August 28, 2024October 10, 2024 ANewvineLeave a comment

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

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

August 27, 2024August 27, 2024 Mago Work1 Comment

(Essay) Creating New Seasons and Rituals by Francesca Tronetti

Transitional spaces, time, or events can be physical points, like a border or the entrance to a temple, or they can define the boundaries of our perceptions or responses. Sometimes, Read More …

August 26, 2024September 1, 2024 ANewvine4 Comments

(E-interview) Trista Hendren by Alison Newvine

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

August 24, 2024August 21, 2024 Mago Work2 Comments

(Meet Mago Contributor) Stephanie Mines, Ph.D.

Dr. Stephanie Mines is the author of five books that reflect over three decades of research as a neuroscientist. She has investigated shock and trauma as a survivor, a professional, Read More …

July 12, 2024June 30, 2024 Carolyn BoydLeave a comment

(Essay) A Cardinal Comes Calling by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Recently, a cardinal came to me and in only a few seconds and without words conveyed to me a simple message that brought comfort and solace, but also expressed how Read More …

July 11, 2024June 24, 2024 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Book Excerpt 5) Rainbow Goddess: Celebrating Neurodiversity ed. by K. L. Aldred, P. Daly, T Albanna, and Trista Hendren

[Editor’s Note: This anthology was published by Girl God Books (2022).] “Neurodiversity Holds Keys to Unlock Patriarchal Prisons” by Trinity Shea Thomas Great news! Neurodiversity (ND) holds keys to unlock Read More …

July 10, 2024July 11, 2024 ANewvineLeave a comment

(Music) Spirit Walk by Alison Newvine

“The eagle within me Speaks of peace and courage The mountain within me Speaks of strength and solitude” ~ Dionne Kohler This drum and voice piece explores the myriad ways Read More …

July 8, 2024June 19, 2024 Mago WorkLeave a comment

Becoming Plant by Sara Wright

“I did not know to recognize you as individuals when I bought you, but I know to recognize you as individuals now…” Xochitl Alvizo This morning, I read an excellent essay Read More …

July 5, 2024June 27, 2024 Mago WorkLeave a comment

(Poem) what Lupa says by Susan Hawthorne

air is sweet in this forest as we followearth’s ridge toward an Etruscanhollow Diana runningalongside me shrine of Demeter dug deep in soilscraped from earth’s heartsmells of two millenniaunderworld protection Read More …

July 4, 2024May 12, 2024 Mago Work1 Comment

(Art Essay) Mirroring Stars: These Bird Woman Icons Embody Time and Direction by Claire Dorey

[Author’s Note: Follows thought processes in “Seshat Mistress of the Yoniverse,” “The Language of Stars and This Broken Wing.”] I do not like what they have done to the swan, Read More …

July 3, 2024June 25, 2024 Mago Work1 Comment

Floating by Dale Allen

Floating on my back in my home waters of Long Island Sound. Arms outstretched to each side. Complete Utter Relaxation. My Dad, Dan Morgan, used to do this. And then, Read More …

July 2, 2024June 19, 2024 Mago Work3 Comments

(Poem) Sicily by Mary Saracino

How was I to know I’d be coming home when first I tasted the salt sea air of your sun-stained shores? Isola Bella, something rattled my DNA, dislodging its memory Read More …

July 1, 2024April 19, 2024 RTMeditorsKG1 Comment

I am/We are/She is, the Ancient One, the Transformation of the Ages by Glenys Livingstone

Each morning as part of my Triple Goddess Breath Meditation, at the conclusion of my morning exercise/yoga routine, I remember: I am the Ancient One. I always say this with Read More …

(Essay) Forgiveness or Truth: Which Is the Best Remedy? by Carol P. Christ

What happened to you really was bad. This should not happen to any child. It should not have happened to you. In our culture there is often a rush to forgiveness that precedes acknowledging the harm that has been done. When I was a child and my father yelled at me or withheld love, I was told by mother, “He really does love you. He just does not know how to show it.” She sometimes added, “Even though he will never say he is sorry, you should forgive your father, because he did not really mean what he said.” As a child I “learned my lesson well.” I came to the conclusion that women must “read between the lines” of the behavior and words of men, because men cannot and do not express their true feelings. This “lesson” did not serve me well in my life. Quite the opposite. When I loved a man and he did not treat me well, I remembered my mother’s words. “He does love me,” I told myself, “he just doesn’t know how to show it.” My mother passed on a very good recipe for accepting abuse. “Hold on,” I can hear you thinking, “Your mother was only trying to protect you.” Of course she was, but her words had exactly the opposite effect. Instead of helping me to deal with life, my mother’s words confused me. My mother taught me that where men are concerned the word “love” does not have its ordinary meaning, the one I learned from her love for me. Where men are concerned “love” is complicated and mysterious: what does not look or feel like love really is love. Sorry Mom, but that was bullshit! I know you wanted me to find love and happiness and were often puzzled when I didn’t. You wondered if it was anything you did. Despite your best intentions, it was something you did. Psychoanalyst Alice Miller was in her sixties when she finally recognized the truth that set her free. In Breaking Down the Wall of Silence, she writes of “the liberating experience of facing painful truth.” She states that not only parents but also therapists and religious leaders are all too often afraid of facing painful truth. What is the truth they are afraid of facing? In my family it was simply this: “No father should treat his children like that. Your father should not treat you like that.” If I had heard these words, Miller explains, it would have been painful. But it would have been the truth. It would have been difficult for me to accept that at times my father really was abusive and cruel. It might have been even more painful for my mother to acknowledge that her husband really was abusive and cruel to her children. But the alternative was more painful and in its own way more abusive and cruel. Where is the abuse in being told a “white lie” about abuse? The child who is told a lie about the pain she is experiencing is being told to suppress her feelings. She is being told that her valid feelings that “this hurts” and “this should not be happening to me,” are wrong and cannot be acknowledged or expressed. In other words “feeling your own feelings” is not OK. If all or most children are raised not to feel their own feelings, it is no wonder that adults who have been raised not to feel their own feelings continue to be afraid to face painful truths. We allow ourselves and those around us to be abused and then we cover abuse up with white lies. Alice Miller asks: “Why should I forgive, when no one is asking me to? I mean, my parents refuse to understand and to know what they did to me. … [My forgiveness] doesn’t help my parents to see the truth. But it does prevent me from experiencing my feelings, the feelings that would give me access to the truth.” Alice Miller was in her sixties when she finally discovered that “The truth about childhood, as many of us have had to endure it, is inconceivable, scandalous, painful.” She was not talking only about sexual and physical abuse—which we now know are rampant. She was also talking about a kind of psychological abuse that is even more widespread: parents who expect their children to do as they are told and not to do what they feel like doing are abusing their children. These children are being taught to suppress their feelings in order to please their parents. Often the feelings that are being suppressed are not even anger or resentment but simple joy and excitement about life. I was in my forties when I began to understand this. I often thought that since I was rarely hit (though often spanked) and never sexually abused, nothing “really bad” ever happened to me. I now understand that being told not to express my feelings but to suppress them so that I would not upset my father or other adults really was abuse. It is no wonder that my feelings were a mystery to me as an adult and that it took years of therapy before I began to experience and trust them. After my mother died, she came to me in a dream that had the force of revelation. In it she acknowledged the painful truth of my childhood and my brothers’ childhoods. She asked for my forgiveness and warned me never to love a man so much that I would allow myself to deny the harm he is doing to others. In my dream I thanked my mother for finally telling me the truth, and I did forgive her. As for my father, I do not hate him, in fact I wish him well. But I do not forgive him for something he has never acknowledged he did. This is the painful truth of my life. As a teacher and as a friend, I hear and have …
(Essay 2) Private Religion in Pompeii: An examination of two lararia from Pompeii by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

