August 15, 2014October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin

(Art poem) Speaking to the Virgin by Eileen Haley

Inspired by Yvonne M Lucia’s recent post, I would like to share one of my Guadalupe poems. The original Virgin of Guadalupe is Spanish and has strong colonial and conquest associations: among other things, it was at the Monastery of Guadalupe in Extremadura that Isabella and Ferdinand signed documents authorising the first voyage of Christopher Columbus, and it was to this monastery that in 1496 Columbus brought two indigenous men to be baptised, the first New World converts to Christianity.

This poem celebrates the Virgin’s escape from those associations.

SPEAKING TO THE VIRGIN

Guadalupe, Spain

I looked at the wooden doll

wrapped in its mantle

of satin and gold

and knew it was not you

You had fled long ago

gone west over the horizon

to set up home

in the heart of Mexico

where the old earth goddess

had just been

reduced to rubble

You threw in your lot

with the downtrodden

those conquered in your name

You rode with Hidalgo

for independence and freedom

You rode with Zapata

for land and liberty

You went on strike with César Chavez

in the grape fields of California

for fair wages and dignity

You marched with the people of Atenco

against the plans

for a new Mexico City airport

that would have taken their lands

and the lake

where ducks land on their journeys

back and forth

along their ancestral path

You live

with the poor of the earth

carried close to their hearts

La Generala

prophetess

dreamer

swelling with new life

with the age to come

that will be born when times seem darkest

when the proud will be scattered

in the conceit of their hearts

the mighty put down from their seats

the lowly exalted

the hungry filled with good things

and the rich

sent

empty

away

The image accompanying the poem is a photoshop composition by me and shows a brightly-coloured contemporary Mexican mural of Guadalupe wearing a Zapatista bandana above a faded image of the original Spanish Virgin of Guadalupe. (The Spanish Virgin of Guadalupe is one of the Black Madonnas of Spain; but that would be another story …)

We, the co-editors, contributors, and advisers, have started the Mago Web (Cross-cultural Goddess Web) to rekindle old Gynocentric Unity in our time. Now YOU can help us raise this torch high to the Primordial Mountain Home (Our Mother Earth Herself) wherein everyone is embraced in WE. There are many ways to support Return to Mago. You may donate to us. No amount is too small for us. For your time and skill, please email Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Please take an action today and we need that! Thank YOU in Goddesshood of all beings!

(Click Donate button below. You can donate by credit card or bank account without registering PayPal. Find “Don’t have a PayPal account?” above the credit card icons.)

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donnajosnyder says:

August 15, 2014 at 2:21 PM

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History and politics of Guadalupe

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100 Day Anniversary Free Download, She Rises Vol 2

Mago Books is happy to announce the three-day free download for the Amazon Kindle E-Book in celebration of its 100 day anniversary! Mark the dates and share the info with your friends and families. … Source: 100 Day Anniversary Free Download, She Rises Vol 2
(Poem) The Rain by Francesca Tronetti

Just wash it all away from me In the cooling rains of summer The sticky sweat from my back and hair The red flush in my face Let the rain take it all away. The crisis has passed, is passing The immediate responsibilities are done Sit still, listen to the birds The thunder rolls through the sky The breeze cools. I don’t even mind when the power goes off When I’m in darkness with the battery running down I’ve got the candles lit, the window open A tale of adventure demands candle light This is a good evening. I’m tired, you’re tired, we’re tired Let me sit and look out the window No gardening nor errands to run today And listen to the water drip and run and splash Let go all our anger, anxiety, stress. Find the center, the calming place Meditate and reflect on what has happened What we have endured, suffered, survived Put it all into a little ball, hold it in your hands And let the rain take it all away.(Meet Mago Contributor) Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D. https://www.magoism.net/2018/11/meet-mago-contributor-rev-francesca-tronetti-ph-d/
(Essay 1) Enchanting Christianity: Christian Goddess Thealogy by Mary Ann Beavis, Ph.D.

[Editor’s Note: This essay is from the same title, “Enchanting Christianity: Christian Goddess Thealogy” by Mary Ann Beavis included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018).] In her introductory textbook on women’s spirituality in the western religions, Johanna H. Stuckey notes a new development in Christian feminism that she describes as “Revolutionary,” dubbed “Pagan Christianity” by one of her students: A ritual example was reported from a Women-Church group: the ritual begins with a c alling down of the spirits of the four directions, a borrowing from Wicca and other traditions; continues with the reading of Bible sections that praise Earth; and ends with worshippers weaving a communal web … Such a ritual certainly pushes Christianity to its limits.[1] A notable aspect of Stuckey’s “Revolutionary” Christian feminism is “to routinely use female language and symbols for deity and even to import goddesses from other traditions,” contrasted with a more “Renovationist” theology that uses “some female symbols for deity” and sometimes sees “deity in female roles,” or a “Revisionist” approach that seeks to use gender-neutral, non-oppressive words for the divine.[2] All are united by a discomfort with the maleness of the Christian God, with “Revisionists” cautiously seeking gender-neutrality, and “Renovationists” more adventurously adding language of the female divine to the mix. “Revolutionaries,” however, have gone a large step further, and use predominantly female language for deity, routinely use the language of the Goddess and Goddesses to express their relationship to the divine, and are comfortable blending Christian and Neo-Pagan elements in their worship. From the Neo-Pagan Goddess Spirituality side, Judith Laura devotes a whole chapter of her book Goddess Matters to “emerging Goddess figures in Christianity”—Mother Mary, Sophia, and Mary Magdalene[3]—as well as “more obvious Goddess veneration” in some forms of Christianity, notably at Ebenezer Lutheran Church/Herchurch in San Francisco, where a Goddess rosary service is held every week, and both Goddess and Christian images decorate the sanctuary.[4] In my research, I have been increasingly interested by what Stuckey calls the “Revolutionary” approach, since I have often encountered it in my experience of Christian women’s spirituality: a Christian academic administrator whose fiftieth birthday celebration, held at a seminary, included a croning ceremony; a United Church minister who consulted Goddess oracle cards each morning before leaving the house; a meeting of a Christian feminist organization held in a Christian college, where the speaker, a Catholic sister, referred to the “Goddess times” before patriarchy, and everyone understood (and apparently had no problems with) what she was talking about. However, little research has been done on this development in Christianity, where the emergent religion of Goddessianism[5] (a term suggested by Judith Laura) and Christianity are being blended—a phenomenon that goes back several decades. The little academic analysis available has been the byproduct of research into Goddess Spirituality/Wicca/Neo-Paganism, and to be piecemeal, anecdotal, and, in social-scientific research terms, based on very few subjects;[6] occasionally, it is heresiological (Davis, 1998; Steichen 1991).[7] However, there is a relative plethora of popular literature pertaining to this kind of “blended” spirituality, some of it Christo-Pagan,[8] some of it Christian Goddessian without the Neo-Pagan aspect,[9] some of it esoteric/gnostic/speculative.[10] The distinction between Christo-Pagan/Wiccan, Christian Goddessian and Gnostic-Esoteric should not imply that these are three competing spiritualities; rather, they are more like intersecting spiritual paths where travelers often meet, share, and journey together for parts of the way. This is not a New Religious Movement, but part of a contemporary religious trend. In order to understand the scope and characteristics of this phenomenon, I undertook a research project that involved a series of semi-structured in-person and telephone interviews with 100 women who self-identify as blending Christianity and Goddess Spirituality. The research sample was made up of women between the ages of 22 and 78, most of whom reside in the United States and Canada.[11] Interview subjects were located through personal contacts, Christian feminist organizations, listservs subscribed to by Christian Goddessians and Goddessians, Facebook Groups,[12] and a series of in-person interviews conducted at Herchurch in San Francisco in November 2012.[13] In qualitative social-scientific terms, this is a kind of “purposive sample” tied to the objective of the study, where the interviewees meet the criterion of blending Goddess Spirituality and Christianity. Due to the variety of strategies for locating interview subjects, the sample exhibits considerable variation in that it includes individuals occupying a spectrum of perspectives and positions in relation to the phenomenon that I have named Christian Goddess Spirituality (CGS). Only women (including one transgendered woman) were included in the study, since women are by far the majority of practitioners of this spirituality, although men are part of the picture; at this point, my hunch is that men (including Christian men) relate to the female divine differently than women.[14] In addition to the interviews, a focus group made up of volunteers from among the interviewees was held on the campus of the University of Saskatchewan, where my college is located (June 18, 2013). Of an initial list of sixteen volunteers, thirteen women were able to travel from various U.S. and Canadian locations to participate in the discussion.[15] The focus group participants were (1) volunteers; (2) who were able to meet on the specified date; (3) whose travel and accommodations could be comfortably covered by the research grant.[16] The focus group discussions were designed to complement the questionnaires by enabling interaction among participants, especially in “gaining insights into people’s shared understandings of everyday life and the ways in which individuals are influenced by others in a group situation.”[17] Focus groups are particularly conducive to feminist research, with their emphasis on experience, and their encouragement of interaction and the free flow of ideas among the participants. The Focus group was facilitated by myself as the Principal Researcher, guided by a limited list of topics for discussion designed to encourage conversation, and to allow in-depth discussion of issues and questions raised in the interviews. Like the interviews, the focus group discussions, which took place over a six-hour period of intense and …
(Photo Essay 5) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hwang

