June 2, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin

(Book Announcement 2) Back cover excerpts, She Rises Vol 2, by Mago Books

Cover art by Anna Tazanova, Cover design by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Editor’s Note: This Introduction is from She Rises: How Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? Volume 2.]

Pre-order available now!

We dedicate this book to:

Our Ancestors,

Our Descendants &

All Our Sisterly Non-Human Beings

Who Have Contributed to

the Making of Our Terrestrial Community

as the Paradise of the Great Goddess

beyond patriarchal destructions.

(She Rises Volume 2 Planning Committee)

We are the bridge between worlds

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Arise, Burning Woman!

Arise, Burning Women!

(Lucy H. Pearce)

The Question is: What does your soul call to? What are you here for?

What draws you? (Shireen Qudosi)

In order to change the systems of oppression that perpetuates

Patriarchal values, I have also needed to

engage my inner world. (Kaalii Cargill)

Misogyny and Matriphobia in the context of market economy

cause us to devalue maternal gift giving and

render it invisible (Genevieve Vaughan)

We give thanks Mama. We give thanks for your DNA. We give thanks

for your births, your creations and your earth

where we stand. (Ayele Kumari)

(To be continued)

See (Book Announcement 1) Introduction by Trista Hendren

See She Rises: How Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? Volume 2.

See Meet Mago Contributor Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.

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(Interview) In Praise of the Goddess Ishtar by Annukina Warda

At the Ishtar Gate by Paul Batou In Praise of the Goddess Ishtar. Join Annukina Warda, Dawn Sam Alden and Sean Marlon Newcombe on the 34 Circe Salon Make Matriarchy Great Again podcast as they discuss all things Ishtar, from celestial star goddess to warrior queen. https://share.transistor.fm/s/43f78e83 Link is also available here. https://www.magoism.net/2021/03/meet-mago-contributor-annukina-warda/
(Prose) Mothers of the 1970s by Nane Jordan

