December 21, 2013November 15, 2019 Mago Work Admin

(Solstice Poem) O Mother Sun by Glenys Livingstone

Summer Solstice Dawn 2009 over the Summer Solstice window of MoonCourt, Blue Mountains Australia – but it could also be representative of Winter Solstice Moment as Mother Sun emerges out of the dark.

O Mother Sun

who is with me

wherever I am.

May I always remember

your presence

surging through my nerve fibres

breathing in my body.

Present in the forms all around me.

May I remember to be gracious

For Thine is the planet.

O Mother Sun

You are Daughter too

– Child of Something Bigger.

Given life by the primordial cosmic dynamics.

We share the same Great Source

from whence all Form comes.

We … are Awesome.

All praise be.

1998 C.E.

Read Meet Mago Contributor, Glenys Livingstone.

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(Book Excerpt 1) The Crone Initiation: Women Speak on the Menopause Journey ed. by Kay Louise Aldred, Pat Daly & Trista Hendren

[Editor’s Note: This anthology was published by Girl God Books (2022).]”Ceremonies of Consentand a Declaration of Embarking” by Molly Remer I stood still for a moment,between bramble and wing,sunlight on my eyelidsa changing womanon a changing landbeneath a changing sky… Perimenopause asks us to make space for dichotomy, not just for our changing bodies, but also with respect to life. There is a lot of room for “and” at this life stage, just as with any other stage of a woman’s life. Perimenopause is a natural, healthy process full of opportunities for transformation and it can be difficult, stressful and confusing. It is important to remember that normal and healthy isn’t synonymous only with “amazing and wonderful.” Life itself is a normal, healthy process and it can often be painful, confusing, overwhelming and stressful. Pregnancy is a normal, healthy process and it can be challenging, confusing, and with few exceptions, physically changes you forever. Breastfeeding is a normal, healthy process and it can be mysterious, confusing, annoying, and frustrating. Parenting is a normal, healthy process and it can involve the complete deconstruction of personal identity, reforming you into something new in a way that feels painful and soul-destroying while simultaneously being illuminating and soul-evolving. Each of these things can involve distress and the need for help, modification, comfort, and change, as well as still holding the seeds of potential, positive change, and “rebirth” into the next phase of life. Much of life involves both/and, not either/or. The book The Seven Sacred Rites of Menopause explains that perimenopause is a prolonged state of imbalance, in which body, mind, and soul work to restabilize, find a new equilibrium, and give birth to a new (or recovered!) self. I find it helpful to see, honor, and hold that imbalance as normal and healthy. Perhaps we can lean gently into the imbalance rather than trying to fix it or ourselves. It is part of this becoming, it does not need to be fixed, rushed, or solved. The hormonal shifts of perimenopause create a physical, emotional, and mental between state of transition and change. This time period is not unlike a “second puberty” or “second spring” in which we eventually return to our most essential self, sovereign and powerful, our wisdom in our hands and starlight in our eyes. This is our undoing.Unpicking unraveling detangling unsnarling unraveling loosening smoothing freeing ourselves from the knots we’ve made around ourselves. laying down the chains we’ve gathered until we are nakedly alive alone unbound. In the book The Seven Sacred Rites of Menopause, author Kristi Meisenbach Boylan draws upon the metaphor of crossing to Avalon as an exploration of what it means to journey into menopause. The journey begins with summoning the barge in perimenopause (at around 40 years old) and concludes with having successfully navigated the misty and choppy waters to the isle of Avalon and the great rite of menopause (at around 52 years old). The process of passing through the Seven Rites is a journey to recover your lost spirit, after which you then take the barge back across the lake and return to the “outer world” again. I think perhaps some women (me included) at this life stage feel concerned that if they draw inward, if they seek solitude and reflection, if they uproot and weed out some of the distractions and unnecessary tasks from their lives, they might be neglecting, overlooking, or letting other people down. In the framework of passing through the Rites of menopause, Boylan asserts that if we are able to give ourselves this time to journey within, we will then be ready to re-emerge into the broader world again—with gifts to offer, wisdom to share, and service to give. “Finally, I began to write about becoming an older woman and the trepidation it stirred. The small, telling ‘betrayals’ of my body. The stalled, eerie stillness in my writing, accompanied by an ache for some unlived destiny. I wrote about the raw, unsettled feelings coursing through me, the need to divest and relocate, the urge to radically simplify and distill life into an unknown meaning… Finally, I wrote a series of questions: Is there an odyssey the female soul longs to make at the approach of fifty—one that has been blurred and lost within a culture awesomely alienated from the soul? If so, what sort of journey would that be? Where would it take me?”[1] “Simone de Beauvoir was of the opinion that if, at menopause, a woman gives her ‘consent’ to growing older, she is changed into a ‘different being,’ one who is more herself, one who is complete. I get to my feet and climb down the temple steps, picking my way through the cactus, wondering why we do not have ceremonies of consent.” —Sue Monk Kidd, Traveling with Pomegranates (pages 6 and 73) I came across Sue Monk Kidd’s Traveling with Pomegranates memoir specifically because another woman referred me to it with the reference of “ceremonies of consent” and I was captivated by the idea that consenting to menopause is a part of the journey and an act of power in a world that conspires to hide the bodies, lives, stories, and wisdom of middle-aged women. I combined this concept with Boylan’s metaphor to create a ritual outline for you: a ceremony of consent and a declaration of embarking. Different people connect to metaphors in different ways, so you may wish to hold this complete ceremony for yourself, or, you may wish to explore only one aspect of it—a simple statement of declaration, for example—or it may be material you set aside to engage with at a later time. It is up to you! “But that is what a woman must do when she pulls down the mists around her. She must wrap herself up in her own skin to become the caterpillar in the cocoon. And this securing herself up in her own skin is what facilitates the menopausal process by temporarily closing the veil …
(Essay) Gratitude Stalks You by Hearth Moon Rising

Gratitude stalks you Unawares you are ambushed Smile in surprise Earlier this week I was in the woods at a stream swollen with spring, and a familiar situation overtook me. It’s similar to coming upon a beautiful scene by surprise or having an unusual interaction with an animal–and of course you left the camera at home. This is the situation of coming upon a sublime space, maybe in some ordinary place where you’ve been many times, and your heart is unexpectedly opened and full to overflowing. Perhaps you can hear the voices of water, rocks and trees. This is the time for ritual, but you have no offering. A simple thank you does not seem like enough. What gift can you leave to signify the importance of this moment?
(Poetry) Sita by Susan Hawthorne

