[Author’s Note: This essay was included in the journal, S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies (Vol 3 No 1, 2024). Footnotes numbers here differ from those of the original article.]
The Magoma Divine, the Magoist Cosmogony,
and Magoist Cetaceanism
Unraveling the skirt motif stories and placenames of Mago Halmi is no small task in that they display multi-layers of meaning. Mago Halmi oral myths are not just gynocentric in characteristics but also numerological and draconian. The utterance of the numeral nine (and ninety-nine and three), which recurs frequently in our sample stories, is a call to the matriversal consciousness of the Nine Mago Creatrix: ALL are the offspring of the Creatrix and will return to HER by way of the Cosmic Music, the ceaseless interplay of socially charged nine numbers. The numeric symbol of nine inundates the folktales and placenames of South Korea (and beyond), which suggests that Magoism was a world-wide phenomenon in the past. Tantalizing the mind with visual, auditory, and cerebral images, the 21 sample stories that this essay examines unfolds the soteriological meaning system of Magoist Cetaceanism. Foremost, the language of Mago Halmi folklore and toponymy has its own grammar built on the underpinnings of Magoist Cosmogony, Magoist Cetaceanism, and Magoist thealogy, as well as the mytho-history of Magoist Cetaceanism.
Given that cosmogony is the central theme of Mago folktales, the skirt-motif that this essay discusses stands as an exegesis of the Magoist Cosmogony. The Magoist Cosmogony refers to the matriversal (of the maternally perceived universe) consciousness of the ultimate reality of WE/HERE/NOW. In short, it is a maternal way of understanding the infinitely unfolding reality, a tiny portion of which we humans ride. The Magoist Cosmogony constitutes the basis of Magoism, the Way of the Creatrix. The full-fledged concept of the Magoist Cosmogony comes from the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City), the principal text of Magoism.[1] Mago is the Cause of ALL to be born, growing, and transforming within the Matriverse. However, Mago is not the ultimate cause of the open-ended reality of WE/HERE/NOW. Primordial entities, including stars and Mago, are brought forth by the Cosmic Music, the ceaseless interplay of sonically charged nine numbers (from one to nine), for which I coined the term, Sonic Numerology.[2] Mago, born through the Cosmic Music, governs the Matriverse together with HER Two Daughters (the Mago Triad or Samsin 三神). The Mago Triad in turn governs the solar system with their Eight Daughters (the Nine Mago Creatrix or Gurang 九郞). The Magoist Cosmogony is the account of the Female.[3] The male has not arrived on the scene yet. It is about the primordial reality prior to the bifurcation of sexes. The Nine Mago Creatrix is a parthenogenetic entity. The supreme divine is of the Sole-Mother. The skirt-motif Mago Halmi folktales reflect the parthenogenetic primordial reality by the story of a virgin, sole-mother, widow, and mother (see No. 19 in [Table 3]).
The importance of the skirt-motif cosmogonic Mago Halmi folktales lies in the fact that they depict “Mago Halmi” as the merged persona of the Magoma Divine (Mago and Goma). Recognizing Goma is essential in decoding the Mago Halmi character in folktales. Beneath the thin layer of amnesia, Goma is tangible in Mago Halmi folktales. Mago and Goma appear inseparably merged in folk stories. Nonetheless, they differ substantively. While Mago is the Cosmic Mother/Creatrix, Goma is a deified historical figure. Technically speaking, the non-cosmogonic divine character refers to Goma. She is attributed to the builder of cultural constructs made of natural landmasses including strongholds, megalithic structures, and cairns. That is contrasted with Mago, the Cosmogonist, who is attributed to the cosmic shaper of local mountains, rivers, and seas. As Mago shapes the celestial and planetary surroundings, Goma shapes the socio-political-cultural surroundings. Also, Goma is the Cetacean Goddess or the Sea Goddess and associated with the Goma toponyms (see [Table 6]) from which I assess that Goma is the originator of Magoist Cetaceanism as well as the Magoist Cosmogony.[4] That said, a specific reference of “Mago Halmi” in a certain folktale or a group of folktales tends to swing within the spectrum of the Magoma Divine. For example, Gaeyang Halmi from Buan, North Chungcheong Province largely embodies the Cetacean Goddess (see Tale F S-73), whereas Seolmundae Halmang from Jeju Island embodies the Cosmogonist (see Tales G S-79 and G S-81).
