December 14, 2021December 13, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Mago Almanac Planner Year 5 Excerpt 3) 13 Month 28 Day Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This and its sequences are a newly added portion in the Mago Almanac Planner Year 5, equivalent to the Gregorian Year 2022. Because the Budoji did not explain Read More …

December 13, 2021December 13, 2021 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Prose) Mary’s Return by Sara Wright

Yesterday I learned (NPR) that a third of the oak trees in this country will be dead within 50 years; I also read that our sugary harbingers of spring, the Read More …

December 12, 2021November 25, 2021 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Meet Mago Contributor) Claire Dorey

Goldsmiths: BA Hons Fine Art. Main Employment: Journalist. Stylist and Creative, UK and overseas. Artist: Most notable group show; Pillow Talk at the Tate Modern. Included in the Pillow Talk Read More …

November 29, 2021February 10, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Special Post 5) Multi-Linguistic Resemblances of “Mago” by Mago Circle Members

[This is a summary of discussion that took place around 2014 in The Mago Circle, Facebook group.] Marka Zenmyo: Lash goes into the roots of magic, magi, and majestic, which is Read More …

November 12, 2021November 13, 2021 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

What the Star Mothers Would Have You Know by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Should it be a spectacular ring of supernovas all exploding in massive, colorful and festive fireworks close enough for all on Earth to see? A black hole a million times Read More …

November 11, 2021November 3, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Essay 4) Goddesses in Hinduism: “All the Mothers are One” by Mary Ann Beavis, Ph.D.

[Editor’s Note: This essay is from the same title, “Goddesses in Hinduism: “All the Mothers are One”‘ by Mary Ann Beavis with Scott Daniel Dunbar included in Goddesses in Myth, Read More …

November 9, 2021November 2, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem) Goodbye D.C. by Francesca Tronetti

The nation’s capital stands empty today No throngs of politicians, aides, and lobbyists Fill the streets with cars, buses, and taxis No snarled traffic fills the freeways Would that image Read More …

November 8, 2021November 8, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Sandborn River Song by Sara Wright

One day while photographing I grew leaves. How can it be that I slip skins with such ease? Light breezes twirled my petticoat, and a chartreuse sister drifted orange Read More …

November 5, 2021November 6, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Poem) What Queenie says about Mahādevī by Susan Hawthorne, Ph.D.

Mahadevi elephant mother smelt another being on earth she said to her friends it’s time for us to walk the world and so they set off with Mahadevi in the Read More …

November 4, 2021November 2, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Mago Almanac Planner Year 5 Excerpt 2) 13 Month 28 Day Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This and its sequences are a newly added portion in the Mago Almanac Planner Year 5, equivalent to the Gregorian Year 2022. Because the Budoji did not explain Read More …

November 3, 2021November 2, 2021 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Video 6) Genevieve Vaughan & Chiquie Estrada in Maternal Gift Economy: Breaking Through by Genevieve Vaughan

[Words of Invitation] Drawing on Maternal Gift Economy theory, the suppressed wisdom of women, and the traditions and ethics of Indigenous societies, this integrated programme of presentations sponsored by the Read More …

November 2, 2021January 25, 2022 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Music 1) Singing to Hathor: Spiritual and Historical Reclamations Through the Muses of Memory, History, and Music by Jen Taylor

“Sing now muses, show me the way, to a spring that runs clear on the darkest of days. There was a time, cities had no walls. There was a time Read More …

November 2, 2021May 25, 2023 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Call for Contributions) Commemorating our ancestor feminists: Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898), Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994), Mary Daly (1928-2010), Audre Lorde (1934-1992), Paula Gunn Allen (1939-2008), Gloria Anzaldua (1942-2004), and Your Hera

What is feminism to you? Do you have a feminist ancestor? How do you see your feminist ancestor in your life and work today? And what does it mean that Read More …

(Book Excerpt 2) Pagan, Goddess, Mother by Nane Jordan, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note: This is the Introduction chapter from: Pagan, Goddess, Mother, edited by Nané Jordan and Chandra Alexandre, Demeter Press, 2021, pp. 11-28, https://demeterpress.org/books/pagan-goddess-mother/.] Introduction (continued) Pagan and Goddess: Unruly Terms Pagan and Goddess spiritual movements and practices are multifaceted and diverse—it is not our intention to define and debate these various theologies, thealogies, philosophies, and traditions. Rather, this anthology adds to the literature of these fields from mother- and family-centred perspectives, offering insight to the study of women and others as mothers in religion and spirituality. We have chosen to capitalize the terms “Pagan” and “Goddess” to keep these two terms in view throughout our introduction. But this need not be so—anthology authors may or may not capitalize these terms in the chapters that follow. The mother-authors of this anthology are each unique in their voices and visions, reflecting how Pagan and Goddess pathways allow for differing expressions and multiple contexts. Throughout Western, European-based history, the terms “Pagan” and “Goddess” were deemed derogatory titles. The term “Pagan” was historically used in a negative sense to define and denigrate non- Christians as being heathens or irreligious (Ball 423). This was especially so as Christianity came to dominate all forms of faith and spirituality in the European historical context and extended into European histories of global colonization. In its contemporary, Western-based spiritual use, the term “Pagan” has been reclaimed to honour the beliefs and practices of pre-Christians, of sacred Indigenous and ancestral spiritual traditions, and regarding contemporary polytheistic (multiple divinities), Earth- based, and pantheistic or panentheistic (divinity as pervading nature and the cosmos) views. In this, nature, all life forms, and the land itself, including elements of water, fire, earth, and air, are regarded as sacred, alive, and full of spirit, with the human body being equally sacred. From the term Pagan comes the “neo-Pagan” movement, which references the modern revival of Pagan beliefs, deities, festivals, and celebrations (Adler). From its Latin root, Pagan means a “country dweller,” as in peoples who lived closely with the Earth and the cycles of nature. As defined in this volume by Pagan theologian Christine Hoff Kraemer, Western spiritual movements in contemporary Pagansim include “Wicca, Druidry, Heathenry, and various reconstructionist Polytheisms” (this volume). Further terms for Pagan spirituality include “the Craft” or the “Old Religion,” which refer to the aforementioned pre-Christian religious identification and involve valuing women’s wisdom and female spiritual power. Another unruly term related to Pagan and Goddess spirituality is the infamous “witch.” As noted by women’s history scholar Max Dashu, “Modern Western culture is saturated with demonized concepts of the witch, while lacking knowledge about authentic cultural practices of its own past” (59). Dashu points to lineages of the term “witch” across proto Indo-European languages as related to words for “wise woman,” “wisdom,” and “seer, prophet, or sage” (60). The witch as an archetypal female figure—with her European history of vilification through the mass persecution of women in the historical “Burning Times” (Reid), turned modern, magical icon of North Amer-ican movie and TV fame (e.g., Harry Potter and Maleficent)—is a powerful, galvanizing term. Some Pagan and Goddess practitioners have reclaimed the word “witch” to identify themselves. For witches, this statement reclaims and empowers women’s social status, self-authorization, and bodied, sexual life-giving capacities beyond patriarchal control. Contemporary witches identify across Pagan and Goddess spiritual pathways—seeking to break through historical and contemporary misogyny and to offer liberation through a spiritual revival of female/feminine power and magic for modern life. The practice of magic is active in many traditions as a tool for nature-, self-, community-, and spirit-based connections, with potential for trans- formation, healing, and inner growth through rituals and celebrations. Paganism writ-large encompasses many peace-loving ways of life. Most Pagan communities value individual autonomy and self- actualization. Some operate under a hierarchical order with progressive levels of leadership, whereas others engage community consensus. Furthermore, some Pagans chose to practice alone. Deities worshipped or honoured in Paganism come from wide-ranging sources—including ancient Greek, Egyptian, British, Irish, African, East Asian, and Middle Eastern traditions—and may reflect male, female, or gender fluid forms. Some Pagans honour sacred wisdoms, such as the Tarot or Kabbala, whereas others access pantheons and deities from folklore and myth in an extensive array that can be both personal and varied (Adler). Traversing this spiritual terrain, “Goddess” is an equally contested term. Being an “other” to male-centred divinity, this word claims the power of female/feminine divinity in singular and multiple forms. Whereas some people may speak of and honour “the Goddess” as a singular Supreme Being, others worship Goddesses from many cultures and/or in many forms. Feminist theologian Mary Daly pointed out over forty years ago in, Beyond God the Father, that patriarchal religions revering a male-only, father God tend to legitimize hierarchical, power- over, and oppressive relations in daily social life that place male above female and father over mother. Countering these patriarchal symbolic, physical, and psychological effects, Goddess spirituality in its contemp- orary North American feminist revival seeks to empower and validate women’s lives, bodies, and spiritual experiences (Christ). Goddess as a spiritual “She,” thus reflects, through varied female and feminine forms, the experiences of women’s lives through a diversity of expressions and traditions. Reclaiming Goddess(es) in singular and multiple forms has been a central practice of the women’s spirituality movement in North America. Women’s spirituality as a social movement is conjunct with feminist politics. Although it includes secular concerns for women’s rights and critiques of patriarchy towards women’s empowerment, women’s spirit- uality goes further to reimagine religion, culture, society, personhood, and community from spiritualized, postpatriarchal views (Spretnak). Women’s, feminist, and Goddess spirituality struggled to give birth to and liberate the very notion of Goddess. Through such spiritual, cultural, political, and bodied liberations—often anathema to the views and practices of organized religion—visions and practices of female-centred spirituality have emerged through contemporary practices. These traditions are forwarded and embodied by American women’s spirituality leaders, such as Elinor Gadon, Luisah Teish, Zsuzsanna Budapest, Vicki Noble, and Judy Grahn. As editors, we …
(Art Essay) Why Are We Drawn to the Black Madonna by Judith Shaw