Moving in and out of countries, across borders, languages and cultures in these last weeks, brings me to the feeling of my backpacking days. Lugging myself and my suitcase (once backpack) over distances and cobble stone streets, I’m in the present moment, taking in each day, savouring the differences. Travel un-fixes the static self, requiring fluidity and the ability to adapt. Now, I am ready to go home again, very much so, in saturation of this travel. I feel the foreignness of France more acutely, as I long for my family and the familiarity of our little apartment in East Vancouver. I know why its called “home-sick.” It feels like an illness, a physical ache in the pit of the stomach, and could turn worse if not cared for. How do people do it? Moving to live halfway across the globe like my grandparents, and all the many emigrants and migrants who leave their homes to live in places like Canada. One learns to trade one sense of the familiar for another, and/or lives with that pang of longing for another place and people. I think of all the families separated for months or years by economic necessity, as a parent moves elsewhere for work. From this topic of “travel” to time travel. I have been reminded a lot lately of the 1970s. Especially the advent of what is known as ‘second wave’ feminism. Being in Women’s and Gender Studies in France, I am experiencing localized and lived effects of feminism across borders, and it’s onwards effects in time. One of my co-presenters in Rome, on a panel concerning “Mothers and Daughters,” is an Italian woman (now living in England) writing about growing up during her mother’s feminist awakening, in Italy of the 1970s. She interviewed her mother about those years, years in which her mother left her in the care of her father and aunts, to pursue her feminist awakening. Beyond this initial abandonment, her mother maintained contact with her, and remained in her life, though not as a care-giver. Her paper lovingly interweaves the interview with her mother, with her own journey as a mother (who can’t imagine leaving her child). She discusses the gains made by Italian women during the 1970s women’s movement in Italy. How her own life and freer choices are the transformative results of her mother’s generation of Italian feminism. This movement forged through an intensely macho/patriarchal culture (as it was, and can still be), dominated by traditional male-centred marriage without access to family planning, abortion, or divorce, and all the many social, economic and religious traps for women in such a society. Her paper highlights her mother’s voice, saying that THE central aspect of the movement was that women lived and worked together. How important were women’s relationships with each other, for finding voice, place, path, and creating freedom in new social norms and values. The walls of the building of la Casa del donne, where we stayed in Rome, are lined with B & W photographs and posters of women gathering, working, protesting, and collaborating in this Italian women’s movement of the 1970s. I have written of this time period before, but in Canada, being also the years of my childhood. Similarly, yet in a different narrative to my co-presenter, I was impacted by those years with my mother. My mother’s life was then opening into experimental artistic studies and bohemian co-living situations, through which I travelled and lived with her as a child. I lived half-time with each of my parents after their divorce. I was encouraged to be and do and what I wanted when “I grew up.” A true child of the “Free to Be, You and Me” generation. My dad brought this record-book set home early on in my life, which inspired children to get beyond gender, race, and class stereotypes and live in authentic ways, told in thoughtful but fun (and funny) stories. I don’t know how many times I listened to that record, and read that book. http://www.freetobefoundation.org/ In was in this same period of the 1970s, that Helene Cixous became known to Anglo-Canadian/American feminists. Her essay “Laugh of the Medusa (1976) was translated into English. “Write your self. Your body must be heard. Only then will the immense resources of the unconscious spring forth” “She must write her self, because this is the invention of a new insurgent writing which, when the moment of her liberation has come, will allow her to carry out the indispensable ruptures and transformations in her history” Helene Cixous, Laugh of the Medusa http://www.dwrl.utexas.edu/~davis/crs/e321/Cixous-Laugh.pdf Cixous’ essay provokes the right and rites of women’s writing as intimately inter-connected to the liberation of the self/ body/ soul/ and culture-at-large. The whole conjunction of “French Feminism,” which includes people such as Helene Cixous, Catherine Clément, Luce Irigaray, and Julia Kristeva, was created in the 1970s, as their translated works became available in a trans-Atlantic shuttle. This exchange includes French feminists reading the Americans in translation. I am very aware of how this 1970s period of women’s collaborative and transformative living/working leaks into the contemporary work and practices of women’s spirituality. Women’s spirituality is rooted in women’s leadership, a leadership lived through women’s relationships and friendships as centering and creative forces for all kinds of new social/ cultural/ economic/ spiritual practices and philosophies. This is true in my own life and scholarly path, which has grown and been nourished through a women’s relational lens. The ’70s time frame keeps calling me backwards, just as it moves forward in my life. An impact I am more and more curious to grasp. (Meet Mago Contributor) Nane Jordan
(Book Announcement 2) Back cover excerpts, She Rises Vol 2, by Mago Books

[Editor’s Note: This Introduction is from She Rises: How Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? Volume 2.] Pre-order available now! We dedicate this book to: Our Ancestors, Our Descendants & All Our Sisterly Non-Human Beings Who Have Contributed to the Making of Our Terrestrial Community as the Paradise of the Great Goddess beyond patriarchal destructions. (She Rises Volume 2 Planning Committee)
(Prose) Whose Land Am I Living On? by Sara Wright