After the recent TRA (Trans Rights Activists) attacks on Nina Paley, a very talented film maker, I decided that I would post my poem ‘what Queenie says about Sita’. I wrote this after seeing Nina Paley’s film Sita Sings the Blues in 2010 when I was studying Sanskrit at ANU. The poem is from my book Cow (2011) and Queenie is an intergalactic cow with a deep knowledge of philosophy (she has been around for many millennia and seen it all); she knows every famous cow who has ever been; and is quite keen on any religion in which cows play an important part (and there are many of them). Cow is a book full of mythic stories and my retelling of Sita is just one among many. what Queenie says about Sita Sita was no slouch just a woman in the tumult of emotion she tried to help her man get a life get out and about she said why not follow that deer dear she needed time alone but it’s always been hard for women to find solitude Sita was no different soon the rival king was coming round asking for samosas with pickles and chutney and before she knew it he had her tucked up in his flying chariot heading south she flew with him to see a bit of the country from the air but Raavana had other ideas he tried to woo her but that wasn’t why she consorted a mountain from a molehill before she knew it the scouts were arriving on her doorstep begging her to turn back why couldn’t Rama come and ask her himself? if she wasn’t important enough for a visit why bother? so she stayed on at the mountain resort with its beach views elephants peacocks temples evening dancing and good intelligent conversation Raavana too didn’t get it what was it with these men? can’t they tell the difference between great conversation and no desire for sex? (in the case of Raavana) or great love lust and passion but no wish to give up on intellectual pursuits for housework sitting pretty and emotional deserts? (in the case of Rama) all Sita wanted was a balanced and fulfilling lifestyle was it really that hard? she contemplated suicide this woman who knew her mind she could not understand why Rama ten months after her capture had not come to fight for her but suicide is hard without implements and then came the war unwarranted just as for Helen across the desert lands there seemed no end to the bloodshed the fear the escalating madness of war hatred destruction once started she was no longer relevant to the discussion she tried negotiating nothing happening tried the cold shoulder only to inflame the passions of Raavana she retreated kept out of sight one day a great conflagration arose a river of blood the palace burnt to the ground Raavana lost his head there was Rama standing before her his eyes cold his heart stone but there was nothing else for it but to turn homeward it hadn’t changed a bit still irrelevant in Rama’s list of duties she sat alone like Penelope waiting for the man she thought she knew to return before long she noticed the early signs she conceived what was to come well before her belly swelled this time he evicted her sent her into exile she was not much more alone and here she could get her life back together stop waiting for someone to notice her she started a school for the study of language people came from the lands all around they told stories recited day-long epic poems played music danced and painted finally life was good she became revered among the people for her intelligence her wit her sense of justice and fun they also thought her beautiful one among many fine attributes Sita stayed in her own country her children flourished knowing only a little of their mother’s trials (of their father they knew only that he had been most interested in his reputation among men) Notes on the poem Sita: a foundling, regarded as the daughter of Bhudevi, the earth gooddess. Sita’s name means furrow, the line of a ploughshare; she was discovered in a furrow of a ploughed field. She is a principle player in the epic Ramayana and married to Rama. Raavana: the demon king of Lanka. Rama the exiled king of Ayodhya. You can watch Nina Paley’s animated movie Sita Sings the Blues here; https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=RzTg7YXuy34 It has had almost a million viewers. Nina Paley on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Paley For an image, I like this one: http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/watch.html The film is produced under a copyleft licence. So images can be shared. You can find out more about my book Cow here: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=215/ Meet Mago Contributor, Susan Hawthorne
(Essay 9) From Heaven to Hell, Virgin Mother to Witch: The Evolution of the Great Goddess of Egypt by Krista Rodin

[Author’s Note: This series based on a chapter in Goddesses in Culture, History and Myth seeks to demonstrate how many of the ideas behind the Ancient Egyptian goddesses and their images, though changing over time and culture, remain relevant today.] The Egyptian Goddess Isis to Western Witch Krista Rodin, Ph.D. While it seems that the goddess’ split into the Holy Mother and the damned witch was common throughout the Western world, there are distinct differences in the tenor of legends of witches on the Continent and those of North America and England. This may in part be due to the localities where the legends persist and their earlier pagan relationship to the goddess as well as how well the local Christian church adapted to earlier pagan traditions. In Alpine regions, for example, witches are not necessarily evil, they can be seen as the women who live in the mountains and protect the innocent, while they deal out strikes to those who harm the land, animals or their protected people. The Lady Perchta, who inhabits the mountains of Bavaria, Tirol and Salzburg, is an example of just such a witch. In one tale, “The Witch from Gleichenberg” from Styria, Austria, the Witch, who is also called a gypsy, saves a young boy, who grows up to be the head of castle, with water from a sacred spring. She keeps the spring and its powers to herself, i.e, keeps the magic to herself, but when she knows she is dying, she lets the lord of the castle know where the healing water is located to protect the community.40 The Untersberg Frauen, the women who live in the Untersberg mountain, which lies on the border of the province of Salzburg, Austria and Bavaria, Germany, play tricks on passersby with light shows on wet rocks and undergrowth. They can lead the innocent to safety in storms and through fog, while they have been known to push those they don’t like into crevasses. They live amid the many caves in the mountain, while they play in its streams and waterfalls. They are still respected by the local population, even those who go to church every Sunday. Recently, post-Reformation traditionally negative views on witches have also been mitigated by children’s stories such as the award winning Die kleine Hexe (The Little Witch) by Otfried Preussler.41 The story includes some of the popularized elements associated with witches, and yet it has a twist that brings the Little Witch back in line with elements of the great goddess and her Alpine descendants. The popularized elements include: the Little Witch has a raven companion named Abraxas; the witches at the Walpurgis Night celebration encompass those who have command of the natural elements, such as mountains, woods, swamps, fog, weather, wind, and herbs/plants; they make a witches’ fire and sing and dance around it as they fly through the night; and the witching hour is midnight. They have a Witches’ Council with a chief witch who listens to the other witches as they govern the community—not letting the Little Witch participate in the activities. The witches put spells on people to change bodily features to include parts of animals, e.g., donkey ears and cows’ feet. The Little Witch makes salves of frogs’ eggs and mouse droppings, i.e. she uses natural elements to heal. In one chapter, ‘The Lightly Spelled Marksmen Festival,’ she helps children save their favorite ox from being killed and eaten. In the story, the Witches’ Council gave the Little Witch a year to learn to be a good witch. The young girl, who is only 127 years old, has perfected her powers, learned all the spells in the book of magic, and helped a number of innocent people during the year. When she goes for her final exam on Walpurgis Night in order to be allowed to participate in the Nightly Festival, she answers the questions easily and seems to have passed the exam until one of the other witches, who had been tracking her throughout the year, announced all of the ways she had helped people. The witches in the Council are appalled because being a good witch means harming rather than helping. The Little Witch then uses her magic to trick the other witches and destroy them in the Witches’ Fire created for the Walpurgis Night celebration. She is alone, but she will continue to be the good witch, destroying that which harms and protecting the innocent. This theme of the good witch who only selectively uses magic, and then only to be helpful, was seen in the U.S. television shows Bewitched (1964-1972), Sabrina, the Teen-age Witch (1996-2003) and Charmed (1998-2006) along with a variety of children’s books similar to The Little Witch. This change may, at least in part, be related to the development of Wicca. Wicca originated in England after WWII, as a creation of Gerald Gardner, an amateur anthropologist, who combined diverse pagan traditions with early 20th century theosophical thought. One impetus for creating the new pagan tradition was a reaction and denunciation of organized religion, and as such Wicca has no central authority or doctrine.42 The one most predominant aspect of the various Wiccan traditions is the worship of the Great Goddess and the Great Horned God, reminiscent of the Babylonian/Mesopotamian Baal. While not all Wiccans practice magic, many do, and they associate their skills with their deities. Ellen Reed, a renown Wicca practitioner, ties her faith back to the Great Goddess, even in the title of her book, Circle of Isis: Ancient Egyptian Magic for Modern Witches. In it she explains: In Wicca, our approach to magic is usually through the Gods. Having done all we are capable of doing on this plane, we turn to magic, and will often ask for the help, guidance, and blessing of specific deities. Egyptian legend says that Ra invented magic. The Gods were too busy to do everything, so Ra gave humankind magical powers, heka, so that we would be able to handle the unseen world ourselves. Wicca is, first and foremost, a religion. You might call magic a fringe benefit, a result of our beliefs. We believe that we are part of the Gods and able to do much They can do. The very source of the ability to do magic, however, makes it imperative …
(Essay) Demeter, Gaia, and the Sacred Marriage by Harita Meenee

