February 22, 2022February 23, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Special Post 6) Multi-Linguistic Resemblances of “Mago” by Mago Circle Members

[This is a summary of discussion that took place around 2014 in The Mago Circle, Facebook group.] Anna Tzanova: I am glad that there are more and more voices adding to Read More …

February 21, 2022February 10, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Book Excerpt) Blood and Honey Icons: Biosemiotics & Bioclinary by Danica Anderson, Ph.D.

Kolo Sestra (Serbo-Croatian for sisters circle) Slavic thaumaturgy, the circle of sisters is a process of manifesting healing that is referred to as miracle-making. Storied Instructions At first, the Kolo Read More …

February 17, 2022February 16, 2022 Kaalii CargillLeave a comment

[Photo Essay] Everything She Touches by Kaalii Cargill

Three years ago in late Spring, I moved into my new home. The two storey house is surrounded by trees, shrubs, and rock-walled paths. Over a century ago, the land Read More …

February 16, 2022January 28, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(She Summons Excerpt) Compassion, Wisdom, and Shadow: Remembering Our Humanity in the Hands of Goddess by Tahni J. Nikitins

[Editor’s Note: This piece is included in She Summons: Why… Goddess Feminism, Activism and Spirituality?” Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2021).] There are many things lacking in our world today – Read More …

February 11, 2022February 8, 2022 RTM Editors2 Comments

Embracing Change, We Are the Cosmic Egg by Carolyn Lee Boyd

In the time before time, the Greek goddess Eurynome arose out of primeval chaos and danced a whirlwind into being. She then shape-shifted Herself into a dove and laid the Read More …

February 10, 2022January 24, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Book Excerpt 3) Nun too Clever by Elaine Drew

[An excerpt from the the mystery novel Nun Too Clever, which looks at what life as a queen was really like for the fairytale maiden who landed the prince.] “Let’s Read More …

February 9, 2022February 6, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay 3) Click Here to Download Spirituality by Francesca Tronetti

I enjoy watching TV shows set in the 1970s, primarily comedy ones and a few serious ones. A reoccurring episode plot was someone whose child joined the Hari Krishnas or Read More …

February 8, 2022February 6, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Music 4) Singing to Hathor: Spiritual and Historical Reclamations Through the Muses of Memory, History, and Music by Jen Taylor

III. Spare Wings (Apples and The Fall) Hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation, especially of the Bible; it can be understood as a search for hidden meaning Read More …

February 4, 2022February 4, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem) Tarantella by Susan Hawthorne

Livia’s outdone herselfthe room is aliveleaves shimmer in lightbirds all a-twitterluscious balls of fruit hanging our favourite goddessesappear as plantsquince brings luck in lovepomegranate binds love and deathpoppy a favourite Read More …

February 3, 2022February 3, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

The Circle Of Life And The Square of Opposition by Claire Dorey

[Author’s Note: Extract from a work in progress on the voice of the colonized, a female perspective on the Roman invasion of Ancient Briton.] I lie awake and fret when Read More …

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 Kaalii CargillLeave a comment

(Essay) Be Brave by Kaalii Cargill

I am once again called to write about the current Covid restrictions and mandates in terms of patriarchal control, domination and abuse. Why do so many people believe and trust Read More …

January 31, 2022June 4, 2023 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(She Summons Excerpt) Save the Princess, Save the World: Mario as an Agent of the Goddess by Jillian Burnett

[Editor’s Note: This piece is included in She Summons: Why… Goddess Feminism, Activism and Spirituality?” Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2021).] This essay fuses Goddess-centered spirituality with post-colonial economic narrative. Using Read More …

January 27, 2022January 24, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Book Excerpt 2) She who gives life, She who gives form: Female Cosmogonies (English Edition) by Luciana Percovich

[Author’s Note: She who gives life, She who gives form: Female Cosmogonies is an English translation of the original Italian book, Colei che dà la Vita Colei che dà la Read More …

(Essay 1) Is Mary Magdalene the same woman as Mary the Jewess? by Dr Joanna Kujawa

