August 31, 2023August 20, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Essay 5) Future of Identity: Reclaiming the Northern Pagan Tradition by Jillian Burnett

Freedom of Thought Northern pagan values include independent thought. This is completely at odds with a traditional education system as it is found in the modern world. Part of the Read More …

August 29, 2023August 31, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

Dance Dramas as an Instrument of Political Change by Dorothea Kahena Viale, Ph.D.

There are many ways to create change in society. I was considered a good girl; parents liked when my friends and I played together. I was always creating games for Read More …

August 27, 2023July 15, 2023 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Dorothea Kahena Viale, Ph.D.

Dorothea Kahena Viale received her doctorate from the Women’s Studies in Religion (WSR) program at Claremont Graduate University where she concentrated Current Pagan Studies. This led to her creating the Read More …

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 …

(Photo Essay 1) Goddess by Kaalii Cargill

[Author’s note: This series of photo essays is inspired by themes that have emerged for me as I’ve been visiting with the Grandmothers in Nature, archaeological sites, and museums around the World.] “At the very dawn of religion, God was a woman. Do you remember?” Merlin Stone, When God was a Woman. Australia. Walla Walla, NSW. Natural rock formation. Germany, Hohle Fels Cave, Schelklingen. 37,000-42,000 BCE. Gozo, Malta. c3500-2900 BCE. Italy. Grandmother of Savignano. 27,000-22,000 BCE. Italy. La Marmotta. c8000 BCE. Crete. 5300-3000 BCE. Cycladic. 4500-4000 BCE. Northwestern Iran, 1st millennium BCE. Mesopotamia. 3rd Millennium BCE. Jordan. 8000-4000 BCE. Anatolia. 7th Millennium BCE. Meet Mago Contributor KAALII CARGILL
Susan Hawthorne

Read all posts by Susan Hawthorne. Susan Hawthorne is the author of fourteen books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Her poetry collection Cow (2011) was shortlisted for the Kenneth Slessor Poetry Prize in the 2012 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards and was also a finalist in the 2012 Publishing Triangle Awards for the Audre Lorde Lesbian Poetry Prize in the US. Earth’s Breath (2009) was shortlisted for the 2010 Judith Wright Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in annual Best Australian Poems anthologies, been broadcast on National Radio, and been published in print and digital literary magazines in USA, Canada, India, Macau, Algeria, Germany, UK and Australia. In 2013 she was Literature Resident at the BR Whiting Studio in Rome where she wrote her most recent collection of poetry, Lupa and Lamb (2014) which focuses on the prehistory of the Mediterranean and ancient Rome. Her other collections of poetry include Valence: Considering War through Theory and Poetry (2011), Unsettling the Land (with Suzanne Bellamy, 2008), The Butterfly Effect (2005), and Bird and Other Writing on Epilepsy (1999). Her fiction includes a novel, The Falling Woman (1992), a verse novel Limen (2013) and she is currently working on a novel, Dark Matters which she hopes will be finished by 2017. She is Adjunct Professor in Writing at James Cook University, Director of Spinifex Press, and plays a leading role in independent publishing and eBook publishing. http//:www.spinifexpress.com.au She first began researching the ancient world in 1976. She enrolled to write a PhD on belief structures in the ancient world in 1979, but due to the institution’s incapacity to understand her project and active resistance to it, she left the university and instead wrote a novel, The Falling Woman (1992, reprinted 2004). She eventually completed a PhD in 2002, which forms the basis of her book Wild Politics: Feminism, globalisation and bio/diversity (2002, and published in India). Among her other non-fiction are The Spinifex Quiz Book (1993; translated into German and Spanish) and Bibliodiversity: A Manifesto for Independent Publishing (2004; translated into Arabic, French and Spanish, and to be published in German in 2017). She has also (co-)edited ten anthologies of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, including September 11, 2001: Feminist Perspectives (2002, with Bronwyn Winter), CyberFeminism (1999, with Renate Klein), several books on animals, and several lesbian anthologies. For more information go to the Spinifex Press website. After studying Ancient Greek for some years and receiving an MA (Prelim), in recent years she has studied Sanskrit and Latin. In 2009, she spent four months living in Chennai on an Asialink Residency and the result was her collection Cow. During 2016 she has participated in writing a poem a day, including several new sequences on rewriting mythology, among then a twenty-poem sequence on the Muses http://project365plus.blogspot.com.au/. She is a publisher at Spinifex Press which she co-founded with Renate Klein 25 years ago. In 2015, she received the George Robertson Award for her Services to the Publishing Industry.
(Essay 4) Future of Identity: Reclaiming the Northern Pagan Tradition by Jillian Burnett