Once the opportunity came my way to spend two weeks with my sister in Paris, I knew I had to visit the Black Madonnas at Chartres. I had been to Chartres many years ago, before I knew about the Black Madonnas scattered throughout Europe. I felt the power of the site at that time, but had little understanding of where that power came from. History of the Black Madonna Isis The indigenous goddess worship of Europe, was influenced by Phoenician traders who introduced statues of dark skinned Middle Eastern goddesses such as Isis, Inanna, and others to the European continent from 1550BC to about 300BCE. The worship of these goddesses continued with The Roman invasion of Gaul (France) and other parts of Europe. Once Christianity took hold in Europe, churches were built on top of sacred pagan sites. But old ways die hard; many of these dark skinned goddesses were incorporated into the newly built Christian churches. Today there are more than 500 known Black Madonna statues and paintings throughout the world, the majority in France. The Black Madonna of Czestochowa But why is She depicted as dark? Certainly there has been the eastern influence of Isis and other Eastern Goddesses. But how better to depict such an ancient Earth Goddess now transformed into the Madonna, than as dark, an embodiment of her chthonic powers of regeneration. Some also believe that Her darkness can been seen as a metaphor; the Earth Goddess “veiled” behind the persona of Mary. Her darkness could have represented the deep, dark mystery of knowing. Virgin of Montserrat Whatever the source of her darkness, there was a mini- renaissance during the 12th century which included a resurgence of devotion to the Divine Feminine. Humanity could not and would not live without their mother. Chartres, with its wealth of Sacred Feminine imagery and its school, cultivated with Platonic spirituality, was one of the most popular pilgrimage sites of that time. Chartres Cathedral, an hour by train from Paris, is home to two Black Madonnas. The name Chartres has its origins from Carnutes, a Druid tribe that lived in the area. Roman records reveal that all the druids of Gaul gathered yearly in an oak grove with a well, the sacred center of the Carnutes. Many believe that the location of that gathering was deep beneath the present day cathedral in a cave, the ancient realm of the Mother Goddess throughout the world. This same oak grove would become the future site of Chartres cathedral. Our Visit to Chartres On a cold windy day in June my sister and I entered the Cathedral, immediately passing into a heightened consciousness of peace and love. We were enveloped by the darkness which was brightened by jewel-toned light streaming through the many stained-glass windows. I was first enraptured by the huge rose window on the west wall, formed by a series of almond shaped petals, reflecting the birthing capacity of female anatomy. We continued deeper into the church, arriving at the labyrinth, whose origin can be traced back to the Goddess worshipping society of the Minoans. Unfortunately it was covered with chairs. Apparently Friday is the only day one can actually walk the labyrinth; we were there on a Monday. Nonetheless, we walked what we could and then continued further into the cathedral. Arriving at the middle we saw two more huge, rose windows on the North and the South walls. Both of these rose windows centered around the Madonna, one of whom is dark. We were moving slowly, taking in the power of the Goddess all around us. Her symbols of roses, bees, and wheat are found in abundance within the windows. We felt Her holy presence, speaking in whispers of the beauty surrounding us and within us. Due to renovation of the main altar area, we were unable to locate the stained glass window of the Madonna with a red robe and vibrant blue background, reputed to be the most beautiful stained glass window in the world. Plus I was confused as to where to find the Black Madonna statue. Rounding a corner of the closed area in search of a peep hole through to the Madonna stained glass, I found myself in front of the Black Madonna of the Pillar. I felt a power, a power beyond time, the power of the unmanifest streaming from Her to me. My sister and I sat entranced by Her for a very long time. I felt the ancient power of the Mother Goddess flowing from the earth through Her and emanating out to all with eyes to see. I felt that we were part of an ancient tradition, honoring Mother Earth, honoring life. I felt a strong sense of peace sitting in Her presence, the peace of love, of nurturing, of the great mystery, of the One Source from which we come. Only the shortness of my time at Chartres pulled me away from Her. Cathedral Timeline The first cathedral at Chartres was built on this ancient site of Earth Goddess worship, probably in the 4th century by the Romans. Over the centuries the cathedral grew, was destroyed by war and grew again. In 1020 a Romanesque cathedral was built there, and then was subsequently destroyed by fire in 1194. The gothic cathedral as we know it today, was rebuilt over the remains of the previous buildings, completed in 1250 CE. The previous structure is now know as the crypt, a gigantic subterranean church, today cast in total darkness Notre Dame Sous Terre In the crypt one finds Notre Dame Sous Terre (Our Lady Underground). She is a replica of an old Black Madonna, destroyed during the French Revolution. But this destroyed statue was itself an 11th or 12th century replica of an earlier reference to a small black Goddess of pagan, Druidic origin. What has happened to this staute is not known. One can only visit the crypt with a guided tour. So the freedom to sit with Notre Dame Sous …
(Essay 3) Magos, Muses, and Matrikas: The Magoist Cosmogony and Gynocentric Unity by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s note: This paper is published in the journal, the Gukhak yeonguronchong 국학연구론총 (Issue 14, December 2014). Here it will appear in five sequels including the response by Dr. Glenys Livingstone. Numbers of end notes differ from the original paper.] (Part 3) Cross-cultural Affinity in Magoist Cosmic Music and Greek Muses With that said, a cross-cultural compassion is aptly available. Foremost, the gynocentric notion of Cosmic Music (Pal-ryeo or Yul-ryeo) in the Magoist cosmogony is strongly evocative of the Muses of the Greco-Roman world. They seem so close in manifestation and meaning that one cannot but infer that they possibly originate from the same source in a remote past. Indeed, juxtaposing them are mutually illuminating. On the one hand, the Magoist cosmogony, being a systemic and comprehensive account backed by the genealogy of Mago, offers a mythological background for the tradition of Muses. On the other hand, the Muse tradition, widely recognized and explored by scholars, proffers an exegetical explanation of Magoist Cosmic Music. The etymological connection between “muse” and “music” in European languages nicely sits with the notion of Cosmic Music in the Magoist cosmogony.[1] Also, the stem “mu” is similar to “ma” used in Mago and many other epithets of the world’s Goddesses. In fact, the word Eomma (엄마, Mother) in Korean has dialectical variations that include “Eomui (어무이)” and “Eomi (어미).”
In the Realm of the Goddess Clutha by Jude Lally