When I explored the possibility of a connection between Mary Magdalene and Egypt I did so as though on some wild adventure. Originally, as a scholar and student of the Gnostic Gospels related to Mary Magdalene, I had quietly assumed that Mary Magdalene’s life in Egypt was a figment of literary imagination, just as her status as a prostitute was. Also, my earlier assumptions came from my past conviction that both Mary Magdalene and the Gnostics had their sources deep in early Christianity. My only problem at the time with the official sources of information was that Mary Magdalene had been misrepresented, just as her role as a prostitute had been fabricated – both with the intention of removing a wise and powerful feminine figure from the official version of the scriptures. In the meantime, recent scholarship began to consider that the origins of the Gnostics might be much earlier and more complex than their connection with early Christianity and often lead back to Egypt. Thus, as I began to explore some sources in my blog ‘In the Footsteps of Mary Magdalene: Alexandria’, the possibility that there might be a connection between Egypt and Mary Magdalene became more real. The whole narrative of Mary Magdalene is so steeped in myth that sometimes it takes a genuine detective investigation to untangle the possible from the imaginary and from that which is simply historically untrue. Having said this, myth and imagination often carry hidden and repressed truths and require a sincere seeker (and spiritual detective) to consider them fully. And, although in ‘Mary Magdalene in Alexandria’ I write about discovering the genuine possibility that Mary Magdalene did live at some point in Egypt and I note that the right environment for her presence there did exist, I did not associate her with any women living in Egypt at the time. So here I would like to disentangle and assess (as unromantic as that sounds) an additional possibility for the presence of Mary Magdalene in Egypt – the possibility which I have not discussed in my blog on Mary Magdalene in Alexandria or in its video version https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb1SfMvff4E. They pertain to one historical figure, who could be associated with Mary Magdalene and her Egyptian connections. Following the intuitive link between alchemy and Mary Magdalene, as well the Gnostic idea that Mary Magdalene was the most advanced and cherished disciple of Jesus/Yeshua, I began searching for examples of educated women, with a leaning towards mystery and the ineffable. And in my searching I stumbled upon Mary the Prophetess, or Mary the Jewess. As a name, ‘Mary the Jewess’ makes perfect sense to me, as I tend to believe that Mary Magdalene was Jewish. At that time, there was a large community of highly educated and Hellenised Jews in Alexandria, with the most prominent example being Philo of Alexandria. However, the second name by which she was known, Mary the Prophetess, emphasises her spiritual gifts – which also connects her to the Gnostic version of Mary Magdalene as the ‘learned one’. So who was Mary the Prophetess/Mary the Jewess? Mary the Prophetess is quietly acknowledged as the Mother of Alchemy proper. ‘Quietly’ because, as history has been often written with complete disregard for women’s accomplishments, the focus has usually been on male alchemists and the fathers of Alchemy. Although, in the mythological sense the source of Alchemy comes from Hermes the Thrice Great (Trismegistus), its known human origins had their beginnings with the priests and priestesses of Ancient Egypt. One of the great alchemists was Zosimos of Panapolis (present-day Akhmim), who was, of course, Egyptian, and who died around 251 AD (all a bit later). It is Zosimos who mentions Mary the Prophetess as ‘one of the sages’ and places her as his predecessor. Mary the Prophetess invented many alchemical instruments which were later used by all alchemists and described by Zosimos. In the National Library of Israel open sources also suggested that she was interested in the spiritual aspect of Alchemy, as ‘the creation of pure gold was considered a transmutation towards Heaven’ and thus also contained a spiritual aspiration. The goal of this process was ‘combining within Itself the powers of both the Above and the Below’, as is written in the Emerald Tablet attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. Interestingly, ‘As above so below’ is the key and most essential teaching not only of the Alchemists but also of many esoteric teachings around the world, including Hermeticism, and is encoded in the Christian Lord’s Prayer as ‘on earth as it is in heaven’. (Mystical truths are often hidden in plain sight.) But back to Mary the Prophetess, about whose life little or almost nothing is known. Apart from the information sourced through Zosimus of Panapolis, the only additional information about her I found was (again) in the open sources of the National Library of Israel. They state that Mary the Prophetess did live in Alexandria and even opened an Academy there to teach Alchemy. This suggest that Mary the Jewess was financially independent. Interestingly, recent scholarship on Mary Magdalene suggests that she, too was an independent woman with her own financial means. Jane Schaberg, for example, argued that Mary Magdalene was never called someone daughter or wife as was then customary. Candida Moss also reached a similar conclusion that Mary Magdalene was a financially independent woman who helped to support Jesus’ movement along with another disciple – Joanna the wife of Chuza who was connected to the court of Herod Antipas (as mentioned in Luke 8). At this point I became really excited because this creates a beautiful possible connection between Mary the Prophetess and Mary Magdalene – as I argue in one earlier blog, Alexandria was the perfect place for Mary Magdalene to escape after the events of the Crucifixion. In my opinion, Mary the Prophetess’ connection with Mary Magdalene (if there is one) lies entirely in the dating of the former’s life. When did Mary the Prophetess live? For Zosimos, she …
(Poem) Sleeping Woman Wants to Nap by Abigail Ardelle Zammit

Photo by Abigail Ardelle Zammit [Author’s Note This poem is from the sequence You May Touch If You Like, published in Portrait of a Woman with Sea Urchin (SPM: London, 2015), which was the second prize winner of the Sentinel Poetry Book Competition. The Maltese Venus is a fertility Goddess variously known as ‘The Sleeping Lady’ and ‘The Fat Lady’, statues and figurines of which have been found in many Maltese Neolithic temples, amongst which, the Hypogeum of Ħal-Saflieni, a sanctuary and necropolis located in Paola, the earliest remains of which date back to 4000BC. You may read the whole Goddess sequence, as well as other poems set in Malta during WWII by purchasing the collection online: https://abigailardellezammit.net/poetry-books/] https://www.magoism.net/2023/05/meet-mago-contributor-abigail-ardelle-zammit/
(Book Excerpt) Fierce Feminine Divinities of Eurasia and Latin America by Malgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba

Fierce Feminine Divinities of Eurasia and Latin America: Baba Yaga, Kālī Pombagira, and Santa Muerte by Malgorzata Oleszkiewicz-Peralba, PhD (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) Below from Conclusion, pp. 140-142: Although Baba Yaga, Pombagira, Santa Muerte, and Kālī originated in different parts of the world—Eastern Europe, India, Brazil, and Mexico—and their current portrayals are very diverse, they are reminiscent of the goddess of life, death, and regeneration, Queen of the Universe, that encompasses the life cycle, especially the aspects of this cycle omitted in current official devotions, such
(Video) The Dance of Compassion by Dr Lila Moore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWDVOUGWB2k The Dance of Compassion video is inspired by my transformative encounter with the goddess of compassion Kuan Yin at the Jade Buddha Temple in Shanghai in November, 2016. I have utilized the poetic language of images to express a graceful sense of awe and love. To portray the feminine body of the Goddess, I utilized and visually manipulated a photograph entitled Dance by Yva from 1933 which is in the public domain. According to Wikipedia, “Yva (1900–1942/44) was the professional pseudonym of Else Ernestine Neuländer-Simon who was a German Jewish photographer renowned for her dreamlike, multiple exposed images. As one of the first photographers who recognized the commercial potential of photography, she became a leading photographer in Berlin during the Weimar Republic. When the Nazi Party came to power, she was forced into working as a radiographer. She was deported by the Gestapo in 1942 and murdered, probably in the Majdanek concentration camp during World War II.” The aesthetic generosity implied by the multiplicity of each image that Yva photographed through multiple exposure metaphorically corresponded with my impression of the generous goddess Kuan Yin. The piece offered opportunity to pay homage to feminine creative innovation and compassion by fusing the artist and the goddess as they perform their triumphant dance beyond the reach of oppressive patriarchal regimes. For more info, subscribe to Dr Lila Moore Cybernetic Futures Inst. monthly newsletter, here: http://www.cyberneticinstitute.com/online-courses-1 © Dr Lila Moore, All Rights Reserved (Meet Mago Contributor) Lila Moore, Ph.D.
(Poem) Eternal for Mago Circle by Anne Wilkerson Allen

