December 16, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Anna Tzanova

View all posts by Anna Tzanova. Anna Tzanova, M.A. E-mail: imim@sbcglobal.net Residence: Northern California Born and raised in Bulgaria; lived for almost a decade in Toronto, Canada and close to Read More …

November 17, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin3 Comments

(Essay) Cook, Eat, Celebrate, Heal Lessons from the Yakbab by Anna Tzanova, M.A.

“Glutinous rice is mixed with oil and honey, pine nuts and dates. Families in the neighborhood share bowls of this rice with each other as the magpie awakes, seduced by Read More …

August 11, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Special Post 1) "The Oldest Civilization" 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 Read More …

May 12, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

How do you say what The Mago Work is? by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang & Mago Circle Members

It took many years for me to pronounce the communal nature of the Mago Work. Defining the Mago Work necessarily endows us with the bird’s eye view of the Great Read More …

April 28, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Nurture by Anna Tzanova

to feed and protect; to support and encourage; to foster and bring up; to train and educate; to develop and nourish; to care for and cherish… Such a multifaceted Read More …

March 23, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

(Essay 2 Part 3) Why Do I Love Korean Historical Dramas? by Anna Tzanova

Part 3 UNIVERSAL APPEAL The worldwide success of Korean historical drama began in 2004, when Dae Jang Geum (대장금), “The Great Jang Geum”, or “Jewel in the Palace”—a Sageuk relating a Read More …

March 10, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

(Essay 2 Part 2) Why Do I Love Korean Historical Dramas? by Anna Tzanova, M.A.

Part 2 ENGAGING THE MIND It makes me cringe every time someone calls Korean drama, especially the historical genre, a soap opera. The fact that they are TV series Read More …

February 29, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(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 Read More …

February 10, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Video) The Mago Work by Mago Sisters by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

January 4, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

(Essay 1) How Did I Fall In Love with Korean Historical Drama? by Anna Tzanova, M.A.

Go to online class, Korean Historical Dramas. “To become a kairomancer¹, you need to learn to trust your feelings as you walk the roads of this world, to develop your personal science Read More …

December 24, 2015September 3, 2023 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Meet Mago Contributor Anna Tzanova

Anna Tzanova, M.A. E-mail: annatzanova@yahoo.ca Residence: Sofia, Bulgaria For over 30 years, Anna has been a dedicated student of world spiritual traditions, as well as ancient and contemporary healing modalities. Read More …

(Meet Mago Contributor) Susun Weed

Susun Weed, green witch and wise woman, is an extraordinary teacher with a joyous spirit, a powerful presence, and an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs and health. She is the voice of the Wise Woman Way, where common weeds, simple ceremony, and compassionate listening support and nourish health/wholeness/holiness. She has opened hearts to the magic and medicine of the green nations for five decades. Ms. Weed’s six herbal medicine books focus on women’s health topics including: menopause, childbearing, and breast health. Visit her site www.susunweed.com for information on her workshops, apprenticeships, correspondence courses and more! Venture into the Menopause site www.menopause-metamorphosis.com to learn all about the Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way. Join Susuns Mentorship site for personal one on one mentorship! We also invite you to visit our commerce site www.wisewomanbookshop.com to learn about our Wise Woman publications, workshops, correspondence courses and courses at teachable.com and Wise Woman School. Susun’s main website: http://susunweed.com/
(Poem) Goodbye Wyoming by Francesca Tronetti, Ph.D.

Eclipse morning sunrise, Wyoming The United States Covid death count is now 532K More dead than the population of most cities With almost 1,750 new dead each day, it increases The numbers creeping closer to the mark Even as the count rises in certain cities and states Governors and leaders push for reopening While people still refuse to wear masks in stores And Facebook is full of stories of CO2 poisoning There are now 550K dead from Covid in the United States Vaccines are being distributed rapidly across the country Everyone can get the vaccine, sometimes within 24 hours Go to the pharmacy website and sign right up I got the vaccine, my mothers, and grandfather too My knitting group friends have appointments But, their partners aren’t sure, nor are their families They bite their tongues; you can’t argue with them The death toll is now 578K cases 578 thousand Americans are now dead The population of the state of Wyoming Goodbye Wyoming You would think we’d mourn this news We have lost a state’s worth of people in a year But, the news is on privately conducted recounts Where people are searching for bamboo ballots Florida has opened back up, no masks, no distancing The governor says we don’t need masks And bans companies from asking if you had the vaccine People are flocking to malls and amusement parks The death toll is now at 581K dead And expects to spike again in the summer If we lose another 42 thousand lives It is goodbye, Vermont. (Meet Mago Contributor) Francesca Tronettie, Ph.D. https://www.magoism.net/2018/11/meet-mago-contributor-rev-francesca-tronetti-ph-d/
(Book Excerpt 1) Rainbow Goddess: Celebrating Neurodiversity ed. by K. L. Aldred, P. Daly, T Albanna, and Trista Hendren

[Editor’s Note: This anthology was published by Girl God Books (2022).] “Being a Neurodivergent Woman” by Kay Louise Aldred Many people, even my closest friends and family, have no idea that I am a neurodivergent woman. Being autistic is still new to me as I was only recently diagnosed, in November this year. I have done a great job at camouflaging, masking, and presenting as ‘normal’. Neurodivergence was not something I had considered in relation to myself until I had children. This is ironic on many levels, most especially because I am a trained and experienced teacher and have held curriculum and pastoral leadership positions, in which I ensured that all students, from every demographic, including those who were neurodivergent, achieved their potential and felt safe, seen, and heard. It was giving birth and rearing my own children which highlighted the ‘differences’ between me and my contemporaries, and significantly amplified the feelings I had been experiencing since childhood. Feelings of being ‘atypical’, ‘odd’ and a ‘misfit’. Mother and baby groups, children’s parties, and the PTA were mirrors which clearly reflected that I was not at all like ‘most women’. They were also the situations where I began to recognise that my two sons bucked the communal childhood trends of behaviour, thinking and preference. I did however socialise my three children well. Despite my personal discomfort around being in social settings and making small talk, I knew the importance of doing this. They thrived academically but when my sons transitioned to secondary school, I saw the hallmarks and signs of neurodivergence – predominantly sensory processing and autism. Their diagnoses were convoluted, unnecessarily complex in their procedure and stressful. I was told by professionals that I had ‘taught them too well to be normal’ and that ‘they were coping’ so didn’t ‘need a label’. They were both eventually diagnosed a few months before university, when it became completely apparent that the transition would only happen if they had support. The ‘label’ has been very helpful for them both in understanding and representing themselves. Their diagnoses prompted me to assess my own lifelong challenges. My husband had been affectionately calling me his ‘Aspie Wife’ for a while before the penny dropped that I may be ‘on the spectrum’. We operated as an autistic-friendly household – which helped everyone, including my apparently ‘neurotypical’ daughter (her ongoing journey of self-discovery is another story), long before I contemplated my own assessment. I looked on at both of my sons openly ‘owning’ their preferences and explaining their needs, and thought, ‘I feel and have those additional needs too but am constantly pretending I don’t’. I realised that the result of this pretence was suffering and an added burden. That was four years ago. It is only now, aged 48 years, that I have got to the point of exhaustion and the resignation that I am not going to ‘cure myself’ or be miraculously transformed – and let me tell you I’ve tried all sorts of ways to do this including, books, therapy, and spiritual practices. Early last year I requested a GP referral for an adult autism assessment. Regardless of the outcome, I had begun to privately identify as neurodivergent, and noticed that acknowledging this went some way to explain the lifelong loneliness, social anxiety, and chronic low mood I had experienced and offered a reason for the bullying and social rejection I had undergone – particularly as an adolescent. On receiving the diagnosis last month, I wept. I felt numb, angry, grief stricken and elated simultaneously. Processing the magnitude of having an undiagnosed lifelong neurological and developmental ‘disability’ and coping with this alone, without reasonable adjustment, is going to take a long time. Autism is disabling in our society. And no, everyone is not a little bit neurodivergent or ‘on the spectrum’. Knowing I am autistic has brought a new level of self-compassion and self-protection. I can’t change myself or improve myself. Autistic people do not habituate – brain wiring does not change, and autism is not ‘cured’. I’m curious as to who I am unmasked and what gifts that will uncover. Some people who know me well, will be reading and learning this about me for the first time. I wonder if this ‘coming out’ publicly in the anthology will be liberating for the many women who continue to ‘hide’ their authentic self. The spirit of this book is the celebration of neurodiversity and so I’d like to channel that now and reclaim the Rainbow Goddess that I am by declaring that: I pretend to be interested in clothes. I’m not in the slightest bit interested. However, I’d happily wear the same thing every day – black cropped top, black pants, black vest top, black loose, jersey dungarees, black jumper, black socks with Ugg boots in winter and black sandals in summer. It’s all about utility and minimal thought. I’ve got other things I’d rather think about. Tight clothes of any sort are a no. Why would I wear scratchy, restrictive clothing which squash up my intestines and womb and restrict breathing and digestion? Makes no sense. I intensely dislike small talk and prefer deep, philosophical, existential, and meaningful conversation. I find chit-chat exhausting – I don’t understand it. It’s a waste of energy. I’m not interested at all in hairstyles, makeup, trends. I’m interested in the inner landscape of your life. I prefer my own company – listening to my inner guidance. I’m fearful of humans – the aggression, hostility, abusive dynamics, sarcasm, meanness, inauthenticity. I trust very few people. Very few people are trustworthy and transparent. I am fiercely loyal – to those I trust and respect. I can’t sequence – tasks, actions, to do lists. My brain is making patterns and connections about the meaning of life, justice, the universe. I may also have undiagnosed ADHD. I have zero executive functioning skills – packing to go on holiday puts me in a flat spin. Consequently, my home is a peaceful haven where I …
(Essay 6) The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen

[This part and the forthcoming sequels are an elaborated version of the original article entitled “The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia—a late Shamanistic Branch of the Old European Civilization?” by Märta-Lena Bergstedt & Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen, included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018) Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.] Travelling into World of the Vanir Mothers Fig. 15. Old forest lake, Sweden The mythological world of the Eddas was inhabited also by the Vanirs, and also many other explicit groups like the Jättar (Giants/Jotnar) and Elver/Alfer (Elvens).[1] In the Eddas, these groups most often came to represent the opponents to, or enemies of Asgård. The Asirs fought them to control or destroy them, and always kept a distance from them, unless profiting from any interrelations or intermarriages with them. If not in some way useful for the Asirs, they were generally seen as negative beings. In their original animistic contexts these groups may have represented something quite different. By means of general features of the animistic world view, and with the specific, but mostly unintended left-overs and information in the Eddas, combining it with archeological findings and general rules for the patriarchal shift, we have allowed a glance at the inhabitants of the old mythological world with positive glasses, and to let quite a different world shine through. JÄTTAR — the Giants Fig. 16. The Old Lady of the Forest, over 3 m high. Giants/ Jotnar (Jättar or Gyger) were born before beginning of time.[2] They were the oldest of all beings. In our understanding these first beings typify or metaphorically personify the basic physical elements. When they appear in their most compact and dense form, the primordial forces are almost uncontrollable; Earth materializes as rocks and mountains; Water as oceans, blizzards and hail; Fire as the heat of the sun and blazing fires, volcanoes and thunderstorms; and Air as hurricanes and gales. The names of the Giants, the “Big Ones” testify their connection to basic nature elements; they are Frost, Hoarfrost, Snowdrift, Snow, Sea, Shower, Flame, Thunder-flash, Fire, Gust, Storm, etc. In Ragnarök, the Fire-Giant Surt (Black) will lick the earth with his ravaging fire. Humanizing the Giants in the Eddas, the Asirs saw them as lumpy, heavy-sized, and incredibly strong beings. They lived their hard and raw lives in the far North, in Jotunheim, where the elements rage and the chaos forces; ice, gales, wild oceans, volcanoes and naked rocks reigned. Sometime records of their damaging strength will know that this Giant was only three days old – a lot though, if this giant is signifying or personalizing a rising hurricane or fire. Giants, in Asir optics, were entirely physical, totally lacking divinity, and having no glory from battlefield fighting attached to them. Therefore, in his spare time Asir-Thor was frenetically occupied with hunting them, especially the females,[3] to either break them, or to control them and their forces. ELVER and ALFER — the Elven Fig. 17. Glittering Elven Water. Photo: S. Rudehill In the Icelandic Sagas, the epithets Elven and Vanir are often interchangeable. The fair, shimmering Elven people are most often thought to be connected to and metaphors for the moving of elements – light (fire), water and air. We have come to conclude that the specific Elven feature is that of adding an energizing and moving, flowing, streaming or even electrifying aspect to the basic physical elements. The energizing of light would cause sunbeams streaming (Alf-röd-ul, a Vanir figure) and be connected to the continuous progression of light at dawn, day and dusk. The energizing of water makes rivers to flow, vapor to rise, and hazes to dance. It would add sharpness to the air (Egil, Egg-ilning, a Vanir figure)[4] and cause winds to blow. And for the moving of water, the Nordic word for crystal flowing rivers is elve or älvar. Rivers are surely Elven domiciles. The energizing of the physical elements may actually even mirror the archaic and classic understanding of the not four but five elements, co-creating our world; fire, air, water, earth, and ether.[5] Ether was traditionally understood as life-breath/living spirit, wit and consciousness, and thus not included in the element, air and wind. Elven energy will also cause affections to move. VANER – the Old Vanirs If Giants represent the basic physical elements, and the Elven, like electricity, set a moving energy (and life) to the physical elements, then Vanir entities give the impression to represent and personify abstract phenomena and conditions of life, meaning; fertility (the ability to grow), mating (the urge or force of love), warmth (phenomenon of kindness), beauty, death and re-incarnating (the ability to die and re-generate), etc. The regular cycles of seasons; winter, spring, summer, and fall – the on-going cycles of changes shared with organic life in the physical world; plants, humans, animals and stars. The old emblem of the Life-circle is personified in the maiden-mother-crone triad, throughout the old world, and in the Vanir world. But the word, Vanir, what may the very word denote? Academically, the explanation of the specific word vaner (Vanir) has not yet reached fully consensus. What is clear is that the word itself belongs to the Old Scandinavian domain. Scandinavian landscapes have hundreds of geographical Van-Vaner-names: Vansbro, Vanered, Vanatjärnen, Vantinge, Vansø, Vanhøje, and Vänern, testifying old presence. A sidelong glance will spot the many van-vaner-words in modern Scandinavian languages, the meaning of which most often lie within the sphere of “common, plain, non-admirable, powerless, wrong, distorted, customs and old habits, old ways”, etc. (Sw. vanlig, vanmakt, vantro, vanskapt, vantro, vansinne, vana, etc.). The Asir believing nobility may well have thought of the rural peasants of Vanir believers as people sticking to their old habits/ways (Sw. vanor), as well as even being unbelievers or wrong-believers (vantro), and thus twisted any van-words into negative connotations. The alleged natural beauty of the Vanirs on the other hand may be preserved in words like vän, vänlig, vän, etc. (beautiful, …
(Poem) Nana Haiku by Virginie Colline

