June 9, 2022June 16, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(2022 Pilgrimage 1) A visual Journey of the Goddess as Protectress from the Neolithic to Present in Eastern Europe by Krista Rodin

In January of 2022, I planned a trip to Northeastern European capital cities to see what I could find in the archeological sections of the national museums that related to Read More …

June 8, 2022June 13, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

The Empress’s New Clothes (an American Myth) by Freeda Cathcart

Long, long ago and far away in the land of fantasy lived an Empress. She was a beautiful woman and had served her country well. She had borne four children Read More …

June 7, 2022June 6, 2022 Kaalii CargillLeave a comment

(Poetry) Listen For Me by Kaalii Cargill

I am the Queen of Sheba, more beautiful than all the rest. I am the night-hag, more haggard then your worst fears. Don’t try to hold me still. Things change. Read More …

June 6, 2022May 12, 2022 RTMeditorsKG1 Comment

(Video) Winter Solstice Breath Meditation by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Winter Solstice/Yule Southern Hemisphere – June 20 – 23. Northern Hemisphere – December 20 – 23 Winter Solstice is a celebration of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Triple Goddess in Read More …

June 4, 2022May 31, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Freeda Cathcart

Freeda Cathcart is a mother living in Southwest Virginia with her husband. She raised four children and homeschooled them until they went to college. She is a founding shareholder of Read More …

June 3, 2022May 29, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Prose) Language makes us by Susan Hawthorne

Language makes us. But we too remake language. And ourselves. If we listen, imagine, invent. Listen to me. Listen to my language. Once upon a time it was the Read More …

June 2, 2022May 26, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Tribute 2) In Loving Memory of Eve Helene Wilkowitz by Jack Dempsey, Ph.D.

Eve is on the verge of her 21st birthday that Spring: a smart strong happy outgoing person grown up in Oakdale, Long Island, and moving now from Bay Shore Read More …

June 1, 2022April 25, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Video 11) Genevieve Vaughan & Chiquie Estrada in Maternal Gift Economy: Breaking Through by Genevieve Vaughan

(Words of Invitation) Drawing on Maternal Gift Economy theory, the suppressed wisdom of women, and the traditions and ethics of Indigenous societies, this integrated programme of presentations sponsored by the Read More …

May 31, 2022June 13, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Pilgrimage 2) A Day in the Kalash Valley of Pakistan by Krista Rodin, Ph.D.

(See part 1 here.) The Chaumos festival centers around the arrival of the deity Balumain. Impure and uninitiated persons are not admitted to the ceremony. Purification is achieved by waving Read More …

May 29, 2022May 26, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(She Summons Excerpt) Why is the World calling for Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? by Jennifer Cooper

[Editor’s Note: This piece is included in She Summons: Why… Goddess Feminism, Activism and Spirituality?” Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2021).] The week before quarantine began I felt a squirrel inside Read More …

May 27, 2022May 26, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Book Excerpt) Lessons from the Legends of the Salzkammergut: The Divine Feminine in Place and Time by Krista Rodin, Ph.D.

[This book was publish by Mago Books (April 1, 2022). Details and purchase info is available here (Mago Bookstore).] INTRODUCTION The Salzkammergut is one of the most beautiful places on Read More …

May 26, 2022May 26, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Poem) Phoebe by Donna Snyder

for Phibby Venable Titan of prophecy and moonlight, daughter of Earth and Sky, mother of the stars and that which is hidden. Through her came the Sun and Moon, the Read More …

May 25, 2022May 19, 2022 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem & Photography) Ephemeral Emergence by Sara Wright

Ephemeral Emergence Arbutus trumpets seduce bumblebees three lobed trillium wings streak rose shining stars pearling forest floors wild oats bow bluebead swords unfurl wild lily leaves clasp palms in prayer Read More …

(Essay 1) The Role of Myths in Paganism by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note: It’s based on one of my lectures for my CHS class on Pagan Theology. I’m looking to rewrite the book and will be doing more articles as this project moves along.] Pagan Religions Symbols, Wikimedia Commons Paganism is not one religion; it is an umbrella term for multiple faith paths embraced by people worldwide. Some people are rediscovering their ancestors’ spiritual path from the Old World. Others are drawn to more recently developed traditions. Each person embraces myth differently and understands it in a different context. But what role does my play in paganism in general? First, we must understand what we mean by myth both in the mainstream and in paganism. In mainstream understanding myth means a story that isn’t true but becomes true through multiple retellings. One example is the Discovery Channel show MythBusters, which tests commonly held beliefs to see if they are true, and often they are false. The mainstream sees myths as stories that aren’t true but are fun. Cryptozoology also falls into this category, with stories of Bigfoot, the Chupacabra, and the Loch Ness monster. There are pictures, sightings, newspaper reports, and documentaries. But there is no scientific proof that moves the world of biology to accept these creatures’ existence. Still, it’s fun to watch, and I have an entire shelf of books dedicated to myths and legends from my region. However, this definition becomes problematic when we try to discuss myths in the theological context. This is where the language of the masses doesn’t align with the language of the scholars. It prevents scholars and laypeople from discussing myths and makes pagans hesitant to use the term myth when talking about their beliefs because using the term makes it appear that we don’t believe in the stories or that we label them as false. Joseph Campbell saw myths as universal truths of the human condition, a Jungian shared understanding. Myths guide us through different stages of life, grief, and celebration. There was a myth about everything you were going through. These myths are part of an endless reoccurring cycle, like Wicca’s wheel of the year, which other pagan groups have adapted. The dates change a bit, but the cycle is the same. Some look to myths from pre-Christian traditions, such as the Norse, Greek, and Egyptians, or indigenous or non-Western religious traditions, such as Native Americans and Hinduism. But myths that inspire pagan thought don’t have to come from long-lost cultures worldwide. For example, science fiction and fantasy novels have been a source of inspiration and questioning for many pagans. The Church of All Worlds from Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land emphasized sexual freedom and bonding with others. These ideas were incorporated into the existing Church of All Worlds, which left the realm of fiction to become fact. Their magazine, ‘The Green Egg,’ had a vast and lasting impact on the development of American Paganism in the 1970s. The Green Egg is still published as a journal if anyone is interested. Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon series greatly influenced many pagans of the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially after the mini-series ran on the USA network. Another fantasy author Mercedes Lackey had an influence on pagan music at the same time. Lackey had a series of books involving magic and knights, which she wrote songs for, including some spells. Musicians set the songs to music and recorded them, like ‘Draw the Circle and a spell for vengeance. These songs were very popular and were shared by pagans online using Napster. Now the albums are available on YouTube and other music services. Many pagans draw inspiration for their practice from a multitude of sources. Often these are referred to as eclectic pagans, and even some Wiccans will utilize deity images from other cultures. They create their practice around what speaks to them spiritually or what is needed at this point in their lives. Pagans often don’t want to be trapped by dogma, someone telling them, ‘This is how you must envision the deity; this is what the deity must represent; and these are the things you must believe.’ Mainstream religions have metaphorically and spiritually burned many pagans and reject the idea of subjecting their faith to another’s interpretation. Neopagan_celebrating_Samhain, Wikimedia Commons Back to myths, in Paganism, they can have collective and individual meanings. Either a shared tradition such as the Wheel of the Year or Maiden/Mother/Crone. Myths are also used to define identity, such as Goddess myths used for personal empowerment or to overcome trauma. But this doesn’t mean that Pagans follow every aspect of a deity. They embody specific, context-related traits, usually to their detriment, and many pagans will follow multiple deities based on their needs. An example that came to me when I was reading this was that of a multi-dimensional character. I am a writer and have been working on a few pieces of fiction, and I’ve read many books on writing characters, scenes, and themes. If a person embodied the same aspects of one deity all the time, they would be one dimensional, without other sides to their being. In the Sy-Fy Channel miniseries Caprica, there was a character called Sam Adama. He was an enforcer for a cultural mob, the Ha’la’tha. As an enforcer, he killed people; his patron deity was Ares. Yet, he wasn’t following Ares all the time. In fact, if he were, he would have been a miserable human being to live with. Sam had a loving husband named Larry and cared for his nephew when the boy’s mother was killed. In this case, Sam would have followed Hera for marriage; and possibly Hestia, because he cooked and cared for his family. Sam is a fictional example, but as the characters in the show follow the same Greek gods some pagans do, I thought it would illustrate the point. Myths and stories of the Goddesses and Gods are examples to follow in certain parts of our lives, and they …
(Prose) The Day my Father became a Beaver by Sara Wright