A slow ritual walk on the banks of the River Clyde; facing into a bitterly cold west wind. Gathering grey clouds sweep in from the Atlantic, dropping their rain on the slopes of western mountains. Cycles of life and death. As I walked one foot after the other, I thought of ancient Mesolithic feet on the shore. Peoples foraging and trapping birds; picking up shellfish and then returning back to little skin covered coracle canoes to head back to camp. Layers of ancient mud turned to stone. Now bedrock, this stone was once sand on an ancient beach, when this land was in a very different longitude and latitude. Lichen encrusted weathered sandstone Clutha is the Goddess of the River Clyde, the essence of the river, she’s within the clouds above, swimming in the waters that leave Loch Lomond, racing down the River Leven pouring into the River Clyde. Gratitude for her waters, and to feel the warmth, only if momentarily, of the low winter sun. (Meet Mago Contributor) Jude Lally
(Commemorating Feminist Ancestors) Judy Chicago, the Cosmic Weavers and a Fragmented Past by Claire Dorey

Fallopian Florals by Claire Dorey Judy Chicago – American Feminist Artist, renowned for exploring the role of women in history. Born 1939. A naked woman crouches in the Californian desert, head bowed towards the Earth. Her body is painted in Evergreen, and she sits, as serene as a Goddess, in the center of a circle of fireworks. Plumes of coral smoke billow across the landscape. Perhaps the body paint represents Woad, the anesthetic plant dye that Warrior Queen Boudicca covered her skin with, before she went into battle, naked. The photograph, Immolation, 1972, was exhibited at Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance, Act 2, at the La Warr Pavillion Art Gallery, 2019 and that is where I saw it. This image haunts and touches me in ways I cannot explain. It makes me feel as if part of myself that I had rejected or stepped away from, left to fend for itself like an orphan in some far-off galaxy, has found its way back home to me. The image is part of Chicago’s Atmospheres, a series of pyrotechnic performances that feminize the landscape, whilst rejecting a male- centric art world. At the De La Warr Pavillion there was a fantastic, kaleidoscopic collection of Fanzines. Flicking through the pages of these beloved 80’s protest comics I was transported back to the Fibre Arts course I had enrolled myself on, decades before. I felt trapped on that course, stuck with the women, the spinners, and weavers, when I wanted to be like the male painters across the hall. I wanted to be part of that male-centric world. I wanted to wear a man’s suit; have men’s opinions and rant about Marxism like they did! I honestly thought that being like a man was the route to empowerment! The Eighties were a difficult time for a flowerchild like me. It was a time of efficiency; the Personal Organizer; self-importance; the height of the cult of the individual, the era of the Yuppy. Women took on the world as if we were men. We tried to prove we could have it all, whilst defending ourselves against outrageous and toxic beliefs such as why wearing a short skirt meant you were asking to be raped. I struggled with 80’s fashion, struggled to hide my curves beneath horrible suits with oversized shoulder pads. I hated geometric tailoring and primary colours and I did not want to be ‘pale and interesting’! Even now I seek out the nourishment of sunlight and prefer to waft and flow in layers of chiffon. When I was young, I rejected myself in the same way as I rejected the images on Judy Chicago’s dinner plates, in her iconic artwork The Dinner Party, completed in 1979. In reality these rippling feminine images were more ‘me’ than anything I had ever seen before: billowing pattern; Earth and jewel tones; wafty, petal edges curling round blossoming vulvas, ripe with seeds. Chicago’s dinner plates imagine the vulva of the Primordial Goddess, Ishtar, Kali, Hypatia, Emily Dickinson and the Fertile Goddess (a plate that recognizes the work of Marija Gimbutas). In total, place settings for thirty-nine potent women and Goddesses from history invite the viewer to gorge on their knowledge, as the divine portal opens like a flower bud. Embroidered table runners and woven tapestry Entry Banners make the installation feel like a temple. At college I struggled with belonging to ‘the collective’ and with the geo-politics of radical feminism. In denial, resistant, I passed through the phases of my life as if I were shedding a veil that fell to the ground each time I stepped forward. I left a part of myself behind as each layer peeled away. “What am I going to do with this kind of knowledge?” was a question that really concerned me. Recently I came full circle and returning to my radical feminist past, I curated a trilogy of group art exhibitions about recognizing abuse, healing, and empowerment. We all need to heal from surviving the dominator culture, that is patriarchy. I want women to see themselves as their own heroes! Doing this work I felt that finally I was finding myself! I learnt from the Goddess that shedding layers, like a serpent, is a necessary journey, part of self-growth. In the past the voices of the Second Wave of Feminism spoke to me and opened the way for the Goddesses of the Primordial Wave of Feminism to impart their wisdom. The cosmic weavers wove history into cloth in the form of language and pattern. They were the powerful spinners of destiny, weaving the entire universe, cutting the cord of human attachment. The more I learnt about the cosmic weavers the more I recognized the value of my education, and I began to see why Fibre Art challenged patriarchy, stitch by stitch! I completely understand why Chicago sought to feminize the landscape. I interpret Atmospheres as being an early warning for the climate crisis we are facing now, as the expansionism, imperialism, exploitation, colonization, violence and ownership of patriarchy pushes Mother Nature and Gaia to breaking point. As we desperately ‘unweave’ our patriarchal conditioning it becomes obvious that the landscape needs feminizing. Years ago, Judy Chicago’s art introduced me to the brooding power of the Goddess! Now I long for the time when the Primordial, Creator and Fertility Goddesses rise once more, and Earth balance is restored. You can try to silence and cut back the Feminine but, like Wild Nature, She will grow back stronger! (Meet Mago Contributor) Claire Dorey https://www.magoism.net/2021/12/meet-mago-contributor-claire-dorey/ References: Elizabeth A Sackler Centre for Feminist Art. Brooklyn Museum. Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party. https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings Judy Chicago. Atmospheres/Fireworks/Dry Ice. Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance, Act 2. De La Warr Pavilion. https://www.dlwp.com/exhibition/still-i-rise/
(Meet Mago Contributor) Sara Wright