Sunny femmes fontaines the strength of Niki’s women the contagious dance
(Essay) The Beautiful Crone at the Heart of the World by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Cailleach Beira, Wondertales from Scottish Myth and Legend, 1917, Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons The beautiful crone goddess — and all crones are beautiful — is the heart of the world. Old women goddesses create, destroy, and rebirth the world, protect human and non-human life, determine humanity’s fate, heal, and counsel the young. Yet, since the suppression of Old European culture, retellings of ancient myths from Europe, as well as our modern media, show women’s age and ugliness as going together. Old women are depicted as having matted white hair, lolling eyes, and frail, hunched over bodies that are symbolic of the objectification, commodification, and even demonization of not only women but the sovereignty and life-giving generosity of the planet with which crone goddesses are associated. Perseus and Graeae, shown as ugly old women, Helen Stratton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons It is easy for those in our contemporary society to accept this judgement that we lose beauty as we age when we have been surrounded by this message since birth. But what if we are projecting the ageism and fear of spiritually powerful older women of our recent times onto these images? What if underneath descriptions of old women in ancient stories lies a contrary attitude rooted in very different values of the Old European culture from which the oldest myths sprang? Might all women experience instead our beauty as changing, ever deepening like our wisdom, as we age? And if we did, might that not be a first step to returning to the best of Old European attitudes about women and the Earth? Marija Gimbutas found extensive evidence that aged women were revered in Old Europe. In Poland in about 5000 BC, the graves of older women held grave goods including, in one case, “copper beads, a necklace of animal teeth, a belt of shell beads, and a vase” while that of an older man had none1. Over a grave of a 70-year-old woman in another Polish settlement was a large structure likely used for rituals2. Older women alone were buried either inside or near the home or in sacred spaces. “An older woman was the ancestor whose blessing was sought to ensure continuity of the family she had started and who was honored by burial beneath one of her houses or temples”3 Gimbutas says. Max Dashu notes that in the past “Heathen communities called upon ancestral grandmothers to bless, counsel, protect, and provide assistance to their living kindred”4. Elizabeth Wayland Barber describes how in Eastern Europe “…old women, while not active in most rites other than funerals, served as coaches— repositories of information on how to do things. In short, the lonely old widow served as a keeper of traditional knowledge, a ‘knower’ or ved’ma”5. Not surprisingly, given the respect for old women in Old European society and those cultures with vestiges of Old Europe, some crone goddesses are considered to be beautiful. The Greek Graeae, whose name means, according to Patricia Monaghan, “the crones” were also considered to be swan maidens who were “beautiful though gray-haired”6. The Sudice, goddesses of fate in Eastern Europe, were “beautiful old women”7. And, of course, we have the Sheela-na-gigs, statues on medieval churches of smiling older female beings holding open their vaginas. One meaning of their name is “holy lady”8. According to Monaghan, “Laughter and passion, birth and death, sex and age do not seem to have been so incompatible to the ancient Irish as they are to the modern world”9. Crone goddesses are also strong and powerful. The Cailleach, the Celtic Creatrix crone goddess, was known for outworking the male farm laborers she hired and dropped boulders from her apron to form mountains10. Bugady Musun, a Siberian crone goddess was, “very old and very strong” and ruled all life11. The Scandinavian goddess Elle, who symbolized aging, bested Thor in a wrestling match because, as Monaghan says “No one can beat old age”12. When we relook at all these positive, dynamic, and vibrant images of older women, perhaps it is time to reconsider the characteristics that cause us to envision crone goddesses as “ugly.” One of the most prominent is that single eye, a feature of the Cailleach13 and the Irish Muireartach14. Eastern European Poldunica had two eyes, but they were “staring”15. According to Gimbutas, eyes were among the most sacred parts of the body in Old European culture. Gimbutas says the large eyes were “all-seeing” and represented a Divine Source16. “Eye Goddesses” of 5000 to 3000 BCE found throughout Old Europe were made of bone with large staring eyes and were associated with the spiritual power of death17. The Cailleach18, Muireartach19, and Poldunica20 are all described as having matted hair. However, the Greek stories of Medusa and the Gorgons with their snakes for hair show the power of unbound tresses. Masks dating back 7000 years from Bulgaria also show hags with unruly, matted hair21. Could matted hair really symbolize wild, unrestrained power? The colors white, black and red, associated with life, death, and rebirth in Old Europe, were often associated with crones. In Moravia, Poldunica was portrayed as a white gowned old woman22 while the Sudice also wore white clothes23. Some crones were also associated with black such as the Cailleach, sometimes described as having a blue-black face24. The Scandinavian goddess Hel, who oversaw the souls of those who died from disease or old age, was half white and half black25. The Cailleach’s white cow had red ears26 while the Irish Muireartach was “bald-red”27. Angelique Kidjo, HankBate123, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons Could it be that in Old Europe old women were both valued and considered to be beautiful?When we look at women of all ages we should see beauty, power, and wisdom, and for older women, persistence and decades of hard work, of love given and received, laugh lines and lines where sorrowful tears were channelled to the Earth. Truly, the beauty of women in their third age is ageless. Aged women …
(Video) Winter Solstice Goddess Slideshow by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Each year between June 20-23 the dark part of the day reaches its peak in the Southern Hemisphere: it is the Winter Solstice Moment. Poetry of the Season may be expressed in this way: At this time when the Dark part of day is longest, as Earth leans us away from Sun to the furthest point, You are invited to celebrate WINTER SOLSTICE Darkness reaches Her fullness, and yet … She turns, and the seed of Light is born. This is the season for the lighting of candles, and receiving the Gift of Birth. The story of Old tells us that on this night, the Great Mother gives birth to the Divine Child – the New Young One within all. We celebrate Her eternal Cosmogenesis, and the Miracle of Being. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images is somewhat arbitrary; there are many more that may express Her maternal relational essence and Her gateway quality at this time. The Mother images of this Season overlap with the Crone images of Samhain – they are never really separate. Most ancient images of Goddess are multivalent – She was/is One: that is, all three of Her aspects are not separate from each other. These selected images tell a story of certain qualities that may be contemplated at the Seasonal Moment of Winter Solstice. The Mother aspect is many things: She is a dynamic Place of Being. She is a Weaver – knitting and fabricating the world. Her space of birthing is not a passive place: She is Creator. As you receive the images, remember that image communicates the unspeakable, that which can only be known in body, below rational mind. So you may open yourself to a transmission of Her, that will be particular to you. https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZhMEEMEYa44 The Womb of Space Aditi 1800 C.E. India. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess p.66). She is “the Hindu Goddess of the Void. Her name means ‘abundance’ and ‘creative power’ in Sanskrit”. Aditi is the primordial space, the womb from which all creation arises. See also Lajja Gauri https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lajja_Gauri – connected to Aditi The Birth of the Goddess 450 B.C.E. Rome. An icon of spiritual transformation. (Erich Neumann The Great Mother, pl 155) Tlazolteotl 1400 C.E. Aztec. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.18). Birth is the quintessential shamanic act. Tlazolteotl is also known as the Goddess of Filth – and as such both provoked and pardoned licentiousness: She may be thought of as associated with Beltaine (sex) and also Lammas (the complete forgiveness of the Dark Mother). See article by Anne Key: http://www.matrifocus.com/BEL09/key.htm#1 Sheila-na-gig 900C.E. British Isles. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p. 120). Elinor Gadon describes: “She is remembered in Ireland as the Old Woman who gave birth to all races of human…. In churches her function was to ward off evil”, or to attract the Pagan peoples to the church (The Once and Future Goddess, p.338). Adele Getty describes:“The first rite of passage of all human beings begins in the womb and ends between the thighs of the Great Mother”. Ixchel 800 C.E. Central America (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p. 10). She sits at her loom with Her bird companion, the nest weaver. She weaves the Fabric of Life. Diana of Ephesus 200 C.E. Asia Minor. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p. 27). A Holy Mother, a Dark Madonna. Woodlands Nursing Mother 1400 C.E. North America (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.29). This is actually a ceramic pot, which is associated with woman, creation, nurturance and spiritual power. Mary “Mother of God” – Vierge Ouvrante 1400’s C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p. 40-41). Closed She is the traditional “Virgin” with Child, although since she is “holding the sphere of the world in her hand” she may also be understood as the Mother/Creator. Indeed opening Her reveals that She contains God, Christ and temporal and spiritual rulers. Tiamat – 4000-3500 B.C.E. Babylon (Ur, Iraq), Adele Getty Goddess : Mother of Living Nature p.33). The Mother and Child of Old, expressing the essential relational nature of Creativity, the essential urge to bring forth the New. Classically She is named as the “sea monster/dragon”, but She is “personification of The Deep”, the formlessness before creation (Barbara Walker, p. 998). She may symbolize primordial timelessness. The classic slaying of the dragon represents the advent of patriarchy, victorious over the Goddess. The slaying of Tiamat by the hero Marduk is said to be the Creation story – the Enuma Elish – of the Babylonian peoples, but this supreme creative act is also a criminal act, an act of deicide (see PaGaian Cosmology, p. 73). Her name means Goddess Mother, Tia-mat, Dea-Madre. Adele Getty says:”… this Babylonian Goddess presents an ancient and haunting image of the sacred mother. Holding her child to her breast, she stands upright like Tiamat, the dragon woman, naked except for her magic belt of triangles, which serves to emphasize as well as beautify her own fertile delta. The triangle represents the triple aspect of the Great Goddess as Maiden, Mother and Crone, and is recognized in the Tantric tradition as the primary symbol of life. The serpent force is the great life-affirming, maternal blessing. The snake is always associated with immortality …”. – Nut, Mother of Rebirth 200 C.E. Egypt (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.81.) Womb of Space (again) Music: “Ancient Pines” by Loreena McKennitt REFERENCES: Gadon, Elinor W. The Once and Future Goddess. Northamptonshire: Aquarian, 1990. Getty, Adele. Goddess: Mother of Living Nature. London: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess.Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. http://www.heartgoddess.net/ Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology. NE: iUniverse, 2005. Neuman, Erich. The Great Mother. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1974. Walker, Barbara. The Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Aisha Monks-Husain

Aisha Monks-Husain is a student, an activist, and a writer. Monks-Husain earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Chapman University. She is currently applying for her Masters in Comparative Literature, emphasizing in Middle Eastern literature to help bridge the gap between Eastern and Western cultures. Monks-Husain aspires to write about her experiences as a first-generation American with the mixture of British and Pakistani cultures in her life.
(Essay 3) Kinship and Power of Place by Sara Wright

The following day I went to see where Ghost Ranch was located, the first place that Georgia lived (and bought), where she painted many of her landscapes. I was not prepared for the astonishing depth and breadth and the visionary quality of the seemingly endless beauty that surrounded me. Ghost Ranch blended so well with the scenery that I could barely see the whole tucked into the base of one of the cliffs. I spent four hours staring at the austere mountains that changed color every second as clouds passed by and shadows fell in new places highlighting red, ocher, lavender, even deep purple and green until the night closed in. The landscape around Georgia’s “home-place” was so astounding that after my initial experience and attempt to describe it, I decided that O’Keeffe’s mountains must remain as stark impressions in my mind:

(Special Post 3) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality? A Collective Writing