Here on these pages a fire began with a spark of recognition. Haven’t I tasted your words at some communal table set to honor the goddess? The strings of the lyre ripple through your voice and resonate my core with birdsong. Even the laughter that permeates the air has the familiar, beloved scent of petals and moist earth. Your hands encircle my waist – swirling, you lift me higher; far beyond the promise of a rainbow. Does my joy in seeing you reflect a mirrored past – a circle dance of confluence? Navigating these rivers with you surely must have begun on a primordial raft with our essence intermingled….
Meet Mago Contributor, Marya Berry

Poetry began to wake me from nightmares when i was nine. I have got precious little sleep in my life, compared with many people, but have dreamed much, a heady recompense. Since then, I have tried to follow its lead, listening for its music, its whisperings, tending to its shapes, catching words in flight, cradling, hoarding them in my word nest, knowing each one belonged to a specific if as yet unborn or fledgling poem. As to my poetical leanings, I was early on attracted to haiku, so i wrote hundreds of them, including haiku series (Monet, seahorses, WW2), which I still do.There is a Japanese corner inside me & in my living room. A set of shelves harboring Japanese figurines, books (haiku, fiction, ART, film) fabrics, steam cooking utensils, films, dictionaries. All very colourful. One bedroom wall is covered with photos of polar bears, mostly mothers with their cubs. I am enamoured of Celtic & Norse myth, both Eddas, children’s literature (Irish & Japanese fairy tales), Greek everything, Nature &, back at home in the US, the Connecticut sky. For many years, I have worked as a professor of English (literature & poetry, specializing in medieval & Shakespearean English) & also as a music & cinema critic with many interviews broadcast on radio & published in newspapers & magazines. Worked as a radio host of opera & cinema programmes, both in the US & here in France, where I have resided for more than 20 years. At university, I majored first in English Literature (BA, summa cum laude), then Medieval English Literature (MA, with honours), before embarking on an doctorate in Chaucer (doctoral subject accepted), medieval languages (English,Welsh, Icelandic), and art (Merovingian, Visigoth), which still lacks the dissertation. My first published articles were memoirs: on Maria Callas & Robert Graves. Then, essays on various subjects, then music & literary criticism. The need to read began at the age of four when i begged my mother to teach me to read (& write). Now i read mostly English literature (bow to the Bard daily), but also literature from other nations & cultures, watch mostly British tv series, & films of every country excepting many of my own, translate “foreign language” fiction & poetry into English (two books published), stemming from a Gulbenkian Scholarship Prize. Poetry is my oxygen, my heartbeat, my Taj Mahal.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Sara Wright

Sara is a Jungian therapist, a naturalist, ethologist, ritual artist, animist, and a writer who lives in the western mountains of Maine and writes about animals and plants in Nature, and the relationship between Nature and herself. She has Native American Roots. I am a naturalist and a writer; I live in a little log cabin in the woods by a brook with two small dogs and two doves. I write stories about the animals and plants that live here on my property in the western mountains of Maine and publish them regularly in my nature column in the local paper. I am also an independent black bear researcher who uses “trust based” research to study the bears that have visited me here. Trust based research/fieldwork allows me to apprentice myself to Nature through any of its individuals if they are willing. I am the student; each species is the teacher. I have Native American roots, which may or may not be why I have dedicated my life to speaking out on behalf of the slaughtered trees, dying plants and disappearing animals. This is the only work that matters to me. “Over the Edge and Beyond: Journal of a Naturalist”sarawrightnature.wordpress.com
(Easter Essay 1) The Secret of the Sacred Garden: From Aphrodite’s Vulva to the Resurrection by Harita Meenee