Two female figures, probably Demeter and Persephone, discovered in the Telesterion of Eleusis. Middle of 6th c. BCE. Archaeological Museum of Eleusis. Photo by the author. In a previous post, “Demeter and the Birth of the Holy Child,” I explored the connections between the Goddess of Agriculture, the Virgin Mary and the celebration of Christmas. Both Demeter and Mary echo the life-giving qualities of the Mother Goddess. Also, they are both associated with the age-old concept of the Sacred Marriage, the union between Earth and Sky. Demeter was impregnated by Zeus and Mary by Yahweh, both of them sky gods. This essay sheds light on the Sacred Marriage aspects of Gaia and Demeter. Two stand foremost among humans:Goddess Demeter—call her Earth if you like—who nourishes mortals with solid food;the other one came later, Semele’s son,who discovered the liquor of the grape,and brought it to mortals, givingthe poor fellows surcease of sorrow…[1] Euripides, Bacchae Strange as it may sound today, religion and food were once intimately connected. Ensuring adequate provisions for survival has been a major concern since the dawn of humanity. Since all food ultimately comes from the Earth, it came to be regarded as a generous Mother Goddess who nourishes her offspring, human or otherwise. As such, she had to be propitiated and thanked, in order to continue providing. It is barely stretching the imagination to think that rituals and offerings may have first been invented for this purpose. It is well known that in the Greek tradition, the Earth Goddess, called Gaia (or Ge), is the “mother of the blessed gods and mortal humans,” the “all-giving” and “all-nourishing bringer of fruit,” as revealed in the Orphic hymn in her honor. She also appeared as Demeter, the Olympian goddess of agriculture, whose name can be interpreted as “Earth Mother” (Ge Meter).[2] She continued to represent Gaia’s bountiful aspects until the violent destruction of her cult in the late 4th and 5th c. CE. Those who practiced the Orphic Mysteries sung a hymn which vividly echoes Demeter’s life-sustaining essence, her power to offer prosperity, happiness, and even health: Deo, universal mother, goddesswith many names, venerable Demeter,nurturer of children, source of happiness.Wealth-offering goddess, nourishing the corn,[3] giver of all,joyful in peace and in laborious work,creating abundance in seeds and heaps of grain,mistress of the threshing floor, with fresh fruit filled.You dwell in Eleusinian holy vales,delightful, lovely, nurturing all people,you, the first who yoked the oxen to the ploughand offered mortals pleasant, happy lives.Giver of growth, Bacchus’s companion in feasts,splendidly honored, bearer of the torch.Pure, delighted with the summer sickles,chthonic yet manifest, favorable to all;mother of good offspring, children-loving,venerable, maiden who nourishes boys.Yoking your chariot with serpent reinsdancing around your throne in bacchic frenzy,mother of one, goddess with many children,reverenced by mortals, many are your forms,filled with flowers and sacred leaves.Come, oh blessed one, pure,with summer fruit,bringing desirable order and peace,joyful riches, too, along with our queen, Health.[4] The Sacred Marriage The Orphic hymn calls Demeter “mistress of the threshing floor,” “delighted with the summer sickles,” “pregnant with summer fruit” revealing her intimate connection with the season of the harvest. Other descriptions, though, are unfamiliar and somewhat unsettling. She appears as “Bacchus’s companion in feasts,” “yoking her chariot with serpent reins, dancing around her throne in bacchic frenzy.” This ecstatic image brings to mind the Maenads, worshippers of Dionysus, often half-naked, communing with the Divine as they released their sexual energy in unbridled dancing. Such a portrayal seems strange at first, since Demeter is usually portrayed as a modest mother, her sensual aspects hardly appearing in myths. Yet her sexuality and her role as provider of food are closely interconnected. Hesiod narrates how she “was joined in sweet love with the hero Iasion in a thrice-ploughed field in the rich land of Crete, and bare Ploutos.”[5] Not surprisingly Ploutos means “wealth,” since in an agricultural society prosperity relies heavily upon the fertility of the earth. As in many other myths, we can discern here the motif of the Sacred Marriage. A similar theme was repeated during the Eleusinian Mysteries, where the priest was said to cry out “Hye kye!,” while libations where being poured.[6] Hye means “rain!,” a command, a call to Zeus, who was once the lover of Demeter. Kye means “conceive!” This ritual cry revealed the notion that the Earth Goddess will be impregnated by precipitation, symbolizing the sperm of the Sky God. There is some evidence that the Hieros Gamos between the two was ceremonially re-enacted during the Mysteries at Eleusis although scholars debate this. The Telesterion of Eleusis, where the Great Mysteries were held. Photo by the author. The same concept is manifest in a fragment from the Danaids, a now lost play of the famous tragic poet Aeschylus. There Gaia, also called Chthon, is united with the Sky God Uranus: The pure Uranus longs to mate with Chthon,and Gaia, in love, marriage seeksthus rain falling from the moist Skyimpregnates her and she bears for humankindgrass for sheep and the wealth of Demeter.[7] The body of a woman and the body of the Earth seemed similar to the ancient mind: the one gave birth to human children, the other to plants. They both ensured the continuation of life. In Greece up to this day agricultural products are sometimes called gennimata, “things born” from the land. Ears of corn, symbols of Demeter. Roman relief in Eleusis. Photo by Melissa Gold. https://www.magoism.net/2013/08/meet-mago-contributor-harita-meenee/ Originally published in Witches and Pagans. This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. NOTES[1] Semele’s son is Dionysus—notice that he is identified by his mother’s name, not his father’s. The above verses are from Euripides’ Bacchae 274-281, translated by the author.[2] Hesychius of Alexandria, Dictionary (Athens: Georgiadis, 1975), s.v. “Demeter.” Henry G. Liddell and Robert Scott, authors of the Great Dictionary of the Greek Language (Athens: Ioannis Sideris, s.v. “Demeter”), also mention this etymology, although they do not agree with it.[3] The word corn is used here to mean “wheat.”[4] Orphic Hymn 40 to Demeter, translated by the author.[5] Hesiod, Theogony 969, translated by the author.[6] Aristotle in Synesius, Dio 10.[7] Aeschylus in the Danaids, fragment 43, quoted …
(Book Excerpt 6) For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange by Genevieve Vaughan