The morning my father died I dreamed that he had become a beaver. After the call came and the shock wore off (he had just been operated on apparently successfully and was in his fourth day of recovery in the hospital), the dream still wouldn’t let go of me. The dream wouldn’t let go of me. I kept contemplating its meaning during the following weeks while his maternal family and I planned a memorial service and his ashes were delivered to me.
(Essay) Eternity by Kaalii Cargill

“Certainly there is within each of us a self that is neither a child, nor a servant of the hours. it is a third self, occasional in some of us, tyrant in others. This self is out of love with the ordinary; it is out of love with time. It has a hunger for eternity.” Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays. My “hunger for eternity” has led me to temples and caves, mountains and valleys, to stand on the ground of the long ago people who made the figures I call “grandmothers”, the Paleolithic and Neolithic representations of Great Mother. Two years ago I first stood on the ground of my current home in the Dandenong Ranges outside Melbourne in Victoria, south-eastern Australia. The traditional custodians of this land – the Wurundjeri People – were displaced by European settlers nearly 200 years ago and, over the next hundred years, many of the giant Mountain Ash trees (Eucalyptus regnans) were replaced with European trees. There are no Mountain Ash in my garden, although giant stumps remain. Do the newer trees remember these giants? Were the roots of the 120 year old European Beech tree behind my house nourished by the remains of the Eucalyptus trees? As a child I lived alongside one of the few relatively undisturbed areas of native vegetation in the Adelaide Hills region in South Australia. I loved it, but it was not the land of my ancestors. My mother’s mother came to Australia a hundred and ten years ago. Her mother was born in Holyhead, the ancient Druid Holy Isle across a narrow channel from Angelsey in Wales – Ynys Môn. Bryn Celli Du, Neolithic Burial Chamber, Angelsey. My father came to Australia eighty five years ago. He was born in Calabria, Italy, near the ancient Magna Graecia Sanctuary of Demeter at Locri. Ruins of Demeter Sanctuary, Locri, Calabria Italy. Was it possible that I, like the Beech tree, may have been nourished by the land I walked as a child even though it was not the land of my ancestors? I think so. I learnt from the land. I learnt the songs of air, water, fire, and earth. I learnt the songs of the trees, the frogs, the summer rain, and the wind – cold winds from the South and hot winds carrying desert dust from the North. I learnt the songs of dragonflies, lizards, kangaroos, and spider orchids. The rhythms and cycles of the natural world entered my mind and body and never left. Are the Australian songs different from the European songs? Not really. The cicadas at Locri sang the same songs as the cicadas in the Australian summer, the leaves whispered the same secrets, and there are glimpses of eternity everywhere. My first experience of standing on sacred ground and receiving a glimpse of eternity was at Amphitheatre Rock, the name European settlers had given a huge, shallow cave in the cliff face up behind a screen of trees in the native bush near my home. Water running over the cliff had smoothed the platform into a natural stage that faced into a small gully lined with crude, tiered seats of rock. Memory, old and dim, hid in the shadows. I was four years old when I was told that there had once been sacred gatherings at the Rock. I could see the spirits of those who had gathered around the fires on the hillside, their shadows leaping and dancing on the rock walls. I didn’t know their language or customs, but they taught me to respect sacred ground. Amphitheatre Rock, Belair National Park, South Australia Since then I have stood on sacred ground in other places – Bulgaria, Egypt, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta, Turkey, United Kingdom, Unites States. The songs are the same. The rhythms and cycles of the natural world are eternal. The ancient Greeks had a word for these natural rhythms: kairos. Kairos time differs from the linear, clock time that structures much of the modern world. It is the timing intrinsic to a process, the time it takes for an Emperor Gum moth to emerge from its cocoon, or for an adult cicada to emerge from its shell. The time it takes for a mother to grow a baby in her womb and give birth. The time it takes for us to hear Great Mother’s eternal song. Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 6th Millennium BCE. Meet MAGO Contributor KAALII CARGILL
(Video) An interview with Janie Oquawka Rezner by Leslene della-Madre

https://vimeo.com/94715420 This is a performance then interview by Leslene della Madre on her TV show WildFire, Tell-a-Vision for a vision for Womyn. Read Meet Mago Contributor Janie Rezner and Meet Mago Contributor Leslene della-Madre.
(Prose Part 3) Spiral Movements by Nané Jordan

Mothering and healing spiral: I had robust health into my late-30s. My health carried me on many travels, including to San Francisco for graduate studies, and into my work of mothering a young family while pursuing scholarship. Yet as I neared the end of my PhD, something shifted. Symptoms began to take over and direct my life. I could no longer do it all. I lived through excruciating daily limits of fatigue, physical symptoms, and psychic pain. I could not walk for long, or barely even think, and had to surrender to my limitations. All my years of women’s spirituality came to bear in this new shape of my life through illness. I became newly aware of difficult inner and outer pressures. I had always been mindful of how my yearning towards a life-rooted spirituality of the Mother is closely linked to my need for healing, based in experiences of my own motherline. As part of my recovery, I had to further face and continue to heal trauma I experienced as a child and young adult. Thus, a small thread of gentleness, that I struggled to nurture, was how Goddess came to me in new ways. I had to take it very easy on myself through inner kindness. My home and family was my resting place and solace. Gratitude for my loved ones grew immensely. Mothering is a big life challenge, in how to raise children with enough resources, care and love. In these patriarchal times, motherhood and mother-work are de-centred and de-valued. Being a mother, and being out in the world at work, are disparate locations. When my children were young, I felt pulled between the demands of care-work and other-work. I had to find my own way into creating a nurturing family life. My grandmothers were housewives and homemakers, of the pre-feminist generation who didn’t have educational and work opportunities. They took care of everyone at home, and were economically provided for by husbands. In contrast, my baby-boomer mother studied art and left her marriage. Yet she ended up working in a monotonous job she felt compelled to stay in to earn a living. I took note of all this. There seemed to be more to “liberate” in women’s liberation. Mothering is a big life challenge in how to raise children with enough resources, care, and love. In these patriarchal times, motherhood and mother-work are de-centred and de-valued. Being a mother, and being out in the world at work, are disparate locations. When my children were young, I felt pulled between the demands of care-work and other-work. I had to find my own way into creating a nurturing family life. My grandmothers were housewives and homemakers of the pre-feminist generation who didn’t have educational and work opportunities. They took care of everyone at home, and they were economically provided for by husbands. In contrast, my Baby Boomer mother studied art and left her marriage. Yet, she ended up working in a monotonous job she didn’t like, but felt compelled to stay in to earn a living. I took note of all this. There seemed to be more to “liberate” in women’s liberation. My life has become an interesting amalgam of the times. Thinking about what to cook for dinner is as important to me as paid work. Mainstream feminism of the day, which promoted women at work, didn’t help me know how to be the mother I wanted to. My involvement in midwifery and Goddess feminism showed me where I wanted to go. I noted that mothering was actually very valuable work. Nurturing and love was a gift to have, and to give. I was attuned to alternative early mothering practices, including home birth, attachment parenting, and extended breastfeeding. My focus for creating my own family became to spend time as an at-home-mom with my babies and young children, knowing I would work outside of the home. This process was greatly facilitated by my husband, who shares in the care-work of child-raising and household chores. This too is part of social change, a feminist shift in attitudes that men can care for children and home. Over the years, being a mother myself and creating a safe and loving home of my own has been a central reparative practice in my life—more than I could have known as a young woman. Given the realities of my motherline, Goddess spirituality has been a vital source of re-mothering in my life. This is part of a larger story I’d like to tell about Goddess feminism, healing, and reclaiming the sacred work of mothering, home-making, and nurturing others—doing so in ways that do not defeat our self-development and autonomy as women, nor the vital culture of the maternal gift economy, as extensively written about by philosopher Genevieve Vaughan (http://gift-economy.com/). With generational trauma at work, social injustice, and economic barriers, many mothers struggle to find what they need, to care well for themselves and their children. Goddess spirituality and activism have been about transforming and healing my own and other women’s lives, overcoming difficulties to become ourselves as fully as we can in the world, at work and at home. In healing and loving ourselves, we heal past generations, as well as those to come. Goddess scholar spiral: I have always loved reading and studying, and I felt very called to be a scholar, especially from the experiential book-of-life. Drawing from my artistic and midwifery background, I seek a creative, dynamic, relational, life-giving scholarly path. I hoped to meet my family’s needs by becoming a professor in the university system. This has had mixed results. I have publications, writings, and artwork in the world that reflect and validate female-honouring, Goddess-activating, women-centred spirituality, views, and research. I am currently editing two anthologies of writing, one on the human placenta, in mothers’ and midwives’ uses, and rituals of such, and another on mothering in Goddess and pagan traditions (Demeter Press, forthcoming). I am devoted to the transformative effects of women’s life writing, as in …
(Tribute 5) Barbara Mor, “Relentless Love”: Letters 1988-2002 from a Writer’s Best Friend by Jack Dempsey