What possible connection could there be between the sacred gardens of Aphrodite and the resurrection of Jesus? Interestingly, according to the Gospel of John, his burial occurred in a garden, not far from the place of his crucifixion.[1] When Mary Magdalene reached his tomb, she found it empty, to her great sorrow: But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).[2]
(She Rises 1) Knowing the Great Goddess: Act of Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This is part of my introduction to She Rises, Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?” forthcoming June Solstice, 2015] Without doubt, undertaking the project of this anthology is a way of advocating a feminist/activist/spiritual Goddessism/Magoism. Knowing the Great Goddess itself is an act of Goddess feminism/activism/spirituality. “To know” is an active verb. To know the Goddess is an act that hurls one to an uncharted territory in the patriarchal foreground. Precisely, in that bewildered place we find the door to the Way of the Goddess. We are collectively waking up to the deep memory that ancients paved a way for us to remember. She Rises invites everyone including agnostics and atheists. More to the point, it defies the very notion of an “agnostic” or “atheist”—and “believer” or “non-believer”— concepts derived from the dualistic thinking of the monotheistic patriarchal religions. We do not have to believe in the Goddess. Or one may “believe” in the Goddess no more than one “believes” in one’s ancestor. Thealogy (studies of the Female Divine/Goddess) does not work in the same way as the theology of the monotheistic male divine does. It is a whole new way of thinking, not believing. As direct offspring of the Great Goddess/Mago, we humans are endowed with Her divine nature. Thealogy takes us to see the new horizon in which the divide between the divine and humans is no longer substantive. Likewise, the divide between the sacred and the secular is eroded in the consciousness of the Great Goddess. Knowing the Great Goddess/Mago redefines oneself, humanity, the Earth community, and the universe. We are given the primordial lens of the Great Goddess. We get to know the Great Goddess through thinking. Our knowing is not static, however, but ever unfolding and evolving. Our thinking is not a mere cerebral activity. It is the rudder of our action. A deep thinking leads to gynocentric knowing, the knowing of the Great Goddess. We understand the self and the world through the lens of the Great Goddess, the consciousness of WE in S/HE. Because gynocentric knowing has been made esoteric or anomalous, if surfaced in the consciousness, in patriarchal times, we require some techniques in our thinking especially in the beginning to tap into gynocentric thinking. We are led to the vacancy of the patriarchal mind before realizing that we are in the sacred ground of the Great Goddess. She Rises marks a collective realization that we are HERE! Meanwhile, we require both deconstruction and reconstruction in the mode of our thinking. The first and last thing that we become aware of is that knowing the Great Goddess does not take place within the framework of monotheistic male theology. By definition, patriarchy is founded on the dualistic thinking of the male and the female. Patriarchal religions, based on the dualistic mode of thinking, see things in separation from and against one another, e.g., men vs. women, God vs. humans, the world vs. nature, the mind vs. the body, theism vs. atheism. In order to enthrone the male, patriarchal mind-molders employ the ruse of dualism, which is an epistemological/anthropological/ecological disaster that has brought havoc not only to humanity but also to the earthly community as a whole. The patriarchal mode of thinking disqualifies for the consciousness of WE. Perpetuating the cycle of hierarchy and domination, it takes everything within its reach into the cacophonic degeneration that hinders the working of the Creatrix. An effort “to know who I am” is the prerequisite of knowing the Goddess. The quest for finding/knowing oneself is indeed a dangerous thing in that patriarchal mind-molders do not have control of it and indeed fear it. Self-trust is in disproportion with one’s endorsement of dualistic thinking. That was my experience. As I became aware of the working in my mind of the dualistic thinking spawned by patriarchal cultures/religions of both the West and the East and made a conscious decision not to go with it, I came to affirm myself. Till then, I underestimated the power of thinking. Our self-knowledge saves us. I used to hear that thinking, or knowing, is the opposite of one’s action or at least not the same as action. That accounts for the fact that patriarchal mind-molders do not teach people how to think deeply. Instead, they impose on people to believe in the dogmas and creeds that they created for themselves. Any authority that does not allow people to think for themselves is an aggressor. Goddessians/Magoists re-claim the power of thinking/knowing/naming. Thinking marks the very core of our action. Thinking acts. A thought shocks, touches, or bores our body/mind/heart. Thinking causes a consequence in the material world. Our heart pounds with a thought. That is how journalism works in modern times. Journalists ceaselessly seek for “shocking” news and invent headlines to maximize the impact on people. However, news media companies do not teach people how to think positively or correctly. They use the power of thinking. Correct thinking is derived from gynocentric knowing. Goddessians/Magoists tune our thinking to the gynocentric unconsciousness. We are fully alive with the consciousness of the Great Goddess. Our thinking invokes another thinking; it is organic and contagious. The working of our collective thinking is unfathomable. She Rises embodies our collective thinking. It is true that, if one does not change the mode of one’s thinking, while blindly accepting what patriarchal religions or moralities impose, one’s thinking fails to lead one to the knowing of the Goddess. Such thinking remains stunted. Stunted thinking, endorsing patriarchal norms, misleads and confuses people. It changes nothing. Without reaching/touching the core of one’s being, it only mimics the power of creative thinking. We need to watch our thinking. The conscious transition from the dominant/dominated mode of thinking (A or/against B) to empowering/encompassing mode of thinking (A and/in-continuum-of B) needs to be made. We can detect the dualistic mode of thinking that works in our mind on a daily basis. At that very split second that we sabotage the patriarchal/dualistic mode of …

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

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Helen Hwang I study and advocate Goddess feminism or Magoism because it is a way of living for me. I find myself in Mago (the Great Goddess) who in turn leads me to the Way wherein I learn how to become the person who I can be. It has to be Mago, the Female Divine, because She is real! She is the Primordial Mother who is the Beginning and the End of everything to us on the planet Earth. She teaches me the real. I can’t negotiate Her to anything less. Helen Hye Sook Hwang, Ph.D. California http://magoism.net Bridget Robertson A Goddessian I was introduced to a form of meditative journeying by a resident in my grandmother’s retirement community. She approached to me. I know she was at least part Native American, and that alone made her the topic of much gossip in the building. Her Rose colored lipstick, deep brown eyes, wrinkles that only helped illuminate her face and a chiffon scarf that matched none of her clothes. I thought she needed help with her groceries. She didn’t. She had me stop the elevator. and directly asked about my looking tired. My response was about being, busy balancing all the areas of my life. In fact I was exhausted doling out time like pieces of pie.
(Special Post Mother Teresa 1) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

