September 12, 2017October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Three Golden Rings by Jassy Watson

She emerges into full bloom at Spring and is reminded of the circle of life and her part within it.

August 23, 2017October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Art) Coming of Age by Jassy Watson

This image tells the story of a girl’s journey to womanhood. Grandmother, Mother and maiden make

March 22, 2017January 19, 2023 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Sekhmet by Jassy Watson

Sekhmet is one of the oldest known female Egyptian goddesses. Her name derives from the Egyptian word for ‘power’ or ‘night’, “Sekhem,” thus her name can be translated as “She Read More …

February 22, 2017October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Persephone by Jassy Watson

Persephone; daughter of Zeus and Demeter, Queen of the Underworld. Persephone’s story is one of ascent and descent, of a journey from the light to dark and dark to light. Read More …

November 2, 2016October 2, 2019 Mago Work Admin1 Comment

(Art Prose) Painting for the Earth by Jassy Watson

I have spoken about the social responsibility of the artist on numerous occasions. This blog approaches a similar topic but in direct relation to using art as a potent tool for change and as Read More …

January 22, 2016October 2, 2019 RTM EditorsLeave a comment

(Video) Journey Within by Jassy Watson

You are invited to join Visionary Artist and Intentional Creativity Coach, Jassy Watson in Goddesses Garden Studio to discover what she has planned for the core 2016 Journey Within sacred Read More …

June 15, 2015October 2, 2019 RTM EditorsLeave a comment

(Solstice art) May the Light Within Guide Your Way by Jassy Watson

The Priestess walks the wild soul path of magic and mystery. With sacred signs and messages to receive on her journey she lights Her way with a lamp of Read More …

February 20, 2015October 2, 2019 RTM EditorsLeave a comment

(Art) The Earth Is My Sister by Jassy Watson

Artists are catalysts for change, and this “change” takes place when we feel deeply for a precious cause. I feel deeply for the earth and I feel that it is Read More …

November 14, 2014October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Protectress by Jassy Watson

This painting was born entirely intuitively. She emerged from the timber of her own accord and the patterns and shapes made with initial markings were followed. I approached the work Read More …

May 16, 2014October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Primal Feminine Essence by Jassy Watson

Women have a natural born intuition, a sensing, a deep knowing that we have largely been disconnected from and we are seeking ways to get back in touch with our Read More …

February 15, 2014October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

Meet Mago Contributor, Jassy Watson

Is a Mother to four, Visionary Artist, Illustrator, Writer and passionate Organic Gardener whose work is dedicated to the Sacred Feminine and healing the earth. Jassy is also currently completing Read More …

February 14, 2014October 2, 2019 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) She Who Has Faith in the Unknown by Jassy Watson

This is a painting I did in the second half of 2013 titled “She who has Faith in the Unknown”. She is my Inner Priestess Self.

(Poem) Moon Tide by Sara Wright

Photo by Sara Wright Churning sea is receding – chasing a vanishing moon. One spiral shell washes up on white sand – tumbles my way, A Vision of Home? https://www.magoism.net/2014/12/meet-mago-contributor-sara-wright/
(Music) In These Arms, A Song for All Beings by Jennifer Berezan

