July 13, 2023July 13, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

Brighid and the Oystercatcher by Jude Lally

Brighid of the Isles by Jill Smith Throughout tales of Brighid, of Goddess and Saint, the Oystercatcher is often on the periphery. The top image by Lewis-based author and writer Read More …

July 12, 2023June 26, 2023 Mago Work2 Comments

The Awakened Woman by Arlene Bailey

The awakened woman is an alchemical cauldron of potentiality Wild and authentic , She is empowered and embodied magic and mystery Created from the wisdom of the ages, She is Read More …

June 28, 2023June 23, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Prose) Mary’s Garden by Sara Wright

Opening the doors to mist ‘Mary’s Garden’ each morning is entering a magic realm. My nose sniffs the scent of fertile woodlands even as I gazed out at an impossibly Read More …

June 15, 2023June 15, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

The Day the Cailleach Caught Fire by Jude Lally

The old crone noted that the last two weeks have been unseasonably warm, and she was looking forward to days of snoozing with her fairy cattle up in the high Read More …

May 25, 2023May 25, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(S/HE V2 N1 Excerpt) purple horizon by Susan Hawthorne

[This content is from S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies (V2 N1, 2023) Its online edition and paperback are available at Mago Bookstore.]

May 23, 2023May 23, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Commemorating Mary Daly 8 ) My Memoirs of Mary Daly (1928-2010) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: My personal encounter with Mary Daly, a U.S. post-Christian feminist thinker, goes back to 1994, if not earlier. I stayed in Korea from 1994-1997 during which I translated Read More …

May 19, 2023April 20, 2023 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art & Video) Awakening the Feminine by Cynthia Tom

2017 Solo Exhibition, Awakening the Feminine. Cynthia Tom talks about her art work and process. http://www.cynthiatom.com, http://www.facebook.com/cynthiatomart, http://www.instagram.com/cynthiatom.art Solo Exhibition, Awakening the Feminine. Cynthia Tom talks about her art work Read More …

May 18, 2023April 20, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Essay 6) The Myriad Faces, Marvelous Powers, and Thealogy of Greek Goddesses by Mara Lynn Keller, Ph.D.

[Editor’s Note: This and the forthcoming sequels are originally published in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (2018 Mago Books). Part 6 discusses nine beliefs and the importance of the Read More …

May 10, 2023April 20, 2023 Mago Work1 Comment

Woman Unto Herself, Arlene Bailey by Arlene Bailey

I am the Virgin Huntress And I am Crone A Woman unto Herself Spreading her wings and Following the call of Wildness and Magic The seed of Woman, I am Read More …

April 28, 2023April 20, 2023 Mago Work3 Comments

(Poem) She has Risen by Louisa Calio

(for the Women of the world especially those suffering in Iran, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan…etc. ) You cannot and will not send me back to invisibility ignorance or abuse to schools Read More …

April 27, 2023March 25, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

Lamenting the Great Unravelling by Jude Lally

At this exact moment, a Minke Whale is surfacing for air in the Hebrides. Her long back arching, as her small dorsal fin cuts through the water. What memories does Read More …

April 24, 2023April 14, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Book Excerpt 6) Re-Membering with Goddess: Healing the Patriarchal Perpetuation of Trauma by Trista Hendren

Motherline Re-Membering Amber R Balk, Ph.D. Incarnating into a home devoid of goddess, I was born in 1982 into a fundamentalist Christian family in rural Tennessee to a Native American Read More …

March 17, 2023March 18, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Video) AWARENESS is Curative. The Origin and Ongoing Stories by Cynthia Tom

Oct 2022 PLACE Origin and Ongoing Artists’ Stories: AWARENESS is Curative A PLACE OF HER OWN artists illuminated their creative journeys. Learn the art based origins of the workshops and Read More …

