September 9, 2015October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin2 Comments

(Essay 3) Why Reenact the Nine-Mago Movement? by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: The sequel of this essay will be released in preparation for the 2015 Nine-Day Solstice Celebration Project.] Part III In Search of Goddess Goma via Linguistics, Place-names, and Myths Read More …

(Essay 5) Circe the Island Witch by Hearth Moon Rising

Fifth (and last) in a series. Earlier installments are here, here, here, and here. Christine de Pizan lecturing (1413). From a compendium of her writing. The Italian Renaissance produced some amazing women. There was Christine de Pizan, born of an intellectual Venetian family and a highly regarded writer of the French Court. She was the first woman to write a treatise on great women in Western history (The Book of the City of Ladies, 1405). Interestingly, Circe was one of the women featured. There was Modesta Pozzo, who wrote an analysis of women’s struggle against misogyny (The Worth of Women: Wherein is Closely Revealed Their Nobility and Their Superiority to Men, 1597). Like the British feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792), Pozzo died in childbirth. Modesta Pozzo Many feminists are aware of Artemisia Gentileschi, the artist who bravely prosecuted her rapist in open court. Her famous painting, Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614) definitively sums up her feelings about predatory men. We could go on and on with examples of scholarly, artistic, highly accomplished women of this time and place, but this really is an essay about Circe, and in that context I want to discuss Eleonora of Arborea, who ruled most of the island of Sardinia for twenty years, beginning in 1383. Judith Slaying Holofernes (1614) by Artemisia Gentileschi Like any other female ruler of the time, Eleonora assumed political control through family connections and a series of accidents. What is interesting about her is not that she was granted power, but that she held on to it so long in that era of war, intrigue, and social upheavel. She successfully spearheaded some changes to the legal code benefitting women, such as equalizing inheritence. The ability to own property was one of the main issues that concerned early advocates for women’s rights. Another important change in the legal code strengthened penalities against rapists. Statue of Eleonora of Arborea in Oristano, Sardinia, Italy. Photo: Briangotts. One of Eleonora’s legacies, less known outside of birding circles, was the protection of hawks and falcons on the island. She was an enthusiastic falconer, like many in the nobility, and her favorite bird was Falco eleonore, or Eleonora’s Falcon, which was eventually named for her. This falcon, who is Circe’s avian form, had no predators except humans, who would brave the precipitous climb up cliffs to gather eggs. Eleonora put a stop to this. Eleonora’s Falcon. Photo: Jurgen Dietrich. Maybe she did this to save the bird for herself and her friends, more out of dedication to the sport than ecological awareness. We don’t know. She was the fourteenth century ruler of a Mediterranean kingdom and so probably not a paragon. But this is a falcon who captures songbirds, strips them of their flying feathers, and traps them in rocky crevices awaiting slaughter. Eleonora’s Falcon has some rather troubling features herself. Eleonora of Arborea fits the Circe archetype in many ways. She adopted and protected Circe’s falcon. She was herself an indomitable ruler of an island nation. She sought to improve women’s status in relation to men. She was skilled in managing warfare and in negotiating peace. Nowhere does it say she was a witch – But come on, how did she do it? (End of the Essay) https://www.magoism.net/2013/04/meet-mago-contributor-hearth-moon-rising/
(Prose & Art 4) The Goddess: The Foundation of My Spirituality by Noris Binet

Mandala by Noris Binet Wholeness, Mother, Goddess: All Synonymous Being in alignment with the Goddess, in a simple and direct way, is to be attuned with nature, with its rhythms and its manifestations. The moon’s energy, for instance, can be a vital resource for our own deepening since its touches an aspect of the psyche that is deeply connected with our unconscious and our capacity to enter into the world of the archetypes, from where life is renewed periodically. Working with the monthly lunation is an alchemic process that supports our restoration through a process of renewal so essential for human beings and our wellbeing. To develop a sensitive connection with rainfall, lightening, thunder, the sun rising and setting, rivers, ocean currents, etc., can support us in reconnecting with the Goddess nature. Eventually we will discover that wild life in every sense is the same as the wilderness of our own psyche. Serving the goddess is the most progressive and self-sustaining kind of work that we can do for humanity. Introducing young boys and girls to Mother nature as the giver of life is how we preserve our heritage. Whether the children in our family or wherever we find ourselves in connection with youth, sharing this lesson is vital to our survival. I introduced my niece Carla to the Goddess when she was quite young and then more so when she had her first menstruation as it was a simple but intentional recognition of her own blood as a celebration of life and this beautiful event, one that she will always remember. Since then she has developed a connection with the Goddess nature and has been rewarded with powerfully guiding dreams where the Goddess has been clearly revealed. In one of her latest dream she was shown a stone, colored orange and blue and was told that this was the stone of the Goddess of the Fish, La Diosa de Los Pescados. After awakening from the dream, she was able to find that the stone in her dream was known as sodalite,but she wasn’t immediately able to find reference to the Goddess of the fish. Then, after further research she found in Egyptian ancient mythology reference to the fish goddess Hatmehit. At a gem store in Sedona, Arizona, I found the specific sodalite and purchased a sample for each of us being so very touched by her dream as I felt it was a very important revelation not just for Carla but for me as well. It also reconnected me to a dream that I had wherein the ocean waves would bring to the shore a few fish for me to pick-up from the sand, so that I wouldn’t have to go into the water to find food for nourishment. I carried the stone with me wondering what kind of energy this stone possessed. And would she reveal who La Diosa de Los Pescados is? Lately, after living in the United States for 28 years, twenty years in Nashville and the last eight years in Sonoma, California, I began to sense that something was shifting both internally and externally, something was ending but I was not sure what it was. Building bridges in Nashville between African-American and Anglo women in Nashville had been important and fulfilling work for me. Then after moving to Sonoma, I began working with the immigrant women’s population in the Sonoma Valley, mostly from Mexico, doing educational, counseling and healing work. I was able to use a series of alternative modalities to help them in the challenging transmigrations process that had embarked upon them. These pioneering women contribute to a more diverse society bilingually and biculturally, in addition to the contributions from the daily work they perform. They also brought with them, as many are aware, the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is not only the patron saint of Mexico but also the most holy mother of all. In the last few years my health began to be impacted in ways that I couldn’t understand. I had no idea where to go, or how life would unfold since my husband had a good job and was content in Sonoma. Then in 2013, I was invited to lead a silent retreat in Ajijic, Mexico, where I had once lived. The first morning that I rose to meditate I suddenly felt a powerful energy arising from the land and the nearby lake through my entire body. I was very surprised because this energy reconnected me to the same feelings that I discovered when I lived there over thirty-five years ago. I came back to Sonoma with an awareness that there might be a possibility for me to go back to this place that I loved but I had no idea how. Then unexpectedly, last year my husband lost his job which allowed us to go to Ajijic during January and February of this year for him to see if he liked the town. During those two months we were granted with many gifts of welcoming from new friends and from those who I had known before. When we came back to Sonoma, our landlord decided to sell the house that we had rented for nearly nine years and we were forced to leave that home that I treasured. It was an unsettling time. But then, I was invited to go back to Mexico to teach this past July (2017) and I welcomed that invitation as an omen since I had not been invited to present at this congress for over five years. It was an opportunity to explore further the nurturing energy that I felt was calling me back to Mexico, whose culture had always embraced me with open arms since I first moved there forty-one years ago when I was twenty to attend the University of Guadalajara. I left Sonoma in July to Mexico after having spent a couple of months since moving from our home, into the NEST, a wonderful guest house in the woods …
(Solstice meditation) Three Candles Meditation by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This meditation particularly expresses Winter Solstice Poetry – the Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos at this Seasonal Moment, when the the ancients of my heritage celebrated the significance of the Triple Spiral: they engraved this triplicit motif on the inner chamber wall of the Bru-na-Boinne sacred mound in Ireland[1], placed so that it would be lit by the dawn Sunlight at Winter Solstice each year. The Triple Spiral, which was hidden for millennia and only uncovered again in the latter part of last century, apparently represented something essential to the Indigenous religious tradition of the region and perhaps to a wider community of people who came there. I have taken it to represent my understanding of a Cosmology wherein I am in intimate relationship my Habitat/Place: a PaGaian Cosmology, wherein my everyday footsteps are the sacred Journey – as Earth journeys around Sun … our everyday sacred journey. The following meditation celebrates three qualities of the essential Creativity of the Cosmos, that are resonant with other triple metaphors – the Triple Goddess, the Three Refuges. Light the 1st candle: I remember She within me Who is deeply related – the Mother – the Matrix, the Intricate Web – She Who Is – everything within me that connects me to the past, upon which the present is built – the Depth of this moment, this Dynamic Place of Being. I remember the Sangha, the community around the globe that supports Life, those in particular that have and do support my life – all those who have been, and are, my teachers. Light the 2nd candle: I remember She within me Who is ever new – the Young One – the Urge budding forth – She Who will Be – the future, the children, the descendants of body and mind – the much More in myself and all selves. I remember the Buddha, the Self, the Shining One within all, for whom I refine the gold – for whom this life is given, those whom I support, for whom I am teacher. Light the 3rd candle: I remember She within me Who returns me to All-That-Is, to the Great Subject – the Old One – She within Who creates the Space to Be, Who dissolves the old in every moment, Who is the transformations of the Ages – Who knows the Truth of all things – Who is the Sentience within all. I remember the Dharma, She within whose Wisdom is beyond all knowledge. This is the Creative Context in which we are held – in the Context of all that supports this present moment, in the Context of the future that is being conceived and nurtured right here, and in the Context of the Old all-Knowing Compassionate One who receives all – all three creative dynamics present Here within each unique being. NOTES: Bru-na-Boinne is commonly known as “Newgrange”, a name given to the place in Christian times when the significance of the place was all but forgotten, and only remembered perjoratively as “folklore”: the Place was merely a “new farm”. But of Old it was the Place of Boann – the Goddess of the region for whom the Boyne River there is named. For a video version: The Three Candles Meditation on YouTube. Reference: Glenys Livingstone Ph.D., PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion, Lincoln NE:iUniverse 2005. p. 259-260. Meet Mago Contributor, Glenys Livingstone.
(Prose) The Pleiades, The Seven Sisters and Songlines by Susan Hawthorne