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Helen Hwang I study and advocate Goddess feminism or Magoism because it is a way of living for me. I find myself in Mago (the Great Goddess) who in turn leads me to the Way wherein I learn how to become the person who I can be. It has to be Mago, the Female Divine, because She is real! She is the Primordial Mother who is the Beginning and the End of everything to us on the planet Earth. She teaches me the real. I can’t negotiate Her to anything less. Helen Hye Sook Hwang, Ph.D. California http://magoism.net Bridget Robertson A Goddessian I was introduced to a form of meditative journeying by a resident in my grandmother’s retirement community. She approached to me. I know she was at least part Native American, and that alone made her the topic of much gossip in the building. Her Rose colored lipstick, deep brown eyes, wrinkles that only helped illuminate her face and a chiffon scarf that matched none of her clothes. I thought she needed help with her groceries. She didn’t. She had me stop the elevator. and directly asked about my looking tired. My response was about being, busy balancing all the areas of my life. In fact I was exhausted doling out time like pieces of pie.
(Special Post 1) Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality? A Collective Writing

[Editor’s Note: This was first proposed in The Mago Circle, Facebook Group, on March 6, 2014. We have our voices together below and publish them in sequels. It is an ongoing project and we encourage our reader to join us! Submit yours today to Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Or visit and contact someone in Return to Mago’s Partner Organizations.] Introduction by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang and Wennifer Lin-Haver Helen Hye-Sook Hwang I am asking each of us to consider writing a sentence or paragraph on “Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, or Spirituality?” This idea is prompted by Wennifer Lin-Haver, Founder of Mother Tree Sanctuary, and I agree that we need to and can create a sort of collective writing on the topic. What we write below will be included and published in The Girl God, Mother Tree Sanctuary, and Return to Mago. As a subaltern minority as we seem at the current point of time, Goddessians/Magoists [the term Mago means the Great Goddess] need to make extra efforts to make our voices and presences exposed to the public and inner circles. Length and style are open. Please also include your name, region/state/country, title, and/or website URL. We strongly encourage you if you are located in a place where Goddessians are rarely around. We intend to make a collective testimonial tapestry of WE as Goddessians/Magoists! Please keep this in your mind and join us in this collective effort. Thank you in advance. March 6, 2014 AF (Archaic Future)! Wennifer Lin-Haver Our “call” started as a conversation between Helen and me where I was expressing to her the real need for Mother Tree Sanctuary to be more articulate with exploring the significance and importance of Goddess in our lives. I was prompted to give such a response, when asked “why” we had to differentiate God and Goddess. “Isn’t everything God?” She asked. And “Isn’t Goddess also God?” “Isn’t it all the same as long was we’re all coming from our ‘higher’ self?” she asked. So I saw this warranted a longer and much deeper discussion. I initially thought I should formulate a response and post it as a Page or Tab in our website, but after some reflection with Helen, I saw how much better it would be if we replied to this question as a diverse and creative collective. I surely do not have all the answers as an individual but perhaps together, we can come up with something more whole, colorful and satisfying. I do hope you will contribute a little something! We are always grateful for all that you have to share.
(Special Post 1) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing eight sequels (all nine parts) are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hwang: I am thinking of the Nine Goddess/Mago Symbolism or Nine Numerology. Insights connect the data that I have collected, otherwise seemingly unrelated across cultures and periods. We have reasons to celebrate the nine symbolism among us. As seen in this discussion below, Hercules is most aptly equated with Huangdi (Yellow Emperor, 2698–2598 BCE), one of the forebear emperors of ancient China, who is alleged to have defeated Chiu (successor of Goma), the representative of Danguk’s Nine Giants (nine sub-states). The Magoist history writes the other way around. Chiu won the war, the archetypal international/global war waged over the defense/overthrow of the Magoist throne. Old Magoists (Danguk founded by Goma) of Nine Queen-led States defended the rebellion of the patrilocal force, represented by the Huangdi. With this victory, Old Magoist Confederacy of nine sub-states was able to maintain gynocentric peace of the ancient world for about five centuries longer until a man, Yao, rose to give a way for the establishment of the first patriarchal rule, ancient China of the Xia Dynasty (c. 2070 BCE – c. 1600 BCE). Nonetheless, patriarchal ethnocentric Sinocentric historiography has proliferated to this day. Yu, the founder of the Xia dynasty, is depicted as the hero who slains the nine-headed snake. What I am saying is here that the Nine Goddess/Symbolism is pre-patriarchal in origin and possibly speaks of the same event across cultures! The slain of nine-headed snakes or dragons indicates the usurpation of gynocentric rule by a patriarchal hero across cultures. Let me show you some available information and images to open the discussion. Lernaean Hydra 1 oz Copper | The 12 Labors of Hercules “Hercules was sent to slay the Lernaean Hyrda for his second Labor. The multi-headed, snake-like monster was defeated by Hercules after he sliced its one mortal head. The last day to purchase the 1 oz Copper Lernaean Hyrda was the November 12, 2014. There is, however, time to order the 5 oz Copper Hercules Round, and 5 oz Silver Hercules Round. To read about Hercules and his 12 Labors, check out our blog for more information. If you enjoy the 12 Labors of Hercules coin series, take a look at more Silver and Copper coin collections offered by Provident Metals. After defeating the Nemean Lion, Hercules was sent to slay the Lernaean Hydra for his second labor. The Hydra, a snake-like beast with multiple heads, was raised by Hera to destroy Hercules — making this an inevitable match up. In the face-off between Hercules and Hydra, the son of Zeus used a sword to slice off each of the creature’s necks, according to one popular tale. When the heads grew back, Hercules enlisted his nephew to burn each of the necks to halt regrowth. The Hydra had one mortal head, however; so Hercules used his golden sword to slay the mutant and complete his second labor. The beast is displayed on the Second Labor coin, to be released in the 12 Labors of Hercules Series. The reverse features the multi-headed Hydra in a striking position, displaying the daunting task Hercules faced. LERNAEAN HYDRA and II are inscribed. The familiar obverse portraying Hercules with the Nemean Lion draped over his head as armor is shown on this round, as it will be on each round in the powerful series. “1 oz CMXCIX (999 in Roman numerals) FINE COPPER” is also displayed. The 1 oz. Copper Lernaean Hydra rounds will only be available for one month from Oct. 12 through Nov. 12. Make sure to keep your 12 Labors of Hercules Series collection current before time runs out! 12 Labors of Hercules Driven crazy by Hera, Hercules slew his family — only regretful after recovering his sanity. King Thespius purified the son of Zeus, but to atone for his crimes, he was sent to serve King Eurystheus. Eurystheus ordered Hercules to execute 10 Labors, which were a series of tasks carried out as penance for his actions. Hercules successfully completed all 10, but because his nephew helped with one and he planned to accept payment for another, Eurystheus forced Hercules to finish two more Labors alone. Hercules’ Labors adhere to the traditional order of the Bibliotheca: Nemean Lion – Sept. 12, 2014 Lernaean Hydra – Oct. 12, 2014 Ceryneian Hind – Nov. 12, 2014 Erymanthian Boar – Dec. 12, 2014 Augean Stables – Jan. 12, 2015 Stymphalian Birds – Feb. 12, 2015 Cretan Bull – March 12, 2015 Mares of Diomedes – April 12, 2015 Girdle of Hippolyta – May 12, 2015 Cattle of Geryon – June 12, 2015 Apples of Hesperides – July 12, 2015 Cerberus – Aug. 12, 2015 Commemorate the historic battle between Hercules and the Lernaean Hydra with this 1 oz copper round from Provident Metals.” https://www.providentmetals.com/1-oz-copper-lernaean-hydra-the-12-labors-of-hercules.html Helen Hwang: I looked for the answer to this question: How many heads did the Hydra originally have? It is nine, which accords with its icons to be shared shortly. Helen Hwang: Check out Nine-fold or Nine-Headed Phoenix. Not all iconographies of pre-modern China vilify the nine symbolism, which indicates the influence/presence/revival of Magoism. This image is much reminiscent of the blue crane with nine feathers, a Magoist symbol that we have seen in Mago Stronghold, Mt. Jiri during Mago Pilgrimage (to be discussed in another space). “This Qing-dynasty (1644-1911) print shows the nine-headed phoenix, a being from Chinese mythology with a bird’s body and nine heads with human faces. It is one of several hybrid creatures mentioned in the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhai jing), where it is […]