Art by Jillian Burnett Relation to the Land This organic movement shines a little light on the northern pagan value of hirð—those close to the household. Northern pagans had a close relationship to the land; self-sustaining homesteads were how their society was arranged. Today’s farm-to-table trend is a slightly wider interpretation of this same sentiment. Management of crop-recourses from the soil to the dinner plate, are locally sourced from farms closer than an hours’ distance. Modern fine-dining, farm-to-table remains an example of northern pagan cultural continuity. The local food movement has also risen in popularity, as both the carbon footprint and petroleum dependency see reduction. The local food trend supports the small farmstead, instead of mega-corporations that own majority stake in land or growing rights. Not only is this movement aligned with supporting smaller communities, but the regenerative and sustainable farming practices support agricultural that doesn’t deplete the land. Additionally, the assets are kept within families—not owned by firms on wall street, or individual investors holding farmland securities. This avenue of farm to table is also more aligned with the northern pagan value of living in equilibrium nature and with landvættir; spirits of the natural environment. The practice of respecting nature also is reciprocal, as dutiful wardens of the organic world are in relationship with spirit. This philosophy holds an underlying presumption that nature is alive; it is no dead thing to carelessly harvest and decimate. The tribe gathers and shares food and song, making offering of meat and drink and smoke to land spirits. Folk care for crops and invoke the gods for a good yield—ritualing for fine yields to better feed the folk for another season. In this way the direct experience of guardianship and kinship with the realm of spirit translate into styles of organic consumption. Folk reject big box groceries in lieu of open air farmer’s markets. If this trend strengthens, this can cause changes the marketplace for mega-corporations who participate in the agriculture industrial complex. If massive changes ensue, there can be a slight destabilization in hierarchical power as the folk retake the means of food production from the 1%. More likely however, is that a compromise would be reached, as the urbanization of most of the modern world precludes the amount of viable land and green from sustaining large populations. Some cities transform rooftops to gardens however, in an effort to reduce their carbon footprint and go green. In some urban warehouses, entire city blocks are converted to hydroponic vegetable gardens. It may be a long time before people are self-sustaining, but each backyard tomato garden brings us one step closer to a greener world. With the growth of these green trends other industries are affected. Electric cars are more commonly seen on the road, with a trillion dollar valuation for Tesla testifing to this trend. Petroleum—gasoline and diesel consumption may see a decline in market size. It is also possible that more green technologies can arise as capital can be redeployed in the best way. Some pagans are concerned with green technology and water conservation; focusing on cleaner riverways and beaches. Conservationists have changed maps. In the US in New York State for example, fracking is banned; in the adjacent state of Connecticut, transporting frack liquid is banned to ensure no spillage, leakage or surface contamination. Other states without strong lobbies are not so lucky; their waterways may be polluted. Clean eating, and diets like whole thirst engage pagans to go green as a food-lifestyle choice. Also surging in popularity are impossible meats and vegetarian dieting. As these trends gain momentum, demands at the marketplace change. Less consumption of meat, effects less breeding of livestock for slaughter, as cows have an RFID tag. Less demand for meat may change the outlook for the menus of restaurants and will trigger inventories to date and change as the marketplace adjusts their supply. Corn fields grown for pork feed can be reallocated to be used for corn-syrup, ethanol production, or perhaps the fields can grow other vegetables altogether, using less water per calorie consumed in the growing space. Less cholesterol and animal fats could even change the number one cause of death which is cardiovascular disease—should people adapt a plant-based lifestyle. Should that societal change happen to the pharmaceutical industrial complex—all the billion dollar financial firms that are shareholders in those industries would see some decapitalization. Small changes can have large long term effects; this is the law of chaos. Right now in Portugal deforestation due to lithium mining has depleted rural areas. Pressures from environmentally focused lobbyists have encouraged governance to reforest. This restoration of degraded land is reviving the local environs in many ways. It can serve to refresh water filtration, rejuvenate the natural carbon sink, renew air purification as well as revive the natural habitats for various fauna and animalia. Arid lands tend to face more soil erosion and this water and soil regulation through a solid tree line with strong root systems can serve in diverse ways. Mankind’s needs however do not always correspond to the idealism of pure environmentalism as the pagan worldview establishes. The afforestation endeavor in Portugal’s rural areas is an industrial investment opportunity. By no means is this reforestation an expression of druidic spirituality or of environmentalist planning. Agribusiness is engaging the planting of Australian eucalyptus which outcompetes native plant life as invasive species. The eucalyptus is a primary benefit for the paper industry there; as such, it is an economic input to the commercial process and mass-production of paper fabrication. It is a small win for locals, who have seen their locality endure mountaintop removal and logging of trees, until their hillsides were bare. This has historically only enabled brush fires. The arid air and environment allows no moisture to be locked into the land, as already it has low water tables with dehydrated soil. Eucalyptus plantations are a small reprieve from barren dirt; at the very least the sight of green may uplift the hearts …
Betsy’s Garden #3 by Susun Weed

Moonrise over the mountain behind Betsy’s house. Purple cactus. Palo verde. Bougainvillea. And, of course mitochondria. Let yourself be drawn into the quiet. Soon it will be cool, dark, quiet. Rest. https://www.magoism.net/2024/12/meet-mago-contributor-susun-weed/
(Art) May Day 2005 in Istanbul (with Amazon) by Eileen Haley