In February I travelled to Canberra to see the Songlines exhibition which was on at the Australian Museum. I have been thinking about this star cluster for many years, but this exhibition is the first to be curated by Aboriginal women and to be mounted in such an extraordinary way with paintings, soundscapes, immersive multimedia and explanations of the surface meanings of the art. In 2002 I heard Munya Andrews, an Indigenous woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, give a talk about the Pleiades at the Midsumma Festival in Melbourne. We talked and I asked to see the manuscript she was writing. Over the next years or two, Munya worked on her manuscript and the book was published in 2004, The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades: Stories from around the World. The book begins with the stories told to her by her grandmother. Munya goes on to trace the extraordinary connections between different mythic traditions, she comments on the overlaps between the Greek tradition with its birds and the traditions found in Australia where birds are also part of the story. She looks at the importance of the Pleiades in determining seasonal and agricultural systems and festivals connected to those systems. She follows the Pleiades across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean that the Polynesians use in their navigating. There is a great emphasis on Indigenous traditions from around the world in this book including Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, the Ainu of Japan, Native Americans from North and South America as well as the traditions of India, Egypt and Greece. It is a treasure trove of information. I remembered what I had written in my novel, The Falling Woman (1992). You sing of the old times, singing four words, repeating them over and over. Others join in, and soon everyone is singing. The chant becomes a mantra. We sing and we forget. We sing and we remember. We sing and we invent, creating new meanings for old stories, old chants. We reinterpret the story, the chant. The words give us one meaning. The words are: The emus became stars. We know the story behind the simple song, a story of flight and transformation. On the dusty plains of Australia and in the island world of Greece, they tell the same story. Seven maidens in the form of birds were pursued by suitors. The maidens, as emus or doves, fled across the earth and became stars, forming the constellation of the Seven Sisters. Their pursuers became the group of stars we know as Orion. You can see the eternal flight if you look into the summer night sky. As winter approaches the Seven Sisters disappear over the western horizon. Psappha wrote: The moon and the Pleiades both have set The night is half gone Time passes me by still I sleep alone The Seven Sisters: Alcyone Merope Maia Taygete Electra Calaeno Asterope Daughters of Pleione The Songlines Exhibition follows the stories of women from Roebourne in Western Australia in Martu lands through Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) lands and Ngaanyatjarra lands in South Australia. This is a distance of several thousand kilometres. The basic story is the pursuit the seven stars who are sisters by. They are pursued by a man who is represented by Orion. In some of the stories, the women escape, in others they turn on the old man who is chasing them, in some one of the sisters is raped and sometimes reappears, sometimes she doesn’t. Wati Nyiru turned himself into flowers. The eldest sister says, ‘Don’t pick these flowers. The flowers are him!’ –Inawinytji Williamson, 2016 Wati is the word for man ins several desert languages. There are beautiful sculptures of the sisters who fly up to become starts. There is so much in the exhibition and it is impossible to describe it in a very short post. To get some idea of the power of this exhibition, you can purchase a copy of the exhibition catalogue, Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters, Margo Neale (ed.). It includes the background to the exhibition, stories artists, mostly women, essays and beautiful reproductions from the exhibition. Links: Seven Sisters of the Pleiades: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=138/ The Falling Woman: http://www.spinifexpress.com.au/Bookstore/book/id=64/ Songlines exhibition: http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/songlines Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters catalogue: http://www.nma.gov.au/exhibitions/songlines/shop The translation of Sappho above is by Susan Hawthorne © 1992. (Meet Mago Contributor) Susan Hawthrone.
(Book Excerpt) Resiliency, Renewal and Love: The Sacred Legacy of The Ancestral Mothers by Pegi Eyers

