Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Magi/Magus, from Magi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Magi (/ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; singular magus /ˈmeɪɡəs/; from Latin magus) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest.
Pervasive throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia until late antiquity and beyond, mágos was influenced by (and eventually displaced) Greek goēs (γόης), the older word for a practitioner of magic, to include astronomy/astrology, alchemy and other forms of esoteric knowledge. This association was in turn the product of the Hellenistic fascination for (Pseudo‑)Zoroaster, who was perceived by the Greeks to be the Chaldean founder of the Magi and inventor of both astrology and magic, a meaning that still survives in the modern-day words “magic” and “magician“.
In the Gospel of Matthew, “μάγοι” (magoi) from the east do homage to the newborn Jesus, and the transliterated plural “magi” entered English from Latin in this context around 1200 (this particular use is also commonly rendered in English as “kings” and more often in recent times as “wise men”).[1] The singular “magus” appears considerably later, when it was borrowed from Old French in the late 14th century with the meaning magician.
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An unrelated term, but previously assumed to be related, appears in the older Gathic Avestan language texts. This word, adjectival magavan meaning “possessing maga-“, was once the premise that Avestan maga- and Median (i.e. Old Persian) magu- were co-eval (and also that both these were cognates of Vedic Sanskrit magha-). While “in the Gathas the word seems to mean both the teaching of Zoroaster and the community that accepted that teaching”, and it seems that Avestan maga- is related to Sanskrit magha-, “there is no reason to suppose that the western Iranian form magu (Magus) has exactly the same meaning”[4] as well. But it “may be, however”, that Avestan moghu (which is not the same as Avestan maga-) “and Medean magu were the same word in origin, a common Iranian term for ‘member of the tribe’ having developed among the Medes the special sense of ‘member of the (priestly) tribe’, hence a priest.”[2]cf[3]
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gaia, from Gaia (mythology) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In Greek mythology, Gaia (/ˈɡaɪə, ˈɡeɪə/ GHY-ə, GAY-ə;[1] from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of Γῆ Gē, “land” or “earth”),[2] also spelled Gaea (/ˈdʒiːə/ JEE-ə),[1] is the personification of the Earth[3] and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the mother of Uranus (the sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods) and the Giants, and of Pontus (the sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.[4]
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The Greek name Γαῖα (Gaĩa)[5] is a mostly epic, collateral form of Attic Γῆ[6] (Gê), Doric Γᾶ (Gã, perhaps identical to Δᾶ Dã)[7] meaning “Earth“, a word of uncertain origin.[8] Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[9]
In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (transliterated as Ma-ga, “Mother Gaia”) also contains the root ga-.[9][10]
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Greek mythology of Gaia’s family tree is remotely evocative of the Magoist genealogy written in the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), the principale text of Magoism.
In Korean, “Mama” is also an honorary title referring to the royal family including ruler, ruler’s mother, father, grandmother and so on. This suggests that “ma” means “mother,” “ruler,” and “Goddess” all at once in gynocentric/gynocratic (Magoist/Magocratic) societies, pre-patriarchal in origin.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I came to search the etymology of “montgomery” in relation to Mt. Mago or Mt. Goya and am led to such related terms as Gomer, Gog, Magog.
Montgomery (name) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Montgomery or Montgomerie is a surname from a place name in Normandy.[1] Although there are many stories of its origin,[2][3][4][5] An old theory explains that the name is a corruption of “Gomer’s Mount” or “Gomer’s Hill” (Latin: Mons Gomeris), any of a number of hills in Europe named in attribution to the biblical patriarch Gomer,[2] but it does not explain the final -y or -ie (the phonetical evolution would have been *Montgomers) and it does not correspond to the old mentions of the place name Montgommery in Normandie : Monte Gomeri in 1032 – 1035, de Monte Gomerico in 1040 and de Monte Gumbri in 1046 – 1048.[6] More relevant is the explanation by the Germanic first name Gumarik,[7] a compound of guma “man” (see bridegroom) and rik “powerful”, that regularly gives the final -ry (-ri) in the French first names and surnames (Thierry, Amaury, Henry, etc.). Moreover, the name is still used as a surname in France as Gommery,[8] from the older first name Gomeri.[9]
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gomer below from Wikipedia.
Gomer (גֹּמֶר, Standard Hebrew Gómer, Tiberian Hebrew Gōmer, pronounced [ɡoˈmeʁ]) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the “Table of Nations” in the Hebrew Bible, (Genesis 10).
The eponymous Gomer, “standing for the whole family,” as the compilers of the Jewish Encyclopedia expressed it,[1] is also mentioned in Book of Ezekiel 38:6 as the ally of Gog, the chief of the land of Magog.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gog and Magog from Wikipedia. Gog and Magog: They are depicted as monsters and barbarians from the East/Eurasia.
