGaian Winter Solstice ceremony expresses the whole Creative Process we are immersed in. It is a process of complete reciprocity, a flow of Creator and Created, like a breath. There is dynamic exchange in every moment: that is the nature of the Place we inhabit. The dance may help awaken us to it, and to invoke it. The Cosmogenesis Dance on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR73MDMM9Fk For more story: Cosmogenesis Dance for Winter Ritual For Dance Instructions: PaGaian Cosmology Appendix I Meet Mago Contributor Glenys Livingstone NOTES: [1] The Triple Spiral engraving is dated at 2,400 B.C.E. [2] This dance is originally named as “The Stillpoint Dance”, or sometimes “Adoramus Te Domine” which is the name of the music used for it. I learned it from Dr. Jean Houston in 1990 at a workshop of hers in Sydney, Australia. I began to use the dance for Winter Solstice ceremony in 1997, and it was only in the second year of doing so that I realised its three layers were resonant with the three traditional qualities of the Female Metaphor/Goddess, and also the three faces of Cosmogenesis. I thereafter re-named and storied the dance that way in the ceremonial preparation and teaching for Winter Solstice. See Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology: pp. 280-281 and 311. [3] Michael Dames, Ireland: a Sacred Journey, p.192. [4] Michael Dames, Ireland: a Sacred Journey, p. 192. [5] Michael Dames, Ireland: a Sacred Journey, p. 192. [6] Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story, p. 71-79. I have identified these qualities with the Triple Goddess, and the Triple Spiral in the synthesis of PaGaian Cosmology: see Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, particularly Chapter 4: https://pagaian.org/book/chapter-4/ References: Dames, Michael. Ireland: a Sacred Journey, Element Books, 2000. Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Lincoln NE: iUniverse, 2005. Swimme, Brian and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. NY: HarperCollins, 1992.
(Slideshow) Summer Solstice Goddess by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Sekhmet by Katlyn Each year between December 20-23 Sun reaches Her peak in the Southern Hemisphere: it is the Summer Solstice Moment. Poetry of the Season may be expressed in this way: This is the time when the light part of day is longest. You are invited to celebrate SUMMER SOLSTICE Light reaches Her fullness, and yet… She turns, and the seed of Darkness is born. This is the Season of blossom and thorn – for pouring forth the Gift of Being. The story of Old tells that on this day Beloved and Lover dissolve into the single Song of ecstasy – that moves the worlds. Self expands in the bliss of creativity. Sun ripens in us: we are the Bread of Life. We celebrate Her deep Communion and Reciprocity. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express Her fullness of being, Her relational essence and Her Gateway quality at this time. 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 Summer Solstice. 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=syTBjWpw3XU Shalako Mana Hopi 1900C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess), Corn Mother. Food is a miracle, food is sacred. She IS the corn, the corn IS Her. She gives Herself to feed all. The food/She is essential to survival, hospitality and ceremony … and all of this is transmuted in our beings. Sekhmet Contemporary image by Katlyn. Egyptian Sun Goddess. Katlyn says: Her story includes the compassionate nature of destruction. The fierce protection of the Mother is sometimes called to destroy in order to preserve well being. And Anne Key expresses: She represents “the awesome and awe-full power of the Sun. This power spans the destructive acts of creation and the creative acts of destruction.”- (p.135 Desert Priestess: a memoir).A chant in Her praise by Abigail Spinner McBride: Sheila-na-gig 900C.E. British Isles. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). From Elinor Gadon The Once and Future Goddess (p.338): “She is remembered in Ireland as the Old Woman who gave birth to all races of human…. In churches her function was to ward off evil”, or to attract the Pagan peoples to the church. From Adele Getty Goddess (p.66): “The first rite of passage of all human beings begins in the womb and ends between the thighs of the Great Mother. In India, the vulva “known as the yoni, is also called cunti or kunda, the root word of cunning, cunt and kin … (the yoni) was worshipped as an object of great mystery … the place of birth and the place where the dead are laid to rest were often one and the same.” Getty says her message here in this image “is double-edged: the opening of her vulva and the smile on her face elicit both awe and terror; one might venture too far inside her and never return to the light of day …” as with all caves and gates of initiation. In the Christian mind the yoni clearly became the “gates of hell”. And as Helene Cixous said in her famous feminist article “The Laugh of the Medusa”: “Let the priests tremble, we’re going to show them our sexts!” (SIGNS Summer 1976) Kunapipi (Australia) “the Aboriginal mother of all living things, came from a land across the sea to establish her clan in Northern Australia, where She is found in both fresh and salt water. In the Northern Territory She is known as Warramurrungundgi. She may also manifest Herself as Julunggul, the rainbow snake goddess of initiations who threatens to swallow children and then regurgitate them, thereby reinforcing the cycle of death and rebirth. In Arnhem Land She is Ngaljod …” (Visions of the Goddess by Courtney Milne and Sherrill Miller – thanks to Lydia Ruyle). More information: re Kunapipi. NOTE the similarity to Gobekli Tepe Sheela Turkey 9600B.C.E., thanks Lydia Ruyle.Lydia Ruyle’s Gobekli Tepe banner. Inanna/Ishtar Mesopotamia 400 B.C.E. (Adele Getty, Goddess: Mother of Living Nature) She holds Her breasts displaying her potency. She is a superpower who feeds the world, nourishes it with Her being. We all desire to feel this potency of being: Swimme and Berry express: “the infinite striving of the sentient being”. Adele Getty calls this offering of breasts to the world “a timeless sacred gesture”. Mary Mother of God 1400 C.E. Europe (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A recognition, even in the patriarchal context that She contains it all. Wisdom and Compassion Tibetan Goddess and God in Union. This is Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. (Sacred Sexuality A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle). Sri Yantra Hindu meditation diagram of union of Goddess and God. 1500 C.E. (Sacred Sexuality A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle, p.75). “Goddess and God” is the common metaphor, but it could be “Beloved and Lover”, and so it is in the mind of many mystics and poets: that is, the sacred union is of small self with larger Self. Prajnaparamita the Mother of all Buddhas. (The Great Mother Erich Neumann, pl 183). She is the Wisdom to whom Buddha aspired, Whom he attained. Medusa Contemporary, artist unknown. She is a Sun Goddess: this is one reason why it was difficult to look Her in the eye. See Patricia Monaghan, O Mother Sun! REFERENCES: Gadon, Elinor W. The Once and Future Goddess. Northamptonshire: Aquarian, 1990. Getty, Adele. Goddess: Mother of Living Nature. London: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess.Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. Katlyn, artist https://www.mermadearts.com/b/altar-images-art-by-katlyn Key, Anne. Desert Priestess: a memoir. NV: Goddess Ink, 2011. Mann A.T. and …
(Essay) Ceremony as “Prayer” or Sacred Awareness By Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