(Announcement) Submit your data for Nine-Sister Networks News Updates

Interns/volunteers (one or two) are welcome. Email Dr. Hwang, if you are interested in serving as an intern/volunteer. (Search) Volunteer Opportunity with Nine-Sister Networks News-Update Project Return to Mago E-Magazine (RTME) Editorial Circle calls for your participation in the movement of Matriversal Feminism (formerly called Goddess Feminist Activist Spirituality) by joining the project of Nine Sister Networks News Update. For the projects of Nine Sister Networks, Nine Poets Speak, and E-Interviews, we have been interviewing organizational representatives as well as influential individuals. As the first step toward the vision of Matriversal Feminism, we will create and publish a monthly news update post (Nine Sister Networks: Stay Informed and Connected). This classified news update will include updates from the founders or representatives of Nine Sister Networks (thus far interviewed by our RTM Editorial Members) and RTME Contributors for the first three months. Thereafter, we would like to extend our invitation to a broader circle of RTME readers and supporters. If you are interested, please find the information below to fill out your update in the form. Adding your update is free of charge but a donation of monthly US$ 5.00 or yearly US$50 will be appreciated. Your donations will be used to encourage the volunteers who will undertake this monthly news update project. Donate here. Form for Your Update (PDF download available here) Return to Mago E-Magazine Monthly News Update “Nine Sister Networks: Stay Informed & Connected” Submit your update for a monthly “Stay Informed & Connected” post in Return to Mago E-Magazine (https://magoism.net) by filling out this form and emailing it to Dr. Helen Hwang (ninemagos@gmail.com) or another volunteer (TBA). Deadline: 15th of the monthPublishing date: 4th Tuesday of the month Name Organization Name if applicable Contact email Content (up to 150 words with one optional image): This is the part that will be included in the news update post. Categories (Choose one or more)Story ( ) Books ( ) Events ( ) Courses ( ) Workshops ( ) Services ( ) Stories ( ) Achievements ( ) Companionship ( ) Facilities ( ) Announcement ( )Other (state your category):
(Essay) When the Drummers Were Birds by Hearth Moon Rising

“I had an idea that I was going into this remote place for visioning, but I ended up ‘auditorying’ instead, entranced by the sounds around me.” The late Layne Redmond http://www.layneredmond.com/Home.html taught women about our ancient drumming heritage through videos, classes and the (out-of-print) book, When the Drummers Were Women. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/910443.When_the_Drummers_Were_Women?from_search=true In this essay I would like to look back even further, back to the earliest glimmers of civilization, when the drummers were birds. I believe that the most important tools of civilization were given to us by birds. Our auditory centers were developed by listening to the calls of birds, calls that are more rich and complex than people who have never studied birds in the field may realize. To this day, being able to interpret the sounds of birds is an important survival strategy for most animals, particularly in forested areas where the visual field is restricted. Birds provide information through a wide repertoire of sounds. There are the songs, of course, which range from simple to intricate, repetitive to highly varied. Then there are the calls which are less melodic and more challenging to distinguish. Birds also provide information from the sounds of their flight, their wings beating against the air, the tree branches, or the water. And some birds announce their presence not by their voice or their movements but by consciously striking other objects. They drum.
(Goddess Writing 9) Notes by Kaalii Cargill