Photo by Sara Wright I went into the dark woods today to look for mushrooms. Mycelial threads made visible. Golden chanterelles, lactarias, russulas, waxy caps, corals, spindly fingers burst out of rich moist earth. Not a ghost pipe in sight. Photo by Sara Wright The fungi know who they are and who they are attached to. I feel like a stranger in this land where everyone is related. I feel those connections but cannot name them. This network so mysterious as to be incomprehensible, a living being that stretches across the earth. What branch of fungi evolved here? Photo by Sara Wright And when did the First Peoples, the Ancestors of this land come to live and die under the Mountain Mother’s Stone, wild field grasses, needles, leaves, decaying trees, princess pines, and mosses. What were the names of these Old Ones who first loved this land? Did I learn from them as well from the trees and animals what the word sacred really meant? Or that scarring did not remove Ancestral Powers? Photo by Sara Wright Maybe what ‘s needed is for someone like me to ask the right question, bow her head in humility and prayer. I am part of a community that stretches across time, but I cannot feel or hear the voices of these human ancestors, the lovers of this land except through dreams and visions. Yet animals, plants, trees, butterflies, and birds often communicate with me beneath words. Photo by Sara Wright The People, the first inhabitants, are a recent addition to stone – hills, fen, streams and forest millions of years strong. Fungi preceded them all – followed by mosses, plants and trees. And then the animals. The People built shelters, found food and medicines, had children, lived in genuine community, made friends with non – human relatives, honored all, listened and learned. They were taught by the land how to live with one another, respecting difference. Like the fungi they too storied the land. Oh, how I hunger for those stories of fungi and people to emerge, to teach me more about how to live. Only fragments of the latter survive. Most of my ancestors came from across the ocean. They may have brought stories, but I did not learn them, perhaps because my relatives only knew how to conquer the land to survive. Power Over, not Love. They brought Guns, not Peace. I am told that the Maliseet, Micmac, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot Peoples, “People of the Dawnland” also known as the Wabanaki Nation lived throughout the state of Maine and some still do, but who in particular once lived here? I want to say thank you.I only met one Indigenous person, her name was Mollyockett, and she taught me how to teach the Circle Way as I stood on her grave. Photo by Sara Wright https://www.magoism.net/2014/12/meet-mago-contributor-sara-wright
Work as a Devotion to the Divine Feminine by Francesca Tronetti