The Goma faith has shaped the landscape of Korean indigenous culture and religious practices. Nonetheless, mainstream Koreans are blind to see how broadly and pervasively she manifests in Korean traditional culture and history. She is not recognized because she is the lens.[5] Magoism is her vision. In that sense, my work on Magoism takes the lens of Goma. And the Korean ethos and mythos are rooted in the Goma faith. Commonly known as Ungnyeo (Bear/Sovereign Woman) among Koreans, Goma is the female protagonist in the Korean foundation myth, which I call the Goma Myth.[6] Suffice it to say that, deified as the Heavenly Hera (Cheonung) or Hanung (Magoist Hera), Goma is venerated as the greatest deity born of a woman. As a Shaman Queen Mother of Old Magoist Korea, Goma inaugurated the confederacy of Nine States (3898-2333 BCE). I hold that the matriversal consciousness of the Creatrix is Goma’s soteriological engine. The aquatic, meteorological, numerological, and draconic motifs concern Goma’s Magoist Cetaceanism. Apart from the Goma Myth, Mago Halmi folktales and placenames stand as the reservoir of the Goma legacy.
Mago Halmi folktales in general intimate two layers of tradition. The first one is an older layer, Magoism, and the second one is the newer layer, Magoist Cetaceanism. I have defined Magoist Cetaceanism as the matriversal consciousness, which venerates the bio-sonic-aquatic-ecological behavior of whales as an indispensable blessing to All on the planet.[7] The difference between Magoism and Magoist Cetaceanism lies in the fact the former does not involve a conscious articulation of Mago Halmi on the part of people. On the one hand, Magoism as spirituality manifests as a direct (read mind-to-mind) perception of Mago, the Cosmic Mother. Simply the word “Mago Halmi” alone would convey the piety. Mago Halmi is seen everywhere and in everything. Mago folktales, which indicate the older layer of Magoism, do not articulate that Mago Halmi moves rocks or mountains in her skirt. Instead, an example of its myth would be as terse as: “This rock is said to be the rock of Mago Halmi.” Or just the toponym alone conveys the consciousness of the Cosmic Mother. In fact, there are numerous toponyms concerning Mago or Halmi. Such placenames as Mt. Mago, Mago Stronghold, and Halmi-bong (Peak Halmi) stand as examples. On the other hand, Mago Halmi folktales, which are prompted by Magoist Cetaceanism, involve a narrative, which functions as the soteriological tool. It betrays an intention of teaching people about Mago. The story that local topographies are shaped by Mago Halmi betrays the intention of transmitting the matriversal consciousness of Mago, the Creatrix. Sometimes legends are created to make meaning, which can be understood by moderns, for folkloric myths and placenames. Those cases are easily detectable in that the narratives are overly lengthy and concerned about relatively recent figures. And Mago Halmi is represented by a woman, often a widow or the sole-mother.
When all are co-related and caused by all else simultaneously and ceaselessly, we are revealed the matriversal reality of WE/HERE/NOW. Beginnings and endings are taking place HERE and NOW. WE manifests the Matriverse HERE and NOW. And vice versa. The present timespace HERE/NOW is predicated in WE. By focusing on the cyclic origin of local landscapes, Mago Halmi folktales instill in their tellers and listeners a particular type of consciousness about the consanguineous origin of ALL from the Creatrix, the Magoist Cosmogony. Mago Halmi skirt-motif folktales prove to be an oral text of the Magoist Cosmogony. On the one hand, the Magoist Cosmogony offers tools to decipher the grammar of the Mago Halmi folkloric language. On the other hand, Mago folktales expose the deepest layer of Magoist Cetaceanism (the Magoist veneration of cetaceans), which underpins the Magoist Cosmogony. Water and weather-related placenames, numerological epithets concerning numbers of 9, 99, 3, and 33 (all nine in the digital root), dragon-related subjects, and auditory implications show how pervasively Magoist Cetaceanism is permeated in Korean traditional folk culture.