I’m sure Barbara sent me more letters in the 15-month gap from May 1995 to her next (September 1996) below. The loss remains my fault, although that May brought my third-year Oral Exams, a teaching-semester’s wrap, then a move from Providence RI back to my family home in Stoneham MA (as I sank toward bankruptcy and finished grad school with long commutes). Plus completing Ariadne’s Brother/creating a contract for it with Kalendis in Athens, and starting my doctoral dissertation—a two-volume study of Thomas Morton (i.e., a definitive edition of his New English Canaan, and biography), in tandem with a film that drove me from Novia Scotia to Delaware recording interviews on the life and impact of Nanepashemet—or “Nani,” a leading scholar of Native American New England who had suddenly died of diabetes. New courses to plan, connections to make, research, and a summer 1996 lecture-tour for the novel in Greece; and still no reason why I failed to hold onto what Barbara surely sent through that maelstrom, because her friendship as always was keeping me sane and alive. September 20th, 1996: I’m very glad you were able to enjoy the fruits of your long devotion to desire and duty, Ariadne’s Brother I mean. That Greece was so receptive and confirming also. Wouldn’t be surprised if your book becomes a film, and there you go. I don’t know much about Greece today except that Islam threatens them as everywhere (Cyprus events) and pushed back into ethnic/cultural/religious walls by such upstart forces, Greeks should welcome books that reanimate their creative past. Would be nice if they embraced pagan energies: Christianity has brought them nothing but fascist suffering, political submission, and Holy Tourism. Of course everyone survives now by Tourism, regardless of spirit: Indians here want to turn their beautiful land on the Humboldt coast into another gambling casino, etc. I’ve seen, maybe 5 years ago, PBS on (title?) Road to Eleusis now: think it was Michael Woods, think I wrote you of it: he retraced the journey and could barely walk with endless traffic noise and dust and mechanical existence densely overlaid. I think the Morton work could be the most important thing you could do now, and your brain is free to do it. Plus you are now a veteran, you’ve put your time in learning through the Ariadne process, and it will inform all your work now. I’m sorry about the Nanepashemet death, but [its happening] at a powwow sounds somewhat mystical. And the gestalt puts you in that work too, so you are now magnetized, through all the past decade of work, to work up a storm of works, film, books whatever, which are important to others as well as to you, so they will be done. Yes, between the DIZNEY version of the world, Global Cute—and the nonexistent and even more rapidly disappearing counter-versions, I mean they are weak and even those now de-funding—the Global Cuts, that is—is a Vacuum there to be filled with other versions, visions, of what has happened, what’s happening, what can happen. I hear that some of the most right-wing militia types, crazy crackers in the South, call themselves “Celtic” in one patriotic rebel name or another, e.g., Celtic Sons of the Undefeated South, whatever. Poor Irish and Scot boobs, robbed of their continuous history from the Stone Age, really WANT deep prehistory identities, but don’t know how to access. So they throw that barbaric energy into Pentacostal Patriotism and SnakeDancing for Jesus. Books like Gone to Croatan, all the Morton studies etc. including what you can do, would give them a Map Back, to re-connect their crazy energies with sane roots. Really important for beginning 21st-century American politics, which will break into tribes of race, ethnic, religious identities and all be stupid, because no one knows what they’re doing, or who they originally were. As you know, unburying our pagan history can be not only exciting but integrating of all energies. So, all sounds like you’ve created, through your work, a stream for yourself that will carry you. This is great. Hard to realize you’ve been five years at Brown, but by now it is a groove that you can no doubt bend to your own interests. If they support your Morton project, that too is great. You wrote that you were editing new book of Morton’s Canaan for “the Diss. Project,” and I read that as a DISS-Project, in the rap sense, then realized it was Dissertation, but the first will be a thread running through also I assume. You have read W.C. Williams’ In The American Grain? Along with Crane’s The Bridge I think it is the greatest American poem, a book of prose-poetic essays on historical figures, like Lincoln, and men involved in that French-Dutch-English-Spanish protean playing with aborigynal American continent like PlayDough—with profound feeling, for the feeling sides of these men, the most amazing images of the WOMAN Lincoln, etc. Read it not for the history which you know but the style, which is utterly unique in American male—“male”—writing, which is compulsed to “prove” manhood, I mean, while Williams allows himself to be a whole sensorium with no apologies: ergo, great sentences, magnificent writing. You wrote a very generous response to Linguistic Duplex, and I responded, I think before you went to Crete, but not sure, everything packed and confused as I moved one more time [to a place on A Street in Eureka on the north-Californian Humboldt Coast], I gave up trying to check data. I remember you questioned the word and concept “evil” and were not comfortable with what I did to Davis in Part 3. In response I said something to effect that I have always been always unwilling to use word “evil” (except in those quotes), because of the Xtian-Bible-Manichean connotations and referents. Then reading Kathy Acker and experiences I experienced in Tucson etc. gave me another handle on the word. I agree, one must footnote it: if one cares anymore what people think, and I don’t, for I am walking around on the bottom of the ocean while everyone else is …
(Essay 1) On the Other Foot: Pentecostal Music versus Traditional Silence by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note: This essay in two parts on sacred music vs sacred silence also deals with colonialism and Christianization in Ghana.] Music has been an integral part of people’s religious rites and rituals, perhaps since the dawn of humanity. Paintings on temples and writings by historians create for us a vast catalog of music, ritual, and instruments performed around the world in conjunction with sacred feasts and festivals. Sacred music and drumming are found most often in traditional and pagan religious practices. From the Celts of Ireland to the Voodoo practitioners of New Orleans, from the Native North Americans of Canada to the healers of Tibet, the soul of the people moves to the beat of the drums.[1] Sacred music has been a tool of liberation for many people, but, can this music also be used as a weapon of colonial oppression and wielded against those who follow the people’s traditional spiritual practices? The Christian Church has historically been very aggressively opposed to people’s traditional beliefs and practices. As the Holy Roman Empire was formed, the early church leaders banned drumming and explicitly prohibited women from playing drums. This was because the drums were associated with pagan religious practices and rituals. Centuries later, in America, the songs and rhythms of captured slaves were outlawed until the slaves began singing in English and praising the Christian God. However, musicians could not be silenced and songs and music continued to be an integral part of people’s lives, from spirituals sung during the Civil Rights Movement to the protest songs of the Vietnam War. Even as music became a more crucial organizing tool for activists, it remained antithetical to certain religious groups. In America, churches often protest singers or genres of music as being against God. In Africa while governments are supporting the traditional religious practices to move on from colonialism some churches stand in strict opposition to traditional practices. Here I explore how the sacred music tradition of the Pentecostal Christian church has brought it into conflict with the traditional beliefs of the people. And I question how this music can be viewed as a tool of colonialism. Sacred Music versus Sacred Silence The leaders of Ghana have tried to develop a kind of national heritage for the former colonial state that encourage of a kind of “enculturation,” and their attempts that have been supported by many mainstream Christian churches. Conversely, the reaction of the Pentecostal churches have ranged from ambivalent to outright hostile. The attempts by political leaders to embrace a revived traditionalism is contested by Pentecostal church leaders who argue that “…a nation’s and citizen’s progress and prosperity can only be achieved if one is prepared to ‘make a complete break with the past.’”[2] The symbol of this conflict between traditional and Pentecostal is the Homowo festival. The Pentecostal Church service includes much shouting, singing, and drumming both inside the church and out on the street. However, church leaders believe that this sacred music is reserved for Christian church services and festivals. During the month-long Homowo festival, a festival celebrated by the Ga Adangbe people, drumming and noise is forbidden by local edicts. However, the Pentecostal Church has chosen to ignore these edicts and has made the claim that they must be allowed to practice their religion as they wish, or Ghana will never be able to develop as a society. In his article “Contesting the Silence,” Rijk van Dijk explains the importance of the festival. Around May, the Ga Mantse (paramount chief) announces the beginning of the cultural festival Homowo. The Ga Adangbe inhabitant of Accra and the wider region occupy the coastal areas in this part of Ghana. They maintain in this area and are involved in ensuring its fertility through his relationship with territorial spirits and their worship. The Homowo season starts with the ritual sowing of corn and yams with the coming of the first rains in early May. After the ritual sowing, the people observe more than a month of quiet and servitude, when the spirits’ benevolence concerning the growth and harvest of agricultural produce and fish is respected. The season ends with the harvest in late September.[3] This silence involves a ban on drumming, dancing, and other loud noises to leave the spirits undisturbed so they can watch over the crops. Since the Ga language and people are the majority in Accra and the other inhabitants are in a way immigrants, there is a strong popular belief that all residents of Accra should observe this “law” The local government agencies support this call for silence as a way of preserving the local culture. However, the Pentecostal church whose leaders push for the Christianization of Ghana has taken a strong stance against the “law.” Dijk writes that “Occasional clashes between so-called ‘traditionalists’ and members of different Pentecostal groups have emerged which should be interpreted in the context of a post-colonial state seeking to preserve elements of its varied, multicultural heritage.”[4] One such incident which occurred during a Homowo time of silence highlights this divide between the traditionalists and the Pentacostals. On Sunday, May 31, 1998, 50 people stormed onto the premises of the Lighthouse Chapel International church in the Ga neighborhood of Korle Bu in Accra and confiscated the church’s expensive musical instruments. Several church members were injured in what was at the time the most violent clash between the traditionalists and the Pentecostals.[5] During the month that followed each side accused the other of infringing on their religious liberties, the Pentecostals because they violated the ban on drumming, which was in effect, and the traditionalists because they took the instruments which were used in the church services. With the support of the Pentecostal Council, the church asserted that religious freedom needed to be upheld and that these freedoms allowed the congregants to have music during church services all year round. In addition, the church claimed that “…true Christianity could not be involved in obeying ‘animalistic’ rituals” such as the Homowo festival.[6] The …
(Art) Protectress by Jassy Watson