Two Lararia from Pompeii The intermingling of deities, both insiders and outsiders, is most evident in private contexts, where no formal stricture limited personal religious expression, most notably in the household shrines that formed the locus of cult in Roman domestic worship[1]. Boyce wrote that the lararium of the shop[2] (Corpus, no. 499) was decorated with pained images, “the Genius and, below him, a single serpent; to the left of the door is Mercury between a cock and an omphalos[3] around which a serpent is coiled.” In this lararium, we find an image of the genius of the household; the serpent found in most lararia coiled around an omphalos, a stone representing the navel of the world; and Mercury, the god of wealth and luck. Since this lararium is located within a shop, the worship of the god Mercury would be used to draw his blessing to the shop and to bring about good trade and wealth. The genius, an inherited god, may indicate that ownership of this shop is passed on from father to son. Therefore, the genius is there to watch over the family’s holding and protect it for another generation. Picture of lararium from the Case dei Vetti. Image taken from http://cti.itc.virginia.edu/~jjd5t/region-vi/vettii/vettii-table1.html According to Boyce, the lararium found in the Casa dei Vetti (Corpus no. 211) is, “one of the largest, and at the same time finest lararia in Pompeii, consisting of a lararium painting within an aedicule.” Situated on the western wall of the smaller atrium, the aedicule, small shrine is flanked by two Corinthian half-columns and is surrounded on three sides by three bands of elaborate stucco ornamentation in red, blue and yellow. The lararium painting found on the back wall of the aedicule is done on a white background. In the center of the painting is the genius, a young man wearing toga with purple border drawn over his head. Flanking the genius are wreathed Lares, each wearing a white tunic with a purple sash. Underneath this image is that of a bearded serpent with a brown back and a yellow belly that “glides through plants towards a square alter,” painted at the right edge of the image. From the elaborate decoration and display on lararium we can assume that the worship of deities was influenced by how much a family could afford to spend on the lararium. That while there were commonly depicted figures, those who could afford to pay artists to decorate their lararium, possibly to bring great fortune from the gods they worshipped. Conclusion We cannot say with certainty that in the ancient Roman world, the worship of specific deities was restricted to those of different classes or occupations. Some conclusions can be drawn, however, as to why various gods were represented in a lararium, what they meant, and why a lararium might contain them. If the shop was owned by the individual who worked in it, then the deities in the lararium have specific meanings attached to them besides merely the bringing of wealth. The genius would have represented the head of the household who might have worked there and his desire to pass the shop onto his heirs after his death. The depiction of Mercury is part of this desire to continue the family work as Mercury would bring wealth and new trading opportunities to the owner. The lararium from the Casa dei Vetti, a large household, shows elaborate images of the Lares and the genius, along with the more familiar depiction of the serpent. It does not show, however, pictures of personal deities. We can draw some conclusions about this lararium by examining others and from the statuettes contained in them, as well as those statuettes that were taken by people as they fled the city. We can make the argument that in these lararium members of the household most likely had statuettes of personal deities displayed on the shelf of the shrine. That these statuettes could change when a son succeeded his father, or if the family took on a new personal protector. Also, the individual deities could change while the essential household deities, the Lares and genius, would remain constant, always watching over and protecting the family. In examining a lararium, the researcher must remember several essential facts to grasp the complexities of religion and worship in the ancient Roman world. First, that there were several levels of religious practice; public, cult and private. Second, that as the Roman Empire expanded, the people incorporated new gods into the pantheon of deities for cultic and private worship. And third, that the secret religion that took place in the home was individual to the pater of the house. The main lararium, if there were two, contained the Lares and the genius of the head of the household and not that of the servants or slaves. Within this lararium would probably have been statuettes which may or may not be present. The statuettes of deities, if they are found, may have replaced the previous gods of the pater’s father. Or even have been replaced at some point by the pater. So, unless one is examining a recently uncovered lararium or one in which all statuettes and objects were still present, we cannot say for sure what statues were housed in the lararium. While there were common elements to most lararia; the Lares, Penates and genius, there did not exist a standard way of worship within the home. The private worship of deities was a personal matter for the individual based upon their needs and beliefs. Again, the creation and use of altars from Pompeii are very similar to home altars kept by worshippers today. Images of saints, statues of deities, offerings, and candles, the items of reverence on an altar will change as the needs of the person change or as their situation changes. A pregnant woman might make offerings to a deity or saint to keep her safe …
(Translation) The Heart’s Perfect Wisdom, Mantra of the Heart Sutra by J. A. Burnett