Wikimedia Commons As you read the title you might think, ‘What does she mean by that? What kind of work qualifies as devotion? Working in a Goddess temple? Teaching? Opening a pagan store? A women’s bookstore? What?’ Let me explain. I am a priestess of the Mother Goddess Cybele as understood and worshiped at the Maetreum of Cybele in Palenville, NY. We believe that it is not enough to say you are a follower of the Goddess, to set up an altar and direct your prayers to her. Being a priestess of Cybele is an encompassing path that includes devotion and service to our community. This might be our local community, our national issues, or global wrongs which must be addressed. Everything from making sure children is not discriminated against based on gender identity to combating climate change can be part of our service to the community. And I think many of those reading this would agree with this sentiment. We incorporate the Goddess into our lives in many ways, including by writing in Mago. But, how can our daily work be a devotion to the Goddess? Hitting the pause button During the upheaval of Covid, many took the time to reevaluate their work priorities. Before Covid, employees often took their work home with them. Answering emails and writing reports in the evenings and on weekends. All of this was unpaid work, done only to show what a good employee you were. During Covid, most realized how stupid it was to devote themselves to a company that was happy to fire them or cut their hours without thinking about how it would affect the family finances. While the workforce was reevaluating its goals, 2020 also brought about massive cultural changes. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement began in 2013, with the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed teen Trevon Martin. However, 2020 was the year BLM went global, with protests taking place in the United States, South America, Africa, and Europe. Large protests drew counter-protesters, leading to violent clashes with police who were eager to attack those calling for justice. But the year wasn’t just about Covid and BLM. In 2020 Greta Thunberg made her debut on the world stage, calling out leaders in multiple countries for their inaction on climate change. Aligned with Great’s message was a push toward backyard gardening and locally sourced produce, helped by the uncertainty caused by Covid. On the economic side, the call for student loan forgiveness gained prominence, as did debates on affordable housing for working families. All these social upheavals were happing simultaneously and in front of an audience who now has hours to devote to watching news reports and reading blogs. Sign text closeup for help wanted with red and white colors by entrance to store shop business building during corona virus covid 19 pandemic. Source: istock Hitting Restart in 2022 Why do I say hitting restart rather than hitting play? Well, because hitting play would imply that the world paused, and then things went on exactly as they had before. But, we all know this is not the case. The world has changed in fundamental and perhaps irreversible ways, some good and some bad. Some people decided to start their own businesses, pursuing the passions they had before Covid, or using skills they acquired while stuck at home. Others wanted to go back to their chosen professions from before. And newly graduated academics were hoping that in 2022 they could enter their field and start working. However, many discovered they could not find jobs in their field or didn’t have the experience they needed. So instead, people began applying for jobs they’d never held, in fields that they’d never considered before. According to the New York Times, non-profits are losing their staff as other companies offer higher wages. Services are being cut because the staff to handle requests and paperwork just aren’t there. Those who are going to work at non-profits know they are not going to make the money they would in the private sector. They do not take these jobs because they will get rich, they take these jobs because they are making a difference. This work is a devotion to the Goddess. Serving the neediest in the community, a group that needs support, translators, job training, and education. Serving the community is a tenant of most religions, however not many consider their job as a means of devotion to the Divine. But, it could be considered as such, and it is a devotion that requires much from the person. This devotion requires sacrifice, a lower salary, and long hours where every staff member does two or three jobs. However, the devotion creates a fundamental and tangible change in our community, and further on. Ask yourself how does my job serve the Goddess? How does my job serve the community? Can you make a change to include devotion as part of your job? Can you offer a sliding payment scale? Can you live comfortably on the lesser pay of a public service position? What if you took some of that precious free time you had and started volunteering? What difference could you, with your skills, and your interests, make in your community? Offering a class on sewing or mending clothing would be great. Offering to translate for people in official settings. Helping fill out forms for aid. All of these are a kind of work, paid and unpaid. And all show dedication to the community and devotion to the Goddess. https://www.magoism.net/2018/11/meet-mago-contributor-rev-francesca-tronetti-ph-d/