Sara is a Jungian therapist, a naturalist, ethologist, ritual artist, animist, and a writer who lives in the western mountains of Maine and writes about animals and plants in Nature, and the relationship between Nature and herself. She has Native American Roots. I am a naturalist and a writer; I live in a little log cabin in the woods by a brook with two small dogs and two doves. I write stories about the animals and plants that live here on my property in the western mountains of Maine and publish them regularly in my nature column in the local paper. I am also an independent black bear researcher who uses “trust based” research to study the bears that have visited me here. Trust based research/fieldwork allows me to apprentice myself to Nature through any of its individuals if they are willing. I am the student; each species is the teacher. I have Native American roots, which may or may not be why I have dedicated my life to speaking out on behalf of the slaughtered trees, dying plants and disappearing animals. This is the only work that matters to me. “Over the Edge and Beyond: Journal of a Naturalist”sarawrightnature.wordpress.com
(Essay 3) Mago Halmi (Great Mother) Shapes Topographies with Her Skirt: An Introductory Discussion by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[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.] Namu Wiki image The Skirt Motif and the Principle of Causal Becoming The skirt metaphor conveys that all come through Mago Halmi’s womb. If we listen carefully to these stories, the skirt (치마) is often described as “skirt wrap (치마폭)” and “skirt hem (치마자락).” Both chima-pok (skirt warp) and chima-jarak (skirt hem) indicate what is under and inside the skirt. The expression, “a pants crotch (bajigarangi 바지가랑이),” and “underpants (gojaeingi 고쟁이)” [1] are similar analogies for the womb. Occasionally, an apron and a dishcloth are used in place of the skirt. Considering the oral nature of folklore, which favors a euphemistic expression, I hold that Mago Halmi’s skirt indicates the cosmic womb.[2] Mago Halmi’s skirt, a medium to carry topographies, binds the Creatrix and HER women representatives. The skirt, primarily associated with women but worn by both women and men, stands as a symbol of the Mother Divine. As implied in the skirt, Mago, the Creatrix, is inclusive and embraces ALL. This is not to say that women are exclusively divine. Women are not superior to all else. Men are as divine as women as Seonins (仙人Magoist Luminaries, Magi).[3] In fact, ALL is sacred as the progeny of the Creatrix. Women as potential mothers are built to represent the sovereignty of the Creatrix. Women are called on to self-transcendence. The fact that women are built to represent the sovereignty of the Creatrix accompanies a moral mandate upon the chosen women (Mudang Leaders) to cultivate in themselves the quality of self-transcendence to the Cause. The validation of the female divine is a soteriological scheme originated from the Magoists of Old Korea (pre- and proto-Chinese Koreans/East Asians). Note the recurring narrative pattern that Mago Halmi brings a mountain or a rock from another place in her skirt and drops or leaves it in the current place due to an interruption. In fact, only a small number of tales describe that Mago Halmi shapes a local topography without facing some conditions (Tales A S-8, B S-18, H S-83). In many stories, she runs into a condition, which makes her (re-)determine the course of her creation. [Table 1] shows how the 21-sample tales describe her formation of local topographies. Noticeable is this repetitive narrative pattern; “Mago Halmi was bringing A (a mountain or rocks) in her skirt from elsewhere for the construction of B. But she dropped A in the current place upon hearing that B was completed” (Tales C S-42, D S-53, E S-70). She is affected by the ever-changing reality. Sometimes rocks or lumps of soil leaked from her skirt or apron to form local topographies (Tales B S-11, F S-73, G S-79). Other times, Mago Halmi got so frustrated that she struck the soil with her fist to create islands or mountains (Tale B S-25, G S-81). Or she got startled and dropped the treasure that she was carrying in her skirt, which formed a goldmine island (Tale C S-44). Or the load in her skirt got too heavy for her to carry so that she left it there (Tale B S-27). Or she ran into another errand, so she left it there (Tale I S-87). These stories are playful, creative, and peaceful in nature. There is no hierarchical or oppressive dynamic implied. Below the seemingly casual surface, however, there lies the message that Mago, the Creatrix, is susceptible to the process of her own action, which is affected by all others. Her creation is situational and determined through the unfolding process according to the principle of causal becoming.[4] All are caused by all else. All exist in the process of becoming. These stories convey that all are becoming their own shapes. Mago, the Creatrix, is no exception. The Creatrix is affected by ALL, her progeny. The landmasses that she brought are transitory, not permanent. Mago Halmi is in the process of becoming in and with ALL. None of these stories narrate that she created the topographies from nothing or by magic. The very motif of the skirt is there to indicate a series of actions that she takes: She puts a landmass in her skirt, she carries it, and she brings it to the current location. While she is doing the action, she is conditioned to cope with unfolding possibilities. As her skirt gets wet, she dries it. As the mountain that she is building crumbles down, she strikes it with her hand. Her emotions are involved too. She gets mad or frustrated, which prompts her to react and respond. The rocks that she carries in her skirt get too heavy. Lumps of soil get leaked. The seawater that she walks through gets into her skirt, and so on and so forth. These narrative props convey that Mago Halmi has shaped local topographies as a response to open possibilities. They are recycled and reshaped. Landmasses move from one place to another in the fullness of time. All are interconnected. I posit that the skirt motif narrative apparatus is employed to convey the process of becoming for ALL, which is the core message of the Magoist Cosmogony. The Magoist Cosmogony refers to a systematic account on the ever-happening reality of WE/HERE/NOW recounted in the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City). Mago Halmi cosmogonic folktales unravel the Magoist Cosmogony in the language of villagers. S/HE is HERE and NOW in ALL. Immanent in WE, the cosmic clan of the Creatrix, S/HE governs the Matriverse in tune with the Cosmic Music, the cosmogenic force of the Matriverse. TopographiesThe DivineThe course of Mago Halmi’s cosmogonic actionsA S-4Rocks, Hantan River, Songdae Lake, Mt. Oseong, Mt. GeumhakMagui HalmeomAs she was ascending to the sky with huge jackstones in her skirt, she dropped them near Mt. Geumhak.A S-8Mago Altar, Peak Spirit on Mt. Taeback (Great Resplendence)Mago HalmiThe peak of Mt. Taebaek was not high …
Bewitching Tree by Susun Weed