(Essay) The Emergence celebrated at Spring Equinox by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The Spring Equinox Moment occurs September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere, March 21-23 Northern Hemisphere. The full story of Spring Equinox is expressed in the full flower connected to the seed fresh from the earth; that is, it is a story of emergence from the dark, from a journey, perhaps long, perhaps short, through challenging places. The joy of the blossoming is rooted in the journey through the dark, and an acknowledgement of the dark’s fertile gift, as well as of great achievement in having made it, of having returned. Both Equinoxes, Spring and Autumn, celebrate this sacred balance of grief and joy, light and dark, and they are both celebrations of the mystery of the seed. The seed is essentially the deep Creativity within – that manifests in the Spring as flower, or green emerged One. the full story: the root and the flower As the new young light continues to grow at this time of Spring, it comes into balance with the dark at Spring Equinox, or ‘Eostar’ as it may be named; about to tip further into light when light will dominate the day. The trend at this Equinox is toward increasing hours of light: and thus it is about the power of being – life is stepping into it. Earth in this region is tilting further toward the Sun. Traditionally it may be storied as the joyful celebration of a Lost Beloved One, who may be represented by the Persephone story: She is a shamanic figure who is known for Her journey to the Underworld, and who at this time of Spring Equinox returns. Her Mother Demeter who has waited and longed for Her in deep grief, rejoices and so do all: warmth and growth return to the land. Persephone, the Beloved Daughter, the Seed, has navigated the darkness successfully, has enriched it with Her presence and also gained its riches. Eostar/Spring Equinox is the magic of the unexpected, yet long awaited, green emergence from under the ground, and then the flower: this emergence is especially profound as it is from a seed that has lain dormant for months or longer – much like the magic of desert blooms after long periods of drought. The name of “Eostar” comes from the Saxon Goddess Eostre/Ostara, the northern form of the Sumerian Astarte[i]. The Christian festival in the Spring, was named “Easter” as of the Middle Ages, appropriating Goddess/Earth tradition. The date of Easter, which is set for Northern Hemispheric seasons, is still based on the lunar/menstrual calendar; that is, the 1st Sunday after the first full Moon after Spring Equinox. In Australia where I am, “Easter” is celebrated in Autumn (!) by mainstream culture, so we have the spectacle of fluffy chickens, chocolate eggs and rabbits in the shops at that time. There are other names for “Eostar” in other places …the Welsh name for the Spring Equinox celebration is Eilir, meaning ‘regeneration’ or ‘spring’ – or ‘earth’[ii]. In my own PaGaian tradition, the Spring Equinox celebration is based on the Demeter and Persephone story, the version that is understand as pre-patriarchal, from Old Europe. In the oldest stories, Persephone has agency in Her descent: She descends to the underworld voluntarily as a courageous seeker of wisdom, and a compassionate receiver of the dead. She represents, and IS, the Seed of Life that never fades away. Spring Equinox is a celebration of Her return, Life’s continual return, and thus also our personal and collective emergences/returns.We may contemplate the collective emergence/returns especially in our times. I describe Persephone as a “hera”, which of old was a term for any courageous One. “Hera” was a pre-Hellenic name for the Goddess in general[iii]. “Hera” was the indigenous Queen Goddess of pre-Olympic Greece, before She was married off to Zeus. “Hero” was a term for the brave male Heracles who carried out tasks for his Goddess Hera: “The derivative form ‘heroine’ is therefore completely unnecessary”[iv]. “Hera” may be used as a term for any courageous individual: and participants in PaGaian Spring Equinox ceremony have named themselves this way. The pre-“Olympic” games of Greece were Hera’s games, held at Her Heraion/temple[v]. The winners were “heras” – gaining the status of being like Her[vi]. At the time of Spring Equinox, we may celebrate the Persephone, the Hera, the Courageous One, who steps with new wisdom, into power of being: the organic power that all beings must have, Gaian power, the power of the Cosmos. This Seasonal ceremony may be a rejoicing in how we have made it through great challenges and loss, faced our fears and our demise (in its various forms), had ‘close shaves’ – perhaps physically as well as psychicly and emotionally. It is a time to welcome back that which was lost, and step into the strength of being. Spring Equinox/Eostar is the time for enjoying the fruits of the descent, of the journey taken into the darkness: return is now certain, not tentative as it was in the Early Spring/Imbolc. Demeter, the Mother, receives the Persephones, Lost Beloved Ones, joyously. This may be understood as an individual experience, but also as a collective experience – as we emerge into a new Era as a species. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme speak of the ending of the sixty-five million year geological Era – the Cenozoic Era – in our times, and our possible emergence into an Ecozoic Era. They describe the Ecozoic Era as a time when “the curvature of the universe, the curvature of the earth, and the curvature of the human are once more in their proper relation”[vii]. Joanna Macy speaks of the “Great Turning” of our times[viii]. Collectively we have been away from the Mother for some time and there is a lot of pain. At this time we may contemplate not only our own individual lost wanderings, but also that of the human species. We are part of a much bigger Return that is happening. The Beloved One may be understood as returning on a collective level: …
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 3) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) Free PDF available at Mago Bookstore. MAPPING THE MAGOIST CALENDAR According to the Budoji, the Magoist Calendar was fully implemented and advocated during the period of Old Joseon (ca. 2333 BCE-ca. 232 BCE) whose civilization is known as Budo (Emblem City). Indeed, the Magoist Calendar is referred to as the Budo Calendar in the Budoji. Budo was founded to succeed Sinsi and reignited Sinsi’s innovations including the numerological and musicological thealogy of the Nine Mago Creatrix. The Budoji expounds on the Magoist Calendar as follows: The Way of Heaven circles to generate Jongsi (a cyclic period, an ending and a beginning). Jongsi circles to generate another Jongsi of four Jongsi. One cycle of jongsi is called Soryeok (Little Calendar). Jongsi of Jongsi is called Jungryeok (Medium Calendar). Jongsi of four Jongsis is called Daeryeok (Large Calendar). A cycle of Little Calendar is called Sa (year). One Sa has thirteen Gi (months). One Gi has twenty-eight Il (days). Twenty-eight Il are divided by four Yo (weeks). One Yo has seven Il. A cycle of one Yo is called Bok (completion of a week). One Sa (year) has fifty-two Yobok. That makes 364 Il. This is of Seongsu (Natural Number) 1, 4, 7. Each Sa includes a Dan of the big Sa. A Dan is equal to one day. That adds up to 365 days. At the half point after the third Sa, there is a Pan of the big Sak (the year of the great dark moon). A pan comes at a half point of Sa. This is of Beopsu (Lawful Number) 2, 5, 8. A Pan is equal to a day. Therefore, the fourth Sa has 366 days. At the half point after the tenth Sa, there is a Gu of the big Hoe (Eve of the first day of the month). Gu is the root of time. Three hundred Gu makes one Myo. With Myo, we can sense Gu. A lapse of 9,633 Myo-Gak-Bun-Si makes one day. This is of Chesu (Physical Number), 3, 6, 9. By and by, the encircling time charts Medium Calendar and Large Calendar to evince the principle of numerology.[12] KEY TERMS Calendric Cycles Jongsi (終是 Ending and Beginning): Cyclic periods Soryeok (小曆 Little Calendar): One year Jungryeok (中曆 Medium Calendar): Two years Daeryeok (大曆 Large Calendar): Four years Names of Year, Month, Day, Week Sa (祀 Rituals, year): One year refers to the time that takes to complete the cycle of rituals. Gi (期 Periods, month): One month refers to the period of the moon and menstruation cycle. Il (日Sun, day): One day refers to the sun’s movement due to Earth’s rotation. Yo (曜 Resplendence of seven celestial bodies, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, week): Each weekday is dedicated to seven celestial bodies. Bok or Yobok (曜服 Duties of the Celestial Bodies, completion of a week): One week refers to the veneration of the seven celestial bodies. Names of Monthly Transition Days Hoe (晦 Eve of the first day of the month, 28th) Sak (朔 First day of the month, 1st, the dark moon) Names of Intercalation Days Dan (旦 Morning): Leap day for New Year Pan (昄 Big): Leap day for every fourth year Names of Time Units Gu (晷 sun’s shadow): Time measure, 1/300 Myo Myo (眇 minuscule): Time measure, a total of 300 Gu Myo-Gak-Bun-Si (眇刻分時 minuscule, possibly 15-minutes, minute, hour): Time measure, 9,633 Myo-Gak-Bun-Si is equal to a day Names of Three Types of Numbers in Nine Numerology Seongsu (性數Natural Number): 1, 4, 7 in the digital root Beopsu (法數 Lawful Number): 2, 5, 8 in the digital root Chesu (體數 Physical Number): 3, 6, 9 in the digital root THREE SUB-CALENDARS The Way of Heaven circles to generate Jongsi (a period, an ending and a beginning). Jongsi circles to generate another Jongsi of four Jongsi. One cycle of jongsi is called Soryeok (Little Calendar). Jongsi of Jongsi is called Jungryeok (Medium Calendar). Jongsi of four Jongsis is called Daeryeok (Large Calendar). The universe is infinite without beginning and ending. Everything runs the course of self-equilibration in relation to everything else. The Way of Heaven or the Way of the Creatrix circles and makes possible the infinite time/space to be measured and calculated. As the Way of Heaven circles, we are able to perceive Our Universe in finite measures of time/space. Time becomes measurable, as space is stabilized. Seasons and days-nights are demarcated in cyclic patterns, as the Earth makes the three cyclic movements of rotation, revolution, and precession. Calendar, born out of the inter-cosmic time, synchronizes human culture with the song/dance of the universe. The term Jongsi, which means an ending and a beginning, is equivalent to “a cyclic period” that is marked by the beginning and the end. Time (a day, a month, and a year) circles, as space (the Earth, the Moon, and the Sun) spirals. The Magoist Calendar has three sub-calendars: The period of one yearly cycle is called Little Calendar, whereas the period of two yearly cycles is called Medium Calendar and the period of four yearly cycles, Large Calendar. To be continued. (Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hye-Sook Hwang) Notes [12] Budoji, Chapter 23. See Bak Jesang, the Budoji, Bak Geum scrib., Eunsu Kim, trans. (Seoul: Gana Chulpansa, 1986).
(Essay) Winter Solstice/Yule within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 5 of the author’s book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Dates for Winter Solstice/Yule Southern Hemisphere – June 20 – 23. Northern Hemisphere – December 20 – 23 This Seasonal Moment is the ripe fullness of the Dark Womb and it is a gateway between dark and light. It is a Birthing Place – into differentiated being. Whereas Samhain/Deep Autumn is a dark conceiving Space, it flows into the Winter Solstice dark birthing Place – a dynamic Place of Being, a Sacred Interchange. This Seasonal Moment of Winter Solstice is the peaking of the dark space – the fullness of the dark, within which being and action arise. It is the peaking of emptiness, which is a fullness. As cosmologist Brian Swimme describes: the empty “ground of being … retains no thing.” It is “Ultimate Generosity.”[i] In Vajrayana Buddhism, Space is associated with Prajna/wisdom – out of which Upaya/compassionate action arises. Space is highly positive – something to be developed, so appropriate action may develop spontaneously and blissfully.[ii] In Old European Indigenous understandings, the dark and the night were valued at least as much as light, if not more so: time was counted by the number of nights, as in ‘fortnights,’ and a ‘day’ included both dark and light parts … it was ‘di-urnal’. I have been careful with my language about that inclusion in the ceremonial ‘Statement of Purpose’ for each Seasonal Moment. This awareness is resonant with modern Western scientific perceptions about the nature of the Universe: that it is seventy-three percent “dark energy,” twenty-three precent “dark matter,” four percent “ordinary matter.”[iii] The truth is that we live within this darkness: it is the Ground of all Being. In Pagan traditions since Celtic times, and in many other cultural traditions, Winter Solstice has been celebrated as the birth of the God; and in Christian tradition since about the fourth century C.E., as the birth of the saviour. But there are deeper ways of understanding what is being born: that is, who or what the “saviour” is. In the Gospel of Thomas, which was not selected for biblical canon, it says: “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.”[iv] This then may be the Divine Child, the “Saviour”: it may be expressed as the new Being forming in the Cosmogonic Womb,[v] who will be born. We may celebrate the birth of the new Being, which /who is always beyond us, beyond our knowing … yet is within us, burgeoning within us – and within Gaia. What will save us is already present within – forming within us. The Winter Solstice story may emphasize that what is born, is within each one – the “Divine” is not “out there”: it may be said, and expressed ceremoniously, that we are each Creator and Created. We may imagine ourselves as the in-utero foetus – an image we might have access to these days from a sonar-scan during pregnancy. This image presents a truth about Being: we are this, and it is within us, within this moment. Every moment is pregnant with the new. It will be birthed when holy darkness is full. Part of what is required is having the eyes to see the “new bone forming in flesh,” scraping our eyes “clear of learned cataracts,”[vi] seeing with fresh eyes. That is what the fullness of the Dark offers – a freshening of our eyes to see the new. And the process of Creation is always reciprocal: we are Creator and Created simultaneously, in a “ngapartji-ngapartji”[vii] way. We are in-formed by that which we form. In Earth-based religious practice, the ubiquitous icon of Mother and Child – Creator and Created – expresses something essential about the Universe itself … the “motherhood” we are all born within. It expresses the essential communion experience that this Cosmos is, the innate and holy Care that it takes, and the reciprocal nature of it. We cannot touch without being touched at the same time.