Young May Day marchers dance in the street with heads uncovered, hair streaming and banners waving.
(Art Poem) Annunciation by Yvonne M. Lucia

Hail Mary, full of grace, Wisdom is with you. Blessed art thou, and all women, and blessed is the fruit of our wombs: new life, from thought, from word, from seed, from anything and all. Holy Mary, Mother God, come to the aid of your children, now, in this hour of our dire need, and at the hour of our death. Amen. Read Meet Mago Contributor Yvonne M. Lucia.
A Bun in the Oven: Divine Trinity of Bread, Consciousness and Rebellion by Claire Dorey

Art by Claire Dorey Follows Understanding Tanit through Felt Experience, Visualising the Energy in Hathor’s Temple and Girls On Top (click to read). Flour is engrained in the creases of her hands. Wood smoke rises from the brick oven as she works the sour dough into ‘solar discs’ the same way her mother did. ‘Al-Shamsi’ / ‘solar bread’ baking is loaded with symbolism. ‘Shamsi’ means ‘sun’ – the dough rises in the sunshine. In Egyptian wood fired bread they twist three ‘handles’ into the dough and in ‘solarbread .. an ancient pharaonic heritage’ the number II and a circle, which could be vestiges of ancient symbols for ‘belonging to’ and ‘Ra’, are inscribed into the batter, possibly alluding to the holy bread of Ra. Joining the ‘handles’ forms a triangle across the bun circle which, in sacred geometry, represents divine Phi proportion, the mathematics of nature – the cryptogram of three-ness so many cultures enshrine into their mythology, including ancient Egypt: Osiris, Isis, Horus; Blue Nile, White Nile, Atbara; the three cosmic realms, Duat, Nun, Nut Intending to wrap up my search for meaning in triangular symbolism that seems so bound to rising female power, I spot a poetic sequence of hieroglyphs: Ankh – Conical Loaf – Hoe: ‘breath of life’ – ‘to give’ – ‘ love’, etched into the wall of Hathor’s shrine at the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. The symbol for ‘Conical Loaf’, a pot baked bread, is a small triangle within an elongated triangle (Gardiner X8). I’d followed the energy from Tanit’s cave Ibiza to Hathor’s temple Egypt, then up to Nut on the Hypostyle ceiling. I’m trusting this energy will let me go when it’s ready. It asks the observer to sit quietly with the symbols until meaning reveals itself. It’s dawning on me Hathor’s message is of ancient universal truths that astrophysics, astronomy and quantum explore. The ‘trinitisation’ of consciousness is encoded into the images there. “Study the science of art; Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.” – Leonardo da Vinci. Creativity and spirituality intertwine so can Hathor secrets decode bread symbolism and how is this relevant today? If traditional Egyptian bread baking is rooted in ancient practices it’s logical to assume, in the time of the Pharaohs, the solar bread, as Ra, embarked on a journey of returns, through the body of sky Goddess Nut, who swallows sun-Ra at night and births him each morning. Back then, eating the bread was to consume the sun-Ra, the vibration of the ‘mother baker’ and the omnipotent Mother Goddess. Hands bake divine wisdom into bread – female power rises and nourishes from within. It takes a village, both women and men, to feed a nation yet the pictogram for ‘bread’, a closed semi circle (Gardiner X1), is used as a determiner for feminine words, possibly comparing pregnancy to proofing with yeast; honouring female wisdom as a politically stabilising force; or in honour of bread Goddess Isis. As capitalist patriarchy and sky god religions rose bread baking was monetised. Even in ancient Egypt co-operative ovens became commercial enterprises because there was profit in baking, yet bread’s divine status still spoke in the temples. Monotheistic society rejected female spiritual power, viewing ‘women’s work’ as menial. Bread became ‘a gift from God’ and ‘the body of Christ’. When Jesus fed bread to the people it symbolised sharing, however the roots of sharing bread are etched in stone on temple walls, as the pictogram ‘Conical Loaf’ meaning ‘to give’ shows us. “Isis [ ] gives us the bread of earthly life; [ ] the Divine Baker Who makes the magical bread that gives us eternal life. [ ] Who feeds our bodies and souls.” – The Divine Bread of Isis, Isidora, Isiopolis. Isis is the Goddess of bread and direct speech and direct action – in ancient Egyptian texts no deity speaks more. Isis was vocal. Her husband Osiris was ‘Lord of Silence’ – the patriarch stole Her voice and Her bread when they conflated Her with Mary. An activator Goddess, associated with the passionate rose, it is Isis who gives women a voice. “bread for all, and roses too” – Helen Todd, American women’s suffrage activist. “Bread, more bread, and not so many words.” – Paris women heckling the National Assembly. “bread or blood” – women chant at the Richmond Bread Riots,1863. In 18C France food shortages led to the Bread Riots, the Flour Wars and the French Revolution. In 1977 Egypt stopped subsidising wheat sparking the Bread Riots. In Egyptian, ‘bread’ is ‘aish’ meaning ‘life’. Another pictogram for ‘give’ is a ‘hand offering a loaf’ (Gardiner D) – a wise gesture considering bread shortages spark riots. “Every society is three meals away from chaos.” – Lenin. The wings of Isis fan mass consciousness like the aroma of freshly baked bread wafting in the breeze. Love, harmony, nurture, protection, self-expression and rising into healing are powerful energies. The spirit of all the ancient Goddesses is within us all. Let it uncoil and rise like a serpent, breathing life and love into the causes important to us. Goddess wants us to be free, intellectually, spiritually, creatively and physically. Boudicca rising up in rebellion is a portrait of awakening female power. To align with resistance is to move into a surreal space. Ancient Egypt honoured this power, weaving it into the fabric of mythology: Hathor rampages as the Eye of Ra and Sekhmet had the potential to destroy humanity. Eventually conflated with Isis and as the personification of Sirius, the Goddess Sopdet, is the ’Triangle’ or ‘Sharp One’. The ‘Sopdet Triangle’ is similar to ‘Conical Loaf’ without the inner triangle. If there was ever confirmation of the triangle symbolising rising female power it is right there in Sopdet (echoes of Tanit’s symbol?). Perhaps the elongated ‘Conical Loaf’ pictogram, a triangle within a triangle, life within a womb, body as bread, yeast within dough, bread in a pot, love within cooking, rises up to Sirius. There’s more! One ceiling …
(Essay) Does Facebook Hate All Women—or just Feminists? by Trista Hendren