[Editorial Note: The following is an edited version of the discussion that took place spontaneously on Mago Circle from March 1, 2013 for about two weeks. It was an extensive, heated, yet reflective discussion, now broken into four parts to fit the format of the blog. We thank each and all of the participants for your openness, generosity, and courage to stand up for what you believe and think! Some are marked as anonymous. As someone stated, something may have been “written in the heat of the moment” and some might like to change it at a later time. So we inform our readers that nothing is written in stone. As a matter of fact, the discussion is ongoing, now with Magoism Blog readers. Please comment and respond as you wish.] Part I: Why are we talking about Mother Teresa? [The conversation began among Anne Wilkerson Allen, Helen Hwang, and Wennifer Lin in a personal message and editor’s group. We agreed that Mother Teresa’s Western (Albanian) identity is hardly taken into consideration in the public perception of her as a secular and religious leader. Then, we decided to bring the topic to the Mago Circle.] Anne Wilkerson Allen: [A] posted this today and I think it is discussion worthy. Mother Teresa: Anything but a saint… scienceblog.com The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa is dispelled in a paper by Serge Larivée and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal’s Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Sénéchal of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education… http://scienceblog.com/60730/mother-teresa-anything-but-a-saint/#IdkpoWrDtMAAVCAg.99 Anne Wilkerson Allen: It is not my desire to bash the Church – I think everyone here is fully aware of the evils of patriarchy and the way the Church has used women, abused and killed women…but Teresa is an icon in the West, in particular, of saintliness. Even non-Catholics love her. Why? And is what she did really worthy of role modeling? Anne Wilkerson Allen: This was also on the thread. Not a huge fan of Hitchens, and I think calling her work a “death cult” is extreme, but I am interested in your opinions please. Christopher Hitchens – Mother Teresa: Hell’s Angel [1994] In 1994, three years before her death, journalist Christopher Hitchens made this documentary asking if Mother Teresa’s reputation was deserved… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76_qL6fiyDw Anne Wilkerson Allen: I would also like to talk about altruism and some of the areas we have touched on before…at what point is my “help” an imposition in a third world country? Is my desire to “help” spurred by years of programming or heart? I honestly don’t know anymore. Anne Wilkerson Allen: There is also a part of me that wonders if this deflection of blame and highlighting of Teresa’s faults now is yet another “Let the women take the fall” action. Anne Wilkerson Allen: NOT that I find her blameless – her advocacy against contraception and abortion is decidedly anti-female, but there is so much focus on the Pope and the priests now….I keep wondering when the abuses of the nuns is going to come to light. Anne Wilkerson Allen: I think Ireland recently had something in the news about this… Ireland apologizes for Catholic laundry scandal Ireland’s premier has issued a state apology to the thousands of Irish women who spent years working without pay in prison-style laundries run by Catholic nuns. Former residents of the now-defunct Magdalene Laundries have campaigned for the past decade to get the government to apologize and pay compensation to an estimated 1,000 survivors of the workhouses. Two weeks ago the Irish government published an investigation into the state’s role in overseeing the laundries. It found that more than 10,000 women worked in 10 laundries from 1922 to 1996, when the last Dublin facility closed down… http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57570107/ireland-apologizes-for-catholic-laundry-scandal/ Anne Wilkerson Allen: One of my friends was one of these girls. [Z]: I have wanted to bring attention to this issue for a long time but did not have a chance or was biting my time. Now Anne is pointing out some of the crucial issues about her, Mother Teresa, I am so thankful for this opportunity for us to sort out and think collectively. Thank you Anne! [Z]: Yes, the Catholic Laundry Scandal was shared here too!!! Anne Wilkerson Allen: It’s hard. She is iconic for many women. I did not know the sordid details or the horrors – not that it excuses anything….but when I was young, I saw her as someone to emulate….and thus became immolated…. [Z]: I have been thinking all along the way that she should not be a role model for women. Can you believe that I did even as a once Catholic Sister?!!! I know that many religious women out there will agree with me too. [Z]: My critique is not much on her as a person. But the fact that she represents morality for especially women makes me mad. Oh, there seems a lot more about reasons why we should debunk the mystique of Mother Teresa. Anne Wilkerson Allen: One of the things Hirchens pointed out was that it made Westerners feel good that this wonderful white woman was helping the poor in Calcutta….though she rarely seemed to be in Calcutta. Another friend told me that he knew one of the sisters of charity and that she told him they were encouraged to flog themselves on a regular basis….sick sick sick Anne Wilkerson Allen: This is why I have a problem with the mentality that says evil exists to teach us something…..that suffering exists to highlight our joy….there is just something WRONG with that. Anne Wilkerson Allen: We are all dark and light and in-between. [Z]: I am not surprised. Yes, definitely. What a waste of time and intelligence if not already damaging many turning the navigation backward!!! [Helen Hwang calls out the individual names to join the discussion, and is responded by what follows.] [B]: In Minneapolis there is a charity founder, Mary Jo Copeland, who helps the homeless & hungry. She just received an award from the President. She seems selfless, like Mother Teresa did (at least in […]
(Special Post) Why I choose to be an RTM contributor by Glenys Livingstone