[viii] We may realize that Cosmogenesis – the entire Unfolding of the Cosmos – is essentially relational: our experience tells us this is so. The image of The Birth of the Goddess on the front cover of my book PaGaian Cosmology expresses that reciprocity for me, how we may birth each other and the healing/wholing in that exchange. It is a Sacred Interchange. And it is what this Event of existence seems to be about – deep communion, which both Solstices express. Babylonian Goddess, Ur 4000-3500 BCE. Adele Getty, Goddess, 33. Birthing is not often an easy process – for the birthgiver nor for the birthed one: it is a shamanic act requiring strength of bodymind, attention, courage, and focus of the mother, and resilience and courage to be of the new young one. Birthgiving is the original place of ‘heroics,’ which many cultures of the world have never forgotten, perhaps therefore better termed as “heraics.” Patriarchal adaptations of the story of this Seasonal Moment usually miss the Creative Act of birthgiving completely, usually being pre-occupied with the “virgin” nature of the Mother which is interpreted as having an “intact hymen.” The focus of the patriarchal adaptation of the Winter Solstice story is the Child as “saviour”: even the Mother gazes at the Child in most Christian icons, while in more ancient images Her eyes are direct and expressive of Her integrity as Creator. NOTES: [i] Swimme, The Universe is a Green Dragon, 146. [ii] See Rita Gross, “The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.” The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 179-192. [iii] These figures as told by cosmologist Paul Davies with Macquarie University’s Centre for Astrobiology, Australia. [iv] Elaine Pagels, Beyond Belief: the Secret Gospel of Thomas, saying number 70. See https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/thomas.html . [v] Melissa Raphael’s term, Thealogy and Embodiment, 262. [vi] The quotes come from a poem by Cynthia Cook, “Refractions,” Womanspirit (Oregan USA, issue 23, March 1980), 59. [vii] This is an Indigenous Australian term for reciprocity – giving and receiving at the same time. I explain it a bit further in PaGaian Cosmology, 256-257. [viii] An expression from Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous, 68. REFERENCES: Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous. New York: Vintage Books, 1997. Getty, Adele. Goddess: Mother of Living …
(Mago Almanac Excerpt 7) Introducing the Magoist Calendar by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A) at Mago Bookstore. YEARLY LEAP DAY AND EVERY FOURTH YEAR LEAP DAY Each Sa includes a Dan of the big Sa. A Dan is equal to one day. That adds to 365 days. At the half point of the third Sa, there is a Pan of the big Sak (the year of the great dark moon). A Pan comes at a half point of Sa. This is of Beopsu (Lawful Number) 2, 5, 8. A Pan is equal to a day. Therefore, the fourth Sa has 366 days. Each year has a leap day (Dan), which makes a total of 365 days. Every fourth year is a leap year that has a leap day (Pan), which makes a total of 366 days. The Dan day comes before the New Year in the winter solstice month. And the Pan day comes before the first day of the summer solstice month in the fourth year. The above, however, does not indicate when the New Year comes. Logographic characters of Dan and Pan each suggest their meanings. While each year includes the Dan day (the morning), every fourth year has the Pan day. A unit of four years makes the Big Calendar. Dan (旦 Morning) Leap day for every first three years Pan (昄 Big) Leap day for every fourth year I have postulated that the year begins on the Dan day (one leap day), a day before New Year that comes in the month of Winter Solstice in the Norther Hemisphere. And the Pan day comes on the day before the first day of the 7th month that has Summer Solstice in the fourth year in the Norther Hemisphere. Years Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Months Dan Dan Dan Dan 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 Pan 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 Days 365 365 365 366 The Magoist Calendar’s intercalation involves one leap day every year and one leap day every four years. That is, each year has one extra day to make it 365 days. Every fourth year has an extra day to make it 366 days. Four years has a total of 1461 days (365×3+366), which makes the mean of 365.25 days. Considering that the month is following the sidereal period rather than the synodic period, it is inferred that the year also follows the sidereal year rather than the solar year. In fact, Magoist Calendar’s one year is very close to today’s 365.25636 days of the sidereal year compared to 365.24217 days of the solar year or the tropical year. Given that, as seen below, the Budoji mentions the tiniest discrepancy of one leap day for 31,788,900 years, the discrepancy between 365.25 and 365.25636 (0.00636 day) can be explained that the year was actually 365.25 days at the time of Budo circa 2333 BCE, 4440 years ago. In other words, there is a discrepancy of 0.12375936 seconds between 2017 CE and 2333 BCE. Regarding Lawful Numbers 2, 5, 8, it is involved as follows: 365 days (3+6+5=14, 1+4=5) Lawful Numbers 2, 5, 8 refers the unit of 365 days (364 days with one intercalary day). Further dynamics are unknown. The sidereal year refers to the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun once with respect to the distant stars. In contrast, the solar or tropical year means the time taken by the Earth to orbit the sun once with respect to the sun. The sidereal year, 365.25636 days, is about 20 minutes and 24 seconds longer than the mean tropical year (365.24217 days) and about 19 minutes and 57 seconds longer than the average Gregorian year of 365.2425 days. The difference occurs primarily because the solar system spins on its own axis and around the Milky Way galactic center making the solar year’s observed position relative. Time is no independent concept apart from space and the agent. The very concept of time is preceded by the agent bound in a space. It is always contextualized. In Magoism, both calendar and time are born out of the cosmogonic universe, the universe that is in self-creation. Like calendar, time is to be discovered or measured. It is a numinous concept. The very concept of time testifies to the reality of the Creatrix. Time proves the orderly movement of the universe into which we are born. Calendar patterns time, whereas time undergirds calendar. How can we measure time? We are given the time of the Earth that comes from its rotation, revolution, and precession in sync with the moon and the sun (and its planets). One type of time is the solar time. The solar time is a calculation of time based on the position of the sun. Traditionally, the solar time is measured by the sundial. The solar time is, however, specific to the Earth only. It is valid only for the-same-observed-location. It is not made to be used for the time of another celestial body. For example, Mars’ solar time has to be measured independently based on its own rotation and revolution rates. The solar time is an isolated time. It is static and exclusive, not made for the time of other celestial bodies. By nature, it is unfit for connection and communication across celestial bodies. The second type is the sidereal time. The sidereal time is a time scale based on the rate of Earth’s rotations measured relative to the distant stars.[29] Because the observed position is in the far distant stars beyond the solar system, the sidereal time may as well be called an extrasolar stellar time. We can think of the observer’s position of an imaginary cosmic bird far out there, infinitely far beyond not only the solar system and …
A PaGaian Wheel of the Year and Her Creativity by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an excerpt from Chapter 2 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. for larger image see: https://pagaian.org/pagaian-wheel-of-the-year/ Essentially a PaGaian Wheel of the Year celebrates Cosmogenesis – the unfolding of the Cosmos, none of which is separate from the unfolding of each unique place/region, and each unique being. This creativity of Cosmogenesis is celebrated through Earth-Sun relationship as it may be expressed and experienced within any region of our Planet. PaGaian ceremony expresses this with Triple Goddess Poetry understood to be metaphor for the creative dynamics unfolding the Cosmos. At the heart of the Earth-Sun relationship is the dance of light and dark, the waxing and waning of both these qualities, as Earth orbits around our Mother Sun. This dance, which results in the manifestation of form and its dissolution (as expressed in the seasons), happens because of Earth’s tilt in relationship with Sun: because this effects the intensity of regional receptivity to Sun’s energy over the period of the yearly orbit. This tilt was something that happened in the evolution of our planet in its earliest of days – some four and a half billion years ago,[i] and then stabilised over time: and the climatic zones were further formed when Antarctica separated from Australia and South America, giving birth to the Antarctica Circumpolar Current, changing the circulation of water around all the continents … just some thirty million years ago.[ii] Within the period since then, which also saw the advent of the earliest humans, Earth has gone through many climatic changes. It is likely that throughout those changes, the dance of light and dark in both hemispheres of the planet … one always the opposite of the other – has been fairly stable and predictable. The resultant effect on flora and fauna regionally however has varied enormously depending on many other factors of Earth’s ever-changing ecology: She is an alive Planet who continues to move and re-shape Herself. She is Herself subject to the cosmic dynamics of creativity – the forming and the dissolving and the re-emerging. The earliest of humans must have received all this, ‘observed’ it in a very participatory way: that is, not as a Western industrialized or dualistic mind would think of ‘observation’ today, but as kin with the events – identifying with their own experience of coming into being and passing away. There is evidence (as of this writing) to suggest that humans have expressed awareness of, and response to, the phenomenon of coming into being and passing away, as early as one hundred thousand years ago: ritual burial sites of that age have been found,[iii] and more recently a site of ongoing ritual activity as old as seventy thousand years has been found.[iv] The ceremonial celebration of the phenomenon of seasons probably came much later, particularly perhaps when humans began to settle down. These ceremonial celebrations of seasons apparently continued to reflect the awesomeness of existence as well as the marking of transitions of Sun back and forth across the horizon, which became an important method of telling the time for planting and harvesting and the movement of pastoral animals. It seems that the resultant effect of the dance of light and dark on regional flora and fauna, has been fairly stable in recent millennia, the period during which many current Earth-based religious practices and expression arose. In our times, that is changing again. Humans have been, and are, a major part of bringing that change about. Ever since we migrated around the planet, humans have brought change, as any creature would: but humans have gained advantage and distinguished themselves by toolmaking, and increasingly domesticating/harnessing more of Earth’s powers – fire being perhaps the first, and this also aided our migration. In recent times this harnessing/appropriating of Earth’s powers became more intense and at the same time our numbers dramatically increased: and many of us filled with hubris, acting without consciousness or care of our relational context. We are currently living in times when our planet is tangibly and visibly transforming: the seasons themselves as we have known them for millennia – as anyone’s ancestors knew them – appear to be changing in most if not all regions of our Planet. Much predictable Poetry – sacred language – for expressing the quality of the Seasonal Moments will change, as regional flora changes, as the movement of animals and birds and sea creatures changes, as economies change.[v]In Earth’s long story regional seasonal manifestation has changed before, but not so dramatically since the advent of much current Poetic expression for these transitions, as mixed as they are with layers of metaphor: that is, with layers of mythic eras, cultures and economies. We may learn and understand the traditional significance of much of the Poetry, the ceremony and symbol – the art – through which we could relate and converse with our place, as our ancestors may have done, but it will continue to evolve as all language must. In PaGaian Cosmology I have adapted the Wheel as a way of celebrating the Female Metaphor and also as a way of celebrating Cosmogenesis, the Creativity that is present really/actually in every moment, but for which the Seasonal Moments provide a pattern/Poetry over the period of a year – in time and place. The pattern that I unfold is a way in which the three different phases/characteristics interplay. In fact, the way in which they interplay seems infinite, the way they inter-relate is deeply complex. I think it is possible to find many ways to celebrate them. There is nothing concrete about the chosen story/Poetry, nor about each of the scripts presented here, just as there is nothing concrete about the Place of Being – it (She) is always relational, a Dynamic Interchange. Whilst being grounded in the “Real,” the Poetry chosen for expression is therefore at the same time, a potentially infinite expression, according to the heart and mind of the storyteller. NOTES: [i] See Appendix C, *(6), Glenys Livingstone, A Poiesis of the Creative …
(Slideshow) Beltaine Goddess by Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D.