The Heart Sutra: A Dual Language Translation in Verse Palms pressed, I lower my gaze to Guanyin, who hears all sorrows Shifts of consciousness and expanded awareness are effects that have interested humanity since the beginning. Using chanting and language—gaining signifiers bound to sounds is one way to engage pure awareness of mind to effect change. This can be termed various things, such as radical consciousness, or energy manipulation. But whatever the system or phenomena is called, there is something undeniable in tying sound-vibration to intention. Mantras are a part of the ancient practice of chanting. But to all readers, power without guidance is foolish danger. If you choose to follow the path a teacher’s guidance is recommended. In the Heart’s Perfect Wisdom, known famously as the Heart Sutra, the mantra we will examine is the last line of the work. That was my start. Moons ago, when I started this study, I was curious as to what the words could mean from the perspective of the modern vernacular languages that derive from Sanskrit. From the standpoint of a reverse-engineered folk-etymology—I started my translation. I kept this style of backwards looking because I wanted to see if this mantra stood the test of time. I gave it a modern treatment. Would its transcendent nature prove timeless? I’ll explain below. On the Narrative: When the blessédBodhisattva Avalokiteśvara realized how to forever liberate all beings from suffering and sorrow, she taught the way to her student. This sutra, a sacred Buddhist scripture, explains that moment. On the Heart’s Perfect Wisdom: Easily the most popular Buddhist teaching, the Heart Sutra is an exposition of many profound truths; Some lines say that things do not have any permanent, inherent, or absolute nature. Other lines express that phenomena do not arises alone; all is subject to the interdependency of mutual causes and conditions in oneness. This is expressed as the Bodhisattva Guanyin tells the Heart’s Perfect Wisdom to her one student, teaching him the mantra that moves worlds. On the Global Heart Sutra: This sacred teaching is considered to be the cosmic birthplace of all who awaken. Across different lineages of Buddhist teachings from India, Tibet, China, Malaysia, Korea, and Japan. the Heart Sutra is considered to be the final revelation that expounds the final and fundamental truth. This path is a process to awakening individual primordial awareness, and to free the mind. As the last word in Buddhism, it is considered the pinnacle and summation of all Buddhist thought. The Heart’s Perfect Wisdom is considered auspicious, purifying and most holy. It is chanted worldwide, having a place at life events and Buddhist rituals. This Sutra began India in the time of the oral tradition. It was first scribed in the 1st century and additional written documents of the class of prajnaparamita literature has been found and dated to the 7th century. On Mysticism: As a musician I’ve spent decades discerning playing notes, aiming to get closer to the truth. Frequencies intone vibration, giving them a house for energy. In this sutra, the sound and meanings of sacred mantras provide a vibrational powerhouse of energy. I am still on my journey to literacy in translation of Hindi and Sanskrit considering semantics, inflection and cadence as well as respecting the multivalency of language. From there I dance with various metrical forms of verse to smith the perfect sounds and cement their meanings. प्रज्ञापारमिताहॄदय सूत्रं ॐ नमः सर्वज्ञाय ॥ तद्यथा । गते गते पारगते परसंगते बोधि सवाहा ॥ The Heart’s Perfect Wisdom. Uttering the sound of the three states of existence I enter mystic union of oneness with the entire cosmos In the three worlds, in the three times, my breath Binds the sound AUM purifying the body, speech and mind. I take refuge and invoke the awakened mind of the Goddess who knows all and hears all suffering. Gone gone crossed over gone Completely beyond gone to the far shore Awakened And all is good Notes on Translation On Contemplation: When studied the Maha Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutra, (The scripture of the Heart’s Transcendental Perfect Wisdom) known as the “Heart Sutra,” I contemplated it for a long time. I let it take residence in my voice box, subtly sounding the vibrations as I integrated this Sutra into my spiritual practice. This sacred recitation mainly lived in my spoken voice. After seasons of holding this Sutra close to me, I felt my own heart awakening, blossoming like a lotus. On Form: The verse form of the line is also measured with vowel harmony over the entirety of the line through assonance expressed with glides, nasals, and liquids throughout. On Diction: The sutra and its mantra are timeless. To do justice to the timeless nature of this ever-present wisdom, I have tried to render the words into everyday speech. The translation of the mantra of the Heart Sutra uses modern language. This mitigates the need for historical or spiritual context into Buddhist cosmology or culture and abandons the intellectualism of the orthodox and normative Buddhist type of translation glosses. In doing so I maintain the tradition of the effortless view by keeping the diction to what is simple straightforward speech. This was the aim of my words and their expression. On Pronunciation: I have some background speaking Hindi from the impressions of the sounds speakers from Kolkata. In those traditions I have learned the majority of my prayers, rituals and general accent. When this sutra is chanted in Sanskrit, nasalization can be employed to demarcate the end of a passage or phrase. This changes the vowels and consonant syllables slightly as their voicings are intoned through the nose. The View: All is good, and the view is luminous and spontaneous space. With various traditions, views and lineages, different interpretations abide. These ideas confer assignments of different philosophical positions as well as practices of yoga and meditation. Sometimes ideas are expressed as a philosophical view taken, other times these energies enact as a ritual within meditation. There are …
(Call for Contributions) Welcome in the new year!

Magoism, the Way of S/HE is now in its third year; we’ve posted nearly 500 contributions from all over the world, all thought-provoking, all unique. We need your help to continue these magnificent contributions well into the new year! It is a busy time of year, yet it is also a time to reflect. In reflecting, you might remember or create an essay, poem, art, film, music or some other genre. If you have anything that might be suitable, please let us know. It can be something new or something you’ve already published, stand-alone, part of a series, an extract. We’ve posted most submissions we’ve received. So give it a go, we’d love to hear from you! Here’s a guide to what we’re broadly looking for: http://magoism.net/people/call-for-contribution/
(Art Essay 2) Conversations with Women and Plants: A transcendental opening via the Voynich portal by Claire Dorey