The official Jennifer Berezan music video produced by renowned photographer Irene Young with co-producer, Laurelin Remington-Wolf. Featuring excerpts from the making of the hour long chant CD including gorgeous footage of musicians from around the world, the Buddhist nuns of South Korea, and Jennifer Berezan. Musicians include Jennifer Berezan, Jack Kornfield, Chris Webster, don benedictson, Dechen Shak-Dagsay (Tibet), Rita Sahai (India), Katia Cardenal (Nicaragua), Kiva Simova, The Buddhist Nuns of Unmun-sa Monastery, South Korea, David Worm, Melanie DeMore, Raz Kennedy, Sarah Dugas (French Canada), Steve Dawson, Julie Wolf, Jami Sieber, Milind Date (India) and more. For best quality – use drop down menu on right to view at 480p or 720p (HD). If your computer has trouble loading HD, use 480p. For more info, visithttp://www.edgeofwonder.com. Please share thiswonderful blessing for the planet with your friends. Read Meet Mago Contributor, Jennifer Berezan. ◊ We, the co-editors, contributors, and advisers, have started the Mago Web (Cross-cultural Goddess Web) to rekindle old Gynocentric Unity in our time. Now YOU can help us raise this torch high to the Primordial Mountain Home (Our Mother Earth Herself) wherein everyone is embraced in WE. There are many ways to support Return to Mago. You may donate to us. No amount is too small for us. For your time and skill, please email Helen Hwang (magoism@gmail.com). Please take an action today and we need that! Thank YOU in Goddesshood of all beings! (Click Donate button below. You can donate by credit card or bank account without registering PayPal. Find “Don’t have a PayPal account?” above the credit card icons.)
(Poem) Arise for the people by Maya Daniel

Dusk with a streak of crimson above the mountains Yields to the coolness of the coming nightfall The far side of the meadow, a hedge of low fence Catches the last streak of light in viridian grass Still rising… stand still grass of the meadows, Like writers standing with pen to fight all evil thoughts Stand for justice and true knowledge Stand still Red warriors of the people Arise for the people to be able to find the meaning of life Arise for the people struggling to be free! (Meet Mago Contributor) Maya Daniel.
(E-Interview) Mary Ann Beavis by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