This photo was banned from Facebook (used with permission from Joanne Jackson). I have been hearing rumors about Facebook’s policies towards feminist posts for quite a while now. I will begin by saying that I have been a huge Facebook fan; I met my husband through mutual friends on Facebook, as well as partners for various women-oriented projects over the last few years. But something seems to have shifted lately—nearly everyone I spoke to regarding this article shared the same conflicted sentiment: we have enjoyed Facebook for the connections it has brought us but feel we have been unfairly censored or punished. Sonya Renee Taylor, the page owner of The Body is Not an Apology, started a petition on Change.org last month: “The Body Is Not An Apology, an international movement focused on radical self-love and body empowerment, account was SUSPENDED from Facebook after posting a photo of an empowered female body and tribal women in Senegal with their breasts visible. We believe this sort of cultural and gender discrimination is absolutely asking women to apologize for their bodies and is unacceptable. We want a stop to the sexist hypocrisy of suspending accounts and deleting non-sexual images posted by women! The Body Is Not An Apology has over 12,500 friends in over 25 countries who share images, articles and affirmations focused on celebrating our bodies and truly embracing self-love. As a community we are outraged by the sexism and hypocrisy of Facebook’s policies!” What is troubling is that Facebook has allowed certain posts, which are derogatory towards women, to remain on its pages, while penalizing feminists for speaking out against them. Facebook has allowed hyper-sexualized images of women to remain, as well as comments, posts and pages that support rape culture; Soraya Chemaly wrote an excellent article several months ago about Facebook’s misogyny problem. Rabid Feminist pointed out this particularly “fun” page on Wednesday, even after hundreds of women reported the page and many of the pictures, is still up and running. However, as The Body is Not an Apology’s petition reminds us, Facebook has censored images of: 1. Women who have beat breast cancer, including Joanne Jackson pictured above. 2. Women with children born with birth defects. 3. Women who breastfeed. In researching this article, it appears there are many feminist pages, from all over the world, who feel they have been silenced by Facebook. The uprising of women in the Arab world, a site with more than 60,000 fans from around the world, released a press release November seventh. It seems their five administrators were all reprimanded by Facebook to some degree, varying from a warning, to a 30 day block. All five women were warned they could permanently lose their accounts. They give the following explanation: “Dana Bakdounes is one the hundreds of women and men who participated in the Uprising of Women in the Arab World campaign, holding a sign expressing the reason why they support this uprising. Dana’s slogan stated: “I am with the uprising of women in the Arab world because for 20 years I wasn’t allowed to feel the wind in my hair and on my body,” and her picture showed an unveiled woman carrying her passport with her picture when she was veiled. Dana’s picture was initially posted on October 21, among many other photos and statements of women and men of various religious beliefs and practices (some women were veiled, some unveiled, some in niqab…), all demanding women’s rights and equally enjoying the freedom of speech, in a secular space that promotes tolerance and embraces the differences. But on October 25, Facebook chose to censor Dana’s image and to suspend for 24 hours the account of the admin who posted it. This incident provoked an outrage among the defenders of freedom of speech who started sharing Dana’s picture all over Facebook, Twitter and other media channels.” It is difficult to understand what Facebook’s policies are exactly; it seems that the blocking has something to do with Facebook users reporting something they find offensive. While this can be helpful in some ways, the rules don’t seem to apply the same way towards all pages—and there does not seem to be much in the way of examining whether something actually is offensive, once it is reported as such. Icelandic feminist, Hildur Lilliendahl, was recently temporarily blocked from posting content on Facebook, for the fourth time. The blocking began when she started collecting abusive public comments from men about women and/or feminists from around the web. Hildur published these comments on Facebook, in an album called “Men who hate women.” The material Facebook termed “abusive” were screenshots of hateful, misogynist comments. Hildur was reported for re-posting other people’s comments, most recently resulting in a 30-day block. Facebook warned her that she must “stop violating the community standards of Facebook.” Keep in mind, this was after she re-posted a public status from a man with these kind words about her: “If I ‘accidentally’ ran over Hildur, she is probably the only person on earth that I would back up over and leave the car on top of her with the hand brake on!!!) Put this in your ‘men who hate Hildur’ folder, Hildur Lilliendahl.” The resulting petition on Change.org states; “I want to draw attention to the drawbacks of this platform, the Facebook and how easy it’s “community standards” make it to silence our voices.” When I confirmed the story with Hildur yesterday, she gave this statement: “I could have gone around the rules, I could have published the screenshots elsewhere and linked to them on Facebook, but I refuse to be silenced. I will not abide to rules that offend me. Neither will I allow corporate mass media to control my behavior.” What seems unfair about Facebook’s blocking policies is that it is almost impossible to get in touch with a live person or even defend yourself. Thus, other than comparing stories, it is hard to know what Facebook’s actual policies are and how to best deal with them. According to Facebook’s community standards page, there are nine types of content that may be deemed offensive and removed: Violence and Threats, Self-Harm, Bullying and Harassment, Hate Speech, Graphic Violence, Nudity and …
(Art) ‘Fish Goddess of Lepenski Vir’ by Lydia Ruyle