Part 5: Gaeyang Halmi, How Does She Relate with Mago? The field research concerning Gaeyang Halmi was undertaken with the thought that Gaeyang Halmi is related to Mago in some way. Such assumption is on the grounds that the folktales of Gaeyang Halmi and Mago Halmi substantively share the same motifs. In fact, I had thought Gaeyang Halmi is another name of Mago Halmi. A scrutiny has proven that the picture of their correlation is far more complex than I first envisaged, exposing the hidden nexuses of Old Magoism. This last part aims at disentangling the grips. It is indispensable for me to invite my readers to the task of reconstructing ancient East Asian mytho-history. Gaeyang Halmi embodies a partial manifestation of Mago as the Sea Goddess. Nonetheless, such a statement lacks complex subtexts that this topic involves. The Gurang (Nine Maidens) mytheme of Gaeyang Halmi sheds light on the mytho-history of Old Magoism (read Magoism in pre- and proto-Chinese times characterized by shaman rulers). To be specific, Gaeyang Halmi in the gurang pantheon suggests a yet-to-be-known shaman ruler, “Ungnyeo” (Bear/Sovereign Woman), founder of the confederacy of the nine states, which I call Danguk (ca. 3898 BCE-2333 BCE). The gurang represented by Gaeyang Halmi is no small clue to the pervasive yet misunderstood civilization of Ungnyeo. “Ungnyeo” is eponymous of the female symbolism of nine, such as the nine-tailed fox in East Asia and the nine muses and the nine forms of Durga beyond East Asia mentioned in Part IV. In short, Gaeyang Halmi oscillating between “Mago” and “Ungnyeo” in Her identity testifies to the suppressed history of Old Magoism. Methodically, I have two types of mythological texts to decipher the overtones of Gaeyang Halmi’s mytheme: folklore (oral narratives) and the written myth. Goddess mythemes, malleable yet immortal, constitute the grammar blocks of the gynocentric language that often appears “awkward” if not “ridiculous” to moderns. They need to be analyzed and interpreted. Feminist techniques are apt to sort out the sediments and decipher the diastrophic disturbances caused by patriarchal advances in the course of time. Some parallels between Gaeyang Halmi and Mago Halmi folk stories are overt. Their stories are so similar that they appear to be an identical goddess: A: The motif that Gaeyang Halmi walks on the sea, often described as wearing namak-sin (wooden shoes) or only beoseon (Korean traditional socks), is also commonly told in Mago stories especially from Jeju Island[i] and other coastal regions. B: That Gaeyang Halmi walks around in the sea to measure its depth is also told in the stories of Mago from other coastal regions. C: The mytheme that Gaeyang Halmi had eight daughters recurs in the stories of Mago, especially from the region of Mt. Jiri. Mago is said to have had eight daughters and sent them to eight provinces. Given the above, it is evident that Gaeyang Halmi lore resembles that of Mago. Were the populace confused about these two goddesses? I hold that the confusion was not a mistake but a way to convey that Gaeyang Halmi is related to Magoism rather than Mago Herself. In folklore, “why” and “how”are the questions to be interpreted, not to be read.
(She Summons Excerpt) The Seed Who Summons (Part 3) by Claire Dorey