2016 Mago Pilgrimage to Korea, Helen Hwang, Mary Ann Beavis, and Anna Tzanova from the left. Mary Ann Beavis stands at the edges of Christianity and has held the academic identity of a feminist scholar, which I respect and rely on for The Mago Work. I feel our encounter is divine, a gift from Mago, the Creatrix. She has been a volunteer for The Mago Work for more than a decade. That is how I came to know Mary Ann and her work. For the last few years, she has become an indispensable volunteer for The Mago Work. With much appreciation to you, Mary Ann, I reflect back how I began establishing The Mago Work about 13 years ago to trace how we encountered through Mago Work projects. Mary Ann became a Return to Mago E-Magazine contributor in February 2014. This is around the time I founded Mago Books. Mago Books published its first book, the first volume of the She Rises trilogy (Mago Books, 2015). Prior to this, I began leading the annual tour program, Mago Pilgrimage to Korea, in 2013. Mago Pilgrimage to Korea was the first program of Mago Academy. Mary Ann joined me for the Mago Pilgrimage to Korea in 2016. Prior to that, I had invited her to become co-editor of She Rises Volume 2 (Mago Books, 2016). Those were Mary Ann’s involvements with The Mago Work in earlier years. I am grateful that you proposed to me that we publish the textbook on Goddess Studies. Thus came Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018). And Mary Ann continued to propose the foundation of an academic peer-reviewed journal, which we named S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies. Thus, we co-founded the S/HE Journal in 2020 and published its first issue in April 2022. Personally, I am in much appreciation of what you, as an academic, have given to The Mago Work. Through our collaboration, I feel that my research and writing on Magoist Cetaceanism have found a niche on the border of academics, independent researchers, and ardent readers. Now we are looking forward to the unfolding of the S/HE Conference, which just began this June. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang You retired from an academic position last year. Tell us what your experience as a feminist academic was like. Mary Ann Beavis I actually retired July 1, 2020, near the beginning of the pandemic. Prior to that, I was Professor of Religion and Culture at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. STM is a Catholic liberal arts college (not a seminary or theological college) academically federated with a large research university, so contrary to expectation, I had free rein to pursue my research, publishing and teaching in whatever areas I wished. I am a scholar of New Testament and Christian Origins by training, and much of my work has been in those areas, often in feminist biblical studies. So, for example, I am the co-author of two full-length commentaries on biblical books (Hebrews and 2 Thessalonians) in the first-ever series of volume-length feminist commentaries on the entire bible (including apocrypha/deutero-canonicals), The Wisdom Commentaries. The Hebrews commentary was framed in terms of the search for the submerged voice of divine Wisdom/Sophia embedded within the text. I was also able to pursue Goddess-related projects and receive due credit for them in terms of merit and promotion. Partly, this may be due to the fact that scholars employed in post-secondary institutions tend to be absorbed in their own work, and simply aren’t that interested in what others are doing. But I was able to receive due credit for my work by ensuring that I published in reputable, peer-reviewed venues (publishers and journals) that demanded recognition by the administration. I was also free to develop and teach a course called “Goddesses in Myth and History,” which proved to be one of our more popular course offerings. That is not to say that I haven’t experienced anti-feminist discrimination. I was once nearly “un-invited” from writing a commentary that I was contracted to write because someone on their editorial board was concerned that my commentary would be too feminist (in particular, that I would spell “God” the wrong way!). I had to explain to them politely that I would not be doing that because it would not be appropriate to the series (although there is certainly some feminist content in the published work). An academic administrator vetoed my invitation of a very prominent Catholic feminist scholar from speaking at my College, I suspect because he was afraid it might damage his own ecclesiastical career. Such, unfortunately, is life in academia, although, for me, these experiences were rare. I am now Professor Emerita, a status that allows me to continue my scholarly work with institutional support form St. Thomas More College and the University of Saskatchewan. Hwang What are your feminist/goddessian scholarly works? How do you see they contribute to Goddess feminist spirituality? Beavis Here is a list of some of my Goddess-related publications: Co-editor with Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture. Lytle Creek, CA: Mago Books, 2018; Christian Goddess Spirituality: Enchanting Christianity. New York: Routledge, 2015; Co-editor with Ally Kateusz. Rediscovering the Marys: Maria, Mariamne, Miriam. London: T. & T. Clark, 2020; “From Lilith to Mary Magdalene: The Divine Feminine in the Art of Lilian Broca” by Mary Ann Beavis.” S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies 2,2 (2023) 12-40; “Goddesses in Every Girl? Goddess Feminism and Children’s Literature.” S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies 1,1 (2022) 115-38; “From Holy Grail to Lost Gospel: Margaret Starbird and Mary Magdalene Scholarship.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 27,3 (2015) 236-49; “Christian Goddess Spirituality and Thealogy.” Feminist Theology 24,2 (2016) 125-38; “The Deification of Mary Magdalene.” Feminist Theology 21,2 (2012) 145-54; “The Cathar Mary Magdalene and the Sacred Feminine: Pop Culture Legend vs. Medieval Doctrine.” Journal of Religion and Popular Culture 24:3 (2012) 419-31; “A Daughter in Israel: Celebrating Bat Jephtha (Judges 11:39d-40).” Feminist Theology 13 (2004) 11-25; “‘I like the bird’: Avian Metaphors and Feminist Theology.” Feminist …
(Intercosmic Kinship Conversations) Ancestors, Runes and Interdimensional Communication with Jillian Burnett by Alison Newvine