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

(Video) Autumn Equinox/Mabon Poetry by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The Autumnal Equinox occurs each year in the range of March 20-23 in the Southern Hemisphere, and in the range of September 20 -23 in the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn Equinox is a point of sacred balance: it is the point of balance in the dark part of Earth’s annual cycle. Sun is equidistant between North and South as it was/is at Spring Equinox, but in this dark phase of the cycle, the trend is toward increasing dark. Henceforth the dark part of the day will exceed the light part: thus it is a Moment of certain descent … and a sacred Moment for feeling and contemplating the grief and power of loss, for ceremoniously joining personal and collective grief and loss with the larger Self in whom we are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcZflKLkvP8 Below is the text of the video. It is based on the traditional poetry for PaGaian Autumn Equinox/Mabon ceremony[i]. This is the Moment of the Autumnal Equinox in our Hemisphere – the moment of balance of light and dark in the dark part of the cycle. The light and dark parts of the day in the South and in the North of our planet, are of equal length at this time. We feel for the balance in this moment – Earth as She is poised in relationship with the Sun … breathing in the light, swelling with it, letting our breath go to the dark, staying with it. In our part of Earth, the balance is tipping into the dark. We remember the coolness of it. This is the time when we give thanks for our harvests – all that we have gained. And we remember too the sorrows, losses involved. The story of Old tells us that Persephone, Beloved Daughter, is given the wheat from Her Mother – the Mystery, knowledge of life and death. She receives it graciously. But she sets forth into the darkness – both Mother and Daughter grieve that it is so. Demeter, the Mother, says: “You are offered the wheat in every moment … I let you go as Child, most loved of Mine: you descend to Wisdom, to Sovereignty. You will return as Mother, co-Creator with me. You are the Seed in the Fruit, becoming the Fruit in the Seed. Inner Wisdom guides your path.” We give thanks for our harvests – our lives they are blessed. We are Daughters and Sons of the Mother. Yet we take our Wisdom and all that we have gained, and remember the sorrows – the losses involved. We remember the grief of the Mother, of mothers and lovers everywhere, our grief. Persephone descends. The Beloved One is lost. Persephone goes forth into the darkness to become Queen of that world. She tends the sorrows. The Seed represents our Persephones, who tends the sorrows – we are the Persephones, who may tend the sorrows. We go out into the night with Her and plant our seeds. Persephone blesses us with her fertile promise: “You have waxed into the fullness of life, And waned into darkness; May you be renewed in tranquility and wisdom[ii].” These represent our hope. The Seed of life never fades away. She is always present. Blessed be the Mother of all life. Blessed be the life that comes from Her and returns to Her. We tie red threads on each other: we participate in the Vision of the Seed – of the continuity of Life, that continues beneath the visible. The Mother knowledge grows within us. Our hope is in the Sacred Balance of the Cosmos – the Thread of Life, the Seed that never fades away: it is the Balance of Grief and Joy, the Care that we may feel in our Hearts. NOTES: [i] Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, p. 239-247. [ii] Charlene Spretrnak, Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, p. 116. REFERENCES: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005. Spretnak, Charlene. Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: a Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992/1978.
(Essay) Contemplating How Her Creativity Proceeds by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from the conclusion of chapter 5 of the author’s book, PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. It is a chapter on the process of the Wheel of the Year. for the Northern Hemisphere version: https://pagaian.org/pagaian-wheel-of-the-year/ It seems to me that the main agenda of the Cosmos is ongoing Creativity, “never-ending renewal” it may be termed, and that this is expressed in Earth’s Seasonal Wheel through the transitions of Autumn,Winter, Spring, Summer; and in the ubiquitous process of a Cosmic Triplicity of Space to Be, Urge to Be and this Place of Being, a dynamic that has often been imagined as the Triple Goddess. In the flow of the PaGaian Wheel of the Year, the Seasonal transitions of the Wheel and the Triplicity of the Cosmos come together. There are two celebrations of the Old One/Crone or the Cosmogenetic quality of autopoiesis creating the Space to Be; and they are Lammas/Late Summer and Samhain/Deep Autumn, which are the meridian points of the two quarters of the waxing dark phase. At Lammas, the first in the dark phase, we may identify with the dark and ancient Wise One – dissolve into Her; at Samhain, we may consciously participate in Her process of the transformation of death/the passing of all. The whole dark part of the cycle is about dissolving/dying/letting go of being – becoming – nurturing it (the midwifing of Lammas/Late Summer), stepping into the power of it (the certain departure of Autumn Equinox/Mabon), the fertility (of Samhain/Deep Autumn), the peaking of it (at Winter Solstice). The meridian points of the two quarters of the waxing light phase then are celebrations of the Young One/Virgin or the Cosmogenetic quality of differentiation, the new continually emerging, the Urge to Be; and they are Imbolc/Early Spring and Beltaine/High Spring. At Imbolc, the first in the light phase, we may identify with She who is shining and new – as we take her form; at Beltaine, we may consciously participate in Her process of the dance of life. The whole light part of the cycle is about coming into being: nurturing it (the midwifing of Imbolc/Early Spring), stepping into the power of it (the certain return of Spring Equinox/Eostar), the fertility (of Beltaine/High Spring), the peaking of it (at Summer Solstice). In the PaGaian wheel of ceremony there are two particular celebrations of the Mother, the Cosmogenetic quality of communion; and they are the Solstices. If one imagines the light part of the cycle as a celebration of the ‘Productions of Time’, and the dark part of the cycle as a celebration of ‘Eternity’, the Solstices then are meeting points, points of interchange, and are celebrations of the communion/relational field of Eternity with the Productions of Time. This is a relationship which does happen in this Place, in this Web. This Place of Being, this Web, is a Communion – it is the Mother; the Solstices mark Her birthings, Her gateways. The Equinoxes then – both Spring and Autumn – are two celebrations wherein the balance of all three Faces/Creative qualities is particularly present: in the PaGaian wheel, the Equinoxes have been special celebrations of Demeter and Persephone – echoing the ancient tradition of Mother-Daughter Mysteries that celebrate the awesomeness of the continuity of life, its creative tension/balance. Both Equinoxes then are celebrations and contemplations of empowerment through deep Wisdom – one contemplation during the dark phase and one during the light phase. The Autumn Equinox is a descent to Wisdom, the Spring Equinox is an emergence with Wisdom gained. I like to think of the Equinoxes, and of the ancient icons of Demeter and Persephone, as celebrations of the delicate ‘curvature of space-time’, the fertile balance of tensions which enables it all. Her Creative Place The Mother aspect then may be understood to be particularly present at four of the Seasonal Moments, which are also regarded traditionally as the Solar festivals; and in this cosmology Sun is felt as Mother. I recognize these four as points of interchange: at Autumn Equinox, Mother is present primarily as Giver – She is letting Persephone go, at Spring Equinox, She is present primarily as Receiver – welcoming the Daughter back, at Winter Solstice the Mother gives birth, creates form, at Summer Solstice, She opens again full of radiance, and disperses form. The Mother is Agent/Actor at the Solstices. She is Participant/Witness at the Equinoxes, where it is then really Persephone who is Agent/Actor, embodying an inseparable Young One and Old One. The Old One is often named as Hecate, who completes the Trio – all seamlessly within each other. Another possible way to visual it, or to tell the story, is this: The Mother – Demeter – is always there, at the Centre if you like. Persephone cycles around. She is the Daughter who returns in the Spring as flower, who will become fruit/grain of the Summer, who at Lammas assents to the dissolution – the consumption. At Autumn Equinox She returns to the underworld as seed – Her harvest is rejoiced in, Her loss is grieved, as She becomes Sovereign of the Underworld – Her face changes to the Dark One, Crone (Hecate). As the wheel turns into the light part of the cycle She becomes Young One/Virgin again. Persephone (as Seed) is that part of Demeter that can be all three aspects – can move through the complete cycle. The Mother and Daughter are really One, and embody the immortal process of creation and destruction. Demeter hands Persephone the wheat, the Mystery, and the thread of life is unbroken – it goes on forever. It is immortal, it is eternal. Even though it is true that all will be lost, and all is lost – Being always arises again: within this field of time there is never-ending renewal, eternity. This is what is revealed in the ubiquitous three faces of the Creative Dynamic/ She of Old, the Triplicity that runs through the Cosmos. The Seed of Life never …
(Photography & Poetry) Thoughts of Spring by Deanne Quarrie