This painting was born entirely intuitively. She emerged from the timber of her own accord and the patterns and shapes made with initial markings were followed. I approached the work initially from a place of deep concern over the state of our environment, particularly plans the Australian government has for coal mining and fracking. A ‘Lock the Gate’ meeting for local goddesses was held at my space ‘Goddesses Garden and Studio’ and we were informed of many of the issues related to these practices including gas leaks into drinking water, the effects on local eco-systems, farming land and wildlife. The feelings that arose were so overwhelming. We need to do all that we can, in the ways that we know how to raise awareness of such issues and support those who are doing the work so that we can protect the planet. As an artist I have a social responsibility to use the gift as way to inform and as a way to process the inner turmoil that is created when confronted with such dire situations. Protectress sits on the land Australia, the waters are clear and flow freely through her heart. She is at one and wholly connected to the earth, the tree roots and rivers flowing into her. Her garment is representative of the ‘veil of illusion’ that the presenter spoke about. The kookaburra is symbolic of freedom and determination. She is also symbolic of Australia’s indigenous heritage, those who walked these lands for thousands and thousands of years before, knowing it intimately, living at one and in tune with its rhythms and cycles. Protecting it. The land is our sustenance, our nourishment. We cannot survive in an unhealthy environment. She is a reminder to take action and stand up for what you believe in. Read Meet Mago Contributor Jassy Watson.
(Novel 1) The Singing of Swans by Mary Saracino

[Note: This is an excerpt from the first chapter in Mary Saracino’s novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006). Used by permission from the publisher. For more information, visit http://www.pearlsong.com/thesingingofswans.htm.] Chapter 1 Night Rider The night sky held no moon as Ziza pushed through the roof of her house and soared into the stark blackness. A gust of wind became her wings, pushing her up and up above the slumbering sounds of her small village, Caneva, in Friuli — a province tucked away in the northeastern corner of a country that what would someday be known as Italy. Far below, beneath an inky darkness, only the occasional stray cat peered up from the cobblestones, twitching its tail in anticipation of a passing mouse. Ziza’s neighbors snored in their beds. Her husband, Aldo DeSante, tossed and turned, unaware that while his wife’s body lay beside him, her spirit traveled elsewhere. She promised to return before the stroke of five to ensure that death would not claim her mortal limbs. Her children were lost in complicated dreams and her mother, Carmela, nursing a bout of insomnia, sat before the family’s ancestral Lare altar, next to the cold hearth in the corner of their small home. She alone knew that Ziza had been called away on official business. It was cold that Thursday night in the midst of the Ember days of fasting. A sharp wind howled fiercely down the alleyways that third week of September in the year 1575, foreshadowing a long, frigid winter, but Ziza felt nothing of the chill for her body was as vaporous as air. Light and porous she flew past the church steeple, the shops that lined the piazza, and over the well in the center of her village. Dense clouds hovered over the land; no stars shone to guide her, but still Ziza kept on. She levitated above the tiled rooftops, pausing a moment to determine if the others were ready, as well. From the darkened bell tower, an owl hooted, signaling for her to proceed. At the edge of town, Ziza joined Lucia, Pietro, Sophia, Antonio, and Filaberta. Without a word, the night riders veered west and south, toward the wheat fields on a stony ridge two miles outside of town. There amid acres of bearded grain the others waited. There, during this time between solstices, this midnight of the autumn Ember Days, they would enact the ritual. The wind bellowed as the cadre of journeyers sped over roads and rivers, byways and stone fences, olive trees and vineyards. Ziza’s tangle of snaky dark tresses swirled around her face as she raced through the night sky. The night smelled of damp grass and wet soil for the rain had pummeled the countryside earlier that evening. The omen had been favorable and Ziza knew in her bones that after midnight the battle would begin. A victory was possible, if their hearts were pure enough and focused on the welfare of their townspeople.

(Special post) Interweaving Mago Threads by Mago Circle Members

“Mago” tradition Magoism is a new word to the modern Western vocabulary, yet it has its linguistic roots in many parts of the globe and in an ancient knowledge and know-how almost lost. Dr Helen Hwang determinedly and methodically is excavating the little-understood historical Mother-Goddess knowledge of Korea, and its traditions, the Mago, and Magoism, and in doing so is unlocking another previously invisible door, and replacing another ripped-off corner of the global map of significant, almost-lost tradition and forgotten knowledge. This is a most welcomed prospect. The newness of this discovery for those who learn of it fills them with excitement because every step to remember the ancient ways, particularly the lost Goddess ways, and those ways that hint of Source, are crucial to humanity remembering itself. Moderns have become accustomed to modes of mind that strip the soul and psyche of finer attunement to earth, sea, stars and each other. This renders most adrift on a sea of seeming limitless freedoms, to be picked up by any technological hook that would substitute for inner knowing. The map becomes the new computer wiring, insurance policy or bank regulation to follow. But once we scrape from our psyches the encrustation of mind most moderns have settled with (which calcifies the innate senses and finer antennae of knowing, emboldening technologically driven modes of mind and being to take their place), then we are on our way to a vivifying recollection. Here is an earlier presentation of the “mago” root word in “imago” or image. Not coincidentally, perhaps, it is connected to maps. (Mary Ann Ghaffurian, culled from Through a Darkened Door—Light, Part 2 by Mary Ann Ghaffurian PhD [http://magoism.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/through-a-darkened-door-light-part-2-by-mary-ann-ghaffurian-phd/]) A very special online, global group Dearest X, …Which brings to mind the “other” reason why I wanted to write to you … Other than just saying “hello” and letting you know that you are very much missed, I also wanted to share with you about a very special online, global group that I have had the honor of being a part of. This group is called Mago Circle and it was founded by my dear friend, “sister” and colleague, Helen Hwang. Helen’s work and commitment to restoring Mago, Ancestral Mother Goddess, to her rightful place as progenitor and creatrix of the Korean people, has not only been admirable but truly critical during a time when we are in real need for inspiration from thought leaders and scholars with a solid foundation in the arts and research of the sacred feminine. As you know, with the roots of Korean shamanism in the realm of women, it makes perfect sense that Korean spirituality must also have sprung within the womb of Woman … the great cosmic goddess, Mago. While Helen’s work is very much grounded in meticulous research — showcasing Korea to the rest of the world in all of Her depth, herstory, and vibrance — it is more importantly, founded in genuine intentions of love, transparency, and humility. I know that Helen can explain the depth, breadth, and height of her work much better than me so I think it will be better to have her directly share more of herself with you; what I simply hope to do through this letter is perhaps help serve as a familiar hand …. reaching out to you and letting you know that your presence and blessings as a well-regarded and much-admired Korean female shaman and scholar would be much appreciated in Mago Circle. Do you remember, X, … you once told me … about 20 years ago: “Sanity is insanity with a focus.” These words I still remember and hold true … they have helped me through times that were truly dismal and chaotic in my life, and with this reassuring and transformational way of looking at myself, looking at my life, looking at the world, I have made it through. My life continues to have its share of insanity, but I know that with focus, all sanity is restored. I know that my letter to you today may feel unexpected and random (especially after not having seen each other for so, so long), but as you know, somehow, life brings us through twists and turns that may seem awkward and strange at first, but upon retrospect, all makes complete sense. In closing, may I have the honor and pleasure of introducing Helen Hwang and the Mago Circle to you … I realize that you must be very busy, but it is my sincere hope that you will find a little time to acquaint yourself with Helen and this wonderful group of women (and men) who are very much dedicated to restoring the balance and peace of Korea and the world via Mago and her goddess sisters of many names… (Wennifer Lin, culled from her letter to her old friend) I share your call for staying connected with each other at a time of cultural and religious tensions. I too believe that all tensions arise from a patriarchal system of hegemony or domination. In the absence of patriarchal hegemony, there would be little or no tension among human beings. The belief in the Mother Goddess would remove the necessity for aggression and hence domination of other human beings or animals. In the eyes of the Mother, every living being is her creature. Hence love, kindness, nurturing and all that is beautiful would prevail everywhere. Am I sounding too idealistic or am I pining for a utopian society that is just not possible? But in theory, it is possible to return to the spirit of Mother, manifest in everything in nature and in our thoughts and actions. With admiration and preservation of Mother we can change the world for a better place. So with this in mind, I submit to all women (who are the living image of the Great Mother Goddess) and goddess lovers in the world to unite in our efforts to bring back the ideals of the Great Goddess. As an academic, I […]
(Special post) Laurie Baymarrwangga, Senior Australian of the Year 2012