On a walk in the Catskill mountains of upstate New York, where I live, I came upon a huge old oak tree. I immediately wanted to be elf-sized — or owl-sized – so I could play in the tree. The hole is about a meter across. Dead trees are the life of the forest. They provide food and shelter for an amazing array of animals. And this dead tree is filled with joy. The roots below belong to massive cedar trees growing along the edge of in the Guadalupe River in western Texas. The heron lives with me, visiting my quarry pond daily in the summer months. The mitochondria sweep along, highlighting a the eye of an enigmatic stone being. Are they sweeping me along with them? Or am I sliding down? Come play. https://www.magoism.net/2024/12/meet-mago-contributor-susun-weed/
(Photo Essay 1) Goddess Pilgrimage 2018 by Kaalii Cargill

[Author’s Note: In May 2018, I set out on a 3 month pilgrimage to Greece, Turkey and the prehistory sites of “Old Europe”. Once again my main focus was “visiting with the Grandmothers”.] GREECE Ancient Greece is even more ancient than many people realise – prehistory settlements date from the 7th Millennium BCE. The Minoan people (2700 – 1420 BCE) created art, music, symbolic images and, most significantly for the current era, lived without signs of warfare. Many of the symbolic images continued into the Mycenaean era (1600 – 1100 BCE), with Mother Goddess represented using the same symbols as found in Anatolian settlements such as Çatalhöyük (7500-5700 BCE). The iconic image from Crete and Mycenae of of a standing figure with raised arms is strikingly similar to a figure found in a cave at Geissenklösterle, Germany, dating to 35,000-32,000 BCE. Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill

(Special Post) Why I choose to be an RTM contributor by Glenys Livingstone

The contribution of my writing to Return to Mago E-Magazine has evolved since it began four years ago, into a deeply mutually enhancing relationship. The time and effort taken to write carefully and in alignment with my heartfelt passions and insights, and then to be able to publish to a receptive audience, has always been rewarding – for me personally and apparently for many who received it.
(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.
(Special Post Isis 2) Why the Color of Isis Matters by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s note: The discussion took place in Mago Circle during the month of July, 2013. Our heartfelt thanks go to the members who participated in this discussion with openness and courage.] Part 2 The Color Talk in Goddesses Kahena Dorothea Athena was also whitened which is sad. However the statues were worshiped by many women to whom they brought comfort. And their origins were later remembered by the abundance of Black Virgins that became important in Italy and other parts of Europe. I don’t see Dark Goddesses as shadows but as having depths of Creativity and Knowledge. My main Goddess is Kirke and the bast relief I have of her is a chocolate brown. Diane Horton The worship of Isis broadened from Egypt to all the countries bordering the Mediterranean, as well as the Middle East and the isles called now the British Isles. She and Her worship were virtually everywhere in the westernly known world of the time! She IS the Goddess of 10,000 Names! And as such she was adapted to each culture’s vision of Her. She was the basis of all the” Black Madonnas”. I do not think of this as Isis/Auset representing the “dark” Goddess as something somehow bad or to be dealt with, but rather that ancient darkness represents infinite potential, eternal creativity/fertility, the beginning and ending of all things, and the always deepening knowledge of magick. Max Dashu However, there is a politics of representation that we all need to be aware of, that pushes original African iconography down and away, and fronts Europeanized images. There is no possibility of “colorblindness” in such a system; a restoration of the original must be actively striven toward. This is incumbent on all of us not of (recent) African descent. Otherwise we perpetuate the injurious status quo, instead of overturning it. Harita Meenee I agree with those who say that race is largely a social construct. Its roots seem to lie in colonialism and the slave trade. I would also like to add that racism is used to oppress people of different nationalities and colors. Ηere in Greece the IMF neo-liberal policies are destroying our economy (and lives); they go hand in hand with a vicious racist campaign against immigrants, along with the rise of a neo-Nazi party. This is part of an effort to redirect people’s anger away from the government and bankers, towards those who are poor and foreign and often have a different color or religion. Fortunately, many grassroots activists are responding to this by building a strong anti-racist, antifascist movement. You can see our Facebook page below. It’s in Greek but the photos are quite revealing. If anyone is interested in learning more about the situation here, please message me and I’ll try to find some articles in English for you. https://www.facebook.co/19JanuaryATHENSvsFASCISM?fref=ts 19 Γεναρη – ΑΘΗΝΑ ΠΟΛΗ Αντιφασιστικη Μπροστά στη κλιμάκωση της φασιστικής απειλής και της ρατσιστικής βίας, στη εμφάν…See More Naa Ayele Kumari Let me put this in the context of something you might understand. This is a goddess group that honors the feminine and the power it represents. People in this group understand the oppression and misrepresentation of women. We understand the implications of misogynistic patriarchal thinking. We understand the implications of stealing the information, rites, and traditions from goddess centered cultures and rephrasing them into male dominated themes… especially those that then went on to oppress women today. This is the same thing that has happened as it related to race and our cultures. It infuriates us when a man may say… why do we have to focus on the goddess? Let us just accept that we are all human and no special consideration should be given to anyone because of their gender. Or, this is just a distraction or social construct and it really doesn’t matter. We understand the blatant disregard and ignorance of those statements. Yet, the same is true for race and people of other races. Your attitude and casual disregard perpetuates a lie that you are comfortable with and don’t wish to move from that comfort zone. It means you don’t have to be accountable for the injustices or oppression it continues to perpetuate in the larger culture toward people who do not look like you. As far as I am concerned, I truly believe that the dark goddess for many with white skin IS their shadow… It is the part of themselves that they deny and fear. That you may have come from black people may scare you… even when the science proves it. That deep down… you fear what you don’t understand. To even confront it is frightening… something that you would rather ignore and deny… Yet… here we are. Black, Yellow, Red… people.. women… who have been oppressed for thousands of year because of this… and are asking… to be seen in their true likeness… not as you wish them to be… or fear them to be. Naa Ayele Kumari Thank you Max Dashu, I so appreciate your scholarship and dedication to the truth where ever you find it… and Helen Hwang for staying open to it as well. [Someone withdrew the threads.] Rick Williams No, you can’t passively aggressively slither your way out of this, reread your own statements and that last post contradicts most of your ascertains. I can’t believe that you honestly say fire away at you like you’re some sort of martyr and VICTIM of being misunderstood, not at all, I understand you very well. I don’t think you understand yourSELF. That’s the real tragedy. Rick Williams “The Lips of Wisdom are Closed except to the Ears of Understanding.” It is in quotes, and it’s part of Ancient Wisdom, of Tehuti, DJehuti, or Hermes Trimegitus… The Great Scribe of KMT.. they have alot of pretty pictures of him all over KMT(Egypt).. still have no idea what you are saying have the time. Max Dashu Thank you Naa Ayele for taking the time to make the extremely apt analogy of women’s oppression to clarify the politics of race oppression […]