https://youtu.be/drcHjtBDekM Jillian Burnett’s mind is a fascinating multi-verse of language, symbolism and mystery. I knew this going into our conversation, having read her chapter, “Runes in Ancestor Work,” and communicated with her via email leading up to our interview. What struck me even more than this during our time together was the unbounded loving nature of her heart. Available at Mago Bookstore This conversation series is a spinoff of the anthology, Celebrating Intercosmic Kinship of the Goddess, published by Mago Books in 2023. “Intercosmic Kinship Conversations” are heart-centered exchanges exploring how the themes of interconnectedness and intercosmic consciousness weave through the lives of some of the anthology’s contributors. In our interview, Jilly provides a primer on what the Runes are and how they connect to ancestor work. She also brings us into the kinship practices of the ancient Norse and Anglo-Saxon peoples who held such intimate relationships with the runes. She describes the role of parties, celebratory gatherings and gift-giving in binding communities together. We muse on the role of virtual “clans” today, in the absence of the tight-knit networks of kin that our ancestors enjoyed. This interview includes an experiential component in which Jilly leads us all in an embodied Ancestor~Rune practice (Rune Yoga), singing us into an altered state and guiding us to open our consciousness to the presence of our ancestors. Jilly and I then talk about our encounters in this interdimensional space and move on to explore the role of song and music in ancestor work. The interview closes out with her reflections on her journey within the Mago community and the role it has played in her journey of uncovering her hidden (erased) indigenous ancestry. The episode ends with a sweet and soothing flute piece she recently recorded during one of her meditations. A particularly powerful moments in our conversation was when Jilly spoke the words, “the way to bind people (together) is to constantly feed them with love.” This led me to wonder, in our virtual, global network of Mago/Goddess/S/He kin, how can we maximize the joy and love we bring to one another? One way that stands out to me is in the reciprocity of offering our gifts and lovingly bearing witness to one another. There is such complex beauty and unique expression of the divine emanating through each of us. It is my hope that we continue to deepen into this appreciation of our collective treasures as we nurture and expand our sacred kinship. https://youtu.be/drcHjtBDekM https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine
[Photo Essay] Everything She Touches by Kaalii Cargill