[Editor’s Note: The following sequels are from For-Giving: A Feminist Criticism of Exchange by Genevieve Vaughan. Footnotes may differ from the original text.] Relationship Giving and receiving word-gifts organized in sentences and discourses creates a human relation among people with regard to things in the world. Communicative need is the need for the relation to others with regard to something. We cannot ourselves make the other person relate herself to something. However, we can interpret her lack of a relation as a need for a means to that relation, and we can satisfy that need–with a word-gift. The need arises from the circumstances in which people find themselves, to talk about something. One person gives to the other word-gifts which re-present (give again) the pertinent parts of the world. We are social beings, and language allows us to include others in experiencing the world with us. If I say, ‘Look at the sunset,’ I satisfy the need of the listener to know the sunset is happening, and to know that I think it is something worth looking at. By providing her with these words (which she already knows) in the present, I satisfy her need for a momentary relation to me and to the sunset, which is the same as my need for a relation to her and the sunset. Presumably, I would already be perceiving the sunset, so the motivation of my speech would be to include the other person in that experience, satisfying what I understand as her need to be put in that relation. The word ‘sunset’ has been supplied by the society in general to everyone, as a word-gift which can be used to satisfy communicative needs about sunsets. The listener’s creative reception of that word-gift places her in an inclusive human relation with me and, at the same time, draws her attention to the sunset, so that we can include each other, not only with regard to the words, but by relating ourselves in similar ways through our attention to a shared nonverbal experience. The relation to the nonverbal experience is also to some extent a gift, which we usually call ‘information.’ While looking at a sunset together can be a positive experience for both participants and, therefore, a need-satisfying aesthetic experience, there are many pieces of information which seem decidedly negative. For example, ‘I hate you’ creates a common relation between us to my negative emotion towards you. This emotion is certainly not itself a gift to you, but it is useful to you to know that I have it and, thus, my phrase could be considered a gift or service in spite of its negativity. I believe there are many levels of gifts in life, as in language, but they have been hidden from us, because we have not been looking at them. We can say positive things to each other and nurture each other in that way, but even when we say things that are negative or neutral, the listener has many ways of receiving what has been given to her, transforming them into gifts by her creative use of them. The phrase by Karl Marx that I have used on the frontispiece of this book, “language is practical consciousness that exists also for other men and for that reason alone it really exists personally for me as well,” identifies a logic of other-orientation as the logic of communication. It also brings up the second grail question, “Whom does the Grail serve?” or in simpler terms, “Who is it for?” This question, always pertinent to giftgiving, often remains unasked and unanswered in our profit-based society. (To be Continued) Meet Mago Contributor, Genevieve Vaughan
Meet Mago Contributor, Maria Palacios

My name is Maria R. Palacios. I am a poet, author, spoken word performer, inspirational speaker, disability activist and workshop facilitator. In the artistic world, I am known as The Goddess on Wheels. https://www.facebook.com/goddessonwheels
(Poem 4) Creation Story by Dr. Mary Ann Ghaffurian

PART IV Down in your neural cord and mine. Deep down. Hurrying past eternal banshees wailing at the rock; Past dead hands gripping at ankles, feet. Struggling off slime, bandit attacks Braving sniper-fire, hidden vantage in assault… You will see. You will learn. Behold. If you dare look through the looming shapes Following every one’s cautious move Fumbling towards one’s truth. Or if you dare not look, Yet sense the overarching threat. Move on… Searching further still…Scooping out within… Not stopping The mantle of stars, they are there. Lotus-eyed creation awaits. The Aeons are with a gift. The innocent gift. Prowlers? They be there to prove to you, For you to prove to yourself, You could outlast them in the end. You could find the truth. You could unravel the coil, the cord, The knot, Unleash the heart, Maintain your Soul. To the final outpost of grief. To the final supernova of relief. In the very beginning was the Serpent A Mother, She wept For where were Her children? They are Here. Text © Mary Ann Ghaffurian 1989 ~The Primordial Path Read Part I, Part II, and Part III. See Meet Mago Contributor, Mary Ann Ghaffurian, and her other posts.
(Poem) Śleṣa by Susan Hawthorne

notes This poem came about after translating Sanskrit poetry for some years and discovering the art of śleṣa (shlesha). In Sanskrit poetry, it is a way of saying two different sentences whose meaning can be completely distinct. Śleṣa has been called ‘extreme poetry’ because it enables the poet to express two different sentences with different meanings using what appears to be the same words. This is possible because in Sanskrit you can create very long compound words and split them in different places, thereby creating a different set of words and meanings. Because of the way English works it’s not possible to do this (or at least, I’ve not found anyone who has). As a lesbian poet I, nevertheless, find myself doing it through codes. Śleṣa has also been called ‘unnatural’. Yigal Bronner in his book on śleṣa, Extreme Poetry: The South Asian Movement of Simultaneous Narration, notes that not only has it been called ‘unnatural’ but also “an extravagant display that necessarily comes at the expense of plot and is therefore ‘decadent’, ‘torturous’, ‘disgusting’ and even ‘indecent’ and ‘criminal’. You can see why I could be enticed by this poetic technique. And to top it off, the word śleṣa means embrace. From The Sacking of the Muses (2019) https://www.magoism.net/2013/12/meet-mago-contributor-susan-hawthone

(Special Post Mother Teresa 2) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