[Author’s note: Page numbers are referenced as they appear in the actual manuscript as per The Voynich Manuscript,Yale Books, not this PDF. Link to PDF of the Voynich Manuscript, holybooks.com. Feel free to peruse before reading.] Art by Claire Dorey Nature is nurture, is art, is patience, is medicine. When night flowers and thistles whisper in the breeze listen to their secrets and ask what you can grow in your imagination. Botanical spas were popular during the Renaissance and imagery shows women and men bathing together, yet in the Voynich the narrative is female. Ten nymph-women bathe, in a viridescent, brew, beneath what appears to be a medieval tent (p76a). Look closer: it has a ‘chicory’ canopy, symbolising the cosmic-plant energy of the astrological medicine wheel. Apotropaic magic rains on the bathers. Wavy petals, code for Alkaid’s power, fringe the ‘canopy’ and decorate a tubular ‘plant stem’ rising to the cosmos – a conduit for star magic. The ‘tent poles’ are ‘plant stems’ delivering divine and cerebral energy to the bather’s crown chakras. There are two ‘chicory canopies’, beneath which six women face four women, seemingly in conversation. Above the six, a crucifix. Above the four – none. Does this image show women in conversation, talking Christian and Pagan beliefs? “Whosoever counts these Lays as fable, may be assured that I am not of his mind.” – Marie de France. – “Marie de France Quotes.” BrainyQuote.com. Women “languish in the footnotes” of medieval history but the poetry of Marie de France (born 1160) implies some enjoyed sexual and intellectual freedom, contrary to church orthodoxy. “Rosemary is the jewel of the Mediterranean and in Italy it’s said that rosemary grows near homes filled with strong women.” – Paige Vanderbeck, Green Witchcraft: A Practical Guide to Discovering the Magic of Plants, Herbs, Crystals and Beyond. Prick of nettle, thorn of rose, women’s hands blister and bleed foraging for magic. Blood drops on the white, lacy ‘wild carrot’ flower symbolise plant wisdom passing from fingertip to fingertip. Beyond the bathtub the conversation is female. Umbilical cords link bathtub to bathtub, describing a lineage of womb spaces – a matrix of ancestral plant wisdom in flow, incubated by the sisterhood (pp 77a,78,79a,81,84,85). Motherwort (mother root) supports the heart-yoni connection. Women’s hands reach into plant stem conduits (flowers removed) representing foraging, distilling, brewing and administering astro-plant magic via ‘plant straws’ (p77,78a,79a,82,83,84a). Are they ‘talking’ emmenagogues, abortifacients, galactagogues, contraceptives and anodynes – herbs to support female body autonomy? Art by Claire Dorey One illustration is decidedly fallopian (p78a). A women sits upon an astral flower-womb, flanked by and connected to two women sitting upon flower-ovaries. Dangling from the flower-womb are what could be three magic mushrooms or three heart-shaped seeds – perhaps a homage to silphium, the possibly extinct contraceptive, aphrodisiac and abortifacient herb, revered by Minoans and ancient Egyptians. In The Offering of the Heart, a medieval tapestry, the heart became a romantic symbol. Three women, three seeds, three florets, seems like code for the Triple Goddess to me, perhaps referencing Hecate, Prosperina and Diana. Her own boss, lunar, forest Goddess Diana was patron of witchcraft in the middle ages. Leafy sheaths become bathtubs, climbing stems, in a vertical illustration down the page margin (p80a). It’s unclear which plant this is. It resembles Angelica, cow parsley, poison hemlock and the way silphium is drawn on Kyrenaica coins. This image tells a story. The nymph-woman at the top of the stem, taking a dip in her ‘leaf sheath’ bathtub, beneath an astral, medicine wheel, flower canopy, holds a crucifix. Further down the stem, a second nymph-woman reclines in her bathtub, holding a ring that could be part of a witches tool kit; a Celtic torc: an ancient Egyptian shen ring; or the rod-and-ring symbol held by Inanna – all divine infinity / protection symbols. Does this page discuss plant and religious poison? The myth of the nymph endured through the middle ages. In Greek mythology the flower nymph Chloris who, in fear, exhaled roses, helped Hera conceive by gifting her a flower stem. The stems sprout from an emerald pool (p80a bottom) where a mermaid bathes, surrounded by animals – spirit guides or animals poisoned by hemlock? I think she is Melusine, spirit of forest ponds, who married a supernatural man-beast. This image comes with a warning: no peeking on Saturday when Melusine grows her serpent tail or she’ll hex you with plant magic. This page is peppered with plant stalks resembling ‘rainbows’ – medieval symbol linking heaven and Earth, but I don’t think this references the godhead, since Christian iconography may conceal Pagan deities (the rose symbolises Mary and Isis). One nymph-women, who’s hands are inserted into a rainbow plant stem (purple Angelica or spotted poison hemlock?) has a mermaid tail. Another, sits upon a flower whose petals are sprouting aquatic tails. Is she Melusine, striding supernatural, Pagan and Christian realities, which her oftentimes split tail iconography may describe? Melusine’s lineage stretches to Atargatis, Delphyne, Medusa, Tiamat and the Lamia – aquatic, serpent Goddesses, predating patriarchy. If I’m correct then the ‘star map’ (in part one) could feature Melusine’s castle, Château de Lusignan and Avalon, the otherworld island of ‘wisdom apples’ and lush, healing vegetation. Shapeshifting, from human to dragon, Melusine flew off there. Perhaps the ‘rainbow stems’ reference psychoactive plants and ‘flying off’ describes ‘tripping’. ‘Unguentum pharelis’ (Flying ointment) induced hallucinations and illusions of flying. Threatened, patriarchy continued to link female power with poison – in 1834 Jean-Baptiste Dumas named chloroform after Chloris. Nymph Chloris metamorphosed into Flora, who is associated with flowers from the mythical Fortunate Isles, representing longitude 0 on the medieval map. Perhaps the ‘Voynich star map’ embodies the mythologies of all the Utopian Garden Paradises, including Eden. If this document of dichotomies were the World Tree I’ve probably travelled along one twig. Many mysteries wait to emerge. The Voynich portal has transported the wilderness of my imagination to some wild places: forest ponds inhabited by female spirits; nocturnal flower meadows …
(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.] Danggan jiju (Buseoksa, Yeongju), Wikimedia Commons Anna Tzanova: I am glad that there are more and more voices adding to the choir, speaking about all this. All sacred places around the world are built on telluric/ley/dragon lines (hence, in my opinion, something I am researching and will write further, the dragon heads added to the top of the two poles of the dangganjijoo). Sacred sites are always near or over water; using granite or/and quartz to facilitate electro-magnetism and sound/acoustic is always involved. Anna Tzanova: Here is the original researcher, she mentions about, who has spoken and written about it all his life: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1sC4mbPkCJA YOUTUBE.COM Ancestral Resonance – Abd’el Hakim Awyan PT 2 Glenys Livingstone: Thank you for this Anna … very fruitful links: shared too Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Thanks so much for sharing it Anna! It is eye-opening and makes me think. Anna Tzanova: I’ve been into all this for couple of decades. It is very enlightening and exciting field. (hence me bringing the dowsing rods to Korea, remember? Anna Tzanova: Also, Hakim Awyan was truly an enlightened teacher. The fact that he was born and lived his live in the Egyptian pyramids neighborhood had some influence. His daughter, who is a friend of mine, continues his legacy. I will post more from them. Of course, all the great minds as Tesla, were aware of this. We need to first people believe in it, so it becomes a reality for all. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On Nikola TeslaTesla went on to pursue his ideas of wireless lighting and electricity distribution in his high-voltage, high-frequency power experiments in New York and Colorado Springs and made early (1893) pronouncements on the possibility of wireless communication with his devices. He tried to put these ideas to practical use in an ill-fated attempt at intercontinental wireless transmission, his unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower project.[9] In his lab, he also conducted a range of experiments with mechanical oscillators/generators, electrical discharge tubes, and early X-ray imaging. He also built a wireless controlled boat, one of the first ever exhibited.Tesla was renowned for his achievements and showmanship, eventually earning him a reputation in popular culture as an archetypal “mad scientist”.[10] His patents earned him a considerable amount of money, much of which was used to finance his own projects with varying degrees of success.[11] He lived most of his life in a series of New York hotels through his retirement. Tesla died on 7 January 1943.[12] His work fell into relative obscurity after his death, but in 1960, the General Conference on Weights and Measures named the SI unit of magnetic flux density the tesla in his honor.[13] There has been a resurgence in popular interest in Tesla since the 1990s.[14]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla Nikola Tesla – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Helen Hye-Sook Hwang History proves that Thomas Edison/US business men of the late 19th century did not have the capacity/intention to be the leader of all. Patriarchy, as usual, interrupts civilization and technology for all. Anna Tzanova: If you have more time, this is worth listening:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr2xO4s-8Lg Abd’el Hakim Awyan.mp4 Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Via Glenys Livingstone https://www.activistpost.com/2012/01/10-inventions-of-nikola-tesla-that.html The 10 Inventions of Nikola Tesla That Changed The World Glenys Livingstone: I want to re-visit this myself, as well as Anna’s links … later today I hope Sumaiyah Wysdom Yates: A wealth of information here. Thank you all for sharing. I will review it as time permits. Truly interesting. Marka Zenmyo: https://hiddenincatours.com/stone-puma-punku-bolivia…/ https://hiddenincatours.com/stone-puma-punku-bolivia-magnetic/ (End of the discussion) Join the discussion of this and other topics in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group.
(Mother's Day special art) America's Great Goddess by Lydia Ruyle