Art, “Sacred Legacy of Ancestral Mothers,” by Pegi Eyers “Are you, like me, feeling that the mythology of your life is now divided between the eras of pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19?” When I wrote those words at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, I was experiencing moments of confusion and unease, in what felt like a menacing new reality. Being part of a “lockdown” was totally surreal. Was this really happening? Did our public health authorities actually have the power to shut down our civic spaces and amenities, and to restrict our movements? Apparently so. For most of us, this was a totally new phenomena. And to top it off, how could a “state of emergency” be declared on my very own birthday, and what was I doing enjoying a celebration in a restaurant that should have already closed their doors? It’s now a full year later, my solar return is coming around again, and the entire world has been forced to reconcile with great tragedies, disruptions and impossible events. Like everyone else, I’ve been stripped down to the essentials of refuge, food, medicine and other basic needs, with the comfort of social life relegated to the sidelines. Even going for a walk is daunting, with the potential of a deadly virus waiting around the corner to contaminate our lives. And how disempowering to think of the people, places, and objects of our desire, as hidden sources of danger! New words are part of our vocabulary too – terms like “self-isolation,” “shelter in place,” “quarantine,” “essential workers,” “community spread,” “flatten the curve,” “online reality,” and “covidiot” (a covid denier). Instead of café culture, bookstore browsing, visiting art galleries or going to spiritual gatherings and conferences, we now spend our days in our homes – humble or palatial as they may be. Except for the super-rich, everyone is suffering an economic hit, and the ability to keep a roof over our heads is in jeopardy. Knowing how capitalism is structured, without the daily intake of profits our beloved community restaurants and shoppes will never rise from the ashes. And right now, it’s hard to imagine what the world will look like, in a post-COVID era. Intellectually I understand that the virus will run its course – some will catch it, others never will; some will die and others recover. These are plain truths I can deal with, and not that difficult to accept. But still, there is stress in the disruption of my daily routine, plus the ongoing worry of falling ill. COVID-19 has changed our world on a scale never seen before, and yet we had so much to begin with! Until 2020 I had been feeling the irony of living in an era of cultural renaissance and hope, at the same time that western civilization seemed to be collapsing under its own weight. For many years I’ve been watching for apocalyptic omens, and as a society, we’ve been comfortable with “the sky falling” for decades now. Warnings of monumental change and the breakdown of ecosystems have been part of the public discourse for my entire adult life. A civilization that destroys the natural world to live, will destroy itself. It’s a given. And altering the balance of nature by massive deforestation and the annihilation of natural habitat, can unleash viruses like COVID-19 on the world. During the summer of 2020 as the pandemic set in, and after a proper time of adjustment and bemoaning, I finally went, “wait a minute!” As a Celtic Animist with a focus on Matriarchal Studies, I had an epiphany that the clanswomen in my ancestral motherline would also have endured times of dire deprivation, as no era is exempt from the cyclical forces of birth, life, death and rebirth. They would have found their ingenuity and strength when the rains did not come, when the ground was barren, when the forests were on fire, when the storms lashed the valley for days, when the river flooded the land in the middle of the night, when disease was gripping the babies and the Elders, when a horde of marauding horse-men threatened the borders, or when the cold and ice was so unrelenting they thought it would never end. And to withstand all this, and more, without electricity, hot baths, craft rooms, Netflix or gourmet food delivery! Our Ancient Mothers love us so much, they are always there to support us, and to patiently guide us. Working from an eternal place of continuity and care, our motherlines have also prepared us for this great “time of awakening,” when the power of the Eternal Feminine is rising once again. The gifts of the Ancestral Mothers are manifesting in every sphere – in the urgency of women’s leadership, the revival of the gift economy and egalitarian social organization, the blood mysteries and the centering of the womb as divine, the emphasis on the “we” instead of the “me,” the supremacy of unconditional love, the double roles of the birth and death doula, the need for wise Grandmothers and mentors, and the passion for venerating our Beloved Ancestors in the here and now. As in ancient times, on the rise today are the green seers, mystics and spirit-walkers, women skilled with oracles, the dream and vision interpreters, the storytellers, dancers, musicians, gardeners, artisans, warriors and guardians. We have re-discovered our skill with animist lifeways, interspecies communication, plant-spirit medicine, important rites of passage, magical intuitive “knowing,” turning the wheel of destiny, honoring the sacred in all life, reciprocity with Earth Community – and finally, making decisions that honor the Seven Generations before us, and the Seven Generations yet to come. Drought, fire, flood, hurricane, war, famine, disease – all this and more we have endured and will endure again. Keeping the times in perspective, there is also a “destroyer” aspect of feminine deity, and goddesses worldwide like Kali and Coatlique bequeath the land and all beings with cataclysmic events in the “great rebalancing” – era upon era and …
(Art) Luna by Liz Darling

These works are an exploration of what I perceive as sacred. I am viscerally drawn to earth-based spirituality and in giving voice to the space between what is “alive” and what is not. I am intrigued by subject matter that embodies the transitory complexity of nature and the duality of growth and decay. The moon, a symbol of The Goddess, is the keeper of our constantly shifting natural cycles.
(Essay) Woman the Gatherer by Moses Seenarine