Thirteen Women – a feminist interpretation based on Twenty-One Women from Awakening Osiris: A New Translation of The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Normandi Ellis (2009, Red Wheel/Weiser). The lines from the original are in italics. Note: Pylon is the Greek term for a monumental gateway of an Egyptian temple. First Pylon of the Temple of Isis, originally at Philae, now on Agilkia island. Photo – Kaalii Cargill. The life-giving heart of the World beats to the rhythm of the Moon. Cycles and gyres, spiral pathways crossed by one narrow road, thin as a flint blade, that the fool walks. The ways of the Father World are devious. Temples fill with demons offering illusion. Woman walks by her own light. She comes to the first pylon. She speaks. Demon of Shame, whose heart is an accusation of unworthiness! Demon whose words are chains that chill and bind a woman’s spirit! The woman dances naked beneath the Moon. With a cry she drives away the demon. She goes on her way. Her name is “Banisher Of Shame”. Blessed is woman. She comes to the second pylon. She speaks. Grave Keepers of Tradition! Old men stroking grey beards, telling lies! Woman devours all in the flame of her lioness mouth. She goes on her way. Her name is “Burner Of Lies”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the third pylon. She speaks. Demon of Romantic Love! Ecstasy of self loss! Madness of standing outside myself! Woman breaks the arrow, takes back the wings. She goes on her way. Her name is “One Unto Herself”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the fourth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Phallocratic Technology! Insane desire for power! Woman spins widdershins. She goes on her way. Her name is “Subverter of Masculine Dominance”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the fifth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Violence! Horror of rape! Woman chants. No man may come to her. No man may sleep exhausted on her breast. No man may beseech her aloud. She is eternity, essence, window onto forever. Her name is “Singer Of Truth”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the sixth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Envy! Insidious thief of joy! None know her height, not breadth, nor magnitude. She encompasses all. Her name is “Life Giver”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the seventh pylon. She speaks. Demon of Denial! Desperate clinging to Life! Woman weeps. She is dew and rain and tears. She is widow, concealer, sorceress. Her name is “Embracer Of Death”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the eighth pylon. She speaks. Demon of injustice! Woman burns. Lady of the heat, she burns up transgression. Her flame is sharp, her fingers are orange spikes. She speaks with a tongue of far-reaching fire. She is necessity, justice, awesome power. Her name is “Flame That Protects”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the ninth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Perpetual Paralysis! Robber of strength! Silencer of outcry! Woman moves. She opens the lion’s mouth. Her name is “Strength Of Trees”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the tenth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Fear! Killer of Dreams! She roars. She fears no man on earth or beneath. She goes on. Her name is “Priestess of Heaven”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the eleventh pylon. She speaks. Demon of Slaughter! Killer of men, women, children! Destroyer of Life! She stands guard. She pierces a man with the flame of her eye. She goes on. Her name is “Protector Of Life”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the twelfth pylon. She speaks. Demon of False Beauty! Purveyor of potions! She shatters the mirror. She is the rising moon, radiant, bright light of the World. She goes on. Her name is “Lady Of The Outer Darkness”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the thirteenth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Neoliberalism! Brutal materialistic logic! She finds reason to make a man miserable. She finds reason to cause a man to scream. She binds him with a cry. She speaks not his name, inquires not. In silence she interrogates his soul. She goes on. Her name is not known. Blessed is Woman. Meet Mago Contributor KAALII CARGILL
(Book review) The Mago Way by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang reviewed by Judy Foster

(For more info on The Mago Way, see here.) Helen Hye-Sook Hwang’s intriguing study, The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia (Volume 1), presents her discovery of the Great Goddess of East Asia and researches the spiritual aspects, cultural rituals and practices, prehistories, histories, mythologies and oral stories, tracing the goddess/goddesses through literary and other sources, of this huge region (pp.66,67). There are interesting illustrations and photographs to further assist in our understanding of the subject.
(Photo Essay 4) Pilgrimage in a Time of Plague by Kaalii Cargill