America’s Great Goddess is a dark-skinned, full-bodied woman, wearing a feathered headdress and a skirt of tobacco leaves, who in 1492 came to symbolize the First Lady of the Americas and the western hemisphere when the cultures of Europe met the cultures of the Americas. The Indian Nations east of the Mississippi River and the Caribbean were matrilineal societies in which the clan mothers possessed political power and cultural freedom. They were traders, farmers, artisans and healers. The Indian Princess fused European Liberty and Minerva to become the Great Earth Mother of the Americas. Source: Woodcut. German. 1505 CE Read Meet Mago Contributor Lydia Ruyle. We, the co-editors, contributors, and advisers, have started the Mago Web (Cross-cultural Goddess Web) to rekindle old Gynocentric Unity in our time. Now YOU can help us raise this torch high to the Primordial Mountain Home (Our Mother Earth Herself) wherein everyone is embraced in WE. There are many ways to support Return to Mago. You may donate to us. No amount is too small for us. For your time and skill, please email Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Please take an action today and we need that! Thank YOU in Goddesshood of all beings! (Click Donate button below. You can donate by credit card or bank account without registering PayPal. Find “Don’t have a PayPal account?” above the credit card icons.)
(Prose Part 1) The Bear Goddess in Europe by Sara Wright

“It is very peaceful with the bears; the people say that’s the reason human beings seldom return.” Leslie Marmon Silko The mythology of the Bear Goddess has its roots in all continents and appears in all circumpolar cultures. The giant carnivorous nine-foot cave bear was antecedent to all. The themes of the bear first as an image of the Bear Goddess as Great Mother, guardian, celestial guide, shapeshifter, marriage partner, soul bridge, healer, and agent of renewal are present in all these cultures. In this essay we will seek out the Bear Goddess as she manifests in these guises in Europe.
(Poem) Amber/honey/river/mirror by Donna Snyder

Amber drips from her ears and wrists like honey I hear the sound of brass bells She dances me up into a fog of purple smoke I see a hall of mirrors and as I pass by each mirror I see not my face but the face of all my loves I find myself beside a dying river “From my mouth to yours” I say it out loud as I drip honey into the water lick my own sweet fingers I hear wind through the cane It sounds like laughter The river accepts the honey dripping from my flesh and is gone I am on a desert mountain rough and dry I find a pot of sweet water and know that today I will not die With a needle I stitch together the fabric of my life and yours I look into the mirror and I see your face Published in Matrix, June 1999

(Special Post) To Contributors: Strengthening Our Roots by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Dear Contributors, Do you know that Return to Mago (RTM) E*Magazine is entering its fifth year this fall? And, thanks to our collective effort, we are still growing! As of today, our contributors have grown to more than 130 in number and our readership is from about 140 countries around the world. We have some hundred email followers as well as Wordpress blog followers. We draw 3000-4000 clicks per month on average; that is no small accomplishment for a Goddess blog that is named after a yet-to-be heard word, Mago (the Great Goddess), and that began from scratch.
(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 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/.

(Poetry & Photo Essay) Pongal by Susan Hawthorne

I am a secularist rather than a ritualist, but I can’t help but be drawn into the celebrations that people make when they honour the passing of the seasons. Even as a child I felt the disconnect between Christmas and the hot dusty days of summer. When Christians invaded and colonised Australia they brought their holidays but did not consider changing the dates to match the seasons. I was in India recently, invited as a speaker at the Hindu Lit For Life Festival in Chennai where I had lived ten years ago. The last day of the festival was the first day of Pongal. A friend, feminist economist Devaki Jain, who had grown up in Chennai eighty years earlier invited me to join her in a car ride to see Pongal celebrations in the streets. This is a Tamil festival dating back at least a thousand years, a sun festival, welcoming the next six months of the sun’s journey, also a harvest festival. During this time many women produce beautiful drawings, known as kolam. In my book Cow I wrote a poem about kolam which I think says more than I can explain here. what she says about kolam where they are drawn and when is all important early morning is auspicious it sets the shape of the day the hard ground is cleaned points of white grain sprinkled she works quickly she knows her design for the day runs the powdered grain from point to point it is a mandala a yantra a sign so the forces of the universe align themselves with her intentions Back to Pongal. The festival goes for four days. On the first day, which is called Bhogi, people are on the streets with the fruits of harvest, piles of tumeric and stacks of sugar cane tied in bunches. My friend, Devaki, bought flowers to take back to her room in the hotel. The second day, called Thai Pongal, I was invited to a harvest lunch at the house of my friend Mangai who is a playwright, theatre director and human rights activist. The word ‘pongal’ means ‘boiling over’ or’ overflow’ and I saw this in the cooking of the sweetened rice dish into which each of the twelve people present poured some water and milk as it almost overflowed the pot. This sweet rice dish was added to the collection of other dishes on the table. I cannot tell you what they were, but the meal was delicious. After lunch everyone relaxed, someone sang, we talked and caught up on news. The third day, is called Maatu Pongal, and cattle are at the centre of celebrations on that day. I don’t know if this line up of cattle had anything to do with the day’s celebration but there they were tied up alongside a very busy main road. These were not cows and I did not see any cows with decorated horns and flowers on their heads. on that day as I have on other occasions. On the fourth day, Kaanum Pongal, things begin to wind down. One of my co-speakers at the festival said she would be visiting family members on that day. The kolams are drawn again, sugar cane is consumed and people go back to their daily lives. What I liked about being in Tamil Nadu during the Pongal festival is that it felt absolutely right. The time of the year, the connection with harvest, so I did not feel the discomfort I so often feel in the midst of the out-of-season commercialised holidays as they are celebrated in Australia. Susan Hawthorne’s book Cow is available worldwide from distributors in USA, Canada, UK, from all the usual online retailers or from Spinifex Press. http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=215/ © Susan Hawthorne, 2019 (Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthorne.
(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!
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 7) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) at Mago Bookstore. YEARLY LEAP DAY AND EVERY FOURTH YEAR LEAP DAY Each Sa includes a Dan of the big Sa. A Dan is equal to one day. That adds to 365 days. At the half point of the third Sa, there is a Pan of the big Sak (the year of the great dark moon). A Pan comes at a half point of Sa. This is of Beopsu (Lawful Number) 2, 5, 8. A Pan is equal to a day. Therefore, the fourth Sa has 366 days. Each year has a leap day (Dan), which makes a total of 365 days. Every fourth year is a leap year that has a leap day (Pan), which makes a total of 366 days. The Dan day comes before the New Year in the winter solstice month. And the Pan day comes before the first day of the summer solstice month in the fourth year. The above, however, does not indicate when the New Year comes. Logographic characters of Dan and Pan each suggest their meanings. While each year includes the Dan day (the morning), every fourth year has the Pan day. A unit of four years makes the Big Calendar. Dan (旦 Morning) Leap day for every first three years Pan (昄 Big) Leap day for every fourth year I have postulated that the year begins on the Dan day (one leap day), a day before New Year that comes in the month of Winter Solstice in the Norther Hemisphere. And the Pan day comes on the day before the first day of the 7th month that has Summer Solstice in the fourth year in the Norther Hemisphere. Years Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Months Dan Dan Dan Dan 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 Pan 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 Days 365 365 365 366 The Magoist Calendar’s intercalation involves one leap day every year and one leap day every four years. That is, each year has one extra day to make it 365 days. Every fourth year has an extra day to make it 366 days. Four years has a total of 1461 days (365×3+366), which makes the mean of 365.25 days. Considering that the month is following the sidereal period rather than the synodic period, it is inferred that the year also follows the sidereal year rather than the solar year. In fact, Magoist Calendar’s one year is very close to today’s 365.25636 days of the sidereal year compared to 365.24217 days of the solar year or the tropical year. Given that, as seen below, the Budoji mentions the tiniest discrepancy of one leap day for 31,788,900 years, the discrepancy between 365.25 and 365.25636 (0.00636 day) can be explained that the year was actually 365.25 days at the time of Budo circa 2333 BCE, 4440 years ago. In other words, there is a discrepancy of 0.12375936 seconds between 2017 CE and 2333 BCE. Regarding Lawful Numbers 2, 5, 8, it is involved as follows: 365 days (3+6+5=14, 1+4=5) Lawful Numbers 2, 5, 8 refers the unit of 365 days (364 days with one intercalary day). Further dynamics are unknown. The sidereal year refers to the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun once with respect to the distant stars. In contrast, the solar or tropical year means the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun once with respect to the sun. The sidereal year, 365.25636 days, is about 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer than the mean tropical year (365.24217 days) and about 19 minutes and 57 seconds longer than the average Gregorian year of 365.2425 days. The difference occurs primarily because the solar system spins on its own axis and around the Milky Way galactic center making the solar year’s observed position relative. Time is no independent concept apart from space and the agent. The very concept of time is preceded by the agent bound in a space. It is always contextualized. In Magoism, both calendar and time are born out of the cosmogonic universe, the universe that is in self-creation. Like calendar, time is to be discovered or measured. It is a numinous concept. The very concept of time testifies to the reality of the Creatrix. Time proves the orderly movement of the universe into which we are born. Calendar patterns time, whereas time undergirds calendar. How can we measure time? We are given the time of the Earth that comes from its rotation, revolution, and precession in sync with the moon and the sun (and its planets). One type of time is the solar time. The solar time is a calculation of time based on the position of the sun. Traditionally, the solar time is measured by the sundial. The solar time is, however, specific to the Earth only. It is valid only for the-same-observed-location. It is not made to be used for the time of another celestial body. For example, Mars’ solar time has to be measured independently based on its own rotation and revolution rates. The solar time is an isolated time. It is static and exclusive, not made for the time of other celestial bodies. By nature, it is unfit for connection and communication across celestial bodies. The second type is the sidereal time. The sidereal time is a time scale based on the rate of Earth’s rotations measured relative to the distant stars.[29] Because the observed position is in the far distant stars beyond the solar system, the sidereal time may as well be called an extrasolar stellar time. We can think of the observer’s position of an imaginary cosmic bird far out there, infinitely far beyond not only the solar system and …
(Music) Songs for Samhain by Alison Newvine