[Excerpt from Cyborgs Versus the Earth Goddess: Men’s Domestication of Women and Animals and Female Resistance by Moses Seenarine.] Woman-the-Gatherer Throughout the course of prehistory, women and children constituted 75 percent of the population, on average. The over-emphasizing of activities conducted by 25 percent of community members, sperm-producers, creates a fictitious view of ancient societies and neglects egg-producers’ contribution to human evolution. There are few studies on Paleolithic females, or on hominin feminist theory. This academic oversight is remarkable given the fact that the young-bearing sex are the creators of life in the species. Female hominins exercised enormous power in sex selection, and under gynocentric socialization, they would have been the primary determinants of our evolution. The production by hominin egg-producers in food provision and gathering of plant foods have garnered far less attention than they deserve. Edible plants, eggs, and shellfish often makeup 80 percent of the contemporary gatherer-‘hunter’ diet. In Woman the Gatherer, Frances Dahlberg discusses the roles and activities of women in prehistoric groups and among four contemporary gatherer-‘hunter’ communities. She found that gathering was used as the principal form of food security. Egg-producing hominins were the keepers of a vast botanical knowledge, and they used it to help their families and communities survive and thrive. Foraging and botanical knowledge may have led to the development of memory, communication, language, and a bigger brain. sapiens females observed other animals burying food in the ground to preserve it for winter, and they imitated this behavior by hiding roots and tubers in holes dug in the ground. During winter, they stored an assortment of tubers, wild carrots, onions, seeds, nuts, herbs, grains, vegetables, and other plant-based foods in caves, root cellars, and other places relatively safe from insects and other animals. The young-bearing sex were far from sedentary homemakers waiting for men to show up with rapidly decomposing animal carcass. Egg-producers were the primary providers for hominins’ plant-based diet. Mothers were actively moving around the environment, gathering food, and carrying infants while doing so. Woman-the-gatherer may have traveled for millennia along established routes to gather wild plants in well-scheduled assemblies. Successful gathering required skills of discrimination, evaluation, and memory. The range of seeds, nuts, shells, and grasses discovered at primeval sites indicate careful and knowledgeable selection rather than random gleaning. While traveling and foraging, woman-the-gatherer had to protect herself and children, and her sharpened digging-stick was a primary weapon. A hominin child’s survival depended upon its mother’s ability to carry it great distances for several years, her skill in finding and gathering food, using tools, her ability to space infants, to feed her weaned offspring, and to maintain social ties with the clan or community. Child-centered, egalitarian groups allowed for cooperative breeding and equal distribution of resources to ensure a stable food supply and avoid famine. In addition to gathering, females were doing a lot of plant based processing in the Stone Age. Vegetable foods were usually available to hominids and were exploited easily with simple tools. Women used seeds, nuts, and grains to make cakes, breads and other portable and preserved edibles that would keep during travel over long distances. And, they used fire to bake and cook hard plant-based foods like roots and tubers. Paleo Carb Diet Chimpanzees are close to H. sapiens sapiens genetically, sharing more than 96 percent of their DNA code with humans, and their digestive tract is functionally very similar to that of humans. Pans are primarily frugivores. Their actual diet in nature is just about 95 percent plant-based, with the remaining 5 percent filled with insects, eggs, and baby animals. Given the similarity to Pans, what then did hominins eat, and which sex was more responsible for meeting their nutritional needs? The Stone Age diet was primarily plant-based. Earlier hominins ate a diet of mostly raw, fiber-rich plants, grains, and legumes, and not that much flesh, for millennia. As part of the Paleolithic diet, carbohydrate tubers, the underground storage organs of plants, may have been eaten in high amounts by pre-agricultural humans. The Stone Age diet may have included as much as 3.6 to 4.1 pounds (1.65 to 1.9 kg) of fruit and vegetables per day. During the Early Stone Age, tubers, seeds, fruits, nuts and other starchy foods were readily available and contributed to the evolution of humans’ oversized brains. Cooked starch, a source of preformed glucose, substantially enhanced energy availability to human tissues with high glucose demands, such as the brain, red blood cells, and the developing fetus. Since the human brain uses as much as 25 percent of the body’s energy and up to 60 percent of blood glucose, it probably could not have grown so massive on a low-carbohydrate diet. Also, pregnancy and lactation require more glucose, and low maternal blood glucose compromises the health of females and their fetus. Plus, analysis of European DNA show they had extra copies of amylase genes to break down starchy foods, long before the intensive cultivation of plants. Lactase persistence emerged only 7,500 years ago, which proves that prior to animal colonization, H. sapiens were not regularly consuming the milk of other-than-human animals. Maybe hominin ovary beings were making plant-based milks instead. Archaeologists found stone tools with thousands of wild grain residues on them in Mozambique, dated to 105,000 BP. The grains were highly processed, either boiled, fermented, or ground. This plant-based evidence shows that female foraging groups in the Middle Stone Age routinely brought starchy plants to their cave sites. Most of the grain was sorghum, an ancestor of modern sorghum used in porridge, bread, and beer. Possibly, Paleolithic egg-producers grounded and processed grains and nuts into milk shakes and smoothies. Other plant-based foods were found, such as the African ‘potato,’ false banana, wine palm trunk, and seed from a woody tree. By the Late Stone Age, the processing of wild cereals was routine and women invented efficient methods for cooking ground seeds. Researchers in Palestine uncovered mortars and pestles with grains embedded in the pores dating back to 23,000 …
(In Memoriam & Art) Weaving Communities of Land, Sea, and Sky: Lynne Sinclair-Wood (29/11/1950 – 12/1/2011) by Louise M Hewett

I first met Lynne Sinclair-Wood in a small Adelaide Hills community of Pagans coming together to celebrate a full moon. From that day our friendship developed along a path woven of similar interests in feminist and Goddess art, writing, and relational earth-centric spiritual consciousness with a strong ancestral element. We often spoke of the challenges of weaving ancestral ways into our present bioregional experiences, and I was influenced by her thoughts and wisdom in the gestation of my own creative process during the fifteen years of our friendship, and in many ways as profoundly since her passing. Lynne was an artist and writer, a teacher, facilitator, and Druid. Influenced by, and friends with feminist Goddess artists such as Monica Sjöö and Jill Smith, Lynne’s expressions sought connection and harmony between all aspects of life, especially between her body and the land. While she journeyed through academia – she had a Master of Arts from the University of Adelaide, a Fine Arts degree from the University of South Australia, and a Diploma of Art Education from the National Art School, Newcastle – it was in the school of life that her passions were nourished and took root. While working at the UNESCO World Rock Art Centre in Valcamonica in 1983,[1] Lynne collated a “Who’s Who of World Rock Art,” and was able to meet many of those attending a conference held at that time for those people studying ancient rock art throughout the world. During this period of her life, her interests in the connections between Indigenous peoples and Europeans expressed through symbolism, art, and story, were enriched in concert with her experiences in Scotland and Wales, and later, in the Central Desert of Australia. Ancient people recognised the importance of aligning the physical and spiritual energy of humanity with these cosmic forces which influenced the seasons, the weather, and the human psyche. The symbols used to reflect this interdependence between humanity, the earth, and cosmic forces was ‘The Great Mother.’ The maternal metaphor describes the nurturing aspect of the life force and the importance of inter-relationship between all life forms a relationship which continually regenerates with the cycles of nature. Special places on the earth became sacred because of the flow of energy which could take place at certain times between people, the earth, and cosmic forces, just as the blood or the breast milk of the mother passes to her child.[2] The growing sense of being part of my own ancestral sacred landscape made me consider more deeply the indigenous cultures of Australia. I began to consider how alienated so many European Australians like me are from awareness of the relationship between people and the sacred land. This awareness had been lost by those who colonised other countries so far from their ancestral roots. My work began to explore this duality between ‘being’ Celtic, feeling at one with my ancestral place and culture in Britain, and my present life as a third generation Australian born into landscape that is sacred to another culture.[3] Lynne’s core need to find peace in place whilst bridging cultures and working towards personal and collective healing was affirmed as a life path, and an ardent adventure at that. This seeking, on personal, political and cosmic levels, was the essence of the weave of our friendship and the unofficial mentoring she gifted me despite our very different life experiences. The following essay regarding a coming-together of people in honour of the Whale,[4] an example of Lynne’s intuition and life calling through an intercultural and interspecies experience, was originally printed in the first edition of the Pagan Alliance of South Australia Newsletter, ‘Silver Wheel’, Summer (November) 1998, when I began as editor using the nom de plume of Blackthorn. Sighting logs record Southern Right Whales (7 adults and 7 calves) on 29 August, 1998 on the South Coast (South Australia). In addition to the Southern Right, other whales are also seen in this area, including Humpbacks and Pygmy Sperm whales. These logs can be viewed at http://sawhalecentre.com.au/old/sightings/logs/Cetacean_Sighting_Log_1998.pdf Blessing of Sun Radiant Bhrìde, Blessing of An Cailleach Louise M Hewett, April 2020 From about 1990 I have taught myth, culture and spirituality in Adult Education through courses and workshops. I wrote a book on Women in Celtic culture and completed a Master’s degree at University of Adelaide. Over the years, within both the more academic research and personal spiritual practice within my own ancestral tradition, I have tried to accommodate the fact that I am 3rd generation Australian and have some connection to the sacred nature of the environment as well. In fact, my Druid path has made it clear that living as a bridge between the two cultural environments is part of my path and I have been forced to accept that even though I can return to Britain and Ireland to visit every few years, Australia is where I must help find a new form for the ancient wisdom. Since 1997 I have been working with elders of local Aboriginal communities here in Adelaide, looking at ways in which Celtic and Aboriginal spirituality overlay, as part of the reconciliation process. We have looked at ways of expressing our common spirituality in more practical ways as well as developing ceremony that encapsulates the essence of the land itself, in forms that are both respectful of Aboriginal Australian traditions and the ancestral traditions of Anglo-Celtic European Australians. In 1998 I was offered some work in the office at Buddha House, an education centre here in Adelaide, which offers teachings in Tibetan Buddhism. While attending teachings at Buddha House by the resident Lama, Khensur Rinpoche, it began to occur to me that a meeting between the Rinpoche and some of the Aboriginal elders would be an interesting experience. A perfect opportunity presented itself in August/September when a large number of whales, nursing their newborn young, appeared off the coast of South Australia at Middleton. This was seen as a powerful omen to Aboriginal Elders of the People …
(Poetry) woman by Maya Daniel

she went through them–twisting her spine, bleedingand the baby’s cry is getting louderher journey has come to thisshe’s awake and the wilds followed herthe seed grows on her handshe is a silent warrior it is beautiful to live. (Meet Mago Contributor) Maya Daniel