Lammas/Late Summer in PaGaian tradition By Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 5 of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Traditionally the dates for this Seasonal Moment are: Southern Hemisphere – Feb. 1st/2nd Northern Hemisphere – August 1st/2nd however the actual astronomical date varies. See archaeoastronomy.com for the actual moment. Lammas table/altar Lammas, as it is often called[1], is the meridian point of the first dark quarter of the year, between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox; it is after the light phase has peaked and is complete, and as such, I choose it as a special celebration of the Crone/Old One. Within the Celtic tradition, it is the wake of Lugh, the Sun King, and it is the Crone that reaps him. But within earlier Goddess traditions, all the transformations were Hers[2]; and the community reflected on the reality that the Mother aspect of the Goddess, having come to fruition, from Lammas on would enter the Earth and slowly become transformed into the Old Woman-Hecate-Cailleach aspect …[3] I dedicate Lammas to the face of the Old One, just as Imbolc, its polar opposite on the Wheel in Old European tradition, is dedicated to the Virgin/Maiden face. The Old One, the Dark and Shining One, has been much maligned, so to celebrate Her can be more of a challenge in our present cultural context. Lammas may be an opportunity to re-aquaint ourselves with the Crone in her purity, to fall in love with Her again. I state the purpose of the seasonal gathering thus: This is the season of the waxing dark. The seed of darkness born at the Summer Solstice now grows … the dark part of the days grows visibly longer. Earth’s tilt is taking us back away from the Sun. This is the time when we celebrate dissolution; each unique self lets go, to the Darkness. It is the time of ending, when the grain, the fruit, is harvested. We meet to remember the Dark Sentience, the All-Nourishing Abyss, She from whom we arise, in whom we are immersed, and to whom we return. This is the time of the Crone, the Wise Dark One, who accepts and receives our harvest, who grinds the grain, who dismantles what has gone before. She is Hecate, Lillith, Medusa, Kali, Erishkagel,Chamunda, Coatlique – Divine Compassionate One, She Who Creates the Space to Be. We meet to accept Her transformative embrace, trusting Her knowing, which is beyond all knowledge. Lammas is the seasonal moment for recognizing that we dissolve into the “night” of the Larger Organism of whom we are part – Gaia. It is She who is immortal, from whom we arise, and into whom we dissolve. This celebration is a development of what was born in the transition of Summer Solstice; the dark sentient Source of Creativity is honoured. The autopoietic space in us recognizes Her, is comforted by Her, desires Her self-transcendence and self-dissolution; Lammas is an opportunity to be with our organism’s love of Larger Self – this Native Place. We have been taught to fear Her, but at this Seasonal Moment we may remember that She is the compassionate One, deeply committed to transformation, which is actually innate to us. Whereas at Imbolc/Early Spring, we shone forth as individual, multiforms of Her; at Lammas, we small individual selves remember that we are She and dissolve back into Her. We are the Promise of Lifeas was affirmed at Imbolc, but we are the Promise of Her- it is not ours to hold. We identify as the sacred Harvest at Lammas; our individual harvest isHer Harvest. We are the process itself – we are Gaia’s Process. Wedo not breathe (though of course we do), we borrow the breath, for a while. It is like a relay: we pick the breath up, create what we do during our time with it, and pass it on. The harvest we reap in our individual lives is important, andit is for us only short term; it belongs to the Cosmos in the long term. Lammas is a time for “making sacred” – as “sacrifice” may be understood; we may “make sacred” ourselves. As Imbolc was a time for dedication, so is Lammas. This is the wisdom of the phase of the Old One. She is the aspect that finds the “yes” to letting go, to loving the Larger Self, beyond all knowledge, and steps into the power of the Abyss; encouraged and nourished by the harvest, She will gradually move into the balance of Autumn Equinox/Mabon, the next Sesaonal Moment on the year’s cycle. References: Durdin-Robertson, Lawrence. The Year of the Goddess.Wellingborough: Aquarian Press, 1990. Gray, Susan. The Woman’s Book of Runes.New York: Barnes and Noble, 1999. Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005. McLean, Adam. The Four Fire Festivals. Edinburgh: Megalithic Research Publications, 1979. Notes: [1]See note 3. [2]Susan Gray, The Woman’s Book of Runes,p. 18. This is also to say that the transformations are within each being, not elsewhere, that is the “sacrifice” is not carried out by another external to the self, as could be and have been interpreted from stories of Lugh or Jesus. [3]Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, The Year of the Goddess, p.143, quoting Adam McLean, Fire Festivals,p.20-22. Another indication of the earlier tradition beneath “Lughnasad” is the other name for it in Ireland of “Tailltean Games”. Taillte was said to be Lugh’s foster-mother, and it was her death that was being commemmorated (Mike Nichols, “The First Harvest”, Pagan Alliance Newsletter NSW Australia). The name “Tailtunasad” has been suggested for this Seasonal Moment, by Cheryl Straffon editor of Goddess Alive! I prefer the name of Lammas, although some think it is a Christian term: however some sources say that Lammas means “feast of the bread” which is how I have understood it, and surely such a feast pre-dates Christianity. It is my opinion that the incoming Christians preferred “Lammas” to “Lughnasad”: the term itself is not Christian in origin. The evolution of all these things is complex, and we may evolve them further with our careful thoughts and experience.
(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 …
(Video) Autumn Equinox/Mabon Poetry by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The Autumnal Equinox occurs each year in the range of March 20-23 in the Southern Hemisphere, and in the range of September 20 -23 in the Northern Hemisphere. Autumn Equinox is a point of sacred balance: it is the point of balance in the dark part of Earth’s annual cycle. Sun is equidistant between North and South as it was/is at Spring Equinox, but in this dark phase of the cycle, the trend is toward increasing dark. Henceforth the dark part of the day will exceed the light part: thus it is a Moment of certain descent … and a sacred Moment for feeling and contemplating the grief and power of loss, for ceremoniously joining personal and collective grief and loss with the larger Self in whom we are. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcZflKLkvP8 Below is the text of the video. It is based on the traditional poetry for PaGaian Autumn Equinox/Mabon ceremony[i]. This is the Moment of the Autumnal Equinox in our Hemisphere – the moment of balance of light and dark in the dark part of the cycle. The light and dark parts of the day in the South and in the North of our planet, are of equal length at this time. We feel for the balance in this moment – Earth as She is poised in relationship with the Sun … breathing in the light, swelling with it, letting our breath go to the dark, staying with it. In our part of Earth, the balance is tipping into the dark. We remember the coolness of it. This is the time when we give thanks for our harvests – all that we have gained. And we remember too the sorrows, losses involved. The story of Old tells us that Persephone, Beloved Daughter, is given the wheat from Her Mother – the Mystery, knowledge of life and death. She receives it graciously. But she sets forth into the darkness – both Mother and Daughter grieve that it is so. Demeter, the Mother, says: “You are offered the wheat in every moment … I let you go as Child, most loved of Mine: you descend to Wisdom, to Sovereignty. You will return as Mother, co-Creator with me. You are the Seed in the Fruit, becoming the Fruit in the Seed. Inner Wisdom guides your path.” We give thanks for our harvests – our lives they are blessed. We are Daughters and Sons of the Mother. Yet we take our Wisdom and all that we have gained, and remember the sorrows – the losses involved. We remember the grief of the Mother, of mothers and lovers everywhere, our grief. Persephone descends. The Beloved One is lost. Persephone goes forth into the darkness to become Queen of that world. She tends the sorrows. The Seed represents our Persephones, who tends the sorrows – we are the Persephones, who may tend the sorrows. We go out into the night with Her and plant our seeds. Persephone blesses us with her fertile promise: “You have waxed into the fullness of life, And waned into darkness; May you be renewed in tranquility and wisdom[ii].” These represent our hope. The Seed of life never fades away. She is always present. Blessed be the Mother of all life. Blessed be the life that comes from Her and returns to Her. We tie red threads on each other: we participate in the Vision of the Seed – of the continuity of Life, that continues beneath the visible. The Mother knowledge grows within us. Our hope is in the Sacred Balance of the Cosmos – the Thread of Life, the Seed that never fades away: it is the Balance of Grief and Joy, the Care that we may feel in our Hearts. NOTES: [i] Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, p. 239-247. [ii] Charlene Spretrnak, Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, p. 116. REFERENCES: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005. Spretnak, Charlene. Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: a Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths. Boston: Beacon Press, 1992/1978.