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

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Imbolc/Early Spring are: Southern Hemisphere – August 1st/2nd Northern Hemisphere – February 1st/2nd though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox, thus actually a little later in early August for S.H., and early February for N.H., respectively. Some Imbolc Motifs In this cosmology Imbolc/Early Spring is the quintessential celebration of She Who is the Urge to Be. This aspect of the Creative Triplicity is associated with the differentiation quality of Cosmogenesis,[i] and with the Virgin/Young One aspect of the Triple Goddess, who is ever-new, unique, and singular in Her beauty – as each being is. This Seasonal Moment celebrates an identification with the Virgin/Young One – the rest of the light part of the cycle celebrates Her processes. At this Moment She is the Promise of Life, a spiritual warrior, determined to Be. Her purity is Her singularity of purpose. Her inviolability is Her determination to be … nothing to do with unbroken hymens of the dualistic and patriarchal mind. The Virgin quality is the essential “yes” to Being – not the “no” She was turned into. In the poietic process of the Seasonal Moments of Samhain/Deep Autumn, Winter Solstice and Imbolc/Early Spring, one may get a sense of these three in a movement towards manifest form – syntropy: from the autopoietic fertile sentient space of Samhain, through the gateway and communion of Winter Solstice to differentiated being, constant novelty, infinite particularity of Imbolc/Early Spring. The three are a kaleidoscope, seamlessly connected. The ceremonial breath meditations for all three of these Seasonal Moments focus attention on the Space between the breaths – each with slightly different emphasis: it is from this manifesting Space that form/manifestation arises. If one may observe Sun’s position on the horizon as She rises, the connection of the three can be noted there also: that is, Sun at Samhain/Deep Autumn and Imbolc/Early Spring rises at the same position, halfway between Winter Solstice and Equinox, but the movement is just different in direction.[ii] And these three Seasonal Moments are not clearly distinguishable – they are “fuzzy,”[iii] not simply linear and all three are in each other … this is something recognised of Old, thus the Nine Muses, or the numinosity of any multiple of three. Some Imbolc/early Spring Story This is the Season of the new waxing light. Earth’s tilt has begun taking us in this region back towards the Sun. Traditionally this Seasonal Point has been a time of nurturing the new life that is beginning to show itself – around us in flora and fauna, and within. It is a time of committing one’s self to the new life and to inspiration – in the garden, in the soul, and in the Cosmos. We may celebrate the new young Cosmos – that time in our Cosmic story when She was only a billion years old and galaxies were forming, as well as the new that is ever coming forth. This first Seasonal transition of the light part of the cycle has been named “Imbolc” – Imbolc is thought to mean “ewe’s milk” from the word “Oimelc,” as it is the time when lambs were/are born, and milk was in plentiful supply. It is also known as “the Feast of Brigid,” Brigid being the Great Goddess of the Celtic (and likely pre-Celtic) peoples, who in Christian times was made into a saint. The Great Goddess Brigid is classically associated with early Spring since the earliest of times, but her symbology has evolved with the changing eras – sea, grain, cow. In our times we could associate Her also with the Milky Way, our own galaxy that nurtures our life – Brigid’s jurisdiction has been extended. Some sources say that Imbolc means “in the belly of the Mother.” In either case of its meaning, this celebration is in direct relation to, and an extension of, the Winter Solstice – when the Birth of all is celebrated. Imbolc may be a dwelling upon the “originating power,” and that it is in us: a celebration of each being’s particular participation in this power that permeates the Universe, and is present in the condition of every moment.[iv] This Seasonal Moment focuses on the Urge to Be, the One/Energy deeply resolute about Being. She is wilful in that way – and Self-centred. In the ancient Celtic tradition Great Goddess Brigid has been identified with the role of tending the Flame of Being, and with the Flame itself. Brigid has been described as: “… Great Moon Mother, patroness (sic … why not “matron”) of poetry and of all ‘making’ and of the arts of healing.”[v] Brigid’s name means “the Great or Sublime One,” from the root brig, “power, strength, vigor, force, efficiency, substance, essence, and meaning.”[vi] She is poet, physician/healer, smith-artisan: qualities that resonate with the virgin-mother-crone but are not chronologically or biologically bound – thus are clearly ever present Creative Dynamic. Brigid’s priestesses in Kildare tended a flame, which was extinguished by Papal edict in 1100 C.E., and was re-lit in 1998 C.E.. In the Christian era, these Early Spring/Imbolc celebrations of the Virgin quality, the New Young One – became “Candlemas,” a time for purifying the “polluted” mother – forty days after Solstice birthing. Many nuns took their vows of celibacy at this time, invoking the asexual virgin bride.[vii] This is in contrast to its original meaning, and a great example of what happened to this Earth-based tradition in the period of colonization of indigenous peoples. An Imbolc/Early Spring Ceremonial Altar The flame of being within is to be protected and nurtured: the new Being requires dedication and attention. At this early stage of its advent, there is nothing certain about its staying power and growth: there may be uncertainties of various kinds. So there is traditionally a “dedication” in the ceremonies, which may be considered a “Brigid-ine” dedication, or known as a “Bridal” dedication, since “Bride” is a derivative of …