(Budoji Essay 2) The Magoist Cosmogony by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“Mago, the eponymous Goddess, is the head, ruler, and guardian of Mago-seong. She represents the eco-community of the Earth in the intergalactic universe.” [Author’s Note: This and subsequent essays are part of the forthcoming book tentatively entitled, The Magoist Cosmogony from the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), Translation and Interpretation, Volume 1, that I am currently writing. I am indebted to Harriet Ann Ellenberger, who has given me her prompt feedback and editorial advice in a most supportive manner. I am thankful to Dr. Glenys Livingstone, who has inspired me to write this book sooner than later. I am also grateful for Rosemary Mattingley, who has provided copy-editing of my essays in Return to Mago Webzine.] Chapter One (Translation) Mago-seong was the grand castle located in the highest place on earth. Revering the Heavenly Emblem (Cheon-bu), it succeeded the Former Heaven (Seon-cheon). There were four Heavenly Persons[i] at the four corners of the castle. They built pillars and sounded music.[ii] The eldest was named Hwang-gung (Yellow Gung),[iii] the second Cheong-gung (Blue Gung), the third Baek-so (White So), and the last Heuk-so (Black So). Mother of two Gungs was Gung-hui (Goddess Gung)[iv] and mother of two Sos was So-hui (Goddess So). Gung-hui and So-hui were the daughters of Mago. Mago was born in Jim-se (My/Our/This World).[v] Mago had no [human] emotion of pleasure and resentment. Taking the Former Heaven male and the Latter Heaven female, Mago bore two Hui Goddesses without mate. Like Mago, two Goddesses, without mate but by the emotion [of the cosmic periods], each bore two Heavenly Persons and two Heavenly Women. They were four Heavenly Persons and four Heavenly Goddesses in all. [i] Here “in” in Cheon-in 天人 is transliterated as a gender-neutral term, “beings.” It means “a person” but often transliterated as “a man.” [ii] The whole sentence can also be translated as “They made tubes and composed music.” [iii] “Ssi” in Hwang-gung-ssi 黃穹氏 intimates both a leader by name of Hwang-gung and the clan led by Hwang-gung. Other terms of “Cheong-gung-ssi,” “Baek-so-ssi,” and “Heuk-so-ssi” are used in the same way. [iv] Literally “hui” in Gung-hui 穹姬 and So-hui 巢姬 means a woman. Since it refers to Mago’s two daughters, I translated it “Goddess.” [v] “Jim” in Jim-se 朕世 can be transliterated as “my,” “our,” or “this.” ◊ Mago-seong (Mago Castle) was the grand castle located on the highest place on the Earth. Mago-seong, located on the highest mountain, is the primordial home of Mago, the Primordial Goddess, and Her descendants, human ancestors. Mago-seong also refers to the Earth itself (see Chapter 2). Mago, the eponymous Goddess, is the head, ruler, and guardian of Mago-seong. She represents the eco-community of the Earth in the intergalactic universe. Mago-seong’s location on the highest mountain symbolizes Mago-seong’s supremacy as the prototype of a Magoist state that will follow the cosmogonic event. Mago-seong’s location also indicates its proximity to the extraterrestrial cosmos, in particular to the Sun, the direct cause of the auto-genesis of all things on Earth. Mago-seong: Paradisiacal home of Mago and Her descendants, human ancestors. The axis mundi (world axis, center of the world) of the Magoist cosmogony.