(Whale Essay 2) Whales in Korean Linguistics by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Korean Cetacean Words, Expressions, and Sayings (Part 2A) “Gorae (고래)” is a vernacular word, which means a whale or cetacean in Korean. “Gyeong (鯨)” is a logographic syllable that indicates whales. In a vein of East Asian thought, whales are associated with the terrestrial divine. In Buddhism, a whale, specifically a narwhal, is euphemized as a mystical animal, Jicheongsu (地聽獸 the terrestrial animal who hears or an acoustic animal of the Earth), in association with Bodhisattva Jijang (地藏 Ksitigarbha). Jijang (Jizo in Japanese and Dizang in Chinese), Gim Gyogak of a Sillan royalty, is told to have crossed the West Sea of the Korean Peninsula to Tang China (618-907) by riding Jicheongsu. White in color, Jicheongsu is told to have had one horn. In iconography, Jicheongsu is depicted as a one-horned dragon-like beast. The list of cetacean words includes below: Gyeongjong (鯨鐘 Whale Bell), Hwagyeong (華鐘 Splendid Whale), or Janggyeong (長鐘 Old Whale) refers to Korean temple bells, which is discussed at length elsewhere. Gyeonggon (鯨鯤 Gon Whale, Jingkun in Chinese): Refers to a whale represented as a gigantic mythological fish. In the Zhuangzi, Gon (Kun in Chinese) is described as an imaginary fish in the northern sea whose size is immeasurably enormous. It swims freely and metamorphoses itself to a gigantic bird, Bung (鵬 Peng in Chinese), which takes a flight in the infinitely wide heaven southward. The utterance of Gon Whale in the Zhuangzi, one of the philosophical texts of Daoism together with the Laozi, holds key to unlock the link between Daoist philosophy and Magoist Cetaceanism, the trans-patriarchal thought of Magoist Cetaceanism. Gyeonggol (鯨骨 Cetacean bone) Gyeongnoeyou (鯨腦油 Oil from the cetacean head): Cooled compressed oil drawn from whale’s brain bones. Gyeongdo (鯨濤 Cetacean wave), Gyeongrang (鯨浪) or Gyeongpa (鯨波): A big wave of the sea. Gyeongrap (鯨臘 Cetacean wax) Gyeongryeop (鯨獵 Whaling) Gyeongseon (鯨船 Whaling ship) Gyeongseom (鯨銛 Whaling harpoon) Gyeongak (鯨鰐 Whales and crocodiles) Gyeongeo (鯨魚 Whale fish): Whale or the mallet of the Korean temple bell. Gyeongye (鯨鯢 Male whale and female whale). Ye (鯢) also refers to a whale. See Yechi (Whale Teeth) below. Gyeongyu (鯨油 Whale oil) Gyeongeum (鯨飮 Whale drinking): A heavy drinking of alcohol like a whale’s drinking water. Gyeongeum (鯨音 Whale sound): The sound of the Korean temple bell. Gyeongtan(鯨呑 Whale swallowing): Control of the powerful over the meek like a whale swallows a school of small fish. Gyeongpa (鯨波 Whale wave): A big wave, a loud roar. Gyeonghu (鯨吼 Whale lore): A loud roar of a whale. Yechi (鯢齒 Whale Teeth) The following cetacean expressions are the linguistic code for us to assess the multi-faceted aspects of Magoist Cetaceanism. Among them is the most popular expression, “the back of a whale 고래등.” The back of a whale as big as 40 meter-long for the largest whale is euphemized as “a moving rock in the sea,” “a mountain in the sea,” or “an island” in myth, iconography, and lore. The myth of Yeono-rang and Seo-nyeo (Yeono Man and Seo Woman) or the myth of the Precious Queen Seo, as such I renamed, is a prime example, to be discussed in a later section. The motif that a whale is mistaken for an island appears across cultures in such stories as Brendan the navigator and Sinbad the sailor. Also the expression, “the back of a whale,” is used to refer to the roof architecture of a traditional Korean house that addresses its large and magnificent appearance to moderns. Dudeul Village in Yeongyang, Gyeongbuk S. Korea “A roof-tiled house like the back of a whale 고래등 같은 기와집” refers to a big and majestic traditional house whose roof resembles the back of a whale. The roof can be a single roof or roofs. Used as a plural, this expression juxtaposes the roofs of a house or a village with the backs of whales, a pod of whales, in the sea (see the image). “A roof-tiled house like the back of a whale” has two cetacean implications. First, its roof is constructed after a whale’s back. Secondly, the very building with the whale-back-like roof represents a whale’s body. This is a complex topic to be discussed in detail at a later section. “Bang gorae (방고래 Room whale)” of the ondol system, an underfloor heating system of traditional Korean architecture in the form of a whale’s body, a topic to be discussed in conjunction with “A roof-tiled house like the back of a whale.” “Gorae gumeong (고래구멍 Whale entrance or hole)” is a dialect of the wood-burning furnace connected to Bang Gorae (Room whale).“Gorae rangbi (고래랑비 Whale Rain)” refers to a pouring rain in a short time. “Gorae gorae (고래고래)” is an onomatopoeia referring to a loud voice like that of a whale. “Goraesimjul-gata (고래심줄 같다 Like whale’s tendon)” refers to the property that is as strong as whale’s tendon. “Sul gorae (술고래 Whale-like drinker)” refers to one who heavily drinks alcohol. “Chingchaneun goraedo chumchuge handa (칭찬은 고래도 춤추게 한다Complementing makes even whales dance)” conveys a moral that positive comments make one happy.” “Gorae ssaume saeudeung teojinda (고래 싸움에 새우등 터진다The back of shrimp breaks when caught between whales in fight against each other)” refers to a small and meek party who gets sacrificed by the fights of big powers. (To be continued) https://www.magoism.net/2013/07/meet-mago-contributor-helen-hwang/ (Meet Mago Contributor) Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.
(Essay 6) blackbird and a pear tree by Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum

A family story told in art, names, places, denied cultures, black and sensual madonnas, diversity of beliefs, visionary and healing Santa Lucia of Sicily After a week on the top coast of Sicily, Adam and Josie had to go back to school; their mother Sabrina had to go back to her job caring for an East Bay town as city manager, their father Peter had to go back to his job, caring for the earth as an environmental lawyer. Their kids, my great grandkids, had to go back to school. One of their genetic branches is Celt. Josie, who looks like a little French school girl, kept a journal while on the trip. Adam, whose middle name is Murphy, said very seriously, “Sicily is very historic!” Marc and Nancy went off to France where they honeymooned in Paris in the 1970s . . . this time as parents of Matt , Nicolas and Nicki, and grandparents of new baby, Charlotte Kimura Birnbaum Bald.
(Video) Behind the Screen Interview with Vicki Noble

An interview done with Vicki Noble for the making of the Signs Out of Time documentary on the life and work of archaeologist Marija Gimbutas, by Donna Read and Starhawk. Dozens of people were interviewed to make Signs Out of Time – many of them prominent artists, thinkers, writers, and scholars in archaeology, history, and philosophy – and some of the extended interviews were made available in VHS in the series “Behind the Screen: The Uncut Interviews”. Until now the have been unavailable in new format. Donna Read has given permission for the whole series of interviews to be uploaded to YouTube. The series is a treasure trove of information of historic value to the fields of archaeology, religion and women’s studies.
(Book Excerpt 3) Rainbow Goddess: Celebrating Neurodiversity ed. by K. L. Aldred, P. Daly, T Albanna, and Trista Hendren

[Editor’s Note: This anthology was published by Girl God Books (2022).] “An Autistic Bibliophile’s Tale” by Jessica Penot I once went back and found my first journal. I was 5 when I wrote it. In it, I said I wanted to be a “riter of bocs”. Even when I was 5, the only thing I wanted was to write. I knew that the only thing that ever made me happy were stories and books. I wanted to be lost in books. I wanted to be lost in words and in stories. I wanted to dive so deep into fantasy worlds that I wouldn’t ever have to come up for breath. The real world was too terrifying. Nothing in it ever made sense. Everyone was always mad at me. I never did anything right. From the time I was very young, I felt like I didn’t belong to anything. I was a puzzle piece put in the wrong box. I was difficult. I was a disappointment. When I wrote and read, however, I could be whoever I wanted and in books, I found other heroes and heroines who felt as out of place as I did. Books were the world that made sense to me. I wrote my first novel on my mother’s old typewriter when I was 11 years old. It was a tragic thing. It was so influenced by Anne Rice it felt like a bad copy of Anne Rice, but her novels spoke to me as a child. I could relate more to the vampires wandering the world searching for some glimpse of humanity than I could to my peers. Those vampires with their lonely lives of isolation felt like kindred spirits. Real people were enigmas. I tried to interact with them. I desperately wanted to be like them. I wanted friends I wanted attachment, but people never made sense. I knew I was always acting wrong and upsetting them, but beyond that, I had no idea what they expected of me or what motivated their behavior. So, I wrote my first novel. I created a space where the main character could make beauty from her strangeness, where she could find solace in her isolation. I made a world for myself where I belonged. In the pages of my book, my strange and lonely heroine could find love and friendship. She could find acceptance where none had ever been available to me. Writing and reading remained my life for years, but in college I turned away from the English degree, as I wanted to pursue a degree that was a little more practical. So, I became a psychologist. Despite my career change, I didn’t change. I couldn’t fit in with the normal. Oddly, as a therapist I could connect with people. I could understand them and maybe because I felt so isolated, I worked harder than most therapists to make sure none of my clients ever did, but connection was lost to me. So, I wrote and read. All my characters were isolated and born different. They were born witches, born gods, born demons, but there was always some reason why no matter how hard they tried, they could never fit in or be understood by normal humanity. I worked out my isolation behind computer screens. I wrote about a psychologist who lived alone in a haunted house in Alabama. She was born a witch and the only way she could find help for her clients was to embrace her true nature and turn to witchcraft. I wrote about a warrior on a distant world who was born different and the only way they could find peace was to embrace their true nature. The same theme repeated, but I never understood why. I didn’t know I had autism. I knew I felt alone, but I didn’t understand. By the time I was 40 I had published 10 books. I still had my psychology practice, but I had a mountain of failed friendships and relationships behind me. My otherness remained as distinct and well-marked upon me as Hester Prim’s Scarlet Letter. I might as well have had “freak: avoid at all costs” tattooed to my forehead. When I was finally diagnosed with autism, things began to finally make sense. The last book I wrote was Jane of Air. It was a young adult retelling of my favorite book, Jane Eyre. It was told with a bit of a Lovecraftian twist so that Jane was born with a tattoo of a door on her back. She was smart and beautiful but different and off-putting and as she aged the tattoo grew and changed. It became larger. The bones of the story were like the story of Jane Eyre, but ghosts and old gods littered the hallways of Thornfield Hall and Jane herself was an unsmiling intellectual who spoke wrong and looked wrong. People moved away from her. She didn’t know what to do with her face and loud noises and odd foods could send her running. All of this was because she was born with part of an old god in her. She was born different. She couldn’t change it. She could see she was part monster, but she lacked the ability to be human, despite her desperate desire to belong. I didn’t know I was autistic when I wrote this book, but I knew Jane was me. I knew I felt like a monster. I felt like an outsider. I felt like I was born different and no matter how hard I tried to cover up who I really was, in the end people always found out and when they found out, they ran away. I always knew all my characters were me. They were lost and broken and so different from humanity that they always feel almost doomed from the start. They don’t know how to connect or relate to the world, and they are desperately grasping for love and connection in any form. They are odd …