The Fish Goddess of Lepenski Vir was placed on the altar at the end of a stone structure. She combines fish, woman and a bird of prey, all symbols of the Goddess of birth, death and regeneration. The large stone sculptures were found in triangular trapezoid shrines shaped like the mother mountain across the Danube river in the Iron Gate region. Similar images known as sheela-na-gigs are found around the world. Source: Stone sculpture, Lepenski Vir, Serbia, 6500-5500 BCE Background: Stone architectual shape, Lepenski Vir Related Article: Three-Fingered Fish Goddess- South Slavic Intangible Oral Memory Traditions by Danica Anderson

(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/.

(Mago Almanac Excerpt 5) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) Free PDF available at Mago Bookstore. THE 28-13-7 INTERPLAY How does the number, 28 (days), for the lunar cycle come about? Why is it 28 days and not 29 or 30, the latter implicated in the traditional lunar calendar of East Asia? It appears that 28 days is a value closer to the moon’s sidereal period (about 27.3 days) than the synodic period (about 29.5 days). Or is it that 28 days points to the median between the synodic lunar cycle and the sidereal lunar cycle? To answer these questions, it is important to note that a value in the Mago Time captures an inter-cosmic biological cusp/juncture derived from the matrix of sonic numerology. Distinguished from the patriarchal measure of time fixated into a solipsistic space, it makes visible the interconnectedness of all bodies. It never stands as an isolated single occasion. The 28 day, 13 month calendar has to do with how we perceive the moon. There are two ways of understanding the lunar cycle; the sidereal period and the synodic period (see Figure 2). The synodic period refers to the time, about 29.5 days, that we on earth see the moon complete one round of revolution, e.g. from the full moon to the full moon. In contrast, the sidereal period refers to the actual time, about 27.3 days, that the moon takes to complete one round of revolution. While the synodic time is measured relative to the Earth (the observer’s position is on earth), the sidereal time is measured relative to the distant “fixed” stars (the observer’s position is far out at the distant stars). Since the distant stars are considered at rest, the sidereal period is taken as a universal value, not affected by the location of the viewer, we on earth. There is, apparently, a discrepancy between the lunar cycle that we on earth see the moon return to the same phase and the lunar cycle that the moon actually completes a revolution. The former is based on our observation of the moon’s phases, whereas the latter is based on the moon’s actual orbital motions. The two differs basically because all celestial bodies, the moon, earth, and sun, in the solar system are in motion. It is not just the moon that we watch revolving but Earth also revolves around the sun. We are watching the movement of the moon on a moving vehicle, earth, so to speak. Therefore, the moon has to travel about 2 more days in order for us on earth to see it in the same phase (see the green portion in Figure 2 part). At the position A of the moon in Figure 2, the moon is in line with the sun and the distant stars, which is a new moon. In the position of B (the new moon), the moon is in line with the sun but not with the distant stars. The right hand line of the green portion in line with the distant stars is where the moon started as a new moon. The moon has traveled about 2 more days to be in line with the sun. That is why the synodic period is about 2 days longer than the sidereal period. When it comes to “the lunar calendar”, moderns tend to think of it as the waxing and waning phases of the moon (29.5 days, the synodic period). The problem lies in that, following the synodic period, people see nothing beyond the moon’s phases. They overlook the fact that the moon rotates and revolves on its own axis and around the earth approximately 13 degrees every day. The synodic lunisolar calendar is a navel-gazing vision. Attending to the moon’s phases may seem benign. However, that is a planned pitfall; the synodic lunisolar calendar with 12 months in a year is here to supersede the 28 day, 13 month gynocentric calendar. Its irregularity with the number of days in a month (29 or 30 days with about 11 extra days for intercalation) is an inherently critical flaw. Its inaccuracy when incorporated within the solar annual calendar (approximately 365.25 days) stands out. Seen below in the table, the synodic lunar track results in as many leap days as a total of 44 days for 4 years, whereas the sidereal lunar track has 2 days for 4 years. The synodic lunisolar calendar undercuts the moon’s given capacity – guiding earthly beings into the intergalactic voyage of WE/HERE/NOW. In it, both the moon and women are, glorified and objectified by the viewer, cast under the male voyeuristic eye. On the contrary, the sidereal lunisolar calendar, based on the cyclic synchrony between the moon and women, offers the lens to the interconnectedness of all bodies in the universe. Synodic Lunar Track (Patriarchal) Sidereal Lunar Track (Magoist) Focus Moon’s phases Moon’s motions Days of month 29 or 30 (irregular) 28 (regular) No. of months in a year 12 13 Women’s menstrual cycle Assumed sync Synced Luni-centric Astolonomy Unknown 28 Constellations Intercalations 11 days annually, a total of 44 days for 4 years 1 day annually & 1 day every 4 years, a total of 2 days for 4 years Sources prove that the sidereal lunation is, albeit esoterically, known across cultures to this day. Through the comparative study of ancient cultures of Babylon, Arabia, India and China, W. B. Yeats (1865-1939) observes the substantive difference in dynamic between the two lunation tracks, the synodic and the sidereal. He notes that the moon’s orbital motion, apart from the sun’s, charts out the celestial sphere as the 28 Mansions. I have learned that the 28 Mansions or 28 Constellations of the Moon is a popular form of the 28 day and 13 month Magoist calendar, widely circulated among East Asians especially Koreans from the ancient time. Yeats’ following insights corroborate the Budoji’s explication of the Magoist Calendar in general and the faulty nature of the patriarchal (ancient Chinese) calendar in …
Artful Ceremonial Expression by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