Were Snake 1 by Claire Dorey Sophia has metamorphosised, from a slip of a viper, into a full grown python, patterned like a jaguar, coiling her visceral snake body around my ankle. She is immensely strong and I can feel her grip tighten. “Come down into the underworld with me,” she purrs, flipping me over as her sinews flex. She pulls me, head first, into a cavern beneath the roots of the cherry tree. The earth smells of petrichor – organic and fertile – and even though I’m plunging through the top soil, I feel weightless. I sense this is a sacred journey and I’m following in the footsteps of the enlightened. Inanna made this journey, so did Persephone. Dante wrote an epic poem about it. The game Snakes and Ladders is about it, and countless Romans descended into rock carved warrens to consult with priestesses – conduits to underworld consciousness – who sat over vents, breathing in the Earth’s vapours. “Even Alice went down a rabbit h-o-l-e,” I shriek, as we descend through the sub strata; past tree roots and rabbit warrens; past dormant seeds; past remnants of lost civilisations. We pass forgotten knowledge waiting to be rediscovered and stored up energy waiting to be released. I can feel the pulse of the Earth strengthen the deeper we go. As we descend I become unburdened – unlearning lifetimes of conditioning, stripping back to the essential essence of who I am and how I’m supposed to feel – light and free. We arrive at the agamogenesistic egg (there’s that word again!) – the divine consciousness – the transcendent heart of the Goddess – the primordial seed of knowing, at the Earth’s core. It is iridescent like an opal, spherical like the moon and although it has no density you can’t pass through it. Probably the best description I can give is to say it is like infinity; a ball of nacreous consciousness; a living, regenerative, breathing, crystal super brain, programmed with awareness; a matrix pulse of past, present and future nothingness; but it really is much more than that. If singing had density it would be like this. Sophia introduces me to the Grandmother Serpent, a sixty metre long, guardian, boa-constrictor who is coiled around the primordial egg. I am dumbstruck. “This is….” Sophia pauses, apologetic as she introduces me, “you know what, in all of this, I forgot to ask your name!” In this moment I also forget my name. I open my mouth but nothing comes out. “Can we give you a name then?” asks Grandmother Serpent. I move my lips and still no words come out. “Let’s call her Hekate,” says the Grandmother as she nudges me towards the seed of all creation. “Go on Hekate. Lie on it.” I lean my forehead on the giant ball of infinite knowingness and experience peace and connection like I’d never known before. There is an exchange of joy, so simple in its purity. Gone are any clouds of negative emotion – there is just joy…. yes joy is what this feeling is – ecstasy – probably what the vedic sages would describe as Bliss. So I’m leaning on the primordial egg in a state of Bliss when I become aware that a masculine entity has arrived. He wants a piece of the action and starts to lean into the egg. I recognise him as the menacing and brutish Hades, god of the underworld and rapist who abducted Persephone. I resent his presence, all the more because this rapist was immortalised by patriarchy. He has gnarled old horns, leathery hooves in place of feet, a vestigal tail, and his beard is charred and black and emits a pulse like a geiger counter, programmed to seek out victims. He grabs my fingers and we are locked in a battle of wills, knuckle to knuckle, across the surface of the primordial knowingness, until a crack appears. Eventually my flame-thrower will, which is stronger than his, shatters the egg and it breaks in two. As we cling to separate halves, the egg sheds a tear and the Bliss is gone. The tear becomes a gushing torrent, sweeping us up as supernatural forces turn us into water. The battle of wills has left us exhausted – dehydrated too – and in the confusion we drink ourselves until our egos fade away and then we find we are whole and pure again. The Grandmother Serpent spirals back around the primordial egg, like a giant bandage. “I will hold the two halves together until they heal,” she says. “You’ve done good Hekate.” Sophia is praising me. “You have transformed Hades into the Divine Masculine, Shiva’s spark, by disabling his reptilian brain, where the primitive and aggressive reflexes are. Now you can both rise to the surface.” “How do we do that?” we ask. “It’s simple,” replies Sophia, “Just strap on what we call the Isis jet pack.” I raise one eyebrow quizzically. “You must have heard of Isis,” thunders the Grandmother, “the Egyptian Moon Goddess who is depicted as a cobra or as a divine winged creature. Wings and Snake. What does this combination remind you of? Come on, its obvious!”. “She is what the vedic sages would call a Kundalini Goddess,” Sophia butts in. “To rise to the surface: release the three and a half coils of serpent power that resides in the base of your spine. Let this Sacred Feminine energy – primordial life force – rise through your chakras, then let the rising Kundalini propel you upwards.” We are back on terra firma, and I’m amazed I have been instrumental in bringing the Divine Masculine – a defeated, rinsed and purified Hades – back to the surface of the Earth. And here we both stand under my cherry tree – the carmine temple to fertility and disintegration and regeneration, that I planted forty years ago. “Would you Adam and Eve it!” (Cockney English Rhyming Slang for “would you believe it!”) How the …
(Poem) ‘Victoria, British Columbia, Summer Solstice 1993’ by Harriet Ann Ellenberger

Victoria, British Columbia, Summer Solstice 1993 At a loss for everything but words, I’m writing in the sunlight of a sidewalk cafe when someone falls over an empty chair and lands on the table in front of me. I’m as drunk on language as he is on booze. A foxtail hangs from a leather cord at his throat, like a necktie over his t-shirt, and when I ask him about it, he tells me his story. He killed the fox, and then his mother said to him, You took the life of a free and beautiful animal so you could feel like a bigger man. Now the spirit of the fox will make you pay. He believed his mother. I believe her too. And beneath her words, I hear the soft, alluring voice of earth: I dreamt each one of you, you are just as I wish — Go now, walk your path, breathe and live. – Harriet Ann Ellenberger
(Poem) A Small Woman by Phibby Venable

my eyes stray from the patient I am with to the one in a chair across the hall short, puffy, silent – alone, the nurse whispers to a nurse nearby a small woman with tousled steel colored curls waiting for open heart surgery and blinking occasionally at the wall I can tell you she is too small, too alone, too frightened in her chair, a monotone of being alone and the next day too – it’s the same sitting in her chair by the door now holding a heart pillow, being told to press, cough and press, and she does so, she stays alive – maybe she wonders why – but still, so obedient to the requests of the nurse her eyes living in distant fields that I long to fill with gentle family and wildflowers
(Special Post 3) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Xiang Yao or Xiangliu is the Chinese equivalent to Hydra in Greek mythology. And Hercules is to Yu, the Great, founder of the Xia dynasty. We will see in the course of this discussion that the myth of Yu, the founding ruler of Xia, the oldest dynasty of China, who slains the nine-headed snake, is only a variation of its older prototype, the myth of Huangdi who fought Chiu, the alliance of the Nine Han Giants (East Asian/Korean Magoists). “According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, Xiangliu was a minister of the snake-like water deity Gonggong. Xiangliu devastated the ecology everywhere he went, leaving nothing but gullies and marshes devoid of animal life. Eventually, Xiangliu was killed by Yu the Great, whose other labors included ending the Great Flood of China. In other versions of the story, Xiangliu was killed by Nüwa, after being defeated by Zhurong, but his blood was so virulently poisonous that the soil which it soaked could no longer grow grain.[1] An oral version of the Xiangliu myth was collected as late from Sichuan as 1983, in which Xiangliu is depicted as a nine-headed dragon, responsible for floods and other harm.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangliu Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Ancient China had to demonize the pre-Han myth of the nona Mago because it bespeaks the matriarchal/gynocentric history that it overthrew… the past that had to be severed in order to fake patriarchal originality. With this in mind, we have a better look on patriarchal mythopoeia, which appears to be complex but, nonetheless, transparent in its motive to hide/hijack pre-patriarchal gynocentric histories. “One of the most harrowing myths from ancient China is the story of Gonggong’s rebellion. You can revisit the whole story here, but the quick version is that the evil water god Gonggong attempted to drown the world and was only prevented from doing so by the heroic last resort actions of the beneficent creator goddess Nüwa, who cut the legs off the cosmic turtle in order to set things to rights. In the chaos of the climactic battle, however Gongong’s chief minister and partner in crime Xiangliu the nine-headed snake monster completely escaped. Filled with bitterness about Gonggong’s failure, Xiangliu crawled away across the soggy lands of Szechuan (which were water-logged after the nearly world-ending floods). Wherever he went, the snake monster left permanent fens and swamps which were toxic to life. His very being had become steeped in poison, and his progress through the damp and moldy world had to be stopped. Yu the hero, the third of the three sage kings, finally caught up with the nine-headed monster and killed him in a pitched battle. Yet still there was a problem: Xiangliu’s pestiferous blood has poisoned the whole region, which now stank of rot. Crops would not grow and civilization began to falter. Yu dug up the blood soaked soil again and again, but the corrupted blood of the monster just sank deeper into the ground. Finally, Yu excavated a deep valley by Kunlun mountain and rid the world of Xiangliu’s toxins. With all of the land he had excavated he built a great terraced mountain for the gods. Yu then went forth to found the kingdom of Xia, the first civilized state in Chinese history. Of course some people say that Yu did none of this, that, it was the goddess Nüwa who once again came forth to battle the monster and undo the damage he had caused. Then, with accustomed modesty she let Yu take the credit and begin his kingdom (for Nüwa cared not for empty praise and hollow glory but only for the well-being of her children).” https://ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com/2013/09/24/xiangliu-the-nine-headed-snake/ Max Dashu: These patriarchal heroes! Nova Scheller: What a fascinating thread…that the nine headed hydra correlates to the nine headed dragon as a linkage to patriarchy or gynocentric/ matriarchal beginnings…the root being in Korea! Dropping into your work of so many years…a privilege as well as informing some of my personal awareness. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Nova Scheller, indeed! The myth of slaining the nine-headed snake/dragon across cultures shows; (1) The onset of patriarchy did not come naturally but forcefully, which proves that patriarchy is not original. It was a reaction to what had been before, its matrix. Patriarchy faked its originality by inventing the myth of demonizing and killing the female principle. (2) Patriarchal rules established across cultures adopted the mythic motif of slaining the nine-headed snake or dragon, which appears to be of Chinese origin. (3) The Nine Mago mythic system preserved in Korean Magoism testifies to gynocentric/matriarchal beginnings, which were remembered by peoples of the ancient world. (4) Furthermore, Korean Magoist mythology explains the origin/meaning of the nona Goddess symbol. Let’s explore how the Nine Mago pantheon was remembered in East Asian myths and religions. For this, we need to unravel the patriarchal mythopoeia of Goma, the Shaman ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: In principle, we can tell if an ancient rule/culture was patriarchal or gynocentric by the myth of the nine-headed snake/dragon. In the case of ancient China whose heroes are told to have killed the opponent, the nine-headed snake. Nonetheless, the people’s memory of pre-patriarchal gynocentric history never dies. The nine symbolism is still described as auspicious. It revives time and time again throughout history. In other words, ancient China was a small regional power, only modern scholarship seals it all mighty China. Find out what other ancient myths concern about the nine female symbolism. (To be continued) Join us in The Mago Circle https://www.facebook.com/groups/magoism/.
(Art Essay) Leo in August: Roaring for The Solar Flame by Claire Dorey