Spring At the highest point on the tree, you stretch, reaching for the sun. Your pink petals elegant in their grace, you stand alone. Bravest of all, for leaves have yet to come to offer shade Branches bare except for furry buds that will soon follow in imitation of your daring first move. Intrepid flower of Spring, I feel like you in my yearning for the Sun!
(Video) An Autumn Equinox Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Autumn Equinox/Mabon Northern Hemisphere – September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere – March 21-23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRJNY1LSvIs&t=1175s …oOo… The purpose of this 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. The script for this Autumn Equinox/Mabon ceremony is offered in Chapter 11 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. In particular I mention here, credit for the story of Demeter and Persephone as told by Charlene Spretnak in her book Lost Goddesses of Early Greece. For more full participation in the ceremony, you could have one or more stalks of wheat or native grain tied with a red thread/ribbon, a garden pot with soil, a small garden trowel, a flower bulb (daffodil type), food and drink, that may represent your “harvest” – ready for eating and drinking. 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). The images used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Autumn Equinox ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Autumn Equinox ceremonies I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space in NSW Australia, Darug and Gundungurra country. My partner Robert (Taffy) Seaborne who has participated in all the Seasonal ceremonies since Samhain 2000, adds his voice to this video. Image credits: Demeter and Persephone (500 B.C.E. Greece). Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.72. Art of Demeter and Persephone on MoonCourt wall: Cernak Herself Music credit: “Gentle Sorrow” by Sky: which he has previously allowed me to use in my work. This piece of music is also used in the Autumn Equinox meditation on my PaGaian Cosmology Meditations published 2015.
(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
(Music) Songs for Samhain by Alison Newvine