A SEED FOR SPRING EQUINOX . . . till I feel the earth around the place my head has lain under winter’s touch, and it crumbles. Slanted weight of clouds. Reaching with my head and shoulders past the open crust dried by spring wind. Sun. Tucking through the ground that has planted cold inside me, made its waiting be my food. Now I watch the watching dark my light’s long-grown dark makes known. Art and poem are included in Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2017). (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(Poem) Samhain by Annie Finch

In the season leaves should love, since it gives them leave to move through the wind, towards the ground they were watching while they hung, legend says there is a seam stitching darkness like a name. Now when dying grasses veil earth from the sky in one last pale wave, as autumn dies to bring winter back, and then the spring, we who die ourselves can peel back another kind of veil that hangs among us like thick smoke. Tonight at last I feel it shake. I feel the nights stretching away thousands long behind the days, till they reach the darkness where all of me is ancestor. I turn my hand and feel a touch move with me, and when I brush my young mind across another, I have met my mother’s mother. Sure as footsteps in my waiting self, I find her, and she brings arms that hold answers for me, intimate, waiting, bounty: “Carry me.” She leaves this trail through a shudder of the veil, and leaves, like amber where she stays, a gift for her perpetual gaze. From Eve (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2010) (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(Video) Winter Solstice Breath Meditation by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Winter Solstice/Yule Southern Hemisphere – June 20 – 23. Northern Hemisphere – December 20 – 23 Winter Solstice is a celebration of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Triple Goddess in particular – as both Solstices may be, as dark or light come to fullness. Winter Solstice Moment celebrates the ripe fullness of the Dark Womb, and the gateway from that fullness back into new growing light. It is a Birthing Place – into differentiated being, and Her birthing happens in every moment in the breath, and is seamlessly connected with all layers of being – of self, Earth and Cosmos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDsVZzXtoyM The Text in the Meditation[i] Take a deep breath and let it go. Notice the Void at the bottom of emptying your breath … feeling it, and feeling the Urge to breathe as it arises. And again … feeling it over and over – this breath that arises out of the full emptiness in every moment, birthing you in every moment. – Recall some of the birthings in your life, your actual birth – see it there in your mind’s eye … you coming into being – your Nativity, your Nativity. Recall projects you have brought into being, new beings within yourself, perhaps children, new beings in others, how you have been Creator and Created – even at the same time … who was birthing who? Staying for a while with the many, many birthings in your life. – recalling now Earth-Gaia’s many birthings out of the Dark everyday … the dawn is constant as She turns. See Her in your mind’s eye – the constant dawning around the globe, the constant birthing. Recall Earth’s many births right now of all beings – as day breaks around the globe – the physical, emotional, spiritual births. Her many, many birthings everyday, and throughout the eons. recalling now Universe-Gaia’s many birthings – happening in every moment – right now in real time and space … supernovas right now, stars and planets being born right now. Her many, many birthings in every moment and throughout the eons. – recalling now Universe-Gaia’s many birthings – happening in every moment – right now in real time and space … supernovas right now, stars and planets being born right now. Her many, many birthings in every moment and throughout the eons. Come back to your breath – this wonder – none of it separate … the Origin Ever-Present, birthing you in every moment – out of Her Fertile Dark, in real time and space. Feeling this breath, Her breath. NOTES: [i] Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, Winter Solstice ceremonial script, p. 195-196. Reference: Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology. Music: Fish Nite Moon by Tim Wheater, permission generously given Images: – Birth of the Goddess, Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, pl. 155. See https://pagaian.org/book/cover-goddess-image/ – Winter Solstice window, MoonCourt Australia 2016 – some sources unknown
(Prose) Halcyon for the Season by Deanne Quarrie