(Special Post 2) Multi-linguistic Resemblances of “Mago” by Mago Circle Members

Artwork, “The-great-mother” by Julie Stewart Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Magi/Magus, from Magi – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Magi (/ˈmeɪdʒaɪ/; singular magus /ˈmeɪɡəs/; from Latin magus) were priests in Zoroastrianism and the earlier religions of the western Iranians. The earliest known use of the word magi is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Persian texts, predating the Hellenistic period, refer to a magus as a Zurvanic, and presumably Zoroastrian, priest. Pervasive throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia until late antiquity and beyond, mágos was influenced by (and eventually displaced) Greek goēs (γόης), the older word for a practitioner of magic, to include astronomy/astrology, alchemy and other forms of esoteric knowledge. This association was in turn the product of the Hellenistic fascination for (Pseudo‑)Zoroaster, who was perceived by the Greeks to be the Chaldean founder of the Magi and inventor of both astrology and magic, a meaning that still survives in the modern-day words “magic” and “magician”. In the Gospel of Matthew, “μάγοι” (magoi) from the east do homage to the newborn Jesus, and the transliterated plural “magi” entered English from Latin in this context around 1200 (this particular use is also commonly rendered in English as “kings” and more often in recent times as “wise men”).[1] The singular “magus” appears considerably later, when it was borrowed from Old French in the late 14th century with the meaning magician. … An unrelated term, but previously assumed to be related, appears in the older Gathic Avestan language texts. This word, adjectival magavan meaning “possessing maga-“, was once the premise that Avestan maga- and Median (i.e. Old Persian) magu- were co-eval (and also that both these were cognates of Vedic Sanskrit magha-). While “in the Gathas the word seems to mean both the teaching of Zoroaster and the community that accepted that teaching”, and it seems that Avestan maga- is related to Sanskrit magha-, “there is no reason to suppose that the western Iranian form magu (Magus) has exactly the same meaning”[4] as well. But it “may be, however”, that Avestan moghu (which is not the same as Avestan maga-) “and Medean magu were the same word in origin, a common Iranian term for ‘member of the tribe’ having developed among the Medes the special sense of ‘member of the (priestly) tribe’, hence a priest.”[2]cf[3] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gaia, from Gaia (mythology) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In Greek mythology, Gaia (/ˈɡaɪə, ˈɡeɪə/ GHY-ə, GAY-ə;[1] from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of Γῆ Gē, “land” or “earth”),[2] also spelled Gaea (/ˈdʒiːə/ JEE-ə),[1] is the personification of the Earth[3] and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life: the primal Mother Earth goddess. She is the mother of Uranus (the sky), from whose sexual union she bore the Titans (themselves parents of many of the Olympian gods) and the Giants, and of Pontus (the sea), from whose union she bore the primordial sea gods. Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.[4] … The Greek name Γαῖα (Gaĩa)[5] is a mostly epic, collateral form of Attic Γῆ[6] (Gê), Doric Γᾶ (Gã, perhaps identical to Δᾶ Dã)[7] meaning “Earth”, a word of uncertain origin.[8] Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[9] In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (transliterated as Ma-ga, “Mother Gaia”) also contains the root ga-.[9][10] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: Greek mythology of Gaia’s family tree is remotely evocative of the Magoist genealogy written in the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), the principale text of Magoism. In Korean, “Mama” is also an honorary title referring to the royal family including ruler, ruler’s mother, father, grandmother and so on. This suggests that “ma” means “mother,” “ruler,” and “Goddess” all at once in gynocentric/gynocratic (Magoist/Magocratic) societies, pre-patriarchal in origin. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I came to search the etymology of “montgomery” in relation to Mt. Mago or Mt. Goya and am led to such related terms as Gomer, Gog, Magog. Montgomery (name) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Montgomery or Montgomerie is a surname from a place name in Normandy.[1] Although there are many stories of its origin,[2][3][4][5] An old theory explains that the name is a corruption of “Gomer’s Mount” or “Gomer’s Hill” (Latin: Mons Gomeris), any of a number of hills in Europe named in attribution to the biblical patriarch Gomer,[2] but it does not explain the final -y or -ie (the phonetical evolution would have been *Montgomers) and it does not correspond to the old mentions of the place name Montgommery in Normandie : Monte Gomeri in 1032 – 1035, de Monte Gomerico in 1040 and de Monte Gumbri in 1046 – 1048.[6] More relevant is the explanation by the Germanic first name Gumarik,[7] a compound of guma “man” (see bridegroom) and rik “powerful”, that regularly gives the final -ry (-ri) in the French first names and surnames (Thierry, Amaury, Henry, etc.). Moreover, the name is still used as a surname in France as Gommery,[8] from the older first name Gomeri.[9] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gomer below from Wikipedia. Gomer (גֹּמֶר, Standard Hebrew Gómer, Tiberian Hebrew Gōmer, pronounced [ɡoˈmeʁ]) was the eldest son of Japheth (and of the Japhetic line), and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah, according to the “Table of Nations” in the Hebrew Bible, (Genesis 10). The eponymous Gomer, “standing for the whole family,” as the compilers of the Jewish Encyclopedia expressed it,[1] is also mentioned in Book of Ezekiel 38:6 as the ally of Gog, the chief of the land of Magog. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: On the word, Gog and Magog from Wikipedia. Gog and Magog: They are depicted as monsters and barbarians from the East/Eurasia. Gog and Magog (/ɡɒɡ/; /ˈmeɪɡɒɡ/; Hebrew: גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג Gog u-Magog; Arabic: يَأْجُوج وَمَأْجُوج Yaʾjūj wa-Maʾjūj) are names that appear in the Hebrew bible (Old Testament), the Book of Revelation and the Qur’an, sometimes indicating individuals and sometimes lands and peoples. Sometimes, but not always, they are connected with the “end times”, and the passages from the book of Ezekiel and Revelation in particular have attracted attention for this reason. From ancient times to the late Middle Ages Gog and Magog were identified with Eurasian nomads such as the Khazars, Huns and Mongols (this was true also for Islam, where they were identified first with Turkic tribes of Central Asia and later with the Mongols). Throughout this period they were conflated with various other legends, notably those concerning Alexander the Great, the Amazons, Red Jews, and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and became the subject of much fanciful literature. In modern times they remain associated with apocalyptic thinking, especially in the United States and the Muslim world. Helen […]
(Special Post Mother Teresa 4) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