Posted with permission in Return to Mago on ‘Australia Day’, 26 January 2014 (Australian time), in recognition of the ill-treatment and misunderstanding of Aboriginal people that was set in train when, in 1788, white people first settled in the land now known as Australia.
(Special Post) Discussion on Mother-Daughter Wound by Mago Circle Members

[Mago Circle members discussed and answered the question, “What do you think of this (the topic article below)? If you are a feminist, it is something that you would promote? If so, why? If not, why not?” The discussion took place on May 15, 2017 and shortly thereafter in The Mago Circle.] Topic Article: “For The Daughters Who Don’t Love Their Mothers – Screw Mother’s Day” by Sade Andria Zabala Everyone talks about a mother’s unconditional love. But what if it doesn’t exist? Daughters are socially expected to be close with their mothers. But are you one of the women who aren’t? Mother’s Day isn’t just for celebrating moms. It’s a day some of us dread because we are reminded we grew up (or are still) unloved, not good enough. (Read the whole article here.)

(Essay) Conceiving, Imagining the New at Samhain by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

It is the Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere at this time. In the PaGaian version of Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony participants journey to the “Luminous World Egg” … a term taken from Starhawk in her book The Spiral Dance[i], where she also names that place as the “Shining Isle”, which is of course, the Seed of conception, a metaphor for the origins of all and/or the female egg: it is the place for rebirth. Artist: Bundeluk, Blue Mountains, Australia. The “luminous world egg” is a numinous place within, the MotherStar of conception: that is, a place of unfolding/becoming. The journey to this numinous place within requires first a journey back, through some of each one’s transformations, however each may wish to name those transformations at this time. The transformations for each and every being are infinite in their number, for there is “nothing we have not been” as has been told by Celts and others of Old, and also by Western science in the evolutionary story (a story told so well by evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris, particularly in her video Journey of a Silica Atom.) Ceremonial participants may choose selves from biological, present historical self, or may choose selves from the mythic with whom they feel connection; from any lineage – biological or otherwise. Selves may also be chosen from Gaia’s evolutionary story – earlier creatures, winged or scaled ones … with whom one wishes to identify at this time. Each participant is praised for their “becoming” for each self they share. When all have completed these journeys/stories of transformation, the circle is lauded dramatically by the celebrant for their courage to transform; and she likens them all to Gaia Herself who has made such transitions for eons. The celebrant awards each with a gingerbread snake, “Gaian totems of life renewed”[ii]. gingerbread snakes Participants sit and consume these gingerbread snakes in three parts: (i) as all the “old shapes” of self that were named; and (ii) remembering the ancestors, those whose lives have been harvested, whose lives have fed our own, remembering that we too are the ancestors, that we will be consumed; and (iii) remembering and consuming the stories of our world that they desire to change, the stories that fire their wrath or sympathy: in the consuming, absorbing them (as we do), each may transform them by thoughts and actions – “in our own bodyminds”. When all that is consumed “wasting no part”, it is said that “we are then free to radiate whatever we conceive”, to “exclaim the strongest natural fibre known” – our creative selves, “into such art, such architecture, as can house a world made sacred” by our building[iii]. This “natural fibre” is a reference to the spider’s thread from within her own body, with which she weaves her web, her home; and Spider has frequently been felt in indigenous cultures around the globe as Weaver and Creator of the Cosmos. Spider the Creatrix, North America, C. 1300 C.E., Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.13 In the ceremony, participants linked with a thread that they weave around the circle, may sail together for a new world “across the vast sunless sea between endings and beginnings, across the Womb of magic and transformation, to the “Not-Yet” who beckons”[iv]: to the Luminous World Egg whereupon the new may be conceived and dreamed up. Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony is an excellent place for co-creating ourselves, for imaginingthe More that we may become, and wish to become. This is where creation and co-creation happens … in the Womb of Space[v], in which we are immersed – at all times: and Samhain is a good season for feeling it. References: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005 Sahtouris, Elisabet. Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution. Lincoln NE:iUniversity Press, 2000. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. NY: Harper and Row, 1999. Swimme, Brian. The Earth’s Imagination.DVD series 1998. NOTES: [i]p.210 [ii]a version of this Samhain script is offered in Chapter 7 PaGaian Cosmology [iii]These quoted phrases are from Robin Morgan, “The Network of the Imaginary Mother”, in Lady of the Beasts, p.84. This poem is a core inspiration of the ceremony. [iv]“Not-Yet” is a term used by Brian Swimme, The Earth’s Imagination, video 8 “The Surprise of Cosmogenesis”. [v]note that creation does not happen at the point of some god’s index finger, as imagined in the Sistine Chapel – what a takeover that is!
(Video) Winter Solstice Breath Meditation by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 2 of the author’s book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. The Triplicity of Cosmogenesis at the centre of the PaGaian Wheel Essentially a PaGaian Wheel of the Year celebrates Cosmogenesis – the unfolding of the Cosmos, none of which is separate from the unfolding of each unique place/region, and each unique being. This creativity of Cosmogenesis is celebrated through Earth-Sun relationship as it may be expressed and experienced within any region of our Planet. PaGaian ceremony expresses this with Triple Goddess Poetry understood to be metaphor for the creative dynamics unfolding the Cosmos. At the heart of the Earth-Sun relationship is the dance of light and dark, the waxing and waning of both these qualities, as Earth orbits around our Mother Sun. This dance, which results in the manifestation of form and its dissolution (as expressed in the seasons), happens because of Earth’s tilt in relationship with Sun: because this effects the intensity of regional receptivity to Sun’s energy over the period of the yearly orbit. This tilt was something that happened in the evolution of our planet in its earliest of days – some four and a half billion years ago, and then stabilised over time: and the climatic zones were further formed when Antarctica separated from Australia and South America, giving birth to the Antarctica Circumpolar Current, changing the circulation of water around all the continents … just some thirty million years ago.[i] Within the period since then, which also saw the advent of the earliest humans, Earth has gone through many climatic changes. It is likely that throughout those changes, the dance of light and dark in both hemispheres of the planet … one always the opposite of the other – has been fairly stable and predictable. The resultant effect on flora and fauna regionally however has varied enormously depending on many other factors of Earth’s ever-changing ecology: She is an alive Planet who continues to move and re-shape Herself. She is Herself subject to the cosmic dynamics of creativity – the forming and the dissolving and the re-emerging. The earliest of humans must have received all this, ‘observed’ it in a very participatory way: that is, not as a Western industrialized or dualistic mind would think of ‘observation’ today, but as kin with the events – identifying with their own experience of coming into being and passing away. There is evidence (as of this writing) to suggest that humans have expressed awareness of, and response to, the phenomenon of coming into being and passing away, as early as one hundred thousand years ago: ritual burial sites of that age have been found,[ii] and more recently a site of ongoing ritual activity as old as seventy thousand years has been found.