A bird for this season is the Kingfisher, also known as the Halcyon. The Kingfisher is associated in Greek myth with the Winter Solstice. There were fourteen “halcyon days” in every year, seven of which fell before the winter solstice, seven after; peaceful days when the sea was smooth as a pond and the hen-halcyon built a floating nest and hatched out her young. She also had another habit, that of carrying her dead mate on her back over the sea and mourning him with a plaintive cry. Pliny reported that the halcyon was rarely seen and then only at the winter and summer solstices and at the setting of the Pleiades. She was therefore, a manifestation of the Moon-Goddess who was worshiped at the two solstices as the Goddess of Life in Death and Death in Life and, when the Pleiades set, she sent the sacred king his summons for death. Kingfishers are typically stocky, short-legged birds with large heads and large, heron-like beaks. They feed primarily on fish, hovering over the water or watching intently from perches and they plunge headlong into the water to catch their prey. Their name, Alcedinidae, stems from classical Greek mythology. Alcyone, Daughter of the Wind, was so distraught when her husband perished in a shipwreck that she threw herself into the sea. Both were then transformed into kingfishers and roamed the waves together. When they nested on the open sea, the winds remained calm and the weather balmy. Still another Alcyone, Queen of Sailing, was the mystical leader of the seven Pleiades. The heliacal rising of the Pleiades in May marked the beginning of the navigational year and their setting marked the end. Alcyone, as Sea Goddess protected sailors from rocks and rough weather. The bird, halcyon continued for centuries to be credited with the magical power of allaying storms. Shakespeare refers to this legend in this passage from Hamlet: Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long; And then, they say, no spirit can walk abroad; The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow’d and so gracious is the time. Hamlet, I, i 157 When I was a young mother, and my children were little, we lived in a house that had a creek in the back yard. There were small trees along the far bank of this creek and every day, a kingfisher would sit in the branches overlooking the creek. Sometimes he sat there very quietly for a very long time. Suddenly he would dive from his perch straight into the creek. Every time he did he came out and up into the air with a fish. It gave me great pleasure to watch him from my kitchen window. I love birds. I love learning about their habits because it teaches me ways of being that are closer to nature. I love drawing birds as well. When I was a young and more able, I was an avid bird watcher, out with my friends hoping for a sight never seen before. I love the story of the kingfisher and her connection to the Halcyon Days of the Winter Solstice. It is for most of us the busiest time of year. Whether it is for the Solstice or Christmas (often both) we are in a frenzy to get things done, making sure everything is just right and perfect. I celebrate the Winter Solstice. As a priestess, my days right now are very busy creating ritual. It is at the Solstice that many passage rites are happening with the women I work with. And of course, I celebrate with my family with our magical Yule Log each year. But I try to honor those seven days before and the seven days after by trying to have the frantic moments before the Halcyon Days begin and then even when busy, hold the peace and calm of that beautiful smooth sea in my mind. Peace and love and joy surrounding the Winter Solstice make it perfect. May the Peace of a Halcyon Sea be yours in this Solstice Season. Do hold the image of that little kingfisher in mind! Meet Mago Contributor, Deanne Quarrie