Part IV: Illumination and Consensus Reached [Editorial Note: The following is an edited version of the discussion that took place spontaneously on Mago Circle from March 1, 2013 for about two weeks. It was an extensive, heated, yet reflective discussion, now broken into four parts to fit the format of the blog. We thank each and all of the participants for your openness, generosity, and courage to stand up for what you believe and think! Some are marked as anonymous. As someone stated, something may have been “written in the heat of the moment” and some might like to change it at a later time. So we inform our readers that nothing is written in stone. As a matter of fact, the discussion is ongoing, now with Magoism Blog readers. Please comment and respond as you wish.] Diane Horton: [C], how is it that you do not see that MT had no right to sacrifice other people for any purpose whatsoever? None of us have the right or the place to “sacrifice those we care about” for anything. She was not “above them”. And she had abundant means to do far more for them, to cure and comfort them. If indeed she imagined she had some lofty motivation as you so fervently believe, to use the power she had to withhold medical care from the poverty stricken sick and dying in some misguided and ultimately cruel attempt to bring the world’s attention to their suffering and produce compassion within those who would not otherwise feel it is the most monstrous miscarriage of any expression of what you might refer to as “love” that I have heard of outside of Jim Jones killing all of his followers in Ghana. That’s not Love. That’s not Compassion. That is Manipulation, and manipulation is ego-based. Anne Wilkerson Allen: Yes. It is an indoctrination so deep and so prolonged that it takes a lifetime to overcome…and we rely on the love and compassion of others to help bring us to this understanding….thanks, Diane. Diane Horton: Love you, Anne. [C]: Is thinking that any human being sacrificing inside their very soul, their morals, & all that entails, is actually of lesser value than outside human pain, suffering, even death itself, right? Diane Horton: I’m not sure I understand the question really, but I’ll try a response: one’s inner and outer life are of equal importance because they are all the whole person.
(Special Post 5) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels 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 Hye-Sook Hwang: I have come across the origin of the Dokkaebi (image, Heavenly Ruler Chiu, 14th Hanung of Danguk. Chiu represented the Magoist rule aided by her 81 giant sister clan allies (nine groups of Nine Hans) fought Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), one of the ancient rulers of pre-historic China. Chiu is known as the empeor of Guri-guk or Guryeo-guk (Nine Ri State or Nine Ryeo State), which is alternatiely referred to as Goryeo-guk and Goguryeo-guk by East Asians. She was worshipped as the deity of war and remembered/depicted for her helmet made of copper and iron. Records about her war against Hungdi inundates ancient Korean and Chinese texts and myths. About Chiu or Chiyou, it is too complex to discuss here. It is a topic to be treated in its own right. Suffice to say that even some of basic information from Wikipedia is illuminating. “Chiyou (蚩尤) was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎) in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era in Chinese mythology. For the Hmong people, Chiyou was a sagacious mythical king. He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under Dongyi, Miao or even Man, depending on the source and view. Today, Chiyou is honored and worshipped as the God of War and one of the three legendary founding fathers of China.” “According to the Song dynasty history book Lushi, Chiyou’s surname was Jiang (姜), and he was a descendant of Yandi. According to legend, Chiyou had a bronze head with a metal forehead. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. In some sources, Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was that of a human. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers. Historical sources often described him as ‘cruel and greedy’, as well as ‘tyrannical’. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom. Chiyou knows the constellations and the ancients spells for calling upon the weather. For example, he called upon a fog to surround Huangdi and his soldiers during the Battle of Zhuolu.” “Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎, RPA White Hmong: Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources. However, his exact ethnic affiliations are quite complex, with multiple sources reporting him as belonging to various tribes, in addition to a number of diverse peoples supposed to have directly descended from him. Some sources from later dynasties, such as the Guoyu book, considered Chiyou’s Li tribe to be related to the ancient San miao tribe (三苗). In the ancient Zhuolu Town is a statue of Chiyou commemorating him as the original ancestor of the Hmong people. The place is regarded as the birthplace of the San miao / Miao people, the Hmong being a subgroup of the Miao. In sources following the Hmong view, the “nine Li” tribe is called the “Jiuli” kingdom, Jiuli meaning “nine Li”. Modern Han Chinese scholar Weng Dujian considers Jiuli and San Miao to be Man southerners. Chiyou has also been counted as part of the Dongyi.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyou Above all, her depiction by ancient China is of a pejorative one. As we will see in the next part, she is contrasted with her opponent Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), a triumphantly depicted ancient hero of ancient China. Above Wikipedia. See her images created by ancient Koreans, the middle one in the three figures, depicted as a woman with female breasts, one of Dokkaebi images. There are other records that describe one of her allies. as one adorned with snakes in the head, which reminds me of Medusa. Silla (left), Baekje (Center), Goguryeo (right) http://lasvegaskim.com/Etc_Poem_55.htm Max Dashu: Oe-ri, Buyeo, in the Baekje period. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: That is where the rooftile at the center is excavated. That is the original image of Dokkaebi that Lydia Ruyle chose and depicted in her banner work. I could not connect this image with Chiu until now. We have the female ruler who subdued the patrilocal force of Yellow Emperor, the forebear of ancientChinese emperors. There are lots of myths and data that I have found on them. Chiu is also numerously depicted as Dokkaebi faces, which makes me think of its connection to the iconography of Medusa and Gorgon (who comes as Three Sisters). Eight-snake-headed Medusahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa Gorgon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/art-dokkaebi-by-lydia-ruyle/ Lizzy Bluebell: ‘Gonggong’ is not a far stretch phonetically from ‘Gorgon’ – I note. Briefly here – because it is a complex explanation – much more can be said about the etymology. For example, “gorge” relates to deep mountain passes with water flowing through them as well as the human throat or gullet, (relating the word to both speech and eating) and mountains are/were Goddess terrain, later usurped by MON-A-Ster-ies. The masculine name Ge-Orge is code which relates to GE/Gaia/Gay as well as to ‘orgy’. Sanskrit “garg” begets English ‘gargle’, and a guttural (gut-her-all) sound. I’ve always seen the archetypal Medusa/Gorgon’s ‘snaking curls’ as the energy emmitted from her head by her Wild I-Deas, which returns us to the theme of the Pythia/Oracle/Snake connections too. “In Greek mythology, a Gorgon (/ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means “dreadful”, and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit word “garğ” (Sanskrit: गर्जन, garjana) which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast,[1] thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters […]