[iii] The ceremonial celebration of the phenomenon of seasons probably came much later, particularly perhaps when humans began to settle down. These ceremonial celebrations of seasons apparently continued to reflect the awesomeness of existence as well as the marking of transitions of Sun back and forth across the horizon, which became an important method of telling the time for planting and harvesting and the movement of pastoral animals. It seems that the resultant effect of the dance of light and dark on regional flora and fauna, has been fairly stable in recent millennia, the period during which many current Earth-based religious practices and expression arose. In our times, that is changing again. Humans have been, and are, a major part of bringing that change about. Ever since we migrated around the planet, humans have brought change, as any creature would: but humans have gained advantage and distinguished themselves by toolmaking, and increasingly domesticating/harnessing more of Earth’s powers – fire being perhaps the first, and this also aided our migration. In recent times this harnessing/appropriating of Earth’s powers became more intense and at the same time our numbers dramatically increased: and many of us filled with hubris, acting without consciousness or care of our relational context. The triple spiral motif, Brú na Bóinne, Ireland. We are currently living in times when our planet is tangibly and visibly transforming: the seasons themselves as we have known them for millennia – as anyone’s ancestors knew them – appear to be changing in most if not all regions of our Planet. Much predictable Poetry – sacred language – for expressing the quality of the Seasonal Moments will change, as regional flora changes, as the movement of animals and birds and sea creatures changes, as economies change.[iv] In Earth’s long story regional seasonal manifestation has changed before, but not so dramatically since the advent of much current Poetic expression for these transitions, as mixed as they are with layers of metaphor: that is, with layers of mythic eras, cultures and economies. We may learn and understand the traditional significance of much of the Poetry, the ceremony and symbol – the art – through which we could relate and converse with our place, as our ancestors may have done, but it will continue to evolve as all language must. For more on this image, including Southern Hemisphere version: See https://pagaian.org/pagaian-wheel-of-the-year/ At the moment the dance of dark and light remains predictable, but much else is in a process of transformation. As we observe and sense our Place, our Habitat, as our ancestors also did, we can, and may yet still make Poetry of the dance of dark and light, of this quality of relationship with Sun, and how it may be manifesting in a particular region and its significance for the inhabitants: we may still find Poetic expression with which to celebrate the sacred journey that we make every day around Mother Sun, our Source of life and energy. It has been characteristic of humans for at least several tens of thousands of years, to create ceremony and symbol by which we could relate with the creative dynamics of our place, and perhaps it was initially a method of coming to terms with these dynamics – with the apparently uniquely human awareness of coming …
Samhain: Stepping Wisely through the Open Door by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Day of the Dead altar, via Wikimedia Commons According to Celtic tradition, on Samhain (October 31 for those in the north and April 30 for those in the south) the doors between the human and spirit worlds open. Faeries, demons, and spirits of the dead pour out of the Otherworld to walk the Earth. In the past, some would try to hurry ghosts past their houses or ward off evil spirits by setting jack o’lanterns in their windows. They avoided going outside, especially past cemeteries, lest they be snatched away to the Otherworld. In ancient times, some offered sacrifices to propitiate deities. However, others have invited in the souls of friends and family who have passed away. In Brittany, according to W.Y. Evans-Wentz’s Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, people would provide “a feast and entertainment for them of curded-milk, hot pancakes, and cider, served on the family table covered with a fresh white tablecloth, and to supply music” which “the dead come to enjoy with their friends” (p. 218). Other cultures also have such welcoming traditions. In Korea, as so beautifully described by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang in her posts about her family’s mourning for her father (Part I and Part II), in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, and elsewhere, food and flowers are brought to cemeteries to honor those no longer in the realm of the living. Many of us live in a society where death is pushed out of sight and Samhain’s sacred traditions have devolved into Halloween, a commercialized children’s holiday. Still, it seems to me that the pandemic, climate catastrophes, and war have made death much more present in our everyday thoughts over the past couple of years than before, so perhaps this year’s Samhain offers us the opportunity to re-examine Celtic and other practices of the past and present to see what insights and meaning they may have for us. Jack o lanterns: By Mihaela Bodlovic, via Wikimedia Commons All these ancient practices respect the spirit world and its power. Whether you believe that the Otherworld can wreak havoc on us at Samhain or not, the realm where spirits dwell clearly has power. Its allure can take us away from focusing on mundane, daily challenges or, more positively, open our eyes to the value of relating to forces that can give richness and meaning to our lives. At the same time, we must remember that each domain has its own power. We can use our physical bodies in beneficial ways that those in the Otherworld cannot. We must respect the power of the Otherworld as well as our own. Some kinds of healing are only possible when we welcome those from the Otherworld into our lives in a healthy way, whether through holiday visits or every day through remembrance, meditation, prayer, or other means. I’m of an age when many of my beloveds are in the Otherworld and so I am beginning to find that the idea of being able to sit with someone I have lost is cause not for fear, but rather joy and comfort. Perhaps those who have longstanding wounds from the past can heal by remembering those we have lost at Samhain and forgiving them or ourselves or realizing that we are no longer bound to those who have hurt us and are now gone. Samhain can also reassure us of the truth of our intuitive sense that our beloveds who we grieve are with us still, in some way, on this night and throughout the year. When we participate in the celebration of Samhain’s opening of doors to the Otherworld, if only for a day, we are honoring our own participation into the great cycle of life, death, and rebirth. We are expanding our vision of ourselves to be more than our bodies on the Earth and experiencing ourselves as connected to many realms, seen and unseen, spirit and human. We are accepting that at some time we will also become ancestors, with all the responsibility that entails and the fulfillment of taking our place in the complex matrix of being that is our universe. When we interact with the souls of those we have lost in ways that are healthy for us, however we may choose and believe that happens, we can also better celebrate the realm of the living. Just as we may listen in various ways for positive messages from those whom we have lost, we can ensure that we are expressing important guidance to those who will come after us by who we are and how we live our lives. We can express that life is worth living, even with all its traumas, and that we respect both the boundaries and the doors between the worlds so that we may continue living fully in our physical bodies on our beautiful, awe-inspiring Earth. I hope my message to my descendants will be: Love your lives. Build on what we have done and do better. Leave behind what we left you that no longer serves. If you feel alone, remember that you have thousands of generations of mothers sending you unconditional love and also generations of women coming after you eager to pick up where you left off. According to Mary Condren in The Serpent and the Goddess, in the most ancient times, “Samhain had been primarily a harvest feast celebrating the successful growth and gathering of the fruits of the past year” (p. 36). While we in the north are coming into the season of death, those in the south are experiencing Beltane, the first moments of spring when the doors between the worlds are also open. The eternal cycle of life, death, and regeneration turns again. Whether you are celebrating Samhain or Beltane, know that this holy time offers us all a chance to enter into the task of maintaining harmony with those we have loved before and for bringing balance between life and death, winter and summer, and the realm of the living and …
(Essay) Walking with Bb by Sara Wright

