What is Mago and Magoism?

What Is Mago and Magoism? How Old Is Magoism?

The Great Goddess is known to all peoples throughout history. Under patriarchy, S/HE is either temporarily forgotten or disguised as another name or form. The knowing of the Great Goddess goes beyond any human language, more precisely, patriarchal languages. S/HE is rooted in the unconsciousness or the collective consciousness. For our discussion, I call HER S/HE, the Female. East Asians have called HER Mago. Mago signifies the Female, another name for the Creatrix of the universe. Throughout East Asian history, Mago has manifested as S/HE (One) AND HER representatives (many). S/HE is the All, WE, the entirety of the earthly eco-system. Magoism refers to the Way of the Great Goddess, the gynocentric reality of all beings on the Earth. The word “Mago” is salvific, codifying the ultimate reality.

The Great Goddess, Mago, symbolizes the power of genesis on macro- and micro-cosmic levels. Here is the gynocentric narrative: Mago is supreme as the progenitor, cosmogonist, and ultimate sovereign of the Earth. S/HE is not only the First Mother of humans but also the Originator of all species on Earth. As the Goddess of the Earth, Mago mediates the earthly community to the universe. Thus, S/HE is called the Heavenly Goddess. Note that Heaven and Earth are not deemed dualistic. Mago is addressed by many names. Among them are the Triad Deity (三神, Samsin), Grandmother or Crone (Halmi), Auspicious Goddess (瑞姑, Seogo), Evil (Magui), Immortal Goddess (仙姑, Seongo) and Old Goddess (老姑, Nogo), all of which have roots in Korean/East Asian traditional culture.

In lore, S/HE is thought to have come from the Seven Stars (the Big Dipper). The serpent that symbolizes the Seven Stars was deemed sacred, a reminder of Mago’s Abode. As Samsin Halmi (Triad Grandmother/Goddess), Mago oversees the birth, death, and illness (especially chickenpox) of a child. She is also depicted as the Giant Crone who shapes natural and cultural topography such as mountains, rivers, villages, stone walls, and megalithic structures. Although having been favored, revered, and celebrated by East Asians in the course of history, Mago was largely forgotten in the public domain up to the 1980s in Korea. She re-emerged to the public, as the principal text of Magoism, the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), was made available in the Korean language in the mid-1980s.

The term “Mago” itself manifests universally as the notion of the Great Goddess. The root “Ma,” which means both the Mother and the Goddess, is found in many names of the Goddess for the world. “Go” in “Mago” is used as a modifier indicating Mago, as in “Seon-go (Transcendent/Immortal Goddess),” “No-go (Ancient Goddess),” and “Seo-go (Auspicious Goddess),” to name a few. “Go” is also related with if not derived from Goddess “Gom” or “Goma,” the She-Bear Sovereign of Danguk, the nine-state confederacy of the remote past. The Japanese term “Kami (Deity)” is derived from “Goma.” “Go” appears linguistically and mythologically related with “Gaia” and “Guanyin.” As such, “Ma-ga (Ma Gaia)” in Mycenean Greek and “Ma Guanyin,” the Magoist Goddess commonly known through Buddhism, all can be seen as the derivatives of “Mago.”

The Magoist Cosmogony highlights the sonic movement of cosmic elements as the Creatrix. In the beginning, there was light. The movement/vibration of light (cosmic music) in the universe caused creation to take place over eons. Stars were born in the previous cosmic era. In due time, Mago was born together with the Earth (the Stronghold of Mago) with her moons. Her (self-)emergence marks the beginning of earthly history. Mago listened to and acted in tune with the cyclic movement of the cosmic music. In further due time, S/HE bore two daughters, Gunghui (Goddess Gung) and Sohui (Goddess So) parthenogenetically. This Primordial Triad laid the foundation for the earthly environment for all species. Mago, assisted by HER two daughters, orchestrated the terrestrial plan to bring acoustic balance in harmony with the cosmic music/sound/vibration. S/HE delegated HER descendants to cultivate and manage the sonic equilibrium of the Earth.

Like the word “Mago,” “Magoism” manifests as One Culture AND many cultures of the world that venerate the Great Goddess. In a broad sense, “Magoism” refers to the entirety of gynocentric civilization. It is pre- and meta-patriarchal. It is the Source of patriarchal cultures. In a narrow sense, it indicates the one that has shaped East Asian histories and cultures. The very naming of “Magoism” restores the nature of East Asian civilization as gynocentric, contrary to the standard Sinocentric [read ethnocentrically patriarchal] view that ancient China is the origin of East Asian civilizations. Magoism is the golden measurement.

Mago’s manifestations, varying from nature-shaper to Daoist Goddess, are so multivalent that they appear to be unrelated to one another. As such, it is not surprising to note that scholars including Daoist scholars and Korean folklorists have respectively focused on some particular manifestations in China and Korea. They either treat Mago as a Daoist Goddess of unknown origin or conclude that the Mago known in Korea is not the same Goddess known in China.

The transnational occurrence of the term “Mago (麻姑)”  should not be dismissed or treated as anomalous. Likewise, HER seemingly heterogeneous manifestations should not be taken selectively for scholarly investigation. In understanding the multivalent and transnational manifestations of the Great Goddess, we need a new theological lens of the Great Goddess, which I would call Magoist theism. Water is a good metaphor for the Great Goddess. Rivers and lakes cannot be said to be the nature of water by taking into consideration only bodies of water. Magoist theism is NOT compatible with the binary scheme of monotheism or polytheism. The Great Goddess is not measured by the number of Goddessheads. S/HE is NOT either One or many but One AND many. S/HE is like water in bodies of water. Magoist theism is even different from henotheism, which refers to the worship of a particular deity among multiple deities. The Great Goddess (Mago) is inseparable from HER other multiple manifestations (Magos). She is the All. She is the whole AND the particular at once. By extension, the term “Mago” is sometimes used to mean Magoism, the matrix of the Great Goddess. When “Mago” is invoked by poets or devotees with a nostalgic emotion, it means the gynocentric bygone antiquity or Old Magoism, which is equated with the paradisiacal home/womb/tomb of All. The term “Mago” also means “the Reign of Mago,” the gynocentric mytho-history of grand peace.

The provenance of Mago is as old as the concept of mother. “Ma” in “Mago” refers to both “mother” and “the Goddess.” It is difficult to date the earliest evidence of Magoism simply because we do not have written records of pre-patriarchal times. HER supreme nature is written out of history.

Above is from Chapter One of Dr. Hwang’s book, The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2015), pp. 9-13. (free downloads available during the special events of the Mago Work).

“As People of Mago, I have no country. As People of Mago, I want no country. My Country is the Whole World.”

Return to Mago, Magoism the Way of S/HE was created in an effort promote connection among people of differences including gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, economic status, and/or sexuality and duly officiated in August, 15 2012.

We are scholars, researchers, teachers, artists, activists, seekers, and/or faith practioners from all centers of the world.

“Mago” is both a common noun meaning “the Great Goddess” and a specific goddess who is the progenitor, nature-shaper, and ultimate sovereign known to East Asians especially Koreans since the time immemorial. Mago is the Progenitor, Creator, and Sovereign, according to Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang’s research.

“Why did I create Return to Mago (Magoism, the Way of S/HE)? It is my way of moving onward and forward to Life and Creativity as someone who is not coming from the dominant gender, race, class, and culture. Alas, we are positioned against one another in patriarchy! Are we going to just accept or sink down into silence? Mago is Here for us to return to the Female Origin of civilization and unity not only among peoples but also among species and cosmic entities!”

Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, co-creator of The Mago Work.