Imbolc/Early Spring – a Season of Uncertainty by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Traditionally the Seasonal transition of Imbolc/Early Spring, celebrated in early February in the Northern Hemisphere, and in early August in the Southern Hemisphere, has been a time of nurturing the new life that is beginning to show itself, around us and within. It is a time of committing one’s self to the new life and inspiration – in the garden, in the soul, and in the Cosmos. We may include in our celebrations and contemplations of this Season the beginnings of the new young Cosmos as She was, that time in our cosmic story when She was only a billion years old and galaxies were forming; and also the new which has continually emerged throughout the eons, and is ever coming forth. The flame of being, as it has been imagined by many cultures, within and around, is to be protected and nurtured: the new being requires dedication and attention. In the early stages of its advent, there is nothing certain about its staying power and growth: it may flicker and be vulnerable. There may be uncertainties of various kinds. There is risk and resistance to coming into being. The Universe itself knew resistance to its expansion when it encountered gravitation in our very beginnings, in the primordial Flaring Forth[i]. The unfolding of the Universe was never without creative tension. The Universe knows it daily, in every moment: and we participate in this creative tension of our place of being. Urge to Be budding forth Imbolc/Early Spring can be a time of remembering personal vulnerabilities, feeling them and accepting them, but remaining resolute in birthing and tending of the new, listening for and responding to the Urge to Be[ii]of the Creative Universe within. Brian Swimme has said (quoting cultural anthropologist A.L. Kroeber) that the destiny of the human is not “bovine placidity” but the highest degree of tension that can be creatively born[iii]. many flames of being, strengthening each other These times are filled with creative tension, collectively and for most, personally as well; there is much resistance, yet there is promise of so much good energy arising. We may be witness to both. This Season of Imbolc/Early Spring may encourage attention, intention and dedication to strengthening well-being: in self, and in the relational communal context, and opening to our direct immersion in the Well of Creativity. We may be strengthened with the joining of hands, as well as the listening within to the sacred depths, in ceremonial circle at this time. NOTES: [i]As our origins (popularly named as “the Big Bang”) are named by Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme in The Universe Story. [ii]As I name this determined Virgin quality in PaGaian Cosmology. [iii]The Canticle to the Cosmos, DVD #8, “The Nature of the Human”. References: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005. Swimme, Brian and Berry, Thomas. The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Swimme, Brian. Canticle to the Cosmos. DVD series, 1990.
(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) The Wheel of the Year and Climate Change by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

https://pagaian.org/pagaian-wheel-of-the-year/ The Wheel of the Year in a PaGaian cosmology essentially celebrates Cosmogenesis – the unfolding of the Cosmos, in which Earth’s extant Creativity participates directly, as does each unique being. The Creativity of Cosmogenesis is expressed through Earth-Sun relationship as it may manifest and be experienced within any region of our Planet. In PaGaian tradition this is expressed with Triple Goddess Poetry, which is 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 it does in the Seasons, happens because of Earth’s tilt in relationship with Sun: and that is because this tilt 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, 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[i]. 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 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[ii], and more recently a site of ongoing ritual activity as old as seventy thousand years has been found[iii]. 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. https://pagaian.org/pagaian-wheel-of-the-year/ 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 our 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[iv]. 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. At the moment the dance of dark and light remains predictable, but much else is in a process of transformation. As we observe and sense our Place, our Habitat, as our ancestors also did, we can, and may yet still make Poetry of the dance of dark and light, of this quality of relationship with Sun, and how it may be manifesting in a particular region and its significance for the inhabitants: we may still find Poetic expression with which to celebrate the sacred journey that we make everyday around Mother Sun, our Source of life and energy. It has been characteristic of humans for at least several tens of thousands of years, to create ceremony and symbol by which we could relate with the creative dynamics of our place, and perhaps it was initially a method of coming to terms with these dynamics – with the apparently uniquely human awareness of coming into being and passing away[v]. Our need for sacred ceremony of relationship with our place, can only be more dire in these times, as we are witness to, and aware of, …
(Prose) Desire: the Wheel of Her Creativity by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from the concluding chapter (Chapter 8) of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Place of Being is a passionate place, where desire draws forth what is sought, co-creates what is needed[1]; within a con-text – a story – where love of self, other and all-that-is are indistinguishable … they are nested within each other and so is the passion for being. I begin to understand desire afresh: this renewed understanding has been an emergent property of the religious practice of seasonal celebration: that is, the religious practice of the ceremonial celebration of Her Creativity. It has been said She is “that which is attained at the end of desire[2].” Within the context of ceremonial engagement and inner search for Her, I begin to realize how desire turns the Wheel. As the light part of the cycle waxes from Early Spring, form/life builds in desire. At Beltaine/High Spring, desire runs wild, at Summer Solstice, it peaks into creative fullness, union … and breaks open at that interchange into the dark part of the cycle – the dissolution of Lammas/ Late Summer. She becomes the Dark One, who receives us back – the end of desire. It has been a popular notion in the Christian West, that the beautiful virgin lures men (sic) to their destruction, and as I perceive the Wheel, it is indeed Virgin who moves in Her wild delight towards entropy/dissolution; however in a cosmology that is in relationship with the dark, this is not perceived as a negative thing. Also, in this cosmology, there is the balancing factor of the Crone’s movement towards new life, in the conceiving dark space of Samhain/Deep Autumn – a dynamic and story that has not been a popular notion in recent millennia. Desire seems not so much a grasping, as a receiving, an ability or capacity to open and dissolve. I think of an image of an open bowl as a signifier of the Virgin’s gift. The increasing light is received, and causes the opening, which will become a dispersal of form – entropy, if you like: this is Beltaine/High Spring – the Desire[3]that is celebrated is a movement towards dis-solution … that is its direction. In contrast, and in balance, Samhain/Deep Autumn celebrates re-solution, which is a movement towards form – it is a materializing gathering into form, as the increasing darkness is received. It seems it is darkness that creates form, as it gathers into itself – as many ancient stories say, and it is light that creates dispersal. And yet I see that the opposite is true also. I think of how there is desire for this work that I have done, for whatever one does – it is then already being received. Desire is receiving. What if I wrote this, and it was not received or welcomed in some way. But the desire for it is already there, and perhaps the desire made it manifest. Perhaps the desire draws forth manifestation, even at Winter Solstice, even at Imbolc/Early Spring, as we head towards Beltaine – it is desire that is drawing that forth, drawing that process around. Desire is already receiving; it is open. Its receptivity draws forth the manifestation. And then the manifestation climaxes at Summer and dissolves into the manifesting, which is perhaps where the desire is coming from – the desire is in the darkness, in the dark’s receptivity[4]. It becomes very active at the time of Beltaine, it lures the differentiated beings back into Her. So the lure at Beltaine is the luring of differentiated beings into a Holy Lust, into a froth and dance of life, whereupon they dissolve ecstatically back into Her – She is “that which is attained at the end of Desire.” And in the dissolution, we sink deeper into that, and begin again. All the time, it is Desire that is luring the manifest into the manifesting, and the manifesting into the manifest. Passion is the glue, the underlying dynamic that streams through it all – through the light and the dark, through the creative triplicities of Virgin-Mother-Crone, of Differentiation-Communion-Autopoeisis[5]. Passion/Desire then is worthy of much more contemplation. If desire/allurement is the same cosmic dynamic as gravity, as cosmologist Brian Swimme suggests[6], then desire like gravity is the dynamic that links/holds us to our Place, to “that which is”, as philosopher Linda Holler describes the effect of gravity[7]. Held in relationship by desire/allurement we lose abstraction and artificial boundaries, and “become embodied and grow heavy with the weight of the earth[8].” We then know that “being is being-in relation-to”[9]. Holler says that when we think with the weight of Earth, space becomes “thick” as this “relational presence … turns notes into melodies, words into phrases with meaning, and space into vital forms with color and content, (and) also holds the knower in the world[10].”Thus, I at last become a particular, a subject, a felt being in the world – a Place laden with content, sentient: continuous with other and all-that-is. Notes: [1]“…as surely as the chlorophyll molecule was co-created by Earth and Sun, as Earth reached for nourishment; as surely as the ear was co-created by subject and sound, as the subject reached for an unknown signal.” As I have written in PaGaian Cosmology, p. 248. [2]Doreen Valiente, The Charge of the Goddessas referred to in Starhawk, The Spiral Dance, p.102-103. [3]I capitalize here, for it is a holy quality. [4]Perhaps the popular cultural association of the darkness/black lingerie etc. with erotica is an expression/”memory” of this deep truth. [5]These are the three qualities of Cosmogenesis, as referred to in PaGaian Cosmology, Chapter 4, “Cosmogenesis and the Female Metaphor”: https://pagaian.org/book/chapter-4/ [6]Brian Swimme, The Universe is a Green Dragon, p.43. [7]Linda Holler, “Thinking with the Weight of the Earth: Feminist Contributions to an Epistemology of Concreteness”, Hypatia, Vol. 5 No. 1, p.2. [8]Linda Holler, “Thinking with the Weight of the Earth: Feminist Contributions to an Epistemology of Concreteness”,Hypatia, Vol. …
The Passing of Last Summer’s Growth by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ as is experienced and contemplated in the Season of Deep Autumn/Samhain, may be a metaphor for the passing of all/any that has come to fullness of being, or that has had a fullness, a blossoming of some kind, and borne fruit; and in the passing it has been received, and thus transforms. The ‘passing of last Summer’s growth’ may be in hearts and minds, an event or events, a period of time, or an era, that was a deep communion, now passed and dissolved into receptive hearts and minds, where it/they reside for reconstitution, within each unique being. Samhain is traditionally understood as ‘Summer’s end’: indeed that is what the word ‘Samhain’ means. In terms of the seasonal transitions in indigenous Old European traditions, Summer is understood as over when the Seasonal Moment of Lammas/Lughnasad comes around; it is the first marked transition after the fullness of Summer Solstice. The passing and losses may have been grieved, the bounty received, thanksgiving felt and expressed, perhaps ceremonially at Autumn Equinox/Mabon; yet now in this Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn it composts, clearly falls, as darkness and cooler/cold weather sets in, change is clearer. In the places where this Earth-based tradition arose, Winter could be sensed setting in at this time, and changes to everyday activity had to be made. In our times and in our personal lives, we may sense this kind of ending, when change becomes necessary, no longer arbitrary: and the Seasonal Moment of Samhain may be an excellent moment for expressing these deep truths, telling the deep story, and making meaning of the ending, as we witness such passing. What new shapes will emerge from the infinite well of creativity? And we may wonder what will return from the dissolution? What re-solution will be found? We may wonder what new shapes will emerge. In the compost of what has been, what new syntheses, new synergies, may come forth? Now is the time for dreaming, for drawing on the richness within, trusting the sentience, within which we are immersed, and which we are: and then awaiting the arrival, being patient with the fermentation and gestation. Seize the moment, this Moment – and converse with the depths within your own bodymind, wherein She is. Make space for the sacred conversation, the Conversing with your root and source of being, and take comfort in this presence. We may ponder what yet unkown beauty and wellness may emerge from this infinite well of creativity. The Samhain Moment in the Northern Hemisphere is 17:14 UT 7thNovember this year. Wishing you a sense of the deep communion present in the sacred space you make for this holy transition.
(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 …