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

(Art) Mago by Lydia Ruyle

Mago of old Korea and East Asia, also known as Magu, Mako, Samsin Halmeoni (Triad Grandmother Goddess) and Cheonsin (Heavenly Deity), is the Great Goddess. Mago is the progenitor, creatrix, and ultimate sovereign. Early gynocentric cultures venerated Her in many forms. Her multivalent identities include an immortal, mendicant, crone, shaman, and/or nature-shaper of mountains, rocks, caves and seas. In art, Mago often carries a basket of lingzi mushrooms, medicinal herbs and flowers–all symbols of immortality. Source: Painting c. 1400 CE by Seokgyeong. Joseon Dynasty. Korea (Meet Mago Contributor) Lydia Ruyle.
(Budoji Essay 2) The Magoist Cosmogony by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“Mago, the eponymous Goddess, is the head, ruler, and guardian of Mago-seong. She represents the eco-community of the Earth in the intergalactic universe.” [Author’s Note: This and subsequent essays are part of the forthcoming book tentatively entitled, The Magoist Cosmogony from the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), Translation and Interpretation, Volume 1, that I am currently writing. I am indebted to Harriet Ann Ellenberger, who has given me her prompt feedback and editorial advice in a most supportive manner. I am thankful to Dr. Glenys Livingstone, who has inspired me to write this book sooner than later. I am also grateful for Rosemary Mattingley, who has provided copy-editing of my essays in Return to Mago Webzine.] Chapter One (Translation) Mago-seong was the grand castle located in the highest place on earth. Revering the Heavenly Emblem (Cheon-bu), it succeeded the Former Heaven (Seon-cheon). There were four Heavenly Persons[i] at the four corners of the castle. They built pillars and sounded music.[ii] The eldest was named Hwang-gung (Yellow Gung),[iii] the second Cheong-gung (Blue Gung), the third Baek-so (White So), and the last Heuk-so (Black So). Mother of two Gungs was Gung-hui (Goddess Gung)[iv] and mother of two Sos was So-hui (Goddess So). Gung-hui and So-hui were the daughters of Mago. Mago was born in Jim-se (My/Our/This World).[v] Mago had no [human] emotion of pleasure and resentment. Taking the Former Heaven male and the Latter Heaven female, Mago bore two Hui Goddesses without mate. Like Mago, two Goddesses, without mate but by the emotion [of the cosmic periods], each bore two Heavenly Persons and two Heavenly Women. They were four Heavenly Persons and four Heavenly Goddesses in all. [i] Here “in” in Cheon-in 天人 is transliterated as a gender-neutral term, “beings.” It means “a person” but often transliterated as “a man.” [ii] The whole sentence can also be translated as “They made tubes and composed music.” [iii] “Ssi” in Hwang-gung-ssi 黃穹氏 intimates both a leader by name of Hwang-gung and the clan led by Hwang-gung. Other terms of “Cheong-gung-ssi,” “Baek-so-ssi,” and “Heuk-so-ssi” are used in the same way. [iv] Literally “hui” in Gung-hui 穹姬 and So-hui 巢姬 means a woman. Since it refers to Mago’s two daughters, I translated it “Goddess.” [v] “Jim” in Jim-se 朕世 can be transliterated as “my,” “our,” or “this.” ◊ Mago-seong (Mago Castle) was the grand castle located on the highest place on the Earth. Mago-seong, located on the highest mountain, is the primordial home of Mago, the Primordial Goddess, and Her descendants, human ancestors. Mago-seong also refers to the Earth itself (see Chapter 2). Mago, the eponymous Goddess, is the head, ruler, and guardian of Mago-seong. She represents the eco-community of the Earth in the intergalactic universe. Mago-seong’s location on the highest mountain symbolizes Mago-seong’s supremacy as the prototype of a Magoist state that will follow the cosmogonic event. Mago-seong’s location also indicates its proximity to the extraterrestrial cosmos, in particular to the Sun, the direct cause of the auto-genesis of all things on Earth. Mago-seong: Paradisiacal home of Mago and Her descendants, human ancestors. The axis mundi (world axis, center of the world) of the Magoist cosmogony.
(Bell Essay 7) The Magoist Whale Bell: Decoding the Cetacean Code of Korean Temple Bells by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note: This and ensuing sequels are excerpts of a new development from the original essay sequels on Korean Temple Bells and Magoism that first published January 11, 2013 in this current magazine. See (Bell Essay 1) Ancient Korean Bells and Magoism by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.] Whale Mallet, Temple Bell in Sudeok-sa, Chungnam Korea Sources and Methods of Studying the Magoist Whale Bell It is not possible to present the topic in any comprehensive manner due to its complex and outlandish nature. As a whole, its elusive manifestations makes some of this essay’s premises provisional, leaving room for definite conclusions. I suggest that this essay be read as a primer to the large topic, Korean Magoist cetaceanism. I have built this essay on my previously published essay sequels on the Korean temple bell as well as my book, The Mago Way: Re-discovering the Great Goddess Mago from East Asia, on the Magoist Cosmogony.[1] It also draws from my forthcoming essay on Korean Magoist cetacean culture. Importantly, I am indebted to the work of Sungkyu Kim, advocate of Korean cetaceanism, for his valuable insights on the Korean temple bell and Korean cetaceanism in general. While his cross-cultural assessments of ancient Korean cetacean customs are often compelling, his cetacean hermeneutic on the pacifying flute story is in particular indispensable in securing the evidence of Sillan cetacean worship by the generations of Sillan rulers. That said, however, what distinguishes this essay from his work lies in the recognition that Korean cetaceanism is not monolithic totem worship. I hold that Korean cetaceanism was born and flowered within the context of Old Magoism. Here Old Magoism refers to the pre-patriarchal (read pre-Chinese) tradition of East Asia that venerates the Great Goddess, Mago.[2] In turn, the cetacean consciousness of ancient East Asian Magoists enabled a revelation of the Magoist Cosmogony. Thus, Korean cetaceanism is inextricably intertwined with the mytho-history of Magoism. It went underground, as the symbolic power of women inscribed in Magoism was removed from the public space in the course of history. In this light, Kim’s cetacean thought remains revisionist rather than reconstructionist, meaning not radical enough, unable to ask such critical questions as how the Sinocentric mytho-history of Korea or the Buddhist historiography has rendered Korean cetaceanism invisible and what that means to Koreans and the world. Most critically, Kim’s discussion of the Sillan whale bell and the pacifying flute underestimates their musical (read cosmogonic) implications. They are not of a mere musical instrument to call the whale to dance. True that the concept of music is much underestimated outside the context of the Magoist Cosmogony as a whole. The whale bell as well as the pacifying flute represents the regalia of Sillan Magoist rulers who undertook the Magoist mandate of bringing the terrestrial sonic resonance to harmonize the cosmic music of Yulryeo. The whale bell marks a new watershed wherein Sillan rulers successfully reinvented the legacy of Magoist shaman rulers of Old Magoism from the ancient inland mountain culture into the maritime culture of Silla. Stories on the pacifying flute and Manbulsan (Mountain of Ten Thousand Buddhas), the two major myths directly concerning the cetacean code of Korean temple bells, are drawn from the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three States), the 13th century text that recounts myths, legends, and historical events of ancient Korean States including Silla (57 BCE-935), Goguryeo (37 BCE-668), Baekje (18 BCE-660), and Gaya (42-562) from an orthodox Buddhist perspective.[3] To be noted is that the Samguk Yusa (1281), together with another official historical text of Korea, the Samguk Sagi (1145), is a Sinocentric text that tailors ancient Korean history and territory to fit the historical framework of China. As a Sinocentric text, the Samguk Yusa takes a pro-Chinese perspective and presents ancient Korea as a humble little brother who owes Imperial China for his civilized culture. In it, Korean history and territory are curtailed to fit those of Imperial China. Put differently, the Samguk Yusa is a product of a Buddhist evangelist author, Ilyeon (1206-1289), whose interest was in establishing Buddhism of China and India at the cost of traditional Korean Magoism. Among modern Korean historians who are critical of Sinocentric Korean historiography is Sin Chaeho (1880-1936). As Sin’s advocacy of Korean ethnic historiography is largely aligned with the mytho-historical reconstruction of Magoism, I borrow his assessments of the Samguk Yusa and the Samguk Sagi here. Sin maintains that the loss of pre-Chinese Korean history primarily owes to the two survived Korean history books, the Samguk Yusa and the Samguk Sagi, that reduce and distort ancient Korean history. Precisely because of the Sinocentric (read patriarchal and imperialist) take, these two books have survived the persecution of pre-Chinese Korean Magoist historical books. Sin’s poignant criticism goes on to say that the Samguk Yusa employs the Sanskrit words for the names of people and places from the pre-Buddhist period of Wanggeom Joseon and that the Samguk Sagi ascribes Confucian phrases to the speech of Korean warriors who dismiss Confucius thought.[4] What Sin does not see is, however, that the authors of both books chose to be pro-Chinese or pro-Indian to subvert the female-centered tradition of Old Korea, Magoism. In short, they resort to Buddhism and Confucianism, the two major patriarchal religions of East Asia, respectively over against indigenous Magoism. The patriarchal time was waging a war against Magoists and life in general. I hold that both texts mark the milestones that escalated the process of patriarchalization in Korea, which took place much slowerly and later than in China. Damage is not done to Korean history only. A lie brings more lies. In the case of the Samguk Yusa, the portrayal of Sillan Buddhism is distorted. On the surface, the Samguk Yusa treats Esoteric Buddhism as a reservoir of miraculous legendary stories that fertilized orthodox Buddhism. On a deeper level, it dismantles a tie between Magoist cetacean worship and Esoteric Buddhism. The Samguk Yusa’s Buddhist perspective aligned with the Sinocentric historical framework is inherently inadequate in defining Sillan Esoteric …

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