(Bell Essay 1) Ancient Korean Bells and Magoism by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Part I The bell as both a percussion instrument and an idiophone is one of the most pacific, sublime, and ingenious human inventions. It appears cross-culturally from the remote past. Its artistic and ritualistic aspects are fairly well recognized by many. However, many overlook that the bell is a female icon with functionality. Put differently, the bell symbolizes the Goddess, the female who has the purpose. This essay, to be written in parts hereafter, will examine the symbology of ancient Korean bells and explore its implications with regard to Magoist history, cosmogony, and soteriology. At the outset, I posit that ancient Korean bells cast in the form of a woman’s body are there to awaken humanity to the arcane reality of the Female, that is Mago. In East Asia, bell connotes two distinct types, the open ended and the enclosed. In Korean, the open ended bell is called jong (鐘, Chinese zhong), whereas the enclosed one is called bang-ul or ryeong (鈴, Chinese ling). Jong and bang-ul are also distinguished by size. While the former tends to be larger, the latter are commonly used by a shaman or diviner to hold and shake (a group of bang-uls) to invoke the spirit. However, these differences are not unbridgeable. Some bang-uls are open-ended, like jong. By definition, jong is a bell made of metal not stone. (The character jong 鐘 has the radical (basic element) of geum 金, metal or gold. The stone bell is called gyeong.) When jong is used in music, in particular as a musical instrument consisting of a set of bronze bells, it is called pyeon-jong (編鍾, Chinese bianzhong). Perhaps the invention of pyeon-jong follows pyeon-gyeong (編磬, Chinese bianqing), a stone musical instrument consisting of a set of L-shaped stone chimes. Discussing the differences between the two instruments goes beyond the purpose of this essay. Suffice it to say that jong was likely a metallic replica of gyeong presumably first introduced in the Bronze Age. (See the images below for comparison.) My primary focus in this essay is on jong, in particular the Korean bells cast in the 8th century CE and thereafter. The beauty and significance of ancient Korean bells shed a new light on ancient Korea to be re-dis-covered in relation to Magoism. Both scholars and the public appear to be unaware that the ancient bells of Korea symbolize the female principle as well as woman’s body. It is my hope that this essay allows the ancient bells of Korea to reverberate through time and call people to return to the female origin. Ancient Greek Bells as Woman’s Body A variety of jong from the ancient world appears across cultures. The most explicitly rendered bells which mirror the female form are the terracotta bell figurines of Greece (Thebes) dated circa the 8th century BCE. Both are housed in the Louvre Museum, Paris. Protruded breasts are placed on the upper part of the bell. The body of the bell is sculpted to resemble the skirt that she is wearing. Two arms annexed from her shoulders appear to be aesthetic rather than functional. The elongated neck is made as a handle to be held. Her neck is adorned with elaborate necklaces. Geometrical designs and swastikas are compelling in both figurines — rife with arcane meanings. The legs are made as mallets. Imagine, then, where the sound comes from upon being shaken! It is her belly, more precisely the vulva from which the sound originates. In the first, above, icon of the Greek bell, women are drawn on the bell’s body in a simplified and exaggerated manner. They are connected with each other hand in hand forming a circle, perhaps dancing a circle dance. As a whole, the bell depicts a dancing woman with her arms raised, standing on her toes. The women painting befits the spirited nature of the bell. In the second, above, icon of the Greek bell, 39.5 cm in height, her breasts are highlighted, encircled by the drawing of two circles. Thus, they appear to be more nipples than breasts. Her arms are laid downward as if pointing to the birds standing below on each side. Each bird is holding an elongated earthworm-like swirling thing at the tip of its beak. Geometric designs in the center of her body are catchily inviting to interpretations. The symmetrical balance is heightened. She appears to stand firmly or be ready to walk. As shown below, one leg when placed out to the side conveys to its viewer that the legs are mallets and at once creates a look that she is real, in motion. In my documentation, the Greek bell idols and ancient Korean bells are the only two groups that are explicitly made in the shape of a woman’s body. Yet, as to be shown shortly, these Greek bell idols, far smaller in size, date about a thousand years earlier than the ancient Korean bells. Furthermore, there is a vast geographical distance between the two bell icons. In comparing them, however, I have no intention to assume that the ancient Greek bell figurines are the earliest of their kind. (It is difficult to discuss the origin of bell as a woman’s body due to the nature of the task, too complex and daunting. It suffices to say that the Chinese bells, dated older than the Thebes bell figurines, have relevance to ancient Korean bells, a point to be discussed at a later part.) Ancient worlds appear not too heterogeneous to say the least, as moderns tend to think. Sillan Bells Let me begin with introducing some ancient Korean bells from the Silla period (57 BCE-935 CE) and their major features that are also uniquely ancient Korean (read Magoist). They sound beautifully and deeply when struck. Sounding waves are calculated in the structure of the bell upon being cast. It is known that there are eleven jongs extant from the United Silla period. Only five of them are currently located in Korea, whereas the rest are in Japan. These bells are known as beomjong, a term referring to a bell in Buddhist temples used for Buddhist …
(Book Excerpt 2) Mago Almanac Planner by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Details for Mago Almanac Planner are available here. [Author’s Note: This is Part 2 of the Preface. Read Part 1 of the Preface here.] PREFACE What Mago Almanac Planner Offers There is nothing more plainly indicative of the fallacy of patriarchal thinking, that is, the perspective of male-supremacy than the 12 month calendar. Considering that the calendar is the basic foundation for human activities, the standard 12 month calendar that the modern world is adapting functions to maintain patriarchy. According to the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City), the principal text of Magoism, the 12 month calendar was first invented and introduced by Yao (ca. 2356-2255 BCE), the pre-dynastic ruler of ancient China to replace the 13 month Magoist Calendar. The newly risen patriarchal rule needed to amend the female-centered 13 month calendar, which would make the Mother-Nature bond invisible. First of all, the 12 month calendar has an irregular number of days (28, 29, 30, or 31). The inconsistent number of days is an indication that the 12 month calendar is out of tune with Nature’s rhythm, ultimately Sonic Numerology. Reality is distorted. Fundamentally based on the imposed or presumed balance within the scheme of dyads (the male and the female), the 12 month calendar propagates a hierarchical dualism. In the dyad, the two are viewed as independent single entities disconnected from each other so that it allows one to be superior to the other (A>B). The worldview it represents is reductionist; the evolutionary process of life is predetermined. On the other hand, the 13 month calendar has 28 days in a month. It is regular and rhythmic, a sign of a healthy living entity. In tune with Nature’s rhythm, the 13 month calendar guides us into an infinitely creative and open-ended worldview based on Sonic