I offer these images in gratitude for the journeys I have taken and in the hope that the ways stay open for those of us who are called to visit ancestral places where Goddess was honoured . . . Temple walls of the Ba’alat Gebal sanctuary, Byblos, Lebanon, c2800 BCE. Ba’alat Gebal, Goddess of Byblos, was later known to the Greeks as Atargatis. There is still a sense of sanctuary here. Megalithic doorways, Tyre, Lebanon. c2700 BCE. There are layers of building at Tyre and other sites in Lebanon – these 7 megalithic doorways seem to be an earlier construction than the Roman era parts of the site. I was reminded of Inanna’s descent to the Underworld through the 7 gates. Figure from Tyre, c1200 BCE. Mother and baby. Afqa Grotto, Mount Lebanon. Sacred to Astarte/Ishtar, Afqa is aligned centrally between the ancient cities of Baalbek and Byblos, pointing to the summer sunset sunset over the Mediterranean. Women have visited this site for thousands of years. Last century it was still a pilgrimage site for Shi’ia Muslim and Christians, attributing healing and fertile powers to the Sayyidat al-Kabirah, “the Great Lady”. Goddess Hathor, Elephantine Island, Aswan, Egypt. c 500 BCE. 2000-1600 BCE, Aswan Museum, Elephantine Island, Aswan. Many forms of Goddess Isis, Temple of Isis, Philae, Egypt. 380-362 BCE. Now on Agilkia Island. Temple of Hathor, Dendera, Egypt. 54-20 BCE.The sky-goddess Nut showing the birth cycle of the sun whose rays are shining down on Hathor. Göbekli Tepe, Anatolia. c9000 BCE. Engraving of birthing or menstruating woman, Göbekli Tepe, Anatolia. c9000 – 7000 BCE. Şanlıurfa Archaeology Museum. Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill
(Meet Mago Contributor) Paula Lietz

Paula Dawn Lietz (Pd Lietz ) is an accomplished multi-genre artist, photographer and poet from Canada. She has garnered an impressive range of credits working with various publishers and authors, reveling in the creative energy generated within the artist and literary community. Her poet’s heart shines through her visual interpretations of the world she sees around her.
(Poem) Desire Spoken Under a Night Sky by Harriet Ellenberger

May the earth live, May we live on the earth, May love in our life flower, May the transformation be realized. May it be stone that we stand on, May winds bring us fast-moving thought, May our heart bathe in salt waters, May spiral galaxies light our way home. – Harriet Ann Ellenberger March 2014 Read Meet Mago Contributor Harriet Ann Ellenberger.
(Essay 1) Feminism and the Future of Religion by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Part 1 of a paper presented by the author at the National Socialist Conference Sydney, 1990. Feminism/the uprising of women continues to chip away at patriarchal religions worldwide. Though the inroads may be small in some places, they are significant. The stone face of the Father continues to be chiselled into. Though there is backlash and resistance to it, it does seem that once a woman has begun the journey Home there is no turning back. So the movement is unstoppable; and it spreads in ever widening circles. Only the naive think that feminism is a spent force; we are as yet only scratching the surface. In Australia in the Judeo-Christian tradition there has been tremendous movement in the last 15 years, mostly on a grassroots level. Individuals have been increasingly expressing dissatisfaction with, and awareness of, the old patriarchal order of things – right throughout the country, not just in the cities. The old structures at this point remain in tact, but they have become increasingly hollow as a growing number of hearts and minds have departed in the quest for new stories: new stories that leave behind images of domination, hierarchy and dualism. Throughout the world, in fact, women of many different religious traditions – Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, Native American – and in the context of many different cultures, have been profoundly moved by feminism to look again at the stories, dogma, and practices that they and their foremothers grew up with. For the past 20 years or so, they have been growing in collective and individual empowerment. As a result, the forums now in place for the continued in depth studies of feminism, spirituality and politics, are very strong, very organized and filled with women and some men, of all ages and races. The power in these forums arises from an “understanding of interconnectedness: with all people, all forms of life, the earth and the cycles and seasons of nature and our lives”[1]. And there is a deep commitment to the transformations necessary for the renewal of life. This is not to deny the very strong and often barbaric foothold that patriarchal religions still have in the lives of millions of women. Whereas in western christianity, misogynism reached its frenzied peak in the Burning Times of the Middle Ages; in other very powerful world religions today, misogynism is still peaking. That is, we must understand that in some religions the “Burning Times” are still in effect, and indeed it is carried out in this very country. Females today are being mutilated, incarcerated, and murdered as a matter of routine religious practice. And precious little is done to stop it, since it comes under the “sanctity” of religious “freedom”. These religions will require much more disruption from within before anything will change; and it does have to come from believers, those who understand the particular inner workings of their tradition and who indeed are sincerely motivated to move their religious tradition out of what they believe to be, the corrupt interpretations of their founder’s teachings and mystical insights. Whether in fact the original founding insight was “gender- wholistic”, or if this is just the pie-eyed hope of the reforming believers does not really matter. What does really matter is that the foot is lifted off women’s necks. The work and vision of the reforming believers is essential, if the religious consciousness of their group is to evolve, that is to broaden and deepen, to take into account the divinity of the female. Of course, feminism in religion does not mean merely reforming or changing rules and laws that will hold otherwise dominating forces and individuals in check. It is not merely concerned with changing outward practices, but in the cases of suttee, genital mutilation, the withholding of contraception, stoning, and the imprisonment of rape victims, such a change would go a long way.
(Essay) Interesting Times by Kaalii Cargill