Beltaine/High Spring within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 8 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Beltaine/High Spring are: Southern Hemisphere – October 31st or 1st November Northern Hemisphere – April 30th (May Eve) or 1st May though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, thus actually a little later in early November for S.H., and early May for N.H., respectively. The twin fires lit in older times on hilltops in Ireland for Beltaine likely represented the two eyes of night and day.[i] With this vision, Goddess as Sun and Moon sees Her Land, and with the power of Her eyes (Sun and Moon) brings forth life and beauty. With the fire eyes, Goddess“reoccupied and saw her whole land…”[ii] The twin fires later came to be used to run cattle between as they headed out to Summer pasture, for the purpose of burning off the bugs and ticks of Winter; the fires may thus be understood to serve a cleansing effect and likely the origins of the tradition of the ceremonial leaping of flames by participants in Beltaine festivities. In PaGaian Cosmology this is poetically expressed as the Flame of Love that burns away the psyche’s “bugs and ticks,” and sees the Beauty present, and calls it forth. The Beltaine flames may be a celebration of Sun entering into the eye, into the whole bodymind: a powerful creative evocation upon which the Dance of Life depends, and as the cleansing power of love and pleasure. PaGaian focus for Beltaine is on the Holy Desire/Passion for life, and it may be accounted for on as many levels as possible … the complete holarchy/dimensions of the erotic power. On an elemental level, there is our desire for Air, Water, the warmth of Fire, and to be of use/service to Earth. There is an essential longing, sometimes nameless, sometimes constellated, experienced physically, that may be recognized as the Desire of the Universe Herself – desiring in us.[iii] We may remember that we are united in this desire with each other, with all who have gone before us, and with all who come after us – all who dance the Dance of Life. Beltaine is a time for dancing and weaving into our lives, our heart’s desires; traditionally the dance is done with participants holding ribbons attached to a pole or tree (a Maypole in the Northern Hemisphere, which may be renamed as a “Novapole” in the Southern Hemisphere), wrapping the pole with the ribbons. This is not simply the heterosexual metaphor as is thought in modern times (thanks largely to Freudian thinking) – it is deeper than that. As Caitlin and John Matthews point out: it is symbolic of a far greater exchange than that between men and women – in fact between the elements themselves. … the maypole, a comparatively recent manifestation in the history of mystery celebrations, can be seen as the linking of heaven and earth, binding those who dance around it … into a pattern of birth, life and death which lay at the heart of the maze of earth mysteries.[iv] Beltaine is a celebration of Desire on all levels – microcosm and on the macrocosm, the exoteric and the esoteric.[v] It brought you forth physically, and it brings forth all that you produce in your life, and it keeps the Cosmos spinning. It is felt in you as Desire, it urges you on. It is the deep awesome dynamic that pervades the Cosmos and brings forth all things – babies, meals, gardens, careers, books and solar systems. We have often been taught, certainly by religious traditions, to pay it as little attention as possible; whereas it should be the cause of much more meditation/attention, tracing it to its deepest place in us. What are our deepest desires beneath our surface desires. What if we enter more deeply into this feeling, this power? It may be a place where the Universe is a deep reciprocity – a receiving and giving that is One. Brian Swimme says, in a whole chapter on “Allurement”: You can examine your own self and your own life with this question: Do I desire to have this pleasure? Or rather, do I desire to become pleasure? The demand to ‘have,’ to possess, always reveals an element of immaturity. To keep, to hold, to control, to own; all of this is fundamentally a delusion, for our own truest desire is to be and to live. We have ripened and matured when we realize that our own deepest desire in erotic attractions is to become pleasure … to enter ecstatically into pleasure so that giving and receiving pleasure become one simple activity. Our most mature hope is to become pleasure’s source and pleasure’s home simultaneously. So it is with the allurements of life: we become beauty to ignite the beauty of others.[vi] Beltaine is a good time to contemplate this animal bodymind that you are: how it seeks real pleasure. What is your real pleasure? Be gracious with this bodymind and in awe of this form, this wonder. Beltaine is also a good time to contemplate light, and its affects on our bodyminds as it enters into us; how our animal bodyminds respond directly to the Sun’s light, which apparently may awaken physical desires. Light vibrates into us – different wavelengths as different colours – and shifts to pulse. It is felt most fully in Springtime (“spring fever”), as light courses down a direct neural line from retina to pineal gland. When the pineal gland receives the light pulse it releases “a cascade of hormones, drenching the body in hunger, thirst, or great desire.”[vii] We respond directly to Sun as an organism: it is primal. NOTES: [i] Michael Dames, Ireland, 195-199. [ii] Ibid., 196. [iii] I have been inspired and informed by Swimme’s articulations about desire, particularly in Canticle to the Cosmos, video 2 “The Primeval Fireball,” video 5 “Destruction and Loss,” and video 10 “The Timing of Creativity.” [iv] Matthews, The Western Way, 54. And for more, see “Creativity …
The Ceremonial Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. The Cosmos is a ceremony, a ritual. Dawn and dusk, seasons, supernovas – it is an ongoing Event of coming into being and passing away. The Cosmos is always in flux, and we exist as participants in this great ritual event, this “cosmic ceremony of seasonal and diurnal rhythms” which frame “epochal dramas of becoming,” as Charlene Spretnak describes it.[i] Swimme and Berry describe the universe as a dramatic reality, a Great Conversation of announcement and response.[ii]Ritual/ceremony[iii] may be the human conscious response to the announcements of the Universe – an act of conscious participation. Ceremony then may be understood as a microcosmos[iv] – a human-sized replication of the Drama, the Dynamic we find ourselves in. Swimme and Berry describe ritual as an ancient response humans have to the awesome experience of witnessing the coming to be and the passing away of things; they say that a “ritual mode of expression” is from its beginning “the manner in which humans respond to the universe, just as birds respond by flying or as fish respond by swimming.”[v] It is the way in which we as humans, as a species, may respond to this awesome experience of being and becoming, how we may hold the beauty and the terror. Humans have exhibited this tendency to ritualize since the earliest times of our unfolding: evidence so far reveals burial sites dating back one hundred thousand years, as mentioned in the previous chapter. We often went to huge effort in these matters, that is almost incomprehensible to the modern industrialised econocentric mind: the precise placing of huge stones in circles such as found at Stonehenge and the creation of complex sites such as Silbury Hill may be expressions of some priority, indicating that econocentric thinking – such as tool making, finding shelter and food, was not enough or not separate from the participation in Cosmic events. Ritual seems to have expressed, and still does actively express for some peoples, something essential to the human – a way of being integral with our Cosmic Place, which was not perceived as separate from material sustenance, the Source of existence: thus it was a way perhaps of sensing “meaning” as it might be termed these days – or “relationship.” Swimme and Berry note that the order of the Universe has been experienced especially in the seasonal sequence of dissolution and renewal; this most basic pattern has been an ultimate referent for existence.[vi] The seasonal pattern contains within it the most basic dynamics of the Cosmos – desire, fullfilment, loss, transformation, creation, growth, and more. The annual ceremonial celebration of the seasonal wheel – the Earth-Sun sacred site within which we tour – can be a pathway to the Centre of these dynamics, a way of making sense of the pattern, a way of sensing it. One enters the Universe’s story. The Seasonal Moments when marked and celebrated in the art form of ceremony may be sens-ible ‘gateways’ through the flesh of the world[vii] to the Centre – which is omnipresent Creativity. Humans do ritual everyday – we really can’t help ourselves. It is simply a question of what rituals we do, what story we are telling ourselves, what we are “spelling”[viii] ourselves with – individually and collectively. Ceremony is actually ‘doing,’ not just theorizing. We can talk about our personal and cultural disconnection endlessly, but we need to actually change our minds. Ceremony can be an enabling practice – a catalyst/practice for personal and cultural change. It is not just talking about eating the pear, it is eating the pear; it is not just talking about sitting on the cushion (meditating), it is sittingon the cushion. It is a cultural practice wherein we tell a story/stories about what we believe to be so most deeply, about who and what we are. Ceremony can be a place for practicing a new language, a new way of speaking, or spelling – a place for practicing “matristic storytelling”[ix] if you like: that is, for telling stories of the Mother, of Earth and Cosmos as if She were alive and sentient. We can “play like we know it,” so that we may come to know it.[x] Ceremony then is a form of social action. NOTES: [i] Spretnak, States of Grace, 145. [ii] Swimme and Berry, The Universe Story, 153. [iii] I will use either or both of these terms at different times: I generally prefer “ceremony” as Kathy Jones defines it in Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess, 319. She says that ritual involves a repeated set of actions which may contain spiritual or “mundane” elements (such as a daily ritual of brushing one’s teeth), “whereas ceremony is always a spiritual practice and may or may not include ritual elements.” The PaGaian seasonal celebrations/events are thus most kin to “ceremony,” although I do not perceive any action as “mundane.” However, “ritual” is more commonly used to speak of how humans have conversed with cosmos/Earth. [iv] Spretnak, States of Grace, 145. [v] Swimme and Berry, The Universe Story, 152-153. [vi] Ibid. [vii] Abram speaks of “matter as flesh” in The Spell of the Sensuous, 66, citing Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The Invisible and the Invisible (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1968). [viii] Starhawk used this term on her email list in 2004 to describe the story-telling we might do to bring forth the changes we desire. [ix] A term used by Gloria Feman Orenstein in The Reflowering of the Goddess (New York: Pergamon Press, 1990), 147. [x] As my doctoral thesis supervisor Dr. Susan Murphy once described it to me in conversation REFERENCES: Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. Jones, Kathy. Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess. Glastonbury: Ariadne Publications, 2006. Orenstein, Gloria Feman. The Reflowering of the Goddess. New York: Pergamon Press, 1990. Spretnak, Charlene. States of Grace: The Recovery of Meaning in the Postmodern Age. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1993. Swimme, Brian and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
(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