(Video) 2013 Mago Pilgrimage to Korea by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s note: The first Mago Pilgrimage to Korea took place June 6-19, 2013. We visited Ganghwa Island, Seoul, Wonju, Mt. Jiri, Yeong Island (Busan), and Jeju Island.] Read Mago Pilgrimage Essay 1 and Mago Pilgrimage Essay 2. See Meet Mago Contributor, Hae Kyoung Ahn for “Ma Gaia Womb” chant music and Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hwang Ph.D.
(Book Announcement 4) Introduction (part 2) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Editor’s Note: This Introduction is from She Rises: How Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? Volume 2.] Pre-order available now! The Text of the Primordial Mother/the Creatrix/Mago She Rises Volume 2, like her predecessor, is born out of the Magoist vision.[i] It intends to raise the collective consciousness of WE, a cognitive symbolic system derived from the knowing of the Primordial Mother or the Creatrix. One may call it an embodied knowing or gynocentric epistemology. Our stories shed light on the holistic view in which all parts are revered as a microcosm of the Creatrix. The She Rises book is an emblem of gynocentric cosmology: All contributions are interconnected and the book is enriched by each and all contributions. This book is NOT just about what we have discovered and what we have experienced about Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality but what and how we do with our discoveries and experiences. Where are we heading to with our knowing of S/HE? The collective consciousness of WE summons a gynocentric reality. This book is designed to show our togetherness in our uniqueness. It stands for unity that is enhanced by the diversity of individuals. The key phrase in the subtitle, “Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality,” is a reminder of the all-embracing gynocentric way of our becoming. We ARE committed to the making of the book to reflect the gynocentric principle of unity in diversity. We allow our differences to lead us to a new (read gynocentric) territory without making ourselves fall into factionalism. Competition in a constructive manner helps us grow. But factionalism destroys us. We speak our truths not to argue or win. We speak our truths because they are true to us. Truth speaks, even when we can’t hear. And we trust ourselves to speak our truths in HER. And S/HE shall bring us together in WE. To trust in our contributors is the map that we editors have followed in She Rises collective books. In the process, we have learned that what we really need to be careful of, not the other camp of Goddessians, but what really divides us among Goddessians/Magoists. In my Introduction to She Rises Volume 1, I drew attention to the word “Goddess,” concerning our need to reclaim it despite its linguistic drawback. Summarily, we strategically adopt the word, “Goddess,” knowing its derivative and subsequently dualistic nature from the word “God” in the English language.[ii] We are aware of the functional nature of language, a means for the meaning that we intend to convey. We choose one word over another for our political and utilitarian reasons. Our use of the word “Goddess” has given us a common ground to come together and interweave the She Rises books. The Magoist vision of the book merits the stance that the Goddess is not just the female divine or a sum of female deities but the Great Goddess, the Primordial Mother. It is S/HE who allows us the holistic view of WE/HERE/NOW, the ultimate reality. We who are awakened in S/HE know that we ARE this S/HE reality. In writing my Introduction to the second book, another term has come to my attention, “feminine.” As seen in this book, some of our authors have favorably chosen the word, “feminine” in support of Goddess feminism, activism, and spirituality for reliable reasons. The context wherein the term is used is complex and highly suggestive of the female divine power. In their uses, some make it clear that the feminine refers to the female divine nature/power of women. Others use it in redefining and deconstructing patriarchal definitions of “the feminine.” It is true that “the divine feminine” or “the sacred feminine” has taken on popularity so much so that it appears almost indispensable in the Goddess Talk. Nonetheless, I hold that there is a point that we need to think and explore together the meaning of “feminine.” Linguistically speaking, referring to the gender quality of women, the meaning of “feminine” fluctuates. I find it worth broaching these questions to us: Is the term “feminine” empowering Goddess feminism? Why yes? Why no? These questions can only be answered by our authors and readers. We editors by no means advocate the purge of the term, feminine, from this book. Forcing unity is not gynocentric. We propose the question as an ongoing conversation among Goddessians. Here is my stance to the question, which is yes and no. When the context indicates an ancient (read gynocentric) or feminist meaning, the word “feminine” certainly empowers women. When “the divine feminine” indicates the Primordial Mother within an environment like this book, the word is empowering. Put differently, the meaning of “feminine” can be conveyed as gynocentric, that is, women-empowering, when “the divine feminine” refers to the Creatrix, the Great Goddess. In this case, the gender quality of “feminine” is coherent with the biological quality of “female.” The meaning of “feminine” in such context does NOT reflect the patriarchally-imposed qualities of women; the feminine is gynocentric and sacred. However, when the word “feminine” is used outside the gynocentric context, it becomes dubious in meaning, if not self-defeating, obstructing the impetus of women’s empowerment. Referring to the gender quality (read a social/patriarchal construct), of women, the meaning of “feminine” changes in different times and cultures. It is not free from socio-cultural settings. Being feminine today in the U.S. would be very different from being feminine two centuries ago. Also, being feminine today in one country would be very different from being feminine today in another country. On the other hand, the word, “female,” conveying the biological and biologically-derived quality of women, remains coherent in meaning across times and cultures. “Female” offers us a solid ground to build our feminist activism and feminist spirituality. Thus far, we women still hold the power of female biological and biologically-derived traits. The word, “feminine” alone risks a powerful conceptual ground for Goddess feminism. Precisely, it falls short in capturing the divine power of the Primordial Mother, the Creatrix. For example, I …
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

(Essay 5) Future of Identity: Reclaiming the Northern Pagan Tradition by Jillian Burnett

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Dance Dramas as an Instrument of Political Change by Dorothea Kahena Viale, Ph.D.

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(Meet Mago Contributor) Dorothea Kahena Viale, Ph.D.

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Brighid and the Oystercatcher by Jude Lally

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The Awakened Woman by Arlene Bailey

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(Prose) Mary’s Garden by Sara Wright

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The Day the Cailleach Caught Fire by Jude Lally

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

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

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(Art & Video) Awakening the Feminine by Cynthia Tom

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

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Woman Unto Herself, Arlene Bailey by Arlene Bailey

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(Poem) She has Risen by Louisa Calio

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Seeking Mago, the Great Mother from Old Korea

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

Mago Almanac Year 9 Monthly Wheels

Mago Pod Bulletin #85 August-September 2026

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