Three years ago in late Spring, I moved into my new home. The two storey house is surrounded by trees, shrubs, and rock-walled paths. Over a century ago, the land was cleared of magnificent mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) trees, and the first European trees were planted. Today there are ash, beech, birch, cedar, dogwood, elm, flowering cherry, ginkgo, laurel, maple, oak, poplar, and tulip trees, with only a few eucalypts remaining. Beneath the canopy are camellias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, and other flowering plants. One of the ways I am engaging the land is to note the flowering plants through the seasons. I am slowly learning their names, their colours and scents, their seasonal timing. Something is always blooming. Something is always changing. She changes everything she touches. And everything She touches changes . . April – season of Mabon (Autumn Equinox) Honeysuckle Wind flowers Seaside daisy Pelargonium Cyclamen Fuchsia Heal-all Roses Hydrangeas Rhododendron May – season of Samhain Campanula Camellias June – season of Winter Solstice Chinese lantern Camellias July Camellias Violets Winter roses Azaleas Rhododendron Jonquils Daffodils Snowdrops August – season of Imbolc Daphne Camellias Winter Roses Azaleas Daffodils Jonquils Zygocactus Epimedium Japanese Laurel September – season of Spring Equinox Winter Roses Azaleas Midnight Lady (Gularia) Camellias Forsythia Hyacinths Acanthus Iris Forget Me Not Magnolia Bluebells Common Bugle (Ajuga reptans) Viola Flowering Cherry blossoms Mexican Orange blossom Waxflower Lawn daisies Polygala Vinca Lamium Veronica Callianthe Evergreen candytuft Salvia Borage Fuchsia Campanula October Japanese snowball Camellias Bluebells Symphytum grandiflorum Clivia Veronica Clematis Snowball Honeysuckle Aquilegia Violets November – season of Beltane Camellias Jerusalem Sage Crassus multicava Rhododendron Azaleas Guelder Rose Geranium robertianum Clivia Aphelandra Roses Iris Lilac Laurel Hydrangeas Begonia Polygala Campanula December – season of Summer Solstice Climbing roses Jasmine Iris Grevillia Rhododendron Azaleas Hydrangeas Fuchsias Pelargonium Callianthe Walnut blossom Peachleaf Bellflower Dogwood Flowering Cactus Alstroemeria Clematis virginiana Chinese lantern Salvia Delphinium Evening Primrose Clematis integrifolia January African Iris Hydrangeas Evening Primrose Roses Fuchsias Crocosmia paniculata Pelargonium February – season of Lughnasad Tasman Flax Lily Common Lilac Himalayan Honeysuckle Rose glory bower March Honeysuckle Windflowers Cyclamen Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill https://www.magoism.net/donate/
(Commemorating Mary Daly 3) My Memoirs of Mary Daly (1928-2010) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: My personal encounter with Mary Daly, a U.S. post-Christian feminist thinker, goes back to 1994, if not earlier. I stayed in Korea from 1994-1997 during which I translated two of Mary Daly’s early books, Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation 하나님 아버지를 넘어서 (Seoul: Ewha Women’s University Press, 1996) and Church and the Second Sex 교회와 제 2의 성 (Seoul: Women’s News Press, 1997) in Korean. I carried with me to the U.S.A. our correspondences in the form of letters and documents mostly faxed to each other for the period of more than two decades. Later at one point I digitized them in images. Through these memoir series, I share some highlights of my memories with Mary Daly, her influence on my feminist thinking, and my own radical feminist journey to Magoist Cetaceanism.] I stayed about 3 years in Korea before returning to the U.S. on August 15, 1997. During this time, I was able to translate and publish three feminist books into Korean. In fact, the first book that I translated was Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism (Sierra Club Books, 1990) edited by Irene Diamond and Gloria Orenstein. I did not dream or plan to translate these feminist books during that time. But everything fell into place and I was able to do that. As soon as I completed translating the first book, I proceeded to Mary Daly’s Beyond God the Father and to Mary Daly’s The Church and the Second Sex. My timeline was set. I was to leave Korea, my motherland, by the summer of 1997 to begin my first semester in a graduate school in California.From 1994 when I first contacter Mary Daly, Mary and I constantly exchanged personal and business letters. Mary’s letter that she wrote for the Korean Edition of Beyond God the Father arrived in a timely manner. She faxed to me “Author’s Note to the Korean Edition of Beyond God the Father” on September 23, 1996. This is a 3 page document and I share the first two pages. I translated it and added in my translation of Beyond God the Father (See 하나님 아버지를 넘어서: 여성들의 해방철학을 향하여, pages 15-17). Mary Daly’s letter (page 1) faxed to Hwang, September 23, 1996 Mary Daly’s letter (page 2) faxed to Hwang, September 23, 1996. The third