Tara, Hallie Iglehart Austen, p.122 On November 7th at 22:56 UTC EarthGaia crosses the midpoint in Her orbit between Equinox and Solstice. In the Southern Hemisphere it is the Season of Beltaine – a maturing of the Light, post-Spring Equinox. Beltaine and all of the light part of the cycle, is particularly associated with the Young One/Virgin aspect of Goddess, even as She comes into relationship with Other: She remains Her own agent. Beltaine may be understood as the quintessential annual celebration of Light as it continues to wax towards fullness. It is understood to be the beginning of Summer. Here is some Poetry of the Season: Earth tilts us further towards Mother Sun, the Source of Her pleasure, life and ecstasy You are invited to celebrate BELTAINE the time when sweet Desire For Life is met – when the fruiting begins: the Promise of early Spring exalts in Passion. This is the celebration of Holy Lust, Allurement, Aphrodite … Who holds all things in form, Who unites the cosmos, Who brings forth all things, Who is the Essence of the Dance of Life. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express this quality of Hers. And also for consideration, is the fact that most ancient images of Goddess are multivalent – She was/is One: that is, all Her aspects are not separate from each other. These selected images tell a story of certain qualities that may be contemplated at the Seasonal Moment of Beltaine. As you receive the images, remember that image communicates the unspeakable – that which can only be known in body – below rational mind. So you may open yourself to a transmission of Her, that will be particular to you. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKGRoVjQQHY Aphrodite 300 B.C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). This Greek Goddess is commonly associated with sexuality in a trivial kind of way, but She was said to be older than Time (Barbara Walker p.44). Aphrodite as humans once knew Her, was no mere sex goddess: Aphrodite was once a Virgin-Mother-Crone trinity – the Creative Force itself. The Love that She embodied was a Love deep down in things, an allurement intrinsic to the nature of the Universe. Praised by the Orphics thus: For all things are from You Who unites the cosmos. You will the three-fold fates You bring forth all things Whatever is in the heavens And in the much fruitful earth And in the deep sea. Vajravarahi 1600C.E. Tibetan Tantric Buddhism (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A Dakini dancing with life energy – a unity of power, beauty, compassion and eroticism. Praised as Mistress of love and of knowledge at the same time. Tara Contemporary – Green Gulch California ,Tibetan Buddhist. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). “Her eroticism is an important part of her bodhisattvahood: the sweetpea represents the yoni, and she is surrounded by the sensual abundance of Nature. One of Tara’s human incarnations was as the Tibetan mystic Yeshe Tsogyal, “who helped many people to enlightenment through sacred sexual union with her”. – Ishtar 1000 B.C.E. Babylon (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Associated with passionate sexuality (and with Roman Goddess Venus) – which was not perceived as separate from integrity and intelligence … praised for Her beauty and brains! Her lips are sweet, Life is in Her mouth. When She appears, we are filled with rejoicing. She is glorious beneath Her robes. Her body is complete beauty. Her eyes are total brilliance. Who could be equal to Her greatness, for Her decrees are strong, exalted, perfect. MESOPOTAMIAN TEXT 1600 B.C.E. Artemis 4th Cent.B.C.E. Greece. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess) – classic “Virgin” image – wild and free, “Lady of the Beasts”, Goddess of untamed nature. As such, in the patriarchal stories She is often associated with harshness, orgiastic rituals but we may re-story “wildness” in our times as something “innocent” – in direct relationship with the Mother. She is a hunter/archer, protector, midwife, nurturing the new and pure essence (the “wild”) – in earlier times these things were not contradictory. The hunter had an intimate relationship with the hunted. Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. Tibetan Goddess and God in Union: it could be any Lover and Beloved, of same sex. Image from Mann and Lyle, “Sacred Sexuality” p.74. Sacred Couple –Mesopotamia 2000-1600 BCE “Lovers Embracing on Bed”, Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth, Diane Wolkstein and Samuael Noah Kramer. Represents the sacred marriage mythic cycle – late 3rd and into 4th millennium B.C.E. (See Starhawk, Truth or Dare). This period is the time of Enheduanna – great poet and priestess of Inanna. Xochiquetzal 8th century C.E. Mayan (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). Her name means “precious flower” – She is Goddess of pleasure, sexuality beauty and flowers. Sometimes represented by a butterfly who sips the nectar of the flower. “In ancient rituals honouring her, young people made a bower of roses, and, dressed as hummingbirds and butterflies they danced an image of the Goddess of flowers and love.” Her priestesses are depicted with ecstatic faces. (called “laughing Goddesses” !!) She and Her priestesses unashamedly celebrated joyful female sexuality – there is story of decorating pubic hairs to outshine the Goddess’ yoni. https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/meet-mago-contributor-glenys-livingstone/ REFERENCES: Iglehart Austen, Hallie. The Heart of the Goddess. Berkeley: Wingbow, 1990. Mann A.T. and Lyle, Jane. Sacred Sexuality. ELEMENT BOOKS LTD, 1995. Starhawk. Truth or Dare. San Fransisco:Harper and Row, 1990. Walker, Barbara. The Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983. Wolkstein,Diane and Kramer, Samuel Noah. Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth. NY: Harper and Rowe, 1983. The music for the slideshow is “”Coral Sea Dreaming” by Tania Rose.