[Editorial Note: The following is an edited version of the discussion that took place spontaneously on Mago Circle from March 1, 2013 for about two weeks. It was an extensive, heated, yet reflective discussion, now broken into four parts to fit the format of the blog. We thank each and all of the participants for your openness, generosity, and courage to stand up for what you believe and think! Some are marked as anonymous. As someone stated, something may have been “written in the heat of the moment” and some might like to change it at a later time. So we inform our readers that nothing is written in stone. As a matter of fact, the discussion is ongoing, now with Magoism Blog readers. Please comment and respond as you wish.] Part II: We Disagree! Stand up for what you believe but be open-minded! Naa Ayele Kumari: I am going to step away from the common responses and say this… Binary is only no in betweens if you choose sides and can’t see the whole. I have been a part of black consciousness movements and women’s movements and both have the capacity for progress as well as extreme viewpoints. Both have the capacity to become so hypercritical that the movement itself transcends common human compassion and understanding. Mother Teresa was a human being with flaws and goodness. She had a public image and private fears and insecurities.. l like all of us. She lived her life the best way she knew how.. Like all of us. She made mistakes.. misjudgments.. Like all of us. But she also DID help and inspire others to help too. It is this dualistic thinking that forces people to feel like they have to assign the label of good or bad and no in between. None of us are all good or all bad.. so it seems to me that to label her has an evil traitor who let people die is no better than labeling her an Angel of god who did no wrong. She was a woman who lived her life and managed to come to worldwide fame and inspire others to love at a time and in an institution that was highly patriarchal and women were not raised up at all. Mother Goddesses in Africa were known for great nurturing and care symbolized by carrying a baby and also carried a machete on the other side for justice. This was the fine balance of wholeness…she was the gentle rain and the storm.. This was binary, but not one or the other but both.. Opposite ends of the same pole. [H]: I’m having a powerful visceral effect from this conversation. I feel as if I’m going to vomit violently. Mother Teresa comes to me in dreams and meditations. Makes me wonder what kind of person I’m seen as if I attract her energy. I have always felt so much love for her. Naa Ayele Kumari: If she comes in your dreams and it has been healing for you… Allow it/ her to continue to be healing for you. Its all about love and anything that is not love… Leave it be.. Vomiting is rejecting something that doesn’t belong with you. Embrace love my sister. Antonia McGuire: I think we may all agree that all belief systems initially began to promote a sense of goodness or fairness to some degree, but over time they are corrupted and produce both advantages and disadvantages. Donna Snyder: Yes, Gandhi, too. Back in the 90’s when I was in a band/performance art troupe called Central Nervous System, I shocked all the guys in the band coming out with an improv in response to a melody played on a banjo tuned like a sitar, called exactly that-Yes, Gandhi. Now make no mistake, he is one of my heroes, devoid of the falsified sentimentality that clings to MT. Gandhi’s work was for the world, for the masses, not for the appropriately humbled. Yet I spoke out about his sexual practices, his use of female bodies. Telling the truth about a hero requires courage. Retreating into a blind defense of a myth is a form of ethical cowardice. Anne Wilkerson Allen: Strangely I had a discussion with someone about the “hero’s journey” moving from metaphorical to physical being part of the problem…..when the “demons” are human instead of our own flaws, there seems to be a tendency to point the finger (and gun barrel) elsewhere. [B]: Fascinating & thought-provoking conversation, all. I think the biggest stumbling block I have with MT is how her acceptance of the dogma of the Catholic church blinded her to seeing and then being moved by the suffering of others enough to do something to alleviate & not vicariously celebrate it. No wonder she “suffered a lack of connection with the Divine”. This crisis with her spirituality seems to have been divorced from her and others’ body wisdom. Self-abnegation (perhaps not the same as “sacrifice”) ultimately backfires because some small part of us insists, “I am worthy!” To which I say, “We are all worthy!” [H]: I do not see or feel that she vicariously celebrated the suffering of others. I feel that she devoted her life to deeply loving and serving the poorest of the poor. I have not been to Calcutta and I have also seen some unimaginable poverty in India that is not like anything that I’ve been exposed to before. I truly believe that she had a very deep way of working with suffering that is not necessarily visible to those more accustomed to modern medical intervention and the resources available for such. I have participated in a very small amount of poverty medicine and the resources that we take for granted are just not readily available to MANY. I learned very powerfully from my experience how blessed and fortunate and often very careless we really are with our precious resources. This discussion has been a learning experience for me. I am trying to not take the critical comments […]
(Special Post 7) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. Special thanks to Trista Hendren, founder and author of The Girl God, who passionately and painstakingly promotes the message of each contributor via Facebook’s memes. Without Trista’s devotion to the advocacy, this collective effort would not have continued. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Kaalii Cargill: Life emerges from the Feminine: Woman, Nature, Goddess. When we value the life-giving power of the Feminine we are less likely to kill other human beings who have been held in a mother’s arms.
(Special Post 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.