page contains the ending of Her Notem saying, “I wish you outrageous, contagious courage. Mary Daly.” ——Dear Sisters in Korea: I am very happy that Beyond God the Father is being published in the Korean language by Ewha University Press, for many reasons. Not the least of these reasons is the fact that the translator, Hye Sook Hwang, truly understands the spirit of this work and possesses a desire to communicate the philosophy of Radical Feminism in Korea. So I can trust that the difficult task of translation is in good hands.Radical Feminism is not merely one “brand” of feminism. As I have defined this expression in mu Wickedary, it means “be-ing for women and all Elemental life, which implies going to the roots of the oppression of all Others.” Radical Feminism advocates commitment to the common cause of women, across all divisions, including differences of race, national origin, and class. These divisions are used by patriarchs to turn women against each other, blinding us to the root cause of all forms of oppression, which is patriarchy itself. It is my not so humble opinion that all patriarchal religions, governments, professions and boringly the same (with variations on the same theme, of course). Indeed, patriarchy/phallocracy is the religion of the entire planet. In their various styles, patriarchal religions proclaim that “God is male.” Hence males can strut around believing that the male is God, continuing their obsessive acts of destruction with his blessing.Radical Feminism is a way of be-ing which is characterized by (a) an Awesome and Ectatic Sense of Otherness from patriarchal norms and values (b) conscious awareness of the sadosociety’s sanctions against Radical Feminists (c) moral outrage on behalf of women as women; WOMAN-IDENTIFICATION (d) commitment to the cause of women that persists, even against the current, when Feminism is no longer “popular”: CONSISTANCY.To be a Feminist in the deepest sense of this word is very challenging. Especially as we approach the end of this millennium, Radical Feminists are swimming “against the current,” fighting off alienation and despair. Yet for those of us who have the Courage to See what is happening to women and nature all over this planet, this struggle is the only hope. And it brings great joy!This brings me to the question: Why is it important that Beyond God the Father is coming out in Korea at this time? I think this is a significant event because the survival of women and the planet requires that we sore above and beyond the walls of race and nationality, and find each other. Women did not create these walls. We must not let them stop us. Onf of our great Foresisters, Virginia Woolf, wrote: “As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.”Women and our Sister the Earth and all of nature are in great danger from necrophilic patriarchy. And so, dear Sisters in Korea, I think that for those of us who are Wild and Daring enough it is Time to jump over the man-made walls and proclaim: “As a women, my country is the whole world.” I wish you outrageous, contagious courage. Mary Daly ——- I don’t know how my translation of BGTF or Mary’s Note to Korean feminists was accepted by Korean feminists. What is clear to me is that Mary and I were united in saying, “As a woman I have no country. As a woman I want no country. As a woman, my country is the whole world.” This is the phrase, I later encountered, echoed by late Gloria Anzaldua in her book, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. I …
(Mago Essay 1) Toward the Primordial Knowing of Mago, the Great Goddess by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Introduction: Why Inaugurate the Great Goddess Consciousness? The Great Goddess is known by many names around the world. “Mago” is one known by East Asians from time immemorial. As such, the term “Mago” is a common noun referring to the Great Goddess rather than the name of a particular goddess. According to my assessment of a large volume of primary sources that I have documented, Mago’s divine nature is characterized as the progenitor, creator, and ultimate sovereign. In short, Mago is supreme as the Creatrix. That does not mean that there is nothing before or even after Her. In fact, according to the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City), principal text of Magoism, Mago was born into the cosmic era prior to our cosmic era by the music/vibration/movement of the universe. Being the Creatrix, She is the beginning and the end. She is the Origin of humankind. She will be with us insofar as humanity continues to exist on its cosmic journey. She is the Great Ancestor of all humans as well as goddesses and gods. Furthermore, She is “the Cosmic Great Mother” from whom everything is derived. “Mago” is eponymous of human civilization. With regard to the world, She is immanent and transcendent at once. Standing at the threshold of the world, She embodies the world. She is the Channel that