Walking with Bb: a story exploring the psychic connection between one woman and her bear. Preface: The black bear – hunting season in Maine is brutal – four months of bear hell – five if one includes the month where hunters can track bears for “practice” with hounds – separate mothers and cubs, terrorize them, tree them and do anything but legally kill them. During the legal slaughter, Hunters bait bears with junk food by putting old donuts etc. in cans and shoot the bear while he or she is eating. Most bears (82 percent) are slaughtered in this manner, the rest are killed by hounding and trapping. The season begins in August and lasts through December. Trapping, by the way, is illegal in every state but Maine. Black bears are hated, and that hatred will, of course, eventually result in their extirpation. I had a shy (male) year old black bear visiting my house this past summer with whom I developed a friendship, and what follows is part of our story: Last Saturday I was walking down the road when I remembered that I had not done my daily “circle of protection” imaging for Bb (standing as he was the day he visited me at the window early in August). When I began to do this another picture of Bb moving on all four feet with his face turned towards mine super-imposed itself over his standing image. I could almost see his expression, but not quite. I didn’t know what this imaging meant beyond that we were communicating in some unknown way, and he was in the area (not a good thing on hunting Saturdays). He had not been coming in most nights and I was worried… That night he came. He is still making nightly visits five days later, the most sequentially consistent visits since September 15th, the day I believed that he had been shot. This experience prompted me to write about telepathy and precognition. It is close to All Hallows and the full Hunter’s moon (Nov 3). I keep listening to Charlie Russell’ story which reminds me that loving bears (especially male bears) is hard, almost a sure recipe for disaster, and that I was not alone in this deep concern for and fear of losing Bb. I can barely stand to remember my other bear losses and I can’t stand feeling them. Even after I wrote about the incident with Bb, the experience seemed to carry a charge that didn’t dissipate. Had I missed something? Next I wrote “Root Healer,” exploring the possibility that as I continued to act as Bb’s “little bear mother” now employing psychic techniques to keep him safe (in some desperation as it was the only means left open to me to protect this very vulnerable yearling), that Bb’s presence might also include a gift for me and that it might involve some kind of root healing for my body because Nature thrives on reciprocity. One idea I missed completely, for it was so obvious. Bb’s image was communicating to me that we were having a psychic conversation in that very moment. It was the first time in three months of imaging protective circles that moved with him that I had confirmation from him that we were communicating effectively in this unknown way. This rarely happens. Normally when I do this kind of work, I just do it. I don’t get direct confirmation that it’s working from the animal itself (except with Lily b). Knowing this helped me make another decision I might not have made so intentionally. The hunting season will last into mid December, and I will be traveling during that last month. I keep thinking that putting actual physical distance between Bb and I might pose more of a threat for his life and I have to remind myself that psychic phenomena are not distance dependent. I should be able to image that protective circle every day and feel that it is working. Bb has already shown me that it can but I fear adding distance because I don’t completely trust my own perceptions.* I suspect believing might be an additional dimension of ensuring success when it comes to psychic protection for this bear. But how do I incorporate belief into a picture that is so clouded with personal/cultural doubt? Half the time I don’t believe myself and virtually no one except Rupert Sheldrake, Iren and Harriet have ever taken my experiences seriously. I have to remind myself that I have done this work many times dealing with doubt and it worked anyway. The point of writing this reflection might be to put me on a new edge of increasing Bb’s odds of survival. If it’s possible that an attitude that embraces believing in what I do could help me protect Bb more effectively until hunting is over and its time for him to den in peace I want to claim it. The question I need to answer now is how to go about moving into a more trusting self as a woman who continues to walk with a bear at her side? The night after I wrote the above paragraph I dream of the doubters in the roles of my parents, and in a friend. I take these dreams seriously as doubters inside me and out. These dreams may be telling me that it is unreasonable to expect me to believe that what I do works when no one else does? The problem with this idea is that on some level I do believe. I feel as if I am walking with this bear, every single day. I think about him constantly. The only thing that got me out of the house yesterday was that he was out of chocolate donuts. Something is intensifying my relationship with Bb although I never see him. I am caught in a field of bear energy and information, perhaps through some version of beauty and the beast. That an archetype is …
(Essay) The Emergence celebrated at Spring Equinox by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The Spring Equinox Moment occurs September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere, March 21-23 Northern Hemisphere. The full story of Spring Equinox is expressed in the full flower connected to the seed fresh from the earth; that is, it is a story of emergence from the dark, from a journey, perhaps long, perhaps short, through challenging places. The joy of the blossoming is rooted in the journey through the dark, and an acknowledgement of the dark’s fertile gift, as well as of great achievement in having made it, of having returned. Both Equinoxes, Spring and Autumn, celebrate this sacred balance of grief and joy, light and dark, and they are both celebrations of the mystery of the seed. The seed is essentially the deep Creativity within – that manifests in the Spring as flower, or green emerged One. the full story: the root and the flower As the new young light continues to grow at this time of Spring, it comes into balance with the dark at Spring Equinox, or ‘Eostar’ as it may be named; about to tip further into light when light will dominate the day. The trend at this Equinox is toward increasing hours of light: and thus it is about the power of being – life is stepping into it. Earth in this region is tilting further toward the Sun. Traditionally it may be storied as the joyful celebration of a Lost Beloved One, who may be represented by the Persephone story: She is a shamanic figure who is known for Her journey to the Underworld, and who at this time of Spring Equinox returns. Her Mother Demeter who has waited and longed for Her in deep grief, rejoices and so do all: warmth and growth return to the land. Persephone, the Beloved Daughter, the Seed, has navigated the darkness successfully, has enriched it with Her presence and also gained its riches. Eostar/Spring Equinox is the magic of the unexpected, yet long awaited, green emergence from under the ground, and then the flower: this emergence is especially profound as it is from a seed that has lain dormant for months or longer – much like the magic of desert blooms after long periods of drought. The name of “Eostar” comes from the Saxon Goddess Eostre/Ostara, the northern form of the Sumerian Astarte[i]. The Christian festival in the Spring, was named “Easter” as of the Middle Ages, appropriating Goddess/Earth tradition. The date of Easter, which is set for Northern Hemispheric seasons, is still based on the lunar/menstrual calendar; that is, the 1st Sunday after the first full Moon after Spring Equinox. In Australia where I am, “Easter” is celebrated in Autumn (!) by mainstream culture, so we have the spectacle of fluffy chickens, chocolate eggs and rabbits in the shops at that time. There are other names for “Eostar” in other places …the Welsh name for the Spring Equinox celebration is Eilir, meaning ‘regeneration’ or ‘spring’ – or ‘earth’[ii]. In my own PaGaian tradition, the Spring Equinox celebration is based on the Demeter and Persephone story, the version that is understand as pre-patriarchal, from Old Europe. In the oldest stories, Persephone has agency in Her descent: She descends to the underworld voluntarily as a courageous seeker of wisdom, and a compassionate receiver of the dead. She represents, and IS, the Seed of Life that never fades away. Spring Equinox is a celebration of Her return, Life’s continual return, and thus also our personal and collective emergences/returns.We may contemplate the collective emergence/returns especially in our times. I describe Persephone as a “hera”, which of old was a term for any courageous One. “Hera” was a pre-Hellenic name for the Goddess in general[iii]. “Hera” was the indigenous Queen Goddess of pre-Olympic Greece, before She was married off to Zeus. “Hero” was a term for the brave male Heracles who carried out tasks for his Goddess Hera: “The derivative form ‘heroine’ is therefore completely unnecessary”[iv]. “Hera” may be used as a term for any courageous individual: and participants in PaGaian Spring Equinox ceremony have named themselves this way. The pre-“Olympic” games of Greece were Hera’s games, held at Her Heraion/temple[v]. The winners were “heras” – gaining the status of being like Her[vi]. At the time of Spring Equinox, we may celebrate the Persephone, the Hera, the Courageous One, who steps with new wisdom, into power of being: the organic power that all beings must have, Gaian power, the power of the Cosmos. This Seasonal ceremony may be a rejoicing in how we have made it through great challenges and loss, faced our fears and our demise (in its various forms), had ‘close shaves’ – perhaps physically as well as psychicly and emotionally. It is a time to welcome back that which was lost, and step into the strength of being. Spring Equinox/Eostar is the time for enjoying the fruits of the descent, of the journey taken into the darkness: return is now certain, not tentative as it was in the Early Spring/Imbolc. Demeter, the Mother, receives the Persephones, Lost Beloved Ones, joyously. This may be understood as an individual experience, but also as a collective experience – as we emerge into a new Era as a species. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme speak of the ending of the sixty-five million year geological Era – the Cenozoic Era – in our times, and our possible emergence into an Ecozoic Era. They describe the Ecozoic Era as a time when “the curvature of the universe, the curvature of the earth, and the curvature of the human are once more in their proper relation”[vii]. Joanna Macy speaks of the “Great Turning” of our times[viii]. Collectively we have been away from the Mother for some time and there is a lot of pain. At this time we may contemplate not only our own individual lost wanderings, but also that of the human species. We are part of a much bigger Return that is happening. The Beloved One may be understood as returning on a collective level: …