(Video) Gurang (Nine Goddesses), Gaeyang Halmi (Grandma Gaeyang), and Goddess Gom: Exploring Old Magoism in Korea by Helen Hwang

Meet Mago Contributor, Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D. Read (Photo Essay 5) Gaeyang Halmi, Sea Goddess of Korea.
(Goma Article Excerpt 4) Goma, the Shaman Ruler of Old Magoist East Asia/Korea and Her Mythology by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture, published in 2018 by Mago Books.] Sample Narratives of the Goma Myth Narratives Narrative A (Source Group 1) The Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), written by Iryon (1206–1289): The Gogi (Old Records) reads: Long ago, Hanin[1] had an heir, Hanung, who was from Seoja. Hanung was interested in the human world and willed to save it. Hanin, learning about her will,[2] peered into Mount Samwi (Trinity) and Mount Taebaek (Great Resplendence) to benefit the human world widely. She gave Hanung the Heavenly Emblem of Three Seals and sent her down to govern people. Leading the three thousand people, Hanung descended to Divine Goma Tree (神壇樹 Sindansu) atop Mount Taebaek. The place was called Sinsi (神市 Divine City). And she was called Heavenly Ruler Hanung. She appointed Wind Minister, Rain Master, and Cloud Master and administrated over grains, life, disease, judiciary, and the-good-and-the-evil. Directing about 360 human affairs, she governed the created world to run its own course according to the principle. At the time, the tiger clan and the bear clan lived in the same cave. They ceaselessly prayed to Sinung (神雄) to attain human nature. The Divine gave them a bundle of mugwort and twenty pieces of wild garlic and said, “Eat these and stay without seeing the sunlight for one hundred days. And you will acquire the human nature.” The bear and the tiger received and ate them. In three seven days, the bear gained the female body. The tiger was unable to endure and therefore did not attain the human body. The queen of the bear clan had no one to marry. Thus, she came to the Divine Tree daily and prayed for conception. Ung was tentatively transformed and married. She conceived and begot a child who was known as Dangun Wanggeom.[3] Narratives B and C (Source Group 2) The Handan Gogi, “Sinsi Bongi (Prime Chronicle of Sinsi)” in Taebaek Ilsa, written by Maek Yi (1455-1528): According to the Samseong Milgi (Esoteric Records of the Three Sages), at the end of the Hanguk period, there rose a recalcitrant tribe. Concerning this, Hanung established the teaching of the Triad Divine. And she gathered people and had them vow to observe the covenant. This was her secret plan to remove this unruly clan in the end. At that time, clan names grew indifferent and their customs drifted apart from each other. The indigenous was the tiger clan (the Ho) and the immigrant was the bear clan (the Ung). The Ho was greedy and cruel. They made a living by raiding and plundering others. The Ung were single-minded and did not mingle with others. They were too proud to reconcile. The two clans lived in the same cave. However, they grew ever apart. Neither they lent things to each other. Nor they married. They opposed every single matter and never walked on the same road. Facing such conflict, the queen of the bear clan learned about Hanung’s divine virtue. She, leading her people, came to visit Hanung and said, “May you grant us a cave hall (穴廛 Hyeoljeon) and allow us to become the people of the divine covenant.” Ung granted it [a cave hall] and had herself decide the administrative territory. She conceived and gave birth to a child. The Ho did not change until the end and was expelled to the land outside Four Seas (the territory of Old Magoist East Asia). Thereupon, the Han clan began to prosper from this time on. The Jodaegi (Book of the Early Period) reads: There were many people but not enough resources, which made livelihood difficult. Hanung, the great person of Seojabu (Branch of Seoja), was concerned about this. She listened to the affairs of the world widely and determined herself to descend the Heavenly Realm and open the one world of resplendent luminescence. Thereupon, Anpagyeon [Hanin] peered down Mount Geumak (Metal Mountain), Mount Samwi (Trinity), and Mount Taebaek (Great Resplendence) and deemed Mount Taebaek a suitable place to benefit the human world widely. She commanded Hanung and said to her, “Now humans and all things are brought to stability. Take lead of people and descend to the world. Open the will of Heaven and teach people. Administer rituals to the Heavenly Deity. Establish the right of fathers, support the elderly, and guide children. Bring peace among them. Instate the way of teaching to govern the created world to run its own course by the principle. Set it as an exemplar for the generations to come.” And she gave her the Heavenly Emblem of Three Seals and sent her to the world to govern. Leading the three thousand people, Hanung descended to the Divine Tree. This is called Sinsi (Divine City). Assisted by Wind Minister, Rain Master, and Cloud Master, she had grains, life, judiciary, disease, and the-good-and-the-evil administered. She administered about 360 affairs and benefited the human world widely by governing the created world to run its own course according to the principle. She was named Heavenly Ruler Hanung. At that time, the tiger clan and the bear clan lived in close proximity. They went to pray at the Divine Tree and requested of Hanung, “Grant us to become the people of the divine covenant.” Hanung transformed them by reciting holy mantras to have them attain the divine power. Giving them a bundle of mugwort and twenty pieces of chive,[4] she said warningly, “Eat these and pray for one hundred days in a place where there is no sunlight. And you will become a great human being who realizes the self and save all beings.” Both the tiger clan and the bear clan ate them and trained themselves refraining from the sunlight for three seven days. The Ung endured the pain of hunger and coldness and observed the heavenly covenant. They kept the vow of Hanung and attained the female feature. The Ho, deceptive and neglectful, broke the heavenly covenant. They were not …
(Essay 1) Returning Home with Mago, the Great Goddess, from East Asia by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first published in Trivia, Voices of Feminism, Issue 6, September 2007.] I come from Korea. When I say I came from Korea, I do not mean “Korea” in a nationalistic sense. Nationalism, reinforced by international politics as a cardinal rule of the global community, precludes the agency of women; it is a game of the patriarchal controllers. When I say I am Korean, I mean I am a Magoist Korean, a gynocentric Korean. My Korean identity refers to my cultural and historical root. Fortunately, I have found my Korean gynocentric root in the tradition of Mago, the Great Goddess, from East Asia.1

Tag: Anna Tzanova

Anna Tzanova

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Mago Pod Bulletin #74 December 2024

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