(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 …
(Video) A Samhain Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVRoK2XNeqw The purpose of the video is for ceremony and I suggest pausing the video where it suits you, to add your own processing, embellishments and/or your own drum, percussion and voice wherever you please. I have made short spaces in the video where it could be paused. For more full participation in the ceremony, you could have some past photos of yourself, an altar with ancestor photos, a gingerbread snake, some apples sliced up, and some apple juice. The script for this Samhain ceremony is offered in Chapter 4 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. However I want to acknowledge here the inspiration and some text of Robin Morgan’s poem “The Network of the Imaginary Mother” in her book Lady of the Beasts, for which I was given permission in my book. I also acknowledge here the paraphrase of some words by Starhawk in her book The Spiral Dance, used in the rite of Sailing to a New World. I also use a line from the poem Song of Hecate by Bridget McKern. The elements of Water, Fire, Earth and Air on the altar in this video are placed in directions that are appropriate to my region in the Southern Hemisphere, and East Coast Australia: you may place yours differently, and transliterate when I mention the direction (which I do minimally). For the rite of the Transformation Journey (remembering old selves) I use an adaptation of a children’s game “In and Out the Windows”, where each participant travels in and out of upraised and linked arms of the circle, and when ‘in’ may speak and /or show photos of themselves from the past. Some may choose to remember any self from the entire evolutionary story, with whom they would like to identify. The game seems appropriate to what each being does existentially in so many ways, over the eons as well as in our personal lives. The chant can be found on YouTube. The photos used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Samhain ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Samhain ceremonies I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space in NSW Australia, Darug and Gundungurra country. Music credit: All music used in this video is by Tim Wheater, which has previously generously allowed me to use in my work. The pieces used are from Tim’s CD Fish Nite Moon: they are Ancient Footsteps, Fish Nite Moon, Spiritbirth, and Conception. I thank my partner Robert (Taffy) Seaborne for his participation in the creation of the video.
Lammas/Late Summer within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 10 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Southern Hemisphere – Feb. 1st/2nd, Northern Hemisphere – August 1st/2nd These dates are traditional, though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox, thus actually a little later in early February for S.H., and early August for N.H., respectively. a Lammas/Late Summer table The Old One, the Dark and Shining One, has been much maligned, so to celebrate Her can be more of a challenge in our present cultural context. Lammas may be an opportunity to re-aquaint ourselves with the Crone in her purity, to fall in love with Her again, to celebrate She Who creates the Space to Be. Lammas is a welcoming of the Dark in all its complexity: and as with any funerary moment, there is celebration of the life lived (enjoyment of the harvest) – a “wake,” and there is grieving for the loss. One may fear it, which is good reason to make ceremony, to go deeper, to commit to the Mother, who is the Deep; to “make sacred” this emotion, as much as one may celebrate the hope and wonder of Spring, its opposite. If Imbolc/Early Spring is a nurturing of new young life, Lammas may be a nurturing/midwifing of death or dying to small self, the assent to larger self, an expansion or dissipation – further to the radiance of Summer Solstice. Whereas Imbolc is a Bridal commitment to being and form, where we are the Promise of Life; Lammas may be felt as a commitment marriage to the Dark within, as we accept the Harvest of that Promise, the cutting of it. We remember that the Promise is returned to Source. “The forces which began to rise out of the Earth at the festival of Bride now return at Lammas.”[i] Creativity is called forth when an end (or impasse) is reached: we can no longer rely on our small self to carry it off. We may call Her forth, this Creative Wise Dark One – of the Ages, when our ways no longer work. We are not individuals, though we often think we are. We are Larger Self, subjects within theSubject.[ii] And this is a joyful thing. We do experience ourselves as individuals and we celebrate that creativity at Imbolc. Lammas is the time for celebrating the fact that we are part of, in the context of, a Larger Organism, and expanding into that. Death will teach us that, but we don’t have to wait – it is happening around us all the time, we are constantly immersed in the process, and everyday creativity is sourced in this subjectivity. As it is said, She is “that which is attained at the end of Desire:”[iii] the same Desire we celebrated at Beltaine, has peaked at Summer and is now dissolving form, returning to Source to nourish the Plenum, the manifesting – as all form does. This Seasonal Moment of Lammas/Late Summer celebrates the beginning of dismantling, de-structuring. Gaia-Universe has done a lot of this de-structuring – it is in Her nature to return all to the “Sentient Soup” … nothing is wasted. We recall the Dark Sentience, the “All-Nourishing Abyss”[iv] at the base of being, as we enter this dark part of the cycle of the year. This Dark/Deep at the base of being, to whom we are returned, may be understood as the Sentience within all – within the entire Universe. The dictionary definition of sentience is: “intelligence,” “feeling,” “the readiness to receive sensation, idea or image; unstructured available consciousness,” “a state of elementary or undifferentiated consciousness.”[v] The Old Wise One is the aspect of the Cosmic Triplicity/Triple Goddess that returns us to this sentience, the Great Subject out of whom we arise. We are subjects within the Great Subject – the sentient Universe; we are not a collection of objects, as Thomas Berry has said.[vi] This sentience within, this “readiness-to-receive,” is a dark space, as all places of ending and beginning are. Mystics of all religious traditions have understood the quintessential darkness of the Divinity, known often as the Abyss. Goddesses such as Nammu and Tiamat, Aditi and Kali, are the anthropomorphic forms of this Abyss/Sea of Darkness that existed before creation. She is really the Matrix of the Universe. This sentience is ever present and dynamic. It could be understood as the dark matter that is now recognized to form most of the Universe. This may be recognized as Her “Cauldron of Creativity” and celebrated at this Lammas Moment. Her Cauldron of Creativity is the constant flux of all form in the Universe – all matter is constantly transforming. We are constantly transforming on every level. a Lammas/Late Summer altar These times that we find ourselves in have been storied as the Age of Kali, the Age of Caillaech – the Age of the Crone. There is much that is being turned over, much that will be dismantled. We are in the midst of the revealing of compost, and transformation – social, cultural, and geophysical. Kali is not a pretty one – but we trust She is transformer, and creative in the long term. She has a good track record. Our main problem is that we tend to take it personally. The Crone – the Old Phase of the cycle, creates the Space to Be. Lammas is the particular celebration of the beauty of this awesome One. She is symbolized and expressed in the image of the waning moon, which is filling with darkness. She is the nurturant darkness that may fill your being, comfort the sentience in you, that will eventually allow new constellations to gestate in you, renew you. So the focus in ceremony may be to contemplate opening to Her, noticing our fears and our hopes involved in that. She is the Great Receiver – receives all, and as such She is the Great Compassionate One. Her Darkness may be understood as a Depth of Love. And She is Compassionate because of …
(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.
(Slideshow) Beltaine Goddess by Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D.

Tara, Hallie Iglehart Austen, p.122 On November 7th at 22:56 UTC EarthGaia crosses the midpoint in Her orbit between Equinox and Solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the Season of Beltaine – a maturing of the Light, post-Spring Equinox. Beltaine and all of the light part of the cycle, is particularly associated with the Young One/Virgin aspect of Goddess, even as She comes into relationship with Other: She remains Her own agent. Beltaine may be understood as the quintessential annual celebration of Light as it continues to wax towards fullness. It is understood to be the beginning of Summer. Here is some Poetry of the Season: Earth tilts us further towards Mother Sun, the Source of Her pleasure, life and ecstasy You are invited to celebrate BELTAINE the time when sweet Desire For Life is met – when the fruiting begins: the Promise of early Spring exalts in Passion. This is the celebration of Holy Lust, Allurement, Aphrodite … Who holds all things in form, Who unites the cosmos, Who brings forth all things, Who is the Essence of the Dance of Life. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express this quality of Hers. And also for consideration, is the fact that most ancient images of Goddess are multivalent – She was/is One: that is, all Her aspects are not separate from each other. These selected images tell a story of certain qualities that may be contemplated at the Seasonal Moment of Beltaine. As you receive the images, remember that image communicates the unspeakable – that which can only be known in body – below rational mind. So you may open yourself to a transmission of Her, that will be particular to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGRoVjQQHY Aphrodite 300 B.C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). This Greek Goddess is commonly associated with sexuality in a trivial kind of way, but She was said to be older than Time (Barbara Walker p.44). Aphrodite as humans once knew Her, was no mere sex goddess: Aphrodite was once a Virgin-Mother-Crone trinity – the Creative Force itself. The Love that She embodied was a Love deep down in things, an allurement intrinsic to the nature of the Universe. Praised by the Orphics thus: For all things are from You Who unites the cosmos. You will the three-fold fates You bring forth all things Whatever is in the heavens And in the much fruitful earth And in the deep sea. Vajravarahi 1600C.E. Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A Dakini dancing with life energy – a unity of power, beauty, compassion and eroticism. Praised as Mistress of love and of knowledge at the same time. Tara Contemporary – Green Gulch California ,Tibetan Buddhist. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). “Her eroticism is an important part of her bodhisattvahood: the sweetpea represents the yoni, and she is surrounded by the sensual abundance of Nature. One of Tara’s human incarnations was as the Tibetan mystic Yeshe Tsogyal, “who helped many people to enlightenment through sacred sexual union with her”. – Ishtar 1000 B.C.E. Babylon (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Associated with passionate sexuality (and with Roman Goddess Venus) – which was not perceived as separate from integrity and intelligence … praised for Her beauty and brains! Her lips are sweet, Life is in Her mouth. When She appears, we are filled with rejoicing. She is glorious beneath Her robes. Her body is complete beauty. Her eyes are total brilliance. Who could be equal to Her greatness, for Her decrees are strong, exalted, perfect. MESOPOTAMIAN TEXT 1600 B.C.E. Artemis 4th Cent.B.C.E. Greece. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess) – classic “Virgin” image – wild and free, “Lady of the Beasts”, Goddess of untamed nature. As such, in the patriarchal stories She is often associated with harshness, orgiastic rituals but we may re-story “wildness” in our times as something “innocent” – in direct relationship with the Mother. She is a hunter/archer, protector, midwife, nurturing the new and pure essence (the “wild”) – in earlier times these things were not contradictory. The hunter had an intimate relationship with the hunted. Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. Tibetan Goddess and God in Union: it could be any Lover and Beloved, of same sex. Image from Mann and Lyle, “Sacred Sexuality” p.74. Sacred Couple –Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE “Lovers Embracing on Bed”, Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Diane Wolkstein and Samuael Noah Kramer. Represents the sacred marriage mythic cycle – late 3rd and into 4th millennium B.C.E. (See Starhawk, Truth or Dare). This period is the time of Enheduanna – great poet and priestess of Inanna. Xochiquetzal 8th century C.E. Mayan (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Her name means “precious flower” – She is Goddess of pleasure, sexuality beauty and flowers. Sometimes represented by a butterfly who sips the nectar of the flower. “In ancient rituals honouring her, young people made a bower of roses, and, dressed as hummingbirds and butterflies they danced an image of the Goddess of flowers and love.” Her priestesses are depicted with ecstatic faces. (called “laughing Goddesses” !!) She and Her priestesses unashamedly celebrated joyful female sexuality – there is story of decorating pubic hairs to outshine the Goddess’ yoni. https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/meet-mago-contributor-glenys-livingstone/ REFERENCES: Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess. Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. Mann A.T. and Lyle, Jane. Sacred Sexuality. ELEMENT BOOKS LTD, 1995. Starhawk. Truth or Dare. San Fransisco:Harper and Row, 1990. Walker, Barbara. The Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983. Wolkstein,Diane and Kramer, Samuel Noah. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth. NY: Harper and Rowe, 1983. The music for the slideshow is “”Coral Sea Dreaming” by Tania Rose.
Imbolc: Through Goddess Eyes by Carolyn Lee Boyd