(Special Post Mother Teresa 4) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

Part IV: Illumination and Consensus Reached [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.] Diane Horton: [C], how is it that you do not see that MT had no right to sacrifice other people for any purpose whatsoever? None of us have the right or the place to “sacrifice those we care about” for anything. She was not “above them”. And she had abundant means to do far more for them, to cure and comfort them. If indeed she imagined she had some lofty motivation as you so fervently believe, to use the power she had to withhold medical care from the poverty stricken sick and dying in some misguided and ultimately cruel attempt to bring the world’s attention to their suffering and produce compassion within those who would not otherwise feel it is the most monstrous miscarriage of any expression of what you might refer to as “love” that I have heard of outside of Jim Jones killing all of his followers in Ghana. That’s not Love. That’s not Compassion. That is Manipulation, and manipulation is ego-based. Anne Wilkerson Allen: Yes. It is an indoctrination so deep and so prolonged that it takes a lifetime to overcome…and we rely on the love and compassion of others to help bring us to this understanding….thanks, Diane. Diane Horton: Love you, Anne. [C]: Is thinking that any human being sacrificing inside their very soul, their morals, & all that entails, is actually of lesser value than outside human pain, suffering, even death itself, right? Diane Horton: I’m not sure I understand the question really, but I’ll try a response: one’s inner and outer life are of equal importance because they are all the whole person.
(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 2) "The Oldest Cilivization" and its Agendas by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: The following discussion took place in response to an article listed blow by the members of The Mago Cirlce, Facebook group of Goddessians/Magoists from May 6 to May 10, 2016. Readers are recommended to read the original article linked below that has invoked the converation.] “The Danube Civilization: Oldest in the World” in The Ancient Ones upon the ruins of our ancestors, published April 3, 2016.