I recently listened to Mattias Desmet, clinical psychology professor at the University of Ghent, describing “mass formation”, a psychological model explaining the extreme behaviours of governments and populations in response to the COVID19 virus pandemic. His explanation relates not only to the Covid19 situation but also to the relentless assault of patriarchal systems on Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality. The model, developed cumulatively by Gustave Le Bon, William McDougall, and Hannah Arendt, describes characteristics of mass surveillance, limited freedom of movement, and the use of state terrorism. My town of Melbourne in south-east Australia has been subjected to enforced curfews, the longest lockdowns in the world and, recently, specialised riot police firing rubber bullets on unarmed people protesting extended lockdowns and mandatory Covid 19 vaccines. What aren’t more people objecting to these characteristics of totalitarian government? Why otherwise intelligent, thoughtful people not as disturbed and enraged as I am about what is happening? Because it is for the “common good”. Or so we are told. When have we heard that before? Professor Desmet describes mass formation as a sort of mental intoxication or mass hypnosis that leads to a narrowing of the field of attention so people only see what is presented by the mainstream narrative. An example in the Covid19 situation is the obsessive focus on Covid case numbers and deaths, and very little attention to the very real harm caused by extended lockdowns. More generally in neo-liberal capitalist contexts, there is an obsessive focus on wealth accumulation with much less attention to the very real harm caused in the production of that wealth. What causes this “mental intoxication”? Mass formation theory says there are three main factors: Social isolation;A lack of meaning and sensemaking in individual lives;Abundant presence of free-floating anxiety; When these factors are prevalent, a single apparent threat (like Covid19) seizes attention and energy, thus providing relief from the longstanding chronic pressures of social isolation, lack of meaning, and free-floating anxiety and discontent. Joining with others to deal with a perceived crisis does away with social isolation (we’re all in this together; it’s for the common good etc.); having an apparently serious, concrete problem to deal with provides meaning and a focus for previous free-floating anxiety. This narrowing of the field of attention makes people more likely to only see what is presented by the mainstream narrative and less likely to object to government policies and behaviours. There is also an intolerance of dissident or dissenting voices, something that many of us who live outside the mainstream narrative will be familiar with. How does this relate to Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality? Gustave Le Bon said it is very difficult to wake up the masses as to what is truly going on as it will probably take some sort of mass destruction to change the mass narrative. In the face of a patriarchal mainstream narrative, all we can do is to continue to talk, write, draw, paint, dance, sing and otherwise bring present Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality to make the mass hypnosis less deep. And we can address the underlying issues of isolation, lack of meaning and generalised anxiety that make people susceptible to mass formation. In the meantime, I’m watching my generational “people’s” political party degenerate into a quasi-totalitarian government where civil liberties and human rights are sacrificed to the “universal common good” as they have been in every totalitarian experiment. I’m watching people succumb to mass hypnosis, putting their faith in a mainstream narrative that sounds more and more like madness to me. Interesting times! See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLDpZ8daIVM&t=1828s for the 1 hour 14 minute interview with Professor Desmet and Dan Astin-Gregory. Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill

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

Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld is one of the most fascinating myths ever told. Not just because it is profound and enlightening, although it is certainly that. It’s an exciting journey that ignites the imagination, and female characters are at the hub of the action. This is a tale of power: power that is demanded, power that is won, power that is appropriated, and power that cannot be escaped. The story follows the fertility goddess Inanna, who brought civilization to Mesopotamia, as she seeks to expand her realm by venturing into the world below. Inanna’s experiences in the great below, her escape, and the wild events that unfold as a result of her caper are the focus of the tale.
(Special Post 7) 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.] Kaalii Cargill: Life emerges from the Feminine: Woman, Nature, Goddess. When we value the life-giving power of the Feminine we are less likely to kill other human beings who have been held in a mother’s arms.
(Special Post 2) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

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

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.
Imbolc: Through Goddess Eyes by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Photo by Carolyn Lee Boyd In times past, Creation’s Winter cupped me in her icy hand of sanctuary Gathered in, I sucked dormant life, and slumbered Till Earth’s rebirthing groans awakened my new body Now, older and full of life’s weeping and wondering awe At all that has happened in my decades on Earth I must shake myself into consciousness My seed’s opaque, blinding hull disintegrates and Bodyless, at last I can see through Goddess eyes I ache as my blood paints each flower petal I spin the whirlwind that cannot stop creating abundance I push the seasons through the year that mortals believe revolve of their own accord. Through Goddess eyes I can see me, I inhabit Winter’s hand as my own. I make the cold to slow creation of outside of me To gather the seed into fertile stillness within. That burgeons in my own time. https://www.magoism.net/2016/08/meet-mago-contributor-carolyn-lee-boyd/
(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.
(Essay) Summer Solstice/Litha Within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 9 of the author’s book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. The dates for Summer Solstice/Litha are: Southern Hemisphere – December 20-23 Northern Hemisphere – June 20-23 A Summer Solstice altar The ‘moment of grace’[i] that is Summer Solstice, marks the stillpoint in the height of Summer, when Earth’s tilt causes the Sun to begin its ‘decline’: that is, its movement back to the North in the Southern Hemisphere, and back to the South in the Northern Hemisphere. This Seasonal Moment is polar opposite Winter Solstice when it is light that is “born,” as it may be expressed. At the peak of Summer, in the bliss of expansion, it is the dark that is “born.” Insofar as Winter Solstice is about birth, then Summer Solstice is about death. It is a celebration of profound mystical significance, that may be confronting in a culture where the dark is not valued for its creative telios. Summer Solstice is a time for celebrating our realized Creativity, whose birth we celebrated at Winter Solstice, whose tenderness we dedicated ourselves to at Imbolc/Early Spring, whose certain presence and power we rejoiced in at Spring Equinox, whose fertile passion we danced for at Beltaine/High Spring. Now, at this seasonal point, as we celebrate light’s fullness, we celebrate our own ripening – like that of the wheat, and the fruit. And like the wheat and the fruit, it is the Sun that is in us, that has ripened: the Sun is the Source of our every thought and action. The analogy is complete in that our everyday creativity – our everyday actions, and we, ultimately, are also “Food for the Universe”[ii] … it is all how we feed the Universe. flowers to flames – everyday creativity consumed 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.