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

(Goma Article Excerpt 3) Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea and Her Mythology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first published in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture, published in 2018 by Mago Books.] The Goma Words The Bear Goddess In the coventional interpretation of the Korean foundation myth, “Ungnyeo (熊女)” is the name given to the bear (Gom) who received a female body upon enduring the trial of the cave initiation, married Hanung, and gave birth to a son who later became the founder of the ancient Korean state, Joseon (2333 BCE – 232 BCE). As such, “Ungnyeo” and “Gom” are unequivocally identified as the same figure. Nonetheless, the notability of “Ungnyeo” remains secular to most modern Koreans. That Gom is also involved with the bear constellation, the Northern Dipper in particular, remains esoteric at best. The bear mytheme of the Goma myth offers an insight to the etymology of both words, “Mago” and “Goma.” Given the mythological evidence that associates both Goma and Mago with the bear constellation, we may establish that the syllable “Go (姑 Ancient Goddess)” in “Mago” and “Goma” is derived from “Gom,” which means the bear in Korean. Modified by “Ma,” a universal sound for “mother,” both “Goma” and “Mago” refer to the Bear Mother. This assessment merits, among others, an explanation for the bear mytheme in the Goma myth in which Goma is depicted as the head of the royal bear clan. The bear is one of the most prominent symbols of Goma and Mago together with the nine and the tree. Goma, as the bear Goddess, holds together the animal bear, the bear worshipping people, and the circumpolar constellation of the Bears (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor) in the Northern Hemisphere. Indicating the bear totem and the bear constellation, the bear symbol runs through her myths and linguistics. In the story, the cave initiation that Goma proposed intimates the ancient bear worshippers associated with the bear’s cyclic behaviors including hibernation for the long winter months in a cave. The bear symbol is important in that it connects Goma (the queen of the bear clan), Mago (the Goddess of the bear constellation), and their devotees, “the royal bear clan,” broadly recognized across cultures. It is not surprising to note that Goma and Mago appear conflated in cultural and devotional practices. Doumu (斗母 Mother of the Northern Dipper) is a prominent example of the amalgamated divine, Magoma. Doumu is well noted for her conflating manifestations among kindred Goddesses in Daoism. Marnix Wells states that Doumu is alternatively identified as Taiyi Yuanjun (太一元君 Goddess of the Great One) and Jiuhuang Daji (九皇大帝 the Great Emperor of Nine Emperors). Doumu is considered as “Mother of Dipper” known as Doumu Yuanjun (斗母元君 “Goddess of the Chariot”) and conflated with Taiyi Yuanjun (太一元君 “Goddess of the Great One”), who is one of the Three Pure Ones. She is considered the mother of the seven stars of the Dipper and two not visible ones, the Jiuhuang Daji (九皇大帝 “Nine Great Divine Kings”).[1] Here Taiyi Yuanjun corresponds to Mago (or the Mago Triad) and Jiuhuwang Daji to Goma (or the Nine Mago Creatrix). As such, Doumu is also related to the number nine symbol, which connects Mago and Goma, a topic to be explained below. Suffice it to say that Doumu, representing Magoma, is a female personification of the inter-cosmic reality unfolded through the circumpolar constellation of the Bears in the Northern Hemisphere in sync with the eco-biotic behavior of bears, as such venerated by their devotees. Goma and the Korean Identity Goma’s alternative names include “Ungnyeo (Female Sovereign),” “Hanung (Han Sovereign),” “Cheonung (Heavenly Soverein),” “Daeung (Great Sovereign),” “Seonhwang (Immortal Emperess),” and “Daein (Great Person)” as well as “Ungssi-ja (Decendant of the Goma Clan), “Ungssi-wang” (Ruler of the Goma Clan), and “Ungssi-gun” (Head of the Goma Clan). The Goma words also include such modifiers as “Ung,” “Gom (Gam, Geum, Geom, Kami)” and “Baedal (Barkdal, Baekdal), “Dan.” Given that her worship is old in origin and non-ethnocentric in nature, the Goma epithets are not limited to the above. It is conjectured that she was revered by other names including the aforementioned Goddesses across cultures. In fact, the Magoist hermeneutic of the Goma myth enables us to reassess variant Halmi (Great Mother/Grandmother/Crone) stories in Korea that have the Magoma mytheme. Among them are Gaeyang Halmi, Seogu Halmi, Angadak Halmi, Dangsan Halmi, to name a few. In any case, the epithet “Goma” is by no means a modern invention. Intriguingly, they are found in place-names, state-names and clan-names, to be discussed shortly. The link between “Ung” and “Gom” is not something unfamiliar to most Koreans. Researchers note that “Goma-seong (Goma Stronghold)” better known “Ungjin-seong” was the capital of ancient Baekje Korea from 475 to 538 CE.[2] However, “Gom” as an alternative epithet of “Goma” remains unfamiliar to many modern Koreans. Furthermore, little known is that “Ungnyeo” is derived from “Goma,” the queen of the bear clan. Korean linguists infer that “Ungsim (熊心)” is an Idu word and should be read “Goma.”[3] Accoding to them, the second character “Sim (心)” meaning “Maeum (마음)” in “Ungsim” is an indicator of its phonetic sound, “Ma.” Following the first character “Go” in “Gom (곰), “Ungsim” should be read as “Goma.” A compound of “Ung (熊)” and “Nyeo (Woman),” “Ungnyeo” is a euphemism for “Ungsim (熊心).” Idu (吏讀 Official’s Script) is an ancient Korean writing system that uses logographic characters for the Korean spoken language. Its use is noted during the early three states (Silla, Goguryeo, Baekje) to Joseon (1392-1919) periods. That Goma is the Idu word for Ungsim offers no small insight. It holds key to unlock a broad range of the Goma words found trans-nationally in East Asia and elsewhere. The Idu word “Ungsim” for “Goma” holds the key to unlock the Goma words that permeate ancient Korean history, language, and culture. Ungsim-yeon (熊心淵 Goma Lake) and Ungsim-san (熊心山Goma Mountain) and Ungsim-guk (熊心國 Goma State) are the most prominent examples. These place-names show how Goma mythology has shaped the landscape of ancient Korean mytho-histories. Ungsim-yeon (Goma Lake) is associated with Yuhwa (Willow Tree …
(Bell Essay 3) The Ancient Korean Bell and Magoism by Helen Hwang