(Mago Almanac 4) Restoring 13 Month 28 Day Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[This and the following sequels are from Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A), Years 1 and 2 (5, 6, 9, 10…), 5915-6 MAGO ERA, 2018-9 CE (Mago Books, 2017).] We want to get back the 13th Friday. This almanac shows how that is possible. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang INTRODUCTION (Continued) 13 MARY DALY QUOTES Each monthly calendar, headed by quotes from Mary Daly’s Wickedary, has space for users to continue OUR Story. 1 Elemental Rhythms 1: rhythms displaying the infinite interplay of unity and diversity characteristic of Elemental phenomena such as tides, seasons, phases of the moon: TIDAL RHYTHMS 2: cadences and vibrations of the wordings of Websters, which are Be-Spoken in cosmic concordance Background the Realm of Wild Reality; the Homeland of women’s Selves and of all other Others; the Time/Space where auras of plants, planets, stars, animals and all Other animate beings connect. 2 New Space Space on the Boundary of patriarchal institutions; Space created by women which provides real alternatives to the archetypal roles of fatherland; Space in which women Realize Power of Presence New Time Time on the Boundary of patriarchal time; women’s Life-Time; Time in which the past is changed and Archaic Futures are Realized 3 Archaic Time Original Creative Time, beyond the stifling grasp of archetypal molds and measures; the measure of Original Motion/E-Motion/Movement Archespheres the Realm of true beginnings, where Shrews shrink alienating archetypes and Unforget Archaic Origins, uncovering the Archimage, the Original Witch within 4 Re-calling 1: persistent/insistent Calling of the Wild; recurring invitation to Realms of Deep Memory 2: Active Unforgetting of participation in Be-ing; Re-membering and giving voice to Original powers, intuitions, memories 5 Courage to live The Courage to refuse inclusion in the State of the Living Dead, to break out from the deadforms of archetypal deadtime, to take leap after leap of Living Faith; Fiercely Biophilic Courage 6 Elemental Spirits Spirits/Angels/Demons manifesting the essential intelligence of spirit/matter; Intelligences ensouling the stars, animating the processes of earth, air, fire, water, enspiriting the sounds that are the Elements of words, connecting words with the earth, air, fire, water and with the sun, moon, planets, stars 7 Tidal Characterized by cosmic interconnections and rhythms; Elemental; Wild Tidal Memory Memory of the Deep Background, characterized by Tidal Rhythms of Re-membering: ELEMENTAL MEMORY Tidal Time Elemental Time, beyond the clocking/clacking of clonedom; Wild Time; Time that cannot be grasped by the tidily man-dated world; Time of Wicked Inspiration/Genius 8 Wild The vast Realm of Reality outside the pinoramic world view constructed by the bores and necrophiliacs of patriarchy; true Homeland of all Elemental be-ing, characterized by diversity, wonder, joy, beauty, Metamorphic Movement and Spirit 9 Biophilic Bonding 1: the Lusty combining of Elemental forces among Others 2: the uniting of Life-Loving women in Hopping/hoping harmony 10 Metabeing Realms of active participation in Powers of Be-ing; State of Ecstasy 11 Re-membering 1: Re-calling the Original intuition of integrity healing the dismembered Self – the Goddess within women; Re-calling the Primordial connections/conversations among women, animals, and other Elemental beings 2: Realzing the power to See and to Spell out connections among apparently disparate phenomena: Spinning, Creating 12 Powers of Be-ing Be-ing the Verb, understood in multiple and diverse manifestations, e.g., Knowing, Creating, Loving, Unfolding – and through diverse Metaphors – e.g. the Fates, Chaning Women (Eastan Atlehi, Creatrix of the Navaho People), Shekhina (female divine presence in Hebrew lore) 13 Thirteen represents the Other Hour, beyond the direction of disaster. It signals the Presence of the Otherworld – Metamorphospheres – True Homeland of all Hags, Crones, Furies, Furries and Other Friends. It represents the Realm of Wild Reality, the Background, the Time/Space when/where auras of plants, planets, stars, animals, and all truly animate be-ing connect. It points to Living Worlds utterly foreign to foolocracy – Worlds that are Eccentric, Erratic, Odd, Queer, Quaint, Outlandish, Weird. (Meet Mago Contributor) Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.
(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 …