Solar Goddess, art by Claire Dorey Season of lions and lazing; books and hammocks; long, golden days of cicadas and apples, I speak of August with words between joy and mourning. Motionless and hot, strangely silent, August is a month of endings and waiting. “The world does not move through time as if it were a straight line, proceeding from the past to the future. Instead time moves through and within us, in endless spirals.” – Elif Shafak, The Forty Rules of Love. [1] As blazing, sun-sign Leo roars into the limelight, let’s embrace our inner feline power and the majesty and radiance of the Bronze Age, solar Goddess, who disappeared into the shadows. Fanning her embers raises questions: Why did female and male energy become so polarized? Why do we accept male energy as “directed and solar” and female energy as mostly menstrual, moonlit, watery, mysterious and veiled? “…its become increasingly obvious [ ] that these were [ ] NOT solar gods, and that the solar deity in the Celtic (and indeed, broader European landscape) was in fact feminine (Monaghan 2008, Snow 2002). [ ]…the Vasconic peoples, [ ] also see the sun as feminine (Trask 1997, Lurker 2015)”. – Albuquerque, Carlos. On the Lusitanian Pantheon. [2] Mother brightness, ray of light, awakening consciousness, waking dawn: Perhaps the sun Goddess fell into darkness because of a fundamental misunderstanding of how energy works. Perhaps we eclipse the Sun Mother from our imagination because monotheistic, sky god religions did not want women finding strength in the Sun. Or perhaps, under the aegis of poets and myth makers, the underworld aspect of the sun Goddess eclipsed her solar divinity. “I provide here a new explanation of Hesiod’s prayer, connecting it to Hecate’s origin as an Anatolian sun-goddess of the underworld who mediated interactions between the upper and lower worlds.” Bachvarova, Mary. Hecate: An Anatolian Sun-Goddess of the Underworld. [3] I’ve sourced over eighty fire, fire-related and solar Goddesses, from world mythology: A-ta-no-dju-wa-ja, Áine, Alectrona, Amaterasu, Allatu, Arinniti, Arinna, Akycha, Ayida, Āgneya, Alpan, Aya, Al-Lat, Brigid, Bila, Binah, Bastet, Beaivi, Chuvash, Chantico, Étaín, Eos, Eluma, Forna, Gaia Caecilia, Gnowee, Glöð, Gun Ana, Gabija, Grian, Hausos, Hemera, Hepatu, Hebat, Hipta, Hathor, Hestia, Hine-i-Tapeka, Ishtar, Ishat, Iansã, Jowangsin, Launsina, Ma, Malina, Magec, Mawu, Marici, Mahuea, Mahuika, Macha; Nuha, Nantosuelta, Nut, Olwen, Od Ana, Ognyena Maria, Päivätär, Pele, Praurimė, Raet-Tawy, Sekhmet, Shams, Sherida, Shapshu, Saulė, Sulis, Sól, Sanjna, Theia, Taknaš, Tokapcup-kamuy, Tapati, Tabiti, Tefnut, Turgmam, Tushpuea, Umai, Ut, Ushas, Vesta, Walu, Wuriupranili, Wadjet, Xihe, Yhi. There will be more: Some will be lost to time; hidden within undeciphered symbols; exist as icons, whose form and messaging await understanding. World mythology shows that the sun was often a Goddess. In Norse mythology Sunna is the solar Goddess and Mani is the moon god. Other male lunar deities include: Chandra, Kašku, Khonsu, Thoth, Tēcciztēcatl, Alignak… and many more. Both the sun and the lion were symbols of sovereignty. It seems when it comes to Leo all roads lead to Babylon, attributed as inventors of the Zodiac, a means of astrological divination. It is here we find lions. Associated with the Goddess Ishtar, who rode a lion, the lion’s roar expressing her thunderous aspect, these dazzling creatures lined the Processional Way passing through the Ishtar gate into the city [5]. Although Ishtar/Inanna, Queen of Heaven, wasn’t a solar deity her sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld, was an underworld sun Goddess. Goddess Durga rides a big cat, metaphor for mastering the qualities the lion represents: Will, determination, power to destroy evil and Amanirenas, queen of Kush, kept pet lions. Winding back time to the cosmic Age of Leo, approx 10000 to 8000 BCE, to Göbekli Tepe [Neolithic Anatolia] and an image, carved in stone, of a woman with a mushroom shaped head giving birth. Does this ‘crescent head’ represent hair; ecstatic birth; or a trance like state induced by magic mushrooms? Maybe! However I am struck by the similarity in shape to this pre-Hittite/Hattian Sun Course symbol [bottom left] and this Bronze Age, Anatolian silver Goddess icon. It is possible this is an image of the Sun Mother Creatrix, birthing generations, her head swelling into the shape of the over-arching Sun Course Crescent, celestial bodies being a source of power. [The sun rises in the East, sets in the West, and moves across the sky in an arc.] Ancient artists were recording life AND drawing their belief systems, which became stylized and encoded as symbol. Sun Goddess Amaterasu births the emperor. Goddess Nut births the sun. Wind time forward to Çatalhöyük, 8000 years ago, to see the Mother Goddess, giving birth, while seated on her throne, flanked by lion-like creatures. Continue winding time forward to see the Phrygian Mother Goddess Cybele, seated upon her throne between two lions. Even in Victorian England the lion was a Goddess power animal. Link to Britannia [with lion], the female personification of the British Isles. When the Romans defeated Britannia [the name they gave England] it represented a Goddess in submission. Of course these Goddesses associated with the lion, I mention above, weren’t necessarily sun or fire Goddesses and not all sun Goddesses were associated with lions, however the lioness and the solar Goddess did merge in ancient Egypt: Feline Hathor, Sekhmet, Bastet and Tefnut wore the solar disc. The Nubian lion Goddess Menhit was also a sun Goddess. “Every gesture was one of disorder and violence, as if a lioness had come into the room.” – Anaïs Nin, Little Birds. [6] Unblinking, all-seeing, solar-Eye Goddess, Hathor shape-shifted from cow to lioness, from nurturing to ferocious. When angered, lion-headed Sekhmet rampaged as the flaming, solar-Eye. Solar energy, is both life giving and destructive, too brilliant, it will scorch, without it we die. Bastet, once a powerful sun warrior, became a much gentler and healing cat Goddess. Tefnut, a serpent with the head of a lioness, was a solar Goddess of moisture, representing fertility (sun + water = flourishing crops). Knowing solar energy, fiery, bared-faced, out …

(Special Post 1) Multi-linguistic Resemblances of “Mago” by Mago Circle Members

“Ma” in “Mago” and “Ma-Gaia” Mother Goddess, ca.7250-6700 BCE, Catal Huyuk Turkey [Conversation between Carol P. Christ, Ph.D. and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.] Carol P. Christ (CPC): Below is culled from “Gaia” in Wikipedia: The Greek word γαῖα (transliterated as gaia) is a collateral form of γῆ (gē, Doric γᾶ ga and probably δᾶ da) meaning Earth, a word of uncertain origin. R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin. In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (trans. as Ma-ga, “Mother Gaia”) also contains the root ga-. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang (HHH): “Mago” and “Goma” are closely linked. Gom or Goma means the bear and Magoist shaman queen of the late fourth millennium BCE. She is also related with the Big Bear constellation. “Go” is used as a modifier referring to Mago or the Goddess in various texts of East Asia. “Mago” is related with “magi,” whose singular form is “magus” or “magos.” Will have to check for more details and the source. CPC: My intuition is that “ma” and “na” are baby talk for mother. In other words, preceding any language. Mycenean is IE language, “Pre-Greek” is not IE. CPC: Below is “Mother” from Wikipedia: Synonyms and translations The proverbial “first word” of an infant often sounds like “ma” or “mama”. This strong association of that sound with “mother” has persisted in nearly every language on earth, countering the natural localization of language. Familiar or colloquial terms for mother in English are: Aama, Mata used in Nepal Mom and mommy are used in the United States, Canada, South Africa, Philippines, India and parts of the West Midlands including Birmingham in the United Kingdom. Mum and mummy are used in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong and Ireland. Charles, Prince of Wales publicly addressed his mother Queen Elizabeth II as “Mummy” on the occasion of her Diamond Jubilee. Ma, mam, and mammy are used in Netherlands, Ireland, the Northern areas of the United Kingdom, and Wales; it is also used in some areas of the United States. In many other languages, similar pronunciations apply: Maa, aai, amma, and mata are used in languages of India like Assamese, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu etc. Mamá, mama, ma, and mami in Spanish Mama in Polish, German, Russian and Slovak Māma (妈妈/媽媽) in Chinese Máma in Czech and in Ukrainian Maman in French and Persian Ma, mama in Indonesian Mamaí, mam in Irish Mamma in Italian, Icelandic, Latvian and Swedish Māman or mādar in Persian Mamãe or mãe in Portuguese Mā̃ (ਮਾਂ) in Punjabi Mama in Swahili Em (אם) in Hebrew A’ma (ܐܡܐ) in Aramaic Má or mẹ in Vietnamese Mam in Welsh Eomma (엄마, pronounced [ʌmma]) in Korean In many south Asian cultures and the Middle East, the mother is known as amma, oma, ammi or “ummi”, or variations thereof. Many times, these terms denote affection or a maternal role in a child’s life. HHH: The name for Goddess seems as ancient as the language itself. [“Ma” being the first intentional word to be spoken by a baby.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Scholars and mythologists agree that “ma” means both one’s mother and the Goddess, I quoted it in my dissertation written in 2004. Judy E Foster: Brilliant discussion, Helen and Carol! So many revelations… hard to keep up! But do continue, its fascinating – makes so much sense. (To be continued)Join the discussion of this and other topics in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group.
(Special Post 5) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I have come across the origin of the Dokkaebi (image, Heavenly Ruler Chiu, 14th Hanung of Danguk. Chiu represented the Magoist rule aided by her 81 giant sister clan allies (nine groups of Nine Hans) fought Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), one of the ancient rulers of pre-historic China. Chiu is known as the empeor of Guri-guk or Guryeo-guk (Nine Ri State or Nine Ryeo State), which is alternatiely referred to as Goryeo-guk and Goguryeo-guk by East Asians. She was worshipped as the deity of war and remembered/depicted for her helmet made of copper and iron. Records about her war against Hungdi inundates ancient Korean and Chinese texts and myths. About Chiu or Chiyou, it is too complex to discuss here. It is a topic to be treated in its own right. Suffice to say that even some of basic information from Wikipedia is illuminating. “Chiyou (蚩尤) was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎) in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era in Chinese mythology. For the Hmong people, Chiyou was a sagacious mythical king. He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under Dongyi, Miao or even Man, depending on the source and view. Today, Chiyou is honored and worshipped as the God of War and one of the three legendary founding fathers of China.” “According to the Song dynasty history book Lushi, Chiyou’s surname was Jiang (姜), and he was a descendant of Yandi. According to legend, Chiyou had a bronze head with a metal forehead. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. In some sources, Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was that of a human. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers. Historical sources often described him as ‘cruel and greedy’, as well as ‘tyrannical’. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom. Chiyou knows the constellations and the ancients spells for calling upon the weather. For example, he called upon a fog to surround Huangdi and his soldiers during the Battle of Zhuolu.” “Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎, RPA White Hmong: Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources. However, his exact ethnic affiliations are quite complex, with multiple sources reporting him as belonging to various tribes, in addition to a number of diverse peoples supposed to have directly descended from him. Some sources from later dynasties, such as the Guoyu book, considered Chiyou’s Li tribe to be related to the ancient San miao tribe (三苗). In the ancient Zhuolu Town is a statue of Chiyou commemorating him as the original ancestor of the Hmong people. The place is regarded as the birthplace of the San miao / Miao people, the Hmong being a subgroup of the Miao. In sources following the Hmong view, the “nine Li” tribe is called the “Jiuli” kingdom, Jiuli meaning “nine Li”. Modern Han Chinese scholar Weng Dujian considers Jiuli and San Miao to be Man southerners. Chiyou has also been counted as part of the Dongyi.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyou Above all, her depiction by ancient China is of a pejorative one. As we will see in the next part, she is contrasted with her opponent Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), a triumphantly depicted ancient hero of ancient China. Above Wikipedia. See her images created by ancient Koreans, the middle one in the three figures, depicted as a woman with female breasts, one of Dokkaebi images. There are other records that describe one of her allies. as one adorned with snakes in the head, which reminds me of Medusa. Silla (left), Baekje (Center), Goguryeo (right) http://lasvegaskim.com/Etc_Poem_55.htm Max Dashu: Oe-ri, Buyeo, in the Baekje period. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: That is where the rooftile at the center is excavated. That is the original image of Dokkaebi that Lydia Ruyle chose and depicted in her banner work. I could not connect this image with Chiu until now. We have the female ruler who subdued the patrilocal force of Yellow Emperor, the forebear of ancientChinese emperors. There are lots of myths and data that I have found on them. Chiu is also numerously depicted as Dokkaebi faces, which makes me think of its connection to the iconography of Medusa and Gorgon (who comes as Three Sisters). Eight-snake-headed Medusahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa Gorgon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/art-dokkaebi-by-lydia-ruyle/ Lizzy Bluebell: ‘Gonggong’ is not a far stretch phonetically from ‘Gorgon’ – I note. Briefly here – because it is a complex explanation – much more can be said about the etymology. For example, “gorge” relates to deep mountain passes with water flowing through them as well as the human throat or gullet, (relating the word to both speech and eating) and mountains are/were Goddess terrain, later usurped by MON-A-Ster-ies. The masculine name Ge-Orge is code which relates to GE/Gaia/Gay as well as to ‘orgy’. Sanskrit “garg” begets English ‘gargle’, and a guttural (gut-her-all) sound. I’ve always seen the archetypal Medusa/Gorgon’s ‘snaking curls’ as the energy emmitted from her head by her Wild I-Deas, which returns us to the theme of the Pythia/Oracle/Snake connections too. “In Greek mythology, a Gorgon (/ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means “dreadful”, and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit word “garğ” (Sanskrit: गर्जन, garjana) which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast,[1] thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters […]
(Special Post Isis 2) Why the Color of Isis Matters by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s note: The discussion took place in Mago Circle during the month of July, 2013. Our heartfelt thanks go to the members who participated in this discussion with openness and courage.] Part 2 The Color Talk in Goddesses Kahena Dorothea Athena was also whitened which is sad. However the statues were worshiped by many women to whom they brought comfort. And their origins were later remembered by the abundance of Black Virgins that became important in Italy and other parts of Europe. I don’t see Dark Goddesses as shadows but as having depths of Creativity and Knowledge. My main Goddess is Kirke and the bast relief I have of her is a chocolate brown. Diane Horton The worship of Isis broadened from Egypt to all the countries bordering the Mediterranean, as well as the Middle East and the isles called now the British Isles. She and Her worship were virtually everywhere in the westernly known world of the time! She IS the Goddess of 10,000 Names! And as such she was adapted to each culture’s vision of Her. She was the basis of all the” Black Madonnas”. I do not think of this as Isis/Auset representing the “dark” Goddess as something somehow bad or to be dealt with, but rather that ancient darkness represents infinite potential, eternal creativity/fertility, the beginning and ending of all things, and the always deepening knowledge of magick. Max Dashu However, there is a politics of representation that we all need to be aware of, that pushes original African iconography down and away, and fronts Europeanized images. There is no possibility of “colorblindness” in such a system; a restoration of the original must be actively striven toward. This is incumbent on all of us not of (recent) African descent. Otherwise we perpetuate the injurious status quo, instead of overturning it. Harita Meenee I agree with those who say that race is largely a social construct. Its roots seem to lie in colonialism and the slave trade. I would also like to add that racism is used to oppress people of different nationalities and colors. Ηere in Greece the IMF neo-liberal policies are destroying our economy (and lives); they go hand in hand with a vicious racist campaign against immigrants, along with the rise of a neo-Nazi party. This is part of an effort to redirect people’s anger away from the government and bankers, towards those who are poor and foreign and often have a different color or religion. Fortunately, many grassroots activists are responding to this by building a strong anti-racist, antifascist movement. You can see our Facebook page below. It’s in Greek but the photos are quite revealing. If anyone is interested in learning more about the situation here, please message me and I’ll try to find some articles in English for you. https://www.facebook.co/19JanuaryATHENSvsFASCISM?fref=ts 19 Γεναρη – ΑΘΗΝΑ ΠΟΛΗ Αντιφασιστικη Μπροστά στη κλιμάκωση της φασιστικής απειλής και της ρατσιστικής βίας, στη εμφάν…See More Naa Ayele Kumari Let me put this in the context of something you might understand. This is a goddess group that honors the feminine and the power it represents. People in this group understand the oppression and misrepresentation of women. We understand the implications of misogynistic patriarchal thinking. We understand the implications of stealing the information, rites, and traditions from goddess centered cultures and rephrasing them into male dominated themes… especially those that then went on to oppress women today. This is the same thing that has happened as it related to race and our cultures. It infuriates us when a man may say… why do we have to focus on the goddess? Let us just accept that we are all human and no special consideration should be given to anyone because of their gender. Or, this is just a distraction or social construct and it really doesn’t matter. We understand the blatant disregard and ignorance of those statements. Yet, the same is true for race and people of other races. Your attitude and casual disregard perpetuates a lie that you are comfortable with and don’t wish to move from that comfort zone. It means you don’t have to be accountable for the injustices or oppression it continues to perpetuate in the larger culture toward people who do not look like you. As far as I am concerned, I truly believe that the dark goddess for many with white skin IS their shadow… It is the part of themselves that they deny and fear. That you may have come from black people may scare you… even when the science proves it. That deep down… you fear what you don’t understand. To even confront it is frightening… something that you would rather ignore and deny… Yet… here we are. Black, Yellow, Red… people.. women… who have been oppressed for thousands of year because of this… and are asking… to be seen in their true likeness… not as you wish them to be… or fear them to be. Naa Ayele Kumari Thank you Max Dashu, I so appreciate your scholarship and dedication to the truth where ever you find it… and Helen Hwang for staying open to it as well. [Someone withdrew the threads.] Rick Williams No, you can’t passively aggressively slither your way out of this, reread your own statements and that last post contradicts most of your ascertains. I can’t believe that you honestly say fire away at you like you’re some sort of martyr and VICTIM of being misunderstood, not at all, I understand you very well. I don’t think you understand yourSELF. That’s the real tragedy. Rick Williams “The Lips of Wisdom are Closed except to the Ears of Understanding.” It is in quotes, and it’s part of Ancient Wisdom, of Tehuti, DJehuti, or Hermes Trimegitus… The Great Scribe of KMT.. they have alot of pretty pictures of him all over KMT(Egypt).. still have no idea what you are saying have the time. Max Dashu Thank you Naa Ayele for taking the time to make the extremely apt analogy of women’s oppression to clarify the politics of race oppression […]

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/
(Music) Songs for Samhain by Alison Newvine

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

A SEED FOR SPRING EQUINOX . . . till I feel the earth around the place my head has lain under winter’s touch, and it crumbles. Slanted weight of clouds. Reaching with my head and shoulders past the open crust dried by spring wind. Sun. Tucking through the ground that has planted cold inside me, made its waiting be my food. Now I watch the watching dark my light’s long-grown dark makes known. Art and poem are included in Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2017). (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 3) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) Free PDF available at Mago Bookstore. MAPPING THE MAGOIST CALENDAR According to the Budoji, the Magoist Calendar was fully implemented and advocated during the period of Old Joseon (ca. 2333 BCE-ca. 232 BCE) whose civilization is known as Budo (Emblem City). Indeed, the Magoist Calendar is referred to as the Budo Calendar in the Budoji. Budo was founded to succeed Sinsi and reignited Sinsi’s innovations including the numerological and musicological thealogy of the Nine Mago Creatrix. The Budoji expounds on the Magoist Calendar as follows: The Way of Heaven circles to generate Jongsi (a cyclic period, an ending and a beginning). Jongsi circles to generate another Jongsi of four Jongsi. One cycle of jongsi is called Soryeok (Little Calendar). Jongsi of Jongsi is called Jungryeok (Medium Calendar). Jongsi of four Jongsis is called Daeryeok (Large Calendar). A cycle of Little Calendar is called Sa (year). One Sa has thirteen Gi (months). One Gi has twenty-eight Il (days). Twenty-eight Il are divided by four Yo (weeks). One Yo has seven Il. A cycle of one Yo is called Bok (completion of a week). One Sa (year) has fifty-two Yobok. That makes 364 Il. This is of Seongsu (Natural Number) 1, 4, 7. Each Sa includes a Dan of the big Sa. A Dan is equal to one day. That adds up to 365 days. At the half point after 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. At the half point after the tenth Sa, there is a Gu of the big Hoe (Eve of the first day of the month). Gu is the root of time. Three hundred Gu makes one Myo. With Myo, we can sense Gu. A lapse of 9,633 Myo-Gak-Bun-Si makes one day. This is of Chesu (Physical Number), 3, 6, 9. By and by, the encircling time charts Medium Calendar and Large Calendar to evince the principle of numerology.[12] KEY TERMS Calendric Cycles Jongsi (終是 Ending and Beginning): Cyclic periods Soryeok (小曆 Little Calendar): One year Jungryeok (中曆 Medium Calendar): Two years Daeryeok (大曆 Large Calendar): Four years Names of Year, Month, Day, Week Sa (祀 Rituals, year): One year refers to the time that takes to complete the cycle of rituals. Gi (期 Periods, month): One month refers to the period of the moon and menstruation cycle. Il (日Sun, day): One day refers to the sun’s movement due to Earth’s rotation. Yo (曜 Resplendence of seven celestial bodies, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, week): Each weekday is dedicated to seven celestial bodies. Bok or Yobok (曜服 Duties of the Celestial Bodies, completion of a week): One week refers to the veneration of the seven celestial bodies. Names of Monthly Transition Days Hoe (晦 Eve of the first day of the month, 28th) Sak (朔 First day of the month, 1st, the dark moon) Names of Intercalation Days Dan (旦 Morning): Leap day for New Year Pan (昄 Big): Leap day for every fourth year Names of Time Units Gu (晷 sun’s shadow): Time measure, 1/300 Myo Myo (眇 minuscule): Time measure, a total of 300 Gu Myo-Gak-Bun-Si (眇刻分時 minuscule, possibly 15-minutes, minute, hour): Time measure, 9,633 Myo-Gak-Bun-Si is equal to a day Names of Three Types of Numbers in Nine Numerology Seongsu (性數Natural Number): 1, 4, 7 in the digital root Beopsu (法數 Lawful Number): 2, 5, 8 in the digital root Chesu (體數 Physical Number): 3, 6, 9 in the digital root THREE SUB-CALENDARS The Way of Heaven circles to generate Jongsi (a period, an ending and a beginning). Jongsi circles to generate another Jongsi of four Jongsi. One cycle of jongsi is called Soryeok (Little Calendar). Jongsi of Jongsi is called Jungryeok (Medium Calendar). Jongsi of four Jongsis is called Daeryeok (Large Calendar). The universe is infinite without beginning and ending. Everything runs the course of self-equilibration in relation to everything else. The Way of Heaven or the Way of the Creatrix circles and makes possible the infinite time/space to be measured and calculated. As the Way of Heaven circles, we are able to perceive Our Universe in finite measures of time/space. Time becomes measurable, as space is stabilized. Seasons and days-nights are demarcated in cyclic patterns, as the Earth makes the three cyclic movements of rotation, revolution, and precession. Calendar, born out of the inter-cosmic time, synchronizes human culture with the song/dance of the universe. The term Jongsi, which means an ending and a beginning, is equivalent to “a cyclic period” that is marked by the beginning and the end. Time (a day, a month, and a year) circles, as space (the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun) spirals. The Magoist Calendar has three sub-calendars: The period of one yearly cycle is called Little Calendar, whereas the period of two yearly cycles is called Medium Calendar and the period of four yearly cycles, Large Calendar. To be continued. (Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hye-Sook Hwang) Notes [12] Budoji, Chapter 23. See Bak Jesang, the Budoji, Bak Geum scrib., Eunsu Kim, trans. (Seoul: Gana Chulpansa, 1986).
(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 …
Happy New Year, Year 2/5916 Magoma Era! by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Bell of King Seongdeok, known as the Emille Bell, a massive bronze bell at 19 tons is the largest in Korea.” Wikimedia Commons. Cast in 771, the bell reenacts the music of whales to remind people of the Female Beginning, the self-creative power innate all beings. Today is Day 2 of the New Year in the reconstructed Magoist Calendar characterized by 13 months per year and 28 days per month. We are heading toward the Solstice that falls on Dec. 21/22 (Day 5 of the first month in the Magoist Calendar), which happens to be the day of the first full moon of Year 2. Below is the details about the Magoist Calendar. https://www.magoacademy.org/2018/03/27/magoist-calendar-13-month-28-day-year-1-5915-me-2018-gregorian-year/ The Gregorian year 2018 marks a watershed in that we began to implement the Magoist Calendar. The Magoma Era is based on the onset of the nine-state confederacy of Danguk (State of Dan, the Birth Tree) traditinally dated 3898 BCE-2333 BCE. We just passed Year 1 or 5915 Magoma Era (the Gregorian 2018). For Year 1, we had the New Year Day on December 18 of 2017, the first new moon day before the December Solstice. That makes December 18 of 2017 our lunation 1, the first lunar year that the reconstructed Magoist Calendar determines its first day of the Year 1! Although relatively short in history, the Mago Work began to celebrate the Nine Day Mago Celebration on the day of December Solstice annually since 2015. With the reconstructed Magoist Calendar, we placed it in its due timeframe, the Ninth Month and the Ninth Day, which fell on August 8, 2018 (US PST) and celebrated it for the first time according to the Magoist Calendar. Apparently, this had to be a mid-Summer event. This left us with another seasonal event, the New Year/Solstice Celebration. For Year 2, we hold the 3 Day New Year/Solstice Celebration on December 20, 21, and 22 (December 22 to be the Solstice Dat in PST) and the Virtual Midnight Vigil as a precussor to the New Year Day. http://www.magoacademy.org/2018/07/17/2018-5915-magoma-era-year-1-nine-day-mago-celebration/ https://www.magoacademy.org/home-2/new-year-solstice-celebrations/ We just greeted the Year 2 by holding the event called Virtual Midnight Vigil during which we sounded the Korean temple bell, in particular the Emile Bell or the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok the Great, to the world. A few from around the globe (Germany, Korea, Italy and the US) participated in it or hosted their own local vigils. The Korean temple bell is the key symbol for the Magoist Calendar as well as the Magoist Cosmogony. It is not a coincidence that it is struck on the midnight of the New Year’s Eve. It is Korean tradition that even modern Koreans gather at the bell tower in Seoul to hear the sound of the bell at midnight. And these bells are gigantic weighing 19 tons in the case of the Emile Bell. That this convention has an ancient Magoist root remains esoteric. For not only they strike the bell 28 times in the evening indicating the 28 lunar stations that the Moon stops by in the sky throughout the year (please read below what the 28 day lunar journey means and how it is represented by women). But also the Korean temple bell is no mere acoustic device to play the beautiful sound only. It is designed to reenact the Magoist Cosmogony. https://www.magoacademy.org/2018/12/14/virtual-midnight-vigil-dec-17-2018-to-new-year-year-2-5916-magoma-era/ That said, that is not what’s all about the Korean Magoist convention of welcoming the New Year by sounding the temple bell, however. That the bell sound is a mimicry of the music of whales has been in the hand of wisdom seekers! Ancient Korean bells testify that whales are with us in the journey of the Moon and her terrestrial dependents headed by women. You may like to hear the sound of the Magoist Korean whale bell included in the Participation Manual for Virtual Midnight Vigil below. Happy New Year to all terrestrial beings in WE/HERE/NOW! https://www.magoacademy.org/2018/12/16/participation-manual-for-virtual-midnight-vigil-year-2/

(Art) Mago by Lydia Ruyle

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

Just Remember WE in S/HE Remember the Universe is without the beginning or the end. Remember the Creatrix is the Music of the Universe.
(Budoji Essay 1) The Magoist Cosmogony by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

“The Great Goddess Myth is the first and last revelation to humankind. Where the Primordial Mother is, there is Home!” Part 1 Introduction When I first read the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), the principal text of Magoism, my life journey took an unexpected turn. The power of the Magoist cosmogony began to work on me, and suddenly I was returning Home with/to/in Mago, the Great Goddess! Before, “Home” had seemed an unreal destination, a mirage that lured voyagers to its abyss of nowhere. I had been stripped of “Home.” The Magoist cosmogony gifted me with a vision of what I had been seeking as a feminist voyager. I meant to return Home. In Mago, I felt no longer free-floating, but this was not without its price. My radical feminist searches brought me no material benefits; rather, to become Myself was the reward. Layer after layer of patriarchal deception had to be peeled off. And for women who, like me, came from the non-Western, formerly colonized world, reversing the reversals required a deeper analysis of racism, ethnocentrism, and colonialism. I underwent the process of becoming Me, a process which also led me to WE. Personally, Homecoming means an integration of myself within the mytho-historical-cultural context of Magoism. However, Homecoming in the Great Goddess can never be an isolated individual act. Magoism unfolds the Primordial Home wherein all beings are kindred. The Primordial Home is for everyone. Everyone is destined to return Home in the Great Goddess because She is Here for us all. She will be Here for as long as humanity survives. Homecoming is a harbinger; it signals the arrival of WE, a very old concept that was misconstrued if not tabooed in patriarchy. The nature of my life has changed. “I” is no longer in the way of “WE.” “I” and “WE” do not stand against each other. Furthermore, “I” is transformed by “WE,” just as are all things in the universe. Scalar turns to vector. Chaos yields to order. The labyrinth leads to the Source. My feminism is rewarded with gynocentrism, the Goddess Matrix in which the female principle by far surpasses patriarchy. As many admit, Myth, the story of the divine, is etiological, meaning it explains the origin of things. I hold that only the gynocentric cosmogonic myth can be fully etiological, shedding light on the primal beginning. Myth is inherently gynocentric, for it is derived from the perception of the Primordial Mother, the oldest divine in human history. Put differently, Myth tells us that the Divine is She, that Female is the original divine. Myth is ultimately inseparable from the Great Goddess. The Primordial Mother is the macrocosmic translation of a mother. She is the Metaphor for life-giver and life-raiser. Divinity issues from Her. In Her, everything, including the God, is endowed with divinity. The etiological and metaphoric nature of Myth is fully illumined only in the story of the female beginning. The Goddess Myth told to/by us testifies to what patriarchy can’t or doesn’t tell. It is a language distinguished from that of patriarchy, dominating if not violent. The nature of Its language is persuasive and pacific. The truth It tells awakens one to Home. It is intrinsically soteriological, and herein lies the urgency of Myth: It shows the Way that humanity needs to know and follow in order to survive and flourish. The Great Goddess Myth is the first and last revelation to humankind. Where the Primordial Mother is, there is Home! Mago is not necessarily the “creator” of things. In the Magoist cosmogony, there is no one who created or creates anything alone. (I have used the term “cosmogony” in place of “creation” to avoid the conflation of Magoist thought with the origin-stories of patriarchal religions.) Instead, all things are interdependent and the power of auto-genesis is embedded within the universe itself. In explaining that, the Magoist cosmogony does not employ a magical or a logical jump. In the time of beginning, cosmic rays dance in accordance with the law of nature. Mago and primordial matter are self-born through the movement of cosmic music. Mago is, above all, the Cause of human existence. All things on Earth are indebted to Mago for She initiated the process auto-genesis of the Earth itself. In short, She is the Source of Life on Earth. Without Her, nothing is possible for us.