Gog and Magog (/ɡɒɡ/; /ˈmeɪɡɒɡ/; Hebrew: גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג Gog u-Magog; Arabic: يَأْجُوج وَمَأْجُوج Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj) are names that appear in the Hebrew bible (Old Testament), the Book of Revelation and the Qur’an, sometimes indicating individuals and sometimes lands and peoples. Sometimes, but not always, they are connected with the “end times”, and the passages from the book of Ezekiel and Revelation in particular have attracted attention for this reason.
From ancient times to the late Middle Ages Gog and Magog were identified with Eurasian nomads such as the Khazars, Huns and Mongols (this was true also for Islam, where they were identified first with Turkic tribes of Central Asia and later with the Mongols). Throughout this period they were conflated with various other legends, notably those concerning Alexander the Great, the Amazons, Red Jews, and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and became the subject of much fanciful literature. In modern times they remain associated with apocalyptic thinking, especially in the United States and the Muslim world.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Does the Monster of Gog and Magog like a female? The one on the left side.
The Monster of Gog and Magog, by Zakariya al-Qazwini (1203–1283).
https://upload.wikimedia.org/…/Muhammad_ibn_Muhammad…
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Dhul-Qarnayn with the help of some jinn, building the Iron Wall to keep the barbarian Gog and Magog from civilized peoples. (16th century Persian miniature).
https://upload.wikimedia.org/…/Iranischer_Meister_001.jpg
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Mt. Goya/Koya/Guye/Kuya is the place-name located throughout Korea, China, and Japan. The following one is from Japan, which was cultivated as the center for Buddhism since the 9th century. It is a “mythic” place where the female (Magoist) ruled, according to the ancient Chinese written text. It refers to the confederacy of Magoist states located on the mountain tops surrounded by the sea, according to my research. From Mount Kōya – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mount Kōya (高野山, Kōya-san) is the common name of a huge temple settlement in Wakayama Prefecture to the south of Osaka. In the strict sense, Kōya-san is the so-called “mountain name” sangō (山号) of the Kongōbu-Temple (金剛峯寺, Kongōbu-ji), the ecclesiastical headquarters of the “Koyasan Shingon School”.[1]
First settled in 819 by the monk Kūkai, Mt. Kōya is primarily known as the world headquarters of the Kōyasan Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Located on an 800 m high plain amid eight peaks of the mountain (which was the reason this location was selected, in that the terrain is supposed to resemble a lotus plant), the original monastery has grown into the town of Kōya, featuring a university dedicated to religious studies and 120 sub-temples, many of which offer lodging to pilgrims.
Glenys Livingstone: really interesting Helen … and it is exciting, as one looks through “Goddess” lenses to see again and to understand connections that a patriarchal brain cannot and will not see. Your work of unfolding and uncovering Mago continues and flowers, enabling more to see Her.
Glenys Livingstone: Georgina Alias … interesting thread – you have some story about “Yia” (which is even a possible kind of contribution to next volume of She Rises ?)
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: We have also linguistic connection of magi (magos or magus) to the above. You mentioned about “Yia” and I can’t recall the details, Glenys.
Glenys Livingstone Georgina (Yia) will have to tell us again … I can’t find where she wrote it.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Christina Beard-Moose, thank you for your interest! I have pulled out for you some posts concerning the linguistic affinity of Mago and Goddesses from around the world. There are other categories to approach to this point besides linguistics: Folklore/myth, art themes, and symbols. Each category is complex and has intriguing sub-themes. I am thinking of putting these data that we have discussed in the Mago Circle as a sourcebook. That should be the way to go, I am excited!
Christina Beard-Moose: Sitting here reading through all of this [I also went over and read DrMary Ann Ghaffurian’s piece] makes me very excited. One: that there are so many women [and some men too, I guess] who are getting up to speed on the rise of the Mother World. and Two: that three is actually language we can use. Perhaps the Magi who visited Mary and her babe were actually wise-women.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Possibly the Magi were women at that time. Nonetheless, we cannot rule out that the Magi tradition was hijacked and co-opted by patriarchs by then who mimicked the old Mago tradition. Similar patterns are shown in the medieval history of the Mongol Empire, we noticed before 🙂 Look forward to your insights anytime.
Colette Flanigan: Love your talks with foremothers in the goddess movement.. Yes, there is so much overlap and correlation throughout the worlds creation mythos that one can see the goddess in her many guises everywhere.
Glenys Livingstone: I found this part of a PM from Yia Alias about her name “Yia”:
“it connotes the Earth (Yis) and Yinecka ( Phonetic spelling of woman) ….the yi part is the the same as the gyno… prefix which is to do with the female/woman….. Yiayia meanwhile means grandmother and seems to have its deriverative in Yis the earth… Phonetically there are words which make woman, earth and health sound similar, I am speaking from a conversational Greek mode.” I think it is connected to “Gaia.”
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Thanks Glenys. Sometimes vowels change easily as the Goddess tradition transmits from one culture to the other. Certain consonants are also interchangeably used in different cultures. Maybe that “yia” in Gaia is a Greek variation of Go or Gu?
(To be continued)
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