Category: E-Interviews

(Nine Sister Networks E-Interview) Freia Serafina Titland and The Divine Feminine Film Festival by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

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(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Feminism and Religion Blog Editors by Carolyn Lee Boyd

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(Nine Sister Networks E-Interivew) Peg Elam and Pearlsong Press by Mary Saracino

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(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Trista Hendren’s Girl God Books by Glenys Livingstone

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(Nine Sister Networks E-Interview) Danica Anderson’s Kolo Work by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

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(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Leslene della-Madre’s Winged Women Return by Mary Saracino

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(Nine Sister Networks E-interview) Glenys Livingstone’s PaGaian Cosmology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

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(E-Interview) Judy Grahn by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

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(E-Interview) Kaalii Cargill by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

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(Intercosmic Kinship Conversations) Revealing and Reweaving Our Spiralic Herstory with Glenys Livingstone by Alison Newvine

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(E-Interview) Mary Ann Beavis by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

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(Intercosmic Kinship Conversations) Symbols and Subconscious with Claire Dorey by Alison Newvine

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(E-interview) Trista Hendren by Alison Newvine

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Mago Almanac Year 9 Monthly Wheels

S/HE: IJGS V4 N1-2 2025 (B/W Paperback)

Mago Almanac Year 8 (for 2025)

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