(Book Excerpt 3) The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia

[Author’s Note: The following is from Chapter 8, The Consciousness of WE/HERE/NOW.] The Budoji stories the primordial drama of Mago’s beginning. It furnishes a yet-to-be-heard story of the beginning of the Great Goddess, the taboo story in patriarchy. It is the story of the Creatrix that patriarchy has attempted to erase. It can be temporarily forgotten but can never die because it is the story that is at the root of patriarchy. Ultimately, it is The Story that is happening HERE and NOW. The merit of the Magoist Cosmogony lies in the fact that it, through storying, restores the view of the whole, the macrocosmic view of the All. The holistic view necessarily involves the Great Goddess or the First Mother in that S/HE is the Creatrix. Time is not a linear concept, flowing from one end to the other. Time is the unified Present, happening NOW. It may be said that time is circular or cyclic, as all beings are constantly in motion to enhance the process of self-creation, which causes the whole to change ceaselessly. The Present hosts an infinite number of stories that take place in the undividable One Space HERE. The beginning of the Great Goddess is still happening and we are invited to re-cognize HER STORY in the HERE and NOW. The beginning is a process, not a single isolated event that took place in the remote past.[i] All things exist in the process of becoming HERE and NOW as part of WE. Put differently, the beginning of the Great Goddess is the LIVE SCENE/DRAMA/STORY. We are part of HER STORY. Mago’s beginning is the heart that pumps fresh blood to the body of the terrestrial becoming. The beginning of the Great Goddess is still taking place HERE/NOW. The terrestrial beginning is attributed to the Great Goddess who is self-born through the sonic movement of cosmic light. The beginning story of the Great Goddess is no ordinary one. It is of power and truth, that is, metamorphic. It provides the original text to the meaning of “salvation.” HER Beginning that is happening HERE/NOW holds all from falling into cacophony. For one thing, it delivers us from the patriarchal misconception of ultimate reality that does away with the Creatrix. The holistic view of the Creatrix is capable of saving us from misconceptions and misconduct. Ultimately, it guides us to live our life in harmony with the whole, HERE/NOW. The Magoist Cosmogony engenders the consciousness that WE ARE HERE/NOW. The universe is existent without beginning or end. In one ever-existing reality, things ceaselessly appear and disappear in relation to one another on all levels. All things are in the constant movement of autogenesis striving to arrive at a new position of balance. S/HE IS HERE/NOW telling us the STORY of WE. That is the source of our metamorphosis. Notes: [i] Process thought founded by Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and John B. Cobb shares a common premise on that regard, although it does not associate ultimate reality with the Creatrix. (See Book Excerpt 1 and Book Excerpt 2. Available in Mago Bookstore.) Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.
(Essay 1) Magos, Muses, and Matrikas: The Magoist Cosmogony and Gynocentric Unity by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s note: This paper is published in the journal, the Gukhak yeonguronchong 국학연구론총 (Issue 14, December 2014). Here it will appear in five sequels including the response by Dr. Glenys Livingstone.] Magos, Muses, and Matrikas: The Magoist Cosmogony and Gynocentric Unity[1] Abstract: This paper discusses the gynocentric principle in the Magoist cosmogony embodied in Cosmic Music and compares it with the traditions of Muses in ancient Greco-Roman culture and Matrikas in Hindu cultures. Methodologically, being the first research of its own kind, my study of Magoism takes a path led by the peculiarities of primary sources from Korea, China, and Japan. As a result, a feminist, transnational, multi-disciplinary, and comparative approach is employed to dis-cover otherwise irrelevant or isolated materials that include written texts, folktales, art, literary and place-names. The Magoist cosmogony characterized by Cosmic Music as ultimate creativity and Mago lineage of the first three generations known as Gurang (Nine Goddesses), the Mago Triad (Mgo and Her two daughters) and eight granddaughters strikes a strong resonance in Muses and Matrikas. In the latter two traditions, not only linguistic and numerical evidence but also the gynocentric (read female-centered) principle represented by parthenogenesis, matri-lineage, and cultural manifestations appear akin to the Magoist cosmogony. From the perspective of Magoism, such multifaceted unity is not surprising. Precisely, traditional Magoists self-proclaim as the memory-bearer of the original narrative of the Primordial Mother. Keywords: Mago, Mago Stronghold, Budoji, Parthenogenesis, Muse, Matrika, Goddess, Cosmic Music, Music of the Universe, Nine Goddesses, Triad, Matrilineal, Korean Goddess, Mago lineage, Greek Goddess, Indian Goddess, Hinduism
(Book Excerpt) The Budoji Workbook (Volume 1): The Magoist Cosmogony (Chapters 1-4)

Introduction [Author’s Note: WorkBook, The Magoist Cosmogony Volume 1 (Chapters 1-4): The Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City in English and Korean Translations with the Original Text in the East Asian Logographic Language) is a a newly arrived book by Mago Books on June 8, 2020.) It has been 20 years since I first read the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City), the principal text of Magoism, a term that I coined shortly after. The Budoji was, reappeared as a book in the 1980s in Korea, largely unknown among Koreans at that time. Primarily based on the Budoji, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the topic of Mago, the Creatrix, in 2003 and 2004. I had gathered a large corpus of primary sources, researched extensively on the topic and its related themes as well as relevant interdisciplinary works. That was to verify and support the Budoji’s validity as a reliable source. I knew that my dissertation marked the onset of my life’s search and research on Magoism. I spent the following sixteen years expanding, deepening and testing the premises that I posited in my dissertation. The subject of Mago became the axis of my life. I found myself a Magoist, following after my predecessors and contemporaries who are countless but mostly forgotten if ever known. I was finally home. The Budoji was at the root of my activities undertaken under the rubric of “The Mago Work” including teaching, publishing, and holding events like Mago Pilgrimages to Korea and Nine Mago Celebrations. The Budoji is the Book of Mago, the Creatrix, written in a systematically cogent narrative. The Budoji testifies to the forgotten mytho-history of Magoism from which modern civilizations are derived. Without the Budoji, the Origin Story of the Creatrix, would have remained unknown today. Without the Budoji, Magoism, the Way of the Creatrix, would have remained unnamed. The Budoji teaches, guides, and awakens people to the metamorphic reality of WE/HERE/NOW. Alleged to have been written in the early 5th century of Silla (57 BCE-935 CE), the Budoji ripe with noble (read matricentric) terms and symbols is salvific, offering matricentric soteriology. My task is to make the Budoji known to the world so that we can dis-cover the story of the Budoji as OUR STORY. In the Budoji, we are told why and how to live peacefully in harmony with all other people and all other species on earth and beyond. It is very slippery to write about it because of its multi-valent meaning, too bedazzling to articulate. Once told, however, the Budoji will begin to ferment something in your mind, something that has been with us all along and everywhere but made unseen. The nine-volume workbook series is an effort to make the unseen seeable and palpable. I must admit that my books, articles, essays, lectures, and events that I wrote and undertook with regards to Magoism for the last two decades are only the footnotes to the Budoji. I could not rely on traditional publications, journals, and educational institutes for my Magoist intellectual/spiritual productions. Out of necessity, I founded Return to Mago E-Magazine, Mago Books, and Mago Academy to build a wheel through which my scholarship on Magoism is interwoven and advocated. Synchronously, the birthing of my dissertation in a book form is approaching in support of the Budoji’s workbook. This book, with a slightly revised title, Seeking Mago, the Great Mother from East Asia: A Mytho-Historical-Thealogical Reconstruction of Magoism, an Archaically Originated Gynocentric Tradition of Old Korea (forthcoming June 21, 2020 by Mago Books)[1], is the thus-far available comprehensive source book to Magoism that I wrote. In 2015, I published The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2015), based on the first two chapters of the Budoji. Since 2017, I have published Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar annually, based on the Budoji’s Chapters 21-23. My other articles include “Mago, the Creatrix from East Asia, and the Mytho-History of Magoism,”[2] “Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea, and Her Mythology,”[3] “Magos, Muses, and Matrikas: The Magoist Cosmogony and Gynocentric Unity,”[4] “Making the Gyonocentric Case: Mago, the Great Goddess of East Asia, and her Tradition Magoism,”[5] “Issues in Studying Mago, the Great Goddess of East Asia: Primary Sources, Gynocentric History, and Nationalism,”[6] and “The Female Principle in the Magoist Cosmogony.”[7] ……. How to Use the Budoji Workbook? The multivalent meaning of the Budoji’s verses will unravel gradually. At first, you may find the Budoji’s verses too dense or too technical to follow. Even in that case, I encourage you to keep reading the next chapters and the next volumes. Like a night dream, the text of the Budoji will grab your attention. However, its meaning will be slowly unfolding and unveiling in your mind. You may have more questions, as you continue to read. For the Budoji instills in the reader the deepest and broadest vision of the Great Mother, largely forgotten to moderns. The Budoji’s matricentric meaning system (the Way of Mago) takes all into consideration to awaken you including your experience, your interest, your passion, and your intellectual/spiritual aptitude. This workbook aims at initiating the process of knowing the Great Mother, Mago, and the mytho-history of Magoism (pre-patriarchal and trans-patriarchal) from within. In that sense, the Budoji Workbook is a manual with which one learns how to ignite the spark of Life that is inextinguishable and inexhaustible in the mind/heart. The Budoji Workbook allows you to interact with the verses of each chapter. You can take notes, draw images and symbols, or compose songs in the worksheets included after each chapter and in the Appendix. Personalized worksheets can serve as milestones as you proceed in the reading. Ultimately, the Budoji Workbook invites you to write, draw, or sing the storyline of each chapter in your own words and means. No preparation is required to read the Budoji. Once read, the Budoji will begin to speak to you and guide you from within. …

Return to Mago E-Magazine (RTME)

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