[iii] We, and our everyday creativity, are the “Bread of Life,” as it may be expressed; just as many other indigenous traditions recognize everyday acts as evoking “the ongoing creation of the cosmos,”[iv] so in this tradition, Summer is the time for particularly celebrating that. Our everyday lives, moment to moment, are built on the fabric of the work/creativity of the ancestors and ancient creatures that went before us; and so the future is built on ours. We are constantly consuming the work and creativity of others and we are constantly being consumed. The question may be asked: “Who are you feeding?,”[v] and consideration given to whether you are happy with the answer. It is the Sun that is in you. See how you shine. Summer Solstice is a celebration of the Fullness of the Mother – in ourselves, in Earth, in the Cosmos. We are the Sun, coming to fullness in its creative engagement with Earth. We affirm this in ceremony with: “It is the Sun that is in you, see how you shine.” It is the ripening of Her manifestation, which fulfills itself in the awesome act of dissolution. This is the mystery of the Moment. Brian Swimme has described this mystery of radiance as a Power of the Universe, as Radiance: the shining forth of the self is at the same time a give-away, a decline of the self – just as the Sun is constantly giving itself away. This Solstice Moment of Summer is a celebration of communion, the feast of life – which is for the enjoying, not for the holding onto. Summer and Winter Solstices are Gateways – between the manifest and the manifesting, and Summer Solstice is a Union/Re-Union of these, a kind of meeting with the deeper self. Winter Solstice may be more of a separation, though it is usually experienced as joyful, because it is also a meeting, as the new is being brought forth. The interchange of Summer Solstice may be experienced as an entry into loss – the Cosmological Dynamic of Loss, as manifestation passes. Beltaine, Summer Solstice and Lammas – the next Seasonal Moment, may be felt as the three faces of Cosmogenesis in the movement towards entropy.[vi] The light part of the annual cycle of Earth around Sun is a celebration of the Young One/Virgin quality of Cosmogenesis, with Her face gradually changing to the Mother/Communion quality; and through the Autumn, the dark part of the annual cycle, it is a celebration of the Old One/Crone quality, whose face will gradually change also, back to the Mother/Communion. They are never separate.In this cosmology, desire for full creativity has been celebrated as the allurement of the Cosmos, and being experienced as gravity, as relationship with Earth, our place of being, how She holds us. At both Solstices there is celebration of deep engagement, communion. REFERENCES: Livingstone, Glenys. A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Girl God Books: Bergen, Norway, 2023. Spretnak, Charlene. States of Grace: The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993. Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. New York: Harper and Row, 1999. Swimme, Brian. Canticle to the Cosmos. DVD series. CA: Tides Foundation, 1990. NOTES: [i] As Thomas Berry named the Seasonal transitions. [ii] Swimme uses this expression in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 5 “Destruction and Loss.” [iii] This is based on the traditional Litha (Summer Solstice) rite described by Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, 206. [iv] Spretnak, States of Grace, 95. [v] As Swimme asks in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 5 “Destruction and Loss.” [vi] Just as Samhain, Winter Solstice and Imbolc may be felt as the three faces of Cosmogenesis in the movement towards toward form – syntropy.
Samhain/Deep Autumn within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