connects humanity with nature and the universe. She is the Lens through which we humans perceive Ultimate Reality. To be precise, She is the Cause for human consciousness. Through Her, we enter the world. She is self-sustained, as symbolized in the ouroboros. The beginning and the end for the world relies on Her. While holding the key to eternity, She shares the rise and fall with humankind. Here is Her intimacy with humanity: We are part of Her and She is in our DNA. My reconstruction of Mago and Magoism did not begin with a teleological scheme. No pre-measured outcome was there to motivate my undertaking of the research project. On the contrary, the topic was a serendipitous yet timely encounter, which I had never consciously expected. Nonetheless, I was not in a vacuum. As a self-identified radical feminist, I sought a new mode of knowing within my own cultural roots that can remedy Eurocentric, nationalist, colonialist, racist, and ethnocentric knowledge. The years of my graduate studies were spent in exploring such possibilities. Only after furthering my research of Mago and Magoism for over a decade, I began to grasp something at which my intellectual/spiritual voyage is destined to arrive. It was this phrase, in fact a very old mandate that ancient Magoists self-identified with, “Return to the Origin of Mago (Mago Bokbon, 麻姑複本),” that surfaced over the horizon with clarity. How do we return to Mago’s Origin? Do we return to Her Realm or invoke Her Reality to our time? Time is one seamless measurement. No need to go there or bring it here. The fact that “Mago” refers to the Great Goddess rather than an individual goddess intimates an implication at the level of consciousness. Talk of Mago invokes the Great Goddess consciousness, primordial unity/oneness. A “new” mode of knowing is re-birthed once and time and time again. Individuals are placed in unity with the whole. Each shares with the subject position, WE. After all, everyone is progeny of the Great Goddess! We are re-stored within the scheme of old knowing that the whole (universality) comprises parts (particularities) and that they are organically interconnected. Complexity and precision of the way microcosmic entities work in harmony with the cosmos are beyond the human grasp. However, we know that an assault on a part affects the whole. And vice versa. This is why I study Mago and Magoism: Reenacting the Great Goddess consciousness is the ultimate antidote to the patriarchal consciousness. WE learn how to see things beyond the isolated position of an “I,” the notion of the self molded to stand against its environments (the other) by the patriarchal mastermind. The separated “I,” implanted in one’s psyche from birth through patriarchal institutions such as the state, religion, family, and heterosexuality, conjoins the new awareness of WE. The Mago consciousness is the original, pristine perspective prior to the split of the patriarchal consciousness. It is an undifferentiated state of mind that underlies patriarchal socialization. Ancient cultures had an understanding of the mysterious working of Mago. With Mago, WE Re-Turn to the Origin! The Female is epistemically invincible, nullifying the assaults of the patriarchal “I.” The power of the Mago consciousness is well depicted in the icon of Durga defeating the patriarchal demon. One should not be mistaken that the Mago consciousness is just another form of patriarchal thinking with reversed gender. It fundamentally differs in nature from the latter. Suffice it to say that “the Almighty God,” unlike the Great Goddess, does not share the same DNA with humans. In fact, He has no DNA! The monotheistic god rules over and against the world in protection of himself. He is needy. He isn’t even transcendent but disconnected from primordial unity. He can’t be “He” but only he of She. He can’t be the representative of the world because he is biased against the female principle. Ultimately, he is incapable of embracing everyone, unlike the Great Goddess. To hide the fact that the monotheistic god leads only to the abyss of self-destruction, patriarchal religions have created dogmas to indoctrinate people. The Great Goddess consciousness exposes the patriarchal deception. As patriarchy developed over the course of history, Mago was made unintelligible. People lost the Original Knowing! The Paradise was gone not only in a physical manner but also epistemically! That may as well be a corollary in that patriarchy precludes the concept of the Great Goddess by definition. It is not patriarchy if a society upholds the female as supreme. Nonetheless, patriarchy could not get rid of the manifestation of Mago in history, culture, and the collective consciousness of people. In fact, the ancient cultures, histories, myths, topographies, religions, and memories …
(Essay 3) Magoist Cetaceanism and the Myth of the Pacifying Flute (Manpasikjeok) by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