(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.
The Passing of Last Summer’s Growth by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ as is experienced and contemplated in the Season of Deep Autumn/Samhain, may be a metaphor for the passing of all/any that has come to fullness of being, or that has had a fullness, a blossoming of some kind, and borne fruit; and in the passing it has been received, and thus transforms. The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ may be in hearts and minds, an event or events, a period of time, or an era, that was a deep communion, now passed and dissolved into receptive hearts and minds, where it/they reside for reconstitution, within each unique being. Samhain is traditionally understood as ‘Summer’s end’: indeed that is what the word ‘Samhain’ means. In terms of the seasonal transitions in indigenous Old European traditions, Summer is understood as over when the Seasonal Moment of Lammas/Lughnasad comes around; it is the first marked transition after the fullness of Summer Solstice. The passing and losses may have been grieved, the bounty received, thanksgiving felt and expressed, perhaps ceremonially at Autumn Equinox/Mabon; yet now in this Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn it composts, clearly falls, as darkness and cooler/cold weather sets in, change is clearer. In the places where this Earth-based tradition arose, Winter could be sensed setting in at this time, and changes to everyday activity had to be made. In our times and in our personal lives, we may sense this kind of ending, when change becomes necessary, no longer arbitrary: and the Seasonal Moment of Samhain may be an excellent moment for expressing these deep truths, telling the deep story, and making meaning of the ending, as we witness such passing. What new shapes will emerge from the infinite well of creativity? And we may wonder what will return from the dissolution? What re-solution will be found? We may wonder what new shapes will emerge. In the compost of what has been, what new syntheses, new synergies, may come forth? Now is the time for dreaming, for drawing on the richness within, trusting the sentience, within which we are immersed, and which we are: and then awaiting the arrival, being patient with the fermentation and gestation. Seize the moment, this Moment – and converse with the depths within your own bodymind, wherein She is. Make space for the sacred conversation, the Conversing with your root and source of being, and take comfort in this presence. We may ponder what yet unkown beauty and wellness may emerge from this infinite well of creativity. The Samhain Moment in the Northern Hemisphere is 17:14 UT 7thNovember this year. Wishing you a sense of the deep communion present in the sacred space you make for this holy transition.
(Book Excerpt) Imbolc/Early Spring within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

Spring At the highest point on the tree, you stretch, reaching for the sun. Your pink petals elegant in their grace, you stand alone. Bravest of all, for leaves have yet to come to offer shade Branches bare except for furry buds that will soon follow in imitation of your daring first move. Intrepid flower of Spring, I feel like you in my yearning for the Sun!
(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
(Video) An Autumn Equinox Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Autumn Equinox/Mabon Northern Hemisphere – September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere – March 21-23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRJNY1LSvIs&t=1175s …oOo… The purpose of this 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. The script for this Autumn Equinox/Mabon ceremony is offered in Chapter 11 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. In particular I mention here, credit for the story of Demeter and Persephone as told by Charlene Spretnak in her book Lost Goddesses of Early Greece. For more full participation in the ceremony, you could have one or more stalks of wheat or native grain tied with a red thread/ribbon, a garden pot with soil, a small garden trowel, a flower bulb (daffodil type), food and drink, that may represent your “harvest” – ready for eating and drinking. 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). The images used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Autumn Equinox ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Autumn Equinox ceremonies I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space in NSW Australia, Darug and Gundungurra country. My partner Robert (Taffy) Seaborne who has participated in all the Seasonal ceremonies since Samhain 2000, adds his voice to this video. Image credits: Demeter and Persephone (500 B.C.E. Greece). Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.72. Art of Demeter and Persephone on MoonCourt wall: Cernak Herself Music credit: “Gentle Sorrow” by Sky: which he has previously allowed me to use in my work. This piece of music is also used in the Autumn Equinox meditation on my PaGaian Cosmology Meditations published 2015.

(Essay 2) Returning Home with Mago, the Great Goddess, from East Asia by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first published in Trivia, Voices of Feminism, Issue 6, September 2007. Also to be included in the forthcoming anthology She Rises: Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?] An Introduction to Magoism Mago is the Great Goddess of East Asia. Nonetheless, she remains barely known to the world. Her equals, Xiwangmu (the Supreme Goddess of Daoism) and Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess of the Japanese imperial family), are said to comprise the pantheon of East Asian cosmic goddesses. Considering that these goddesses are often aligned with the ancient culture of China or Japan, one notices that the pantheon of East Asian Great Goddesses thus omits both Mago and “Korean culture.”
(Video) The Mago Work by Mago Sisters by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL-hbgxa5v1IfUM6h6PvOTpLe8fLv5ExRG&v=HUM6EQ7sEaQ
(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.