(Tribute) In Loving Memory of Lydia Ruyle (1935-2016) by Mago Circle Members

We posthumously honor Lydia Ruyle (August 5, 1935-March 26, 2016) as Patron of Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality. Mago Circle Members on June 11, 2016. Glenys Livingstone I feel blessed to have known Lydia and to have been in occasional personal communication with her for several years … initially via the Goddess Scholars list. Lydia sent me great information of some of her journeys, was always encouraging and generously supported my CD crowdfunding project in 2015. I feel honoured to have carried her Goddess banners to Australia in 2014.
(Essay 2 Part 1) Why Do I Love Korean Historical Dramas? by Anna Tzanova

Part 1 Fans, journalists, critics, and academia in multiple fields have studied this world phenomenon; have written blogs, articles, books; and presented in conferences, dissecting, and making predictions. Still, the magic and mystery of its success persists to be as thrilling as ever. This is the way I see it: DELIGHTING THE SENSES
(Book Excerpt 5) The Mago Way by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note] The following is from Chapter One, “What Is Mago and Magoism and How Did I Study HER?” from The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia, Volume 1. Footnotes below would be different from the monograph version. PDF book of The Mago Way Volume 1 download is available for free here.] How My Education and Experience Helped Me Study Mago The topic of Mago came to me in time for writing my doctoral dissertation for the Women’s Studies in Religion program that I was enrolled in at Claremont Graduate University. My graduate education, which I crafted to be a feminist cross-cultural alchemical process of de-educating myself from the patriarchal mode of knowledge-making, led me to encounter the hitherto unheard-of Goddess of East Asia, Mago. I came to read the Budoji, the principal text of Magoism, in 2000 and did some basic research to find out that Mago was known among people in Korea and that S/HE was also found in Chinese and Japanese sources.

Author: Mago Work Admin

(Mago Almanac Planner Year 5 Excerpt 3) 13 Month 28 Day Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

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(Call for Contributions) Commemorating our ancestor feminists: Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898), Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994), Mary Daly (1928-2010), Audre Lorde (1934-1992), Paula Gunn Allen (1939-2008), Gloria Anzaldua (1942-2004), and Your Hera

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(She Rises Salon) Meet Dr. Stephanie Mines in Her Vision of the MA/Ph.D. Program on Regenerative Health for A Climate Changing World

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