Reversing the Reversed of the Buddhist Textual Erasure (Part 2) Single-horned Jicheongsu (Acoustic animal of the Earth)http://www.whim.tw/gate?mod=article&id=20100826134013 Sillan Magoists saw that whales governed the whole world by their sonic capacities, which conditioned the aquatic environment of the Earth. Note that the expression of “the whole world” refers to no romantic abstract. Led by whales, Sillan rulers saw themselves as a governing delegate of the Whole World, which is the Reign of Mago, the Creatrix. They were consciously going against an ethnocentric or imperialist perspective. A supra-nationalist perspective constituted the very vision of Sillan Magoist Cetanceanism. Precisely, Sillan rulers acted upon no other goal than restoring the original meaning of the State of Old Magoist Koreans, known as the Confederacy of Nine Hans (Danguk) or the Confederacy of Three Hans (Budo Joseon), who represented the One People of the Mago Decent. Silla was no patriarchal or ethnocentric state. She was the light of ancient Magoist Cetaceanism for the whole world in the post-Budo period. Note the brief mytho-history of Magoism in six periods:[1] The Mythic Period: The Beiginning of Mago Stronghold, the Primoridal Paradise, and Mu (Shaman) Elders The Golden Period: Pre-Chinese (read pre-patriarchal) Old Magoist confederacies (Hanguk and Danguk) The Budo Period: Budo Joseon, the proto-Chinese confederacy of Three Hans The Post-Budo Period: Ancient Korean States (Buyeo, Silla, Goguryeo, Baekje, Gaya, Balhae) and Goryeo and Early Joseon The Dark Period: After 1592 Japanese Invasion in Joseon and modern Koreas The Revival Period: After 1980s when the Budoji was reappeared in public The story delineates the event that the protagonist, King Sinmun, is initiated to Magoism Cetaceanism, as he succeeds the throne of his deceased father, King Munmu, an ardent devotee of Magoist Cetaceanism, in leading the state, Silla (57 BCE-935 BCE). The fact that the story of the pacifying flute involves the three generations of Sillan rulers, King Munmu, King Sinmun, and King Hyoso (son of King Sinmun), indicates a state-sponsored revival of Magoist Cetaceanism. And that they mark the first three rulers of United Silla (668-935 CE) is no coincidence. Shouldered with the task of opening and laying the foundation for the new era, United Silla, these Sillan rulers aimed at the flowering of Magoist Cetaceanism. Sillans brought to fruition the collective aspiration of ancient Koreans shared with their sisterly states of Gaya, Baekje, Goguryeo, and beyond in the Post-Budo Period. They established a magocratic confederacy of nine states once again under the banner of Magoist Cetaceanism. Here the nine states refer to the nine neighboring peoples of Silla. Broadly, “the nine states” means the peoples of the whole world. In the context of Magoism, the number nine refers to the perfected, all entities of the kind. And the governance of these Sillan rulers was in the continuum of their predecessors and successors. The very purpose of Sillan foundation and early Sillan politics aimed to actualize the legacy of the Magoist Mandate, the self-defining ethos of Koreans. Early Sillans called themselves the People of Little Budo after Budo Joseon (2333 BCE-232 BCE), the third and last three-state confederacy of Old Magoist Korea, better known as Old Joseon. The political achievement of United Silla in seventh century as a whole meant a flowering of Old Korean Magoist Cetaceanism. Magoist Cetaceanism demarcates ancient Koreans from the Chinese in the Post-Budo Period, that is, in the wake of Budo Joseon’s decline in 233 BCE. Amidst the complex political situation of East Asia wherein the newly established dynasties of Imperial China rose to threaten the neighboring peoples, Sillan rulers resorted to Magoist Cetaceanism not only for the self-protection of the Sillan State but also for the self-realization of a magocratic confederacy. Evidence shows that Sillan rulers espoused the domain of patriarchal religions, Buddhism in particular, from the privileged perspective of Magoist Cetaceanism. Sillan Esoteric Buddhism was a brainchild of Sillan Magoist Cetacean rulers. Born with the teaching of Magoist Cetaceanism at the core, Sillan Esoteric Buddhism, much misconstrued and misrepresented today, was no local practice. Nor did it reflect a low-level consciousness that is discriminative in nature. Seen in the cetacean code of the Sillan temple bell, early Sillan Buddhism was autochthonous and prompted the arrival of innovative Buddhist schools of East Asia and beyond. The Chinese admiration of Sillan Buddhism in the seventh century is well addressed in the account of Mangulsan (Mountain of Ten Thousands Buddhas), a situational religious art engineered by King Gyeongdeok the Great of Silla, to be discussed in a later section. In the course of time, Sillan rulers migrated from the office of Mu (Shamans or Officiated Magoists) but held onto the role of Seon (Lay Magoists). This Sillan legacy, although unadmitted publicly, ran deep in the royal houses of Korean states throughout the forthcoming history. (Ruler Bodhisattva Jijang Rides the Auspicious Jicheong) 地藏王菩薩騎瑞獸地聽http://www.foshanshuan.com.tw/design_130.html#.Xh0-y1NKjSY In traditional East Asia, the narwhal is not utterly unknown. In fact, the following anecdote of Gim Gyogak, a mid-seventh century Sillan royalty and a Buddhist monk, insinuates that Sillan Magoist Cetaceanism was spread to China under the patronage of Buddhism. Put differently, Sillan Buddhism took the form of a syncretic religion amalgamated with Magoist Cetacenism. While Silan rulers actively pursued the policies that support Magoist Cetaceanism, some Buddhist monks were known for their esoteric practices. To be mentioned later, Monk Myeongrang was widely noted for his esoteric practices related with the Ruler of Dragons. Gim Gyogak was another one. Venerated as a reincarnated Bodhisattva Jijang (地藏 Ksitigarbha), Gim Gyogak is told to have crossed the West Sea of the Korean Peninsