We’d like to invite Return to Mago readers and contributors to join us in chanting the earth’s twenty-four seasons for nine days beginning from December 21, 2014 till December 29, 2014. One can do it any time of the day and as many times as one wishes. We encourage you to create your own tune for chanting.
It is our wish to revive old ways of celebrating days around the year in an effort to rebuild gynocentric unity across cultures and peoples around the globe as descendants of the Great Mother known as Mago for ancient Koreans. Everyone, no matter where you are located, is invited to join in this rite of chanting the seasonal points. We shall restore the consciousness of being/living in our moving center as the planet Earth revolves around the Sun. By doing this, we are entering the sacred realm cultivated by the ancients! So experience with us the sense of original groundedness amid the cosmos!
What we introduce here is a Korean traditional way of chanting 24 seasons called Jeolhu-ju (Chant of Seasonal Points). The chant begins with Winter Solstice for those in the Northern Hemisphere. For those in the Southern Hemisphere, it is recommended to begin with the Summer Solstice. That is because ancient Koreans believed that the New Year begins with the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the day. However, the half cycle is about to change. Winter Solstice harbingers a new beginning of the year’s cycle. After the Winter Solstice, the light of the day begins to grow.
Traditionally, Koreans celebrated these 24 seasons according to the lunar calendar. With the lunar calendar, the date of Winter Solstice varies yearly. So there are three different names of Winter Solstices given accordingly in Korean; Ae-Dongji (when the date falls early in the month), Jung-Dongji (when the date falls in the middle of the month), and No-Dongji (when the date falls late in the month). There are different customs for these three variations. All details suggest that Winter Solstice was no small day of celebration for traditional Koreans, to say the least.
You may use any of the following East Asian languages available in the table. Romanization of the Korean names are below with the eight Celtic names italicized:
Dong-ji 동지 (Winter Solstice, Yule), So-han 소한, Dae-han 대한
/Ip-chun 입춘 (Entering of Spring, Imbolc), U-su 우수, Gyeong-chip 경칩
Chun-bun 춘분 (Vernal Equinox, Eosta), Cheong-myeong 청명, Gog-u 곡우
/Ip-ha 입하 (Entering of Summer, Beltaine), So-mang 소망, Mang-jong 망종
Ha-ji 하지 (Summer Solstice, Litha), So-seo 소서, Dae-seo 대서
/Ip-chu 입추 (Entering of Autumn, Lammas), Cheo-seo 처서, Baeng-no 백로
Chu-bun 추분 (Autumnal Equinox, Mabon), Hal-lo 한로, Sang-gang 상강
/Ip-dong 입동 (Entering of Winter, Samhain), So-seol 소설, Dae-seol 대설
Happy Solstice New Year to you and your loved ones!
We are the daughters and sons of Mago, the Great Goddess!
References:
Discussions in Nine Mago Festival, Facebook group.
절후주(節候呪)
冬至 小寒 大寒 立春 雨水 驚蟄
동지 소한 대한 입춘 우수 경칩
春分 淸明 穀雨 立夏 小滿 芒種
춘분 청명 곡우 입하 소만 망종
夏至 小暑 大暑 立秋 處暑 白露
하지 소서 대서 입추 처서 백로
秋分 寒露 霜降 立冬 小雪 大雪
추분 한로 상강 입동 소설 대설
Reblogged this on 마고 아카데미 한국 and commented:
24절기를 경으로 읽는 한국의 전통 절후주 합경에 초대합니다. 생각보다 많은 사람들이 호응하고 있고, 마고문화를 통해서 옛 한국 풍습을 되살리는 첫 걸음이 힘차게 내딛어 지고 있습니다.