(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
(Photo Essay 5) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hwang

Part 5: Gaeyang Halmi, How Does She Relate with Mago? The field research concerning Gaeyang Halmi was undertaken with the thought that Gaeyang Halmi is related to Mago in some way. Such assumption is on the grounds that the folktales of Gaeyang Halmi and Mago Halmi substantively share the same motifs. In fact, I had thought Gaeyang Halmi is another name of Mago Halmi. A scrutiny has proven that the picture of their correlation is far more complex than I first envisaged, exposing the hidden nexuses of Old Magoism. This last part aims at disentangling the grips. It is indispensable for me to invite my readers to the task of reconstructing ancient East Asian mytho-history. Gaeyang Halmi embodies a partial manifestation of Mago as the Sea Goddess. Nonetheless, such a statement lacks complex subtexts that this topic involves. The Gurang (Nine Maidens) mytheme of Gaeyang Halmi sheds light on the mytho-history of Old Magoism (read Magoism in pre- and proto-Chinese times characterized by shaman rulers). To be specific, Gaeyang Halmi in the gurang pantheon suggests a yet-to-be-known shaman ruler, “Ungnyeo” (Bear/Sovereign Woman), founder of the confederacy of the nine states, which I call Danguk (ca. 3898 BCE-2333 BCE). The gurang represented by Gaeyang Halmi is no small clue to the pervasive yet misunderstood civilization of Ungnyeo. “Ungnyeo” is eponymous of the female symbolism of nine, such as the nine-tailed fox in East Asia and the nine muses and the nine forms of Durga beyond East Asia mentioned in Part IV. In short, Gaeyang Halmi oscillating between “Mago” and “Ungnyeo” in Her identity testifies to the suppressed history of Old Magoism. Methodically, I have two types of mythological texts to decipher the overtones of Gaeyang Halmi’s mytheme: folklore (oral narratives) and the written myth. Goddess mythemes, malleable yet immortal, constitute the grammar blocks of the gynocentric language that often appears “awkward” if not “ridiculous” to moderns. They need to be analyzed and interpreted. Feminist techniques are apt to sort out the sediments and decipher the diastrophic disturbances caused by patriarchal advances in the course of time. Some parallels between Gaeyang Halmi and Mago Halmi folk stories are overt. Their stories are so similar that they appear to be an identical goddess: A: The motif that Gaeyang Halmi walks on the sea, often described as wearing namak-sin (wooden shoes) or only beoseon (Korean traditional socks), is also commonly told in Mago stories especially from Jeju Island[i] and other coastal regions. B: That Gaeyang Halmi walks around in the sea to measure its depth is also told in the stories of Mago from other coastal regions. C: The mytheme that Gaeyang Halmi had eight daughters recurs in the stories of Mago, especially from the region of Mt. Jiri. Mago is said to have had eight daughters and sent them to eight provinces. Given the above, it is evident that Gaeyang Halmi lore resembles that of Mago. Were the populace confused about these two goddesses? I hold that the confusion was not a mistake but a way to convey that Gaeyang Halmi is related to Magoism rather than Mago Herself. In folklore, “why” and “how”are the questions to be interpreted, not to be read.
(Budoji Essay 4) The Magoist Cosmogony by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Part 4: Magoist Origin of Immortals “I maintain that Immortals originally refers to Mago’s descendants in Mago Castle, the Primordial Paradise. They are the primordial clan community of the Mago Species, comprised of the divine, demigods, and humans.” [This is a translation and interpretation of the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), principal text of Magoism. Read the translation of Chapter 1 of the Budoji.] Magoist Origin of Immortals: All in the Mago Species are given the original nature of immortality or transcendence. Readers are advised to set aside the literal meaning in the English language of the words immortals or transcendents. Immortals is a translation of the East Asian term seon (仙, xian in Chinese). I choose the translation immortals over transcendents not because it is a better translation but because it is the most commonly used term by Western Daoist translators.[i] Although it is known as a Daoist term, I hold that it is pre-Daoist, namely Magoist, in origin. Primarily, it refers to the Mago Species (Mago and Her descendants) who dwelt in Mago Castle, the primordial home, to be discussed in detail in later chapters. Likewise, historical figures known as Immortals are Magoist rather than Daoist.