(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.
(Mago Almanac Planner Year 5 Excerpt 1) 13 Month 28 Day Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This and its sequences are a newly added portion in the Mago Almanac Planner Year 5, equivalent to the Gregorian Year 2022. Because the Budoji did not explain further about time units smaller than 1 day, I did not follow through some possible implications in previous Mago Almanac volumes. Next year’s Mago Almanac Planner for Personal Journey: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar Year 5 or 5919 MAGOMA ERA is forthcoming in Mago Bookstore (October 25, 2021). PDF version is available for purchase.] Angbuilgu (仰釜日晷 Concave Sundial) dated in 1434 of Joseon Dynasty Korea (13 horizontal lines are engraved, indicating 24 seasons and 7 vertical lines indicating times of a day) UNITS OF TIME MEASURE At the half point of the eleventh Sa, there is one 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. 1 Gu (approx. 3.71 miliseconds) refers an infinitesimal discrepancy that occurs every eleven years or every ten and a half years precisely. Because Gu (a noncognitive time unit) is a time too small to count, Gu can only be treated as 1 Myo, equivalent to 300 Gu. As shown in the below table, Myo is still a tiny unit of time. 9,633 Myo equals 1 day, which is 288,990 Gu (300×9633=288,990). Because of this, there will be one extra day (9,633 Myo) every 31,788,900 years. This means, the Magoist Calendar has another (the third) leap day every 31,788,900 years (11 x 300 x 9,633). 31,788,900 years is a long time, which we will presumably not take into consideration for the Magoist Calendar dating 3898 BCE (the beginning year of Goma’s Danguk confederacy) that we are under. Because the units of Gak, Bun, and Si are not further explained in the Budoji,[1] it is difficult to designate what they indicate. Although the terms of Gak, Bun, and Si are familiar to moderns as time indicators, what each unit indicates is unknown. Given that 9,633 Myo (Gak-Bun-Si) equals 1 day (1 Il 日 일), it is conjectured that Gak-Bun-Si refers to time segments equivalent to hours, minutes, and seconds in today’s 24 hour a day scheme. 1 Myo is approximately 1.115 seconds, as 9,633 Myo is approximately 8,640 seconds. If we project the time of 1 day into a circle, the whole circle indicates 1 day. Doing this implies that time/space is inseparable in a circular notion of timespace. To specify a size of time smaller than 1 day, we can first divide the circle into two halves. Let’s call the half circle or a half day A. A (equivalent to 12 hours) equals 4,816.5 Myo or 1,444,950 Gu. Then, we divide the half circle into two halves. And let’s call it B. B refers to a quarter of 1 day or B (equivalent to 6 hours), which equals 2,408.25 Myo or 722,475 Gu. Likewise, C refers to one eighth of 1 day, equivalent to 3 hours), which equals 1,204.125 Myo or 361,237.5 Gu. A subsequent division by 2 aligns with the Physical Numbers, 3, 6, 9 in the digital root.[2] Given one sidereal day to be 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.0916 seconds or 23.9344696 hours, 1 A would be 11 hours, 58 minutes, and 2.0458 seconds. 1 B would be 5 hours, 59 minutes, and 1.0229 seconds. 1 C would be 2 hours, 59.5 minutes, and 0.51145 seconds. The circle represents the sidereal day of 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4.0916 seconds. Note that the time divisions of 1 day (A, B, and C) follow the order of 1, 2, 4, and 8. Precisely, this is what the Magoist Genealogy of the first three generations that I illustrated above and elsewhere: The Magoist Cosmogony recounts that from one (Mago, the Great Mother) born are the two daughters (Gunghui and Sohui), which makes the triad. From the two daughters born are the four twins, which makes eight. This is observed in meiosis (cell division for sexually reproducing organisms) from one to two and to four and to eight and so forth. The Mago triad and the eight granddaughters are called Nine Magos.[3] The calendar is not just an indication of times or seasons. It is an indication of the life-organizing principle. The Magoist Calendar is a summary of cosmic and planetary life systems. From a microcosmic entity to a macrocosmic universe, all runs by the same force of Sonic Numerology, the metamorphic reality of WE/HERE/NOW. Beings, time, and space are the three inseparable aspects of one reality.(To be continued) [1] It is indeed regretful that the sequence book of the Budoji, Yeoksiji (Book of Calendar and Time), that treats calendar and time has been lost. We have only the Budoji available, the first book of 15 books of the Jingsimnok (Record of Cleansing Mind/Heart), a compendium of 3 volumes that have 5 books in each. Doubtless that the Yeoksiji (Book of Calendar and Time), the third book of Volume 1, would detail the rest of time measures and sub-calendars. [2] D would refer to one sixteenth of 1 day, equivalent to 1.5 hours, which equals 602.0625 Myo (3 in the Digital Root) or 180,618.75 (9 in the Digital Root). If we divide one eighth of 1 day by 3, it is one twenty-fourth of 1 day or E (equivalent to 1 hour). A total of 24 segments. E equals 401.375 Myo or 120,412.5 Gu. These numbers do not follow the suit of 3, 6, and 9, Chesu or Physical Numbers. 401.375 is 2 in the Digital Root and 120,412.5 is 6 in the Digital Root. [3] See this book, 112. https://www.magoism.net/2013/07/meet-mago-contributor-helen-hwang/
Mago, the First Mother from East Asia by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

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

Category: Goddess feminist activism

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