Numerology (musical interplay of nine numbers), the cosmogonic force of WE/HERE/NOW. Numerologically aligned, the 13 month 28 day calendar leads us to an ever-unfolding reality. The triadic principle, an epitome of Nine Numerology, stands for the web of spiral interconnection. One divided by three leads to the realm that never ends as it goes 0.3333… for example. That said, what is the better way to restore the lunar-female song and dance than women themselves by charting out the menstrual cycle in the 13 moon calendar? Mago Almanac Planner provides tools for menstruators to mark menstrual dates side by side with lunation dates. We want our modern-day maidens and mothers to see how their own menstrual cycles run in harmony with all other beings in the Natural World! Menstruation is a calendric indicator designed to guide human societies. Biology is not only social but also cosmic. Menstruation is never a separate biological phenomenon. For non-menstruators, Mago Almanac Planner opens the door to each day, week, and month of the cosmic song and dance. We are about to move the axis of our consciousness in tune with all else in the universe!Book information on Magoist Calendar Year 4 and Magoist Calendar Planner Year 4 here. (To be continued) https://www.magoism.net/2013/07/meet-mago-contributor-helen-hwang/ [1] This is a topic that will be treated in detail in my forthcoming book, The Magoist Calendar: Mago Time Inscribed in Sonic Numerology.
(Essay) A Cross-Cultural Feminist Alchemy: Studying Mago, Pan-East Asian Great Goddess, Using Mary Daly’s Radical Feminism as Springboard by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago is the Great Goddess of East Asia and in particular Korea. Reconstructing Magoism, the cultural and historical context of East Asia that venerated Mago as the supreme divine, is both the means and the end. Magoism demonstrates the derivative nature of East Asian religions such as Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism while redefining East Asian Shamanism to be the religious expression of Magoism. I encountered the topic of Mago during my doctoral studies. The topic of Mago fell out of nowhere at the time I was preparing for qualifying examinations. I had never heard the name, Mago. Only when I was able to collect a large amount of primary sources from Korea, China, and Japan, was I awakened to the cultural memory of Mago. I grew up craving the stories of Halmi (Grandmother/Great Mother), a common referral to Mago among Koreans. I had a childhood experience of being in the fairy land unfolded by my grandmother’s old stories. While “Mago” was unfamiliar to most Koreans, she was taken for granted in her many other names such as Samsin (the Triad Deity) and Nogo (Old Goddess) and place-names such as Nogo-san (Old Goddess Mountain) and Nogo-dang (Old Goddess Shrine). A Korean scholar, on a casual occasion, gave me a book entitled the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City). He may have intuitively foreseen that I would make use of it sooner or later. The Budoji is an apocryphal text that describes the genesis event of Mago and her paradise called Mago-seong (Castle/Stonewalls of Mago) and an ensuing deployment of pre-patriarchal Korean history, thitherto unheard of. Upon my first reading of the Budoji, I was more confused than enlightened, but I felt drawn into and embraced by its mythic, historical and poetic language. I was already far along the path before I realized I was truly immersed within it! An ark of treasure emitting a pristine aura was laid before me, though I was too bedazzled to see within. Mago was there, shrouded in her old garments, seemingly obsolete, but a full and complete presence. I was tongue-tied a while. But I did inquire about Mago among Koreans. I learned that Mago was recognized by contemporary Koreans, marking the modern revival of Magoism. A movie entitled “Mago” was being made. A newly formed feminist musical band named itself “Mago.” A tea house named the “Mago Cafe” further enforced the reality that there was a pride and understanding of her existence. Foremost, I was surprised by the fact that a large number of Mago stories were available both online and written documents. Many stories that depict Mago as the nature-shaper of local landscapes such as mountains, rocks (including dolmens and megaliths), seas, villages, streams, stone-walls, and caves, were still told by the elders in small villages of Korea. I also found historical materials that mention Mago not only from Korea but also China and Japan. I brought up the subject of Mago to my advisors in time to propose a topic for my dissertation. This topic was barely known to anyone in academia. I was able to put together a bibliography with a considerable amount of source materials for my dissertation proposal. Secondary sources were, albeit small in number, also gathered. That marked the beginning of my study of Mago. I had another dissertation topic at that time. In fact, my thitherto prospective topic was Mary Daly’s feminist religious thought. Daly’s feminist thought had been the guiding light ever since I first read the Beyond God the Father in early 1990s. I encountered Mary Daly’s post-Christian thought when I was on the brink of Christianity. I had been a member of Maryknoll Sisters, an organization that opened up to me the possibility of cross-cultural living. Though I dedicated myself to implementing Christian ideals, all I could see was the necrophilic “foreground;” a world dictated by patriarchal institutions and ideologies. Feminist theology was self-transcending to me. I was unafraid of going beyond the boundary of Christianity and its God. Female subjectivity of which I was now conscious no longer held male subjectivity “neutral” or “objective.” My take of female subjectivity, however, needed to peel off another layer of ethnocentrism, Sino-centrism in East Asain studies and Euro-centrism in feminist studies. I began to re-orient myself to the new reality, “the Biophilic Background,” to borrow Daly’s term, by affirming myself, a Korean feminist, and all Others rendered as “inferior” by the patriarchal and/or Euro-centric self. I was a self-motivated feminist learner. I had spent four years alone in reading or rather soaking in Daly’s books after withdrawing from Christianity. I translated Daly’s first two books as well as one Eco-feminist book, Reweaving the World, edited by Diamond and Orenstein into Korean during that time. It was a time of self-birth as a woman-identified woman. I de-educated myself from patriarchal knowledge and ethics and spent time to reestablish my relationship with my mother. The process of de-education took place inwardly while I was reading feminist books, keeping my daily journals, and practicing meditations including physical activities such as walking and stretching. These were the things that I had already been doing. What was new to this period was that I chose things that I wanted to do especially with my body and senses. I practiced gukseon-do (a Korean traditional mind and body exercise, equivalent to yoga) on a regular basis and took art lessons including fine art and calligraphic painting. I took time in nature visiting mountains, parks, and Buddhist temples. I reflected upon my mindset to see if I was still feeding the conceptual habit of self-defeat imposed upon women by patriarchal religions and cultures. For example, I probed to see if I was still under the influence of the so-called “feminine virtues” of dependency, obeisance, and silence. For quite some years, I was caught in raw emotions of anger and grief. Nonetheless, I knew, even then, that those emotions were there to help me build myself as a life-affirming existence. Any practice that was necrophilic was something that I disassociated myself from and avoided. …

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