Part III Nipples and Breasts of the Ancient Korean Bell, Revival of Old Magoism in Silla (57 BCE – 935 CE) Female sexuality and the divine are seamless. The ancient Korean bell bespeaks the divine, derived from female sexuality. Emitting reverberation, it casts a spell on the hearer. It is the sound that connects one with the Goddess and with one another. However, lapse of time has never been neutral. It has wrought the change of gender principle in society and in human consciousness. The female principle is severed from the divine. The divine without regard to the female is only astray or make-believe. When the seamlessness is broken, the bell loses its power to enchant. The ancient Korean bell, as a time capsule, sets us to the task of undoing the gender reversal. Unfettering of the arcane knowledge of Magoism is the gain. In proportion to the patriarchal progress in East Asia, Magoism, the gynocentric historical and cultural context, has been submerged. The fact that Magoism remains unregistered is a sign that moderns have drifted too far from the Female Origin. As a result, the female symbology of the bell is rendered irrelevant, if not obsolete. The bell and Buddhism are dysfunctional, if not mismatched. Or, maybe the Sillans who commissioned the bells in the 8th century CE saw Buddhism differently. Keeping at bay what makes the bell as the bell — the female symbology, Buddhist patriarchs have set a maze, heading only to “nothingness.” The sonority of the bell travels to the ear of people. However, deep hearing is thwarted by the patriarchal concept of the divine. Part III begins to deprogram the patriarchal conceptual barrier by shedding light on the core of its female symbology, the Nipples, the Bell Breasts, and the Breast Circumferences. Four Dimensional Mandala Is Here The relief of Nipples depicted elegantly and realistically is an attention grabber. For fear of being mistaken for something else especially by the generation to come, Sillan ancestors named them yudu (breast nipples). To be certain, they named the seat of the nipples jongyu (bell breast) and the enclosure of the breast yugwak (breast circumference). Detailed and refined artistry radiates the spirit of honor and veneration. As seen below, the nipples come in various styles showing the mastery of the bell casters in metallurgic technology. [The following images of Nipples are from the bells of different periods including Silla. The structures of nipples and breasts remain the same throughout history, characterizing Korean bells.] Sometimes, the nipples are depicted as the studs of lotus blossoms. Other times they are seated in lotus petals. Less frequently, the nipples are rendered as flat lotus flowers, perhaps to mitigate the graphic look. Regardless, the viewer can’t miss the number of the Nipples, nine. The nine nipples are aligned in three rows of three in the Bell Breast, which is enclosed by the Breast Circumference. Considering that the triad is the symbol of Mago as Samsin Halmi (The Triad Goddess), the three rows of three represent the triad in all ways, horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. One is surrounded by the triad in all directions; an epiphany is stored to enact. Now the bell caster conjoins the number three symbol with the number four symbol. In ancient East Asia, the four corners represent all directions, that is, the whole world. Placed in four corners, thirty-six nipples in all (a set of nine nipples in four directions) represent the female occupying the whole world. Seong Nakju in his inquiry about the thirty-six nipples of an ancient Korean bell states that the first emperor of the Qin dynasty (the first state that united China) divided “the world” into 36 heavens in 221 BCE. (Seong Nakju, see below in Sources.) Unlike the rule of the first Qin emperor infamous for tyranny, the 36 Nipples hint at neither domination nor the hierarchical power of the patriarchal monarch. Instead, they saturate the whole world with the female anatomy. To be discussed at a later point, the nine nipples that came from the 8th century are a time-proven means through which we may enter the consciousness of the Bronze Age, if not earlier when they originated and of the times whenever they reappeared. The four dimensional mandala is revealed, biding its time to evoke one to the fifth direction. The bell delivers the triumph of the Goddess (female principle) to the world in an utterly outlandish manner! Her Way is peace, integration, and beauty. Behold, She is enthroned. Gom (Ungnyeo) and the Nine-State Confederacy of Old Magoism What does a set of nine nipples signify? What does it mean that the ancient Korean bell has four sets of nine nipples? In Magoism the nine nipples are not an isolated symbol. They are on a par with the nine-tailed fox and the nine dragons from East Asia. These are the ancient representations of the female divine. I have delineated elsewhere that the nine-tailed fox is associated with Xiwangmu (Queen Mother of the West) and the nine dragons with Gwaneum (Guanyin, Kannon). Other times, Goddess Herself manifests as of the nine forms. As I discussed, the nine maidens of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, is a good example (see “Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea,” Part IV). The nine-female symbology goes beyond East Asia. The concatenation includes the nine Muses, the nine forms of Durga, and the African Goddesses of Oya and Mumbi who are known to have nine daughters. As such, evidence of the nine-female symbolism is intense and cross-cultural. The recurring symbolism of nine in East Asia suggests the once prevalent mytho-history of Old Magoism. Old Magoism is characterized by the rule of Magoist shamans who invented and spread the gynocentric civilization of pre-Chinese East Asia worldwide. Precisely, the nine-female symbolism refers to Gom (Ungnyeo, Bear/Sovereign Woman), founder of the nine-state confederacy in pre-Chinese times (see Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea, Part V). In short, the framework of Magoism …
(Essay 2) The Magoist Calendar: Mago Time inscribed in Sonic Numerology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This is my latest research that has led me to restore the 13-month, 28-day Mago Calendar, which will be included at the end of its sequels. See Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A), published in 2017.] CALENDARICS AND THE MAGOIST COSMOGONY Calendar is the harmonic numerological chart that indicates specifics of the terrestrial time/space relative to the extrasolar universe. As a cosmic almanac of our terrestrial home, calendar teaches the human world to do the right thing at the right timing, determined by the song/dance of the universe. We humans, part of the calendar, are the guardian of the calendar. Calendar is not and should not be an arbitrary arrangement invented to serve the purpose of a particular group of people, the Budoji says. It is