This study treats skirt-motif Mago Halmi folk stories as an oral text of the Magoist Cosmogony, the central concept of Magoist Cetaceanism. The Magoist Cosmogony refers to a matricentric understanding of the matriversal reality orchestrated by Mago, the Creatrix. And the Magoist Cosmogony is underpinned by the time-old tradition of Magoist Cetaceanism (see [Figure 1]). Skirt-motif Mago folklore and toponymy embody the collective intelligence/spirituality of Korean Magoists, the advocate of the Cetacean Divine. It is not surprising that 93 skirt-motif Mago Halmi stories, standing as the origin myths of specific topographies and practices, comes as the reservoir of the images, symbols, and linguistic expressions of Magoist Cetaceanism. They are the collective self-testimony of Korean Magoists: Mago Halmi is the cosmogonist who shaped “our” surrounding landscapes. And S/HE has carved out the mountains, strongholds, megalithic structures, cairns, rivers, lakes, and seas the way they are. All are interconnected. We see the dragons who carry the divine “singing” of whales from the seas to our rivers, lakes, and wells. Dragons rise to become rain clouds to circulate water on a planetary scale. All are beginning NOW and HERE in our surroundings.” Mago Halmi folktales serve as the soteriological apparatus invented by ancient Magoists, which defines Koreans as the People of the Creatrix.
[Figure 1: Structural Bases of Mago Halmi Folklore and Toponymy]
[1] I have translated the Budoji’s first four chapters, the full-fledged account of the Magoist Cosmogony. See Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, The Magoist Cosmogony (Chapters 1-4) Budoji Workbook (Volume 1): The Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City) in English and Korean Translations with the Original Text in the East Asian Logographic Language (Mago Books, 2020).
[2] For the discussion of the Cosmic Music, see Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia (Lytle Creek, CA: Mago Books, 2015), Chapter 6.
[3] I have discussed the Female Principle including parthenogenesis in the Magoist Cosmogony. See Hwang, The Mago Way, Chapter 6, 7, 8.
[4] Clues to Goma to be the originator of the Magoist Cosmogony and Magoist Ceteaceanism are numerous, a topic that escapes the scope of this essay. This essay surfaces evidence shown in folktales and toponyms. Among them are numerological and draconian associations with her. Accounts on Goma are rife with numerological associations. The primary example is that she is noted for the “founder” of the Danguk (State of the Alar) confederacy of Nine States. And she is associated with her three meteorological officials:
According to the Samguk Yusa, Hanung (Goma) descended to the divine tree altar leading the three rain-concerning officials, Pungbaek (風伯 Wind Elder), Usa (雨師 Rain Master), Unsa (雲師 Cloud Master) and three thousand people. And she administered 360 human affairs. Note the numerological implication of the number three and the number nine (360 is 9 in digital root).
See Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, “Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea, and Her Mythology” in Reader, footnote 38, 251. For a discussion on Goma’s draconian associations, see footnote 31.
[5] I hold that the Budoji, the principal text of Magoism recounted from the perspective of Sillans, takes the lens of Goma. Previously, I noted that the maternal perspective is taken as normative. See Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, “Unveiling an Ancient Sill Korean Testimony to the Mother World: An Introductory Discussion of The Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City), the Principal Text of Magoism,” in Reader, 133-4. My language is sharped here to name it as the lens of Goma. Mago Halmi folktales make it clear that the maternal perspective is that of Goma.
[6] In my exegesis of the Goma Myth, Goma, the queen of the bear clan, gave birth to her progeny parthenogenetically. See Hwang, “Goma” in Reader, 87-8.
[7] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, “Myogyeon (Marvelous Sight) and Northern Circumpolar Bear Constellations” in Reader, 103.
Also see Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, “The Ancient Korean Whale-Dragon Bell: An Encodement of Magoist Cetacean Soteriology,” S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies Vol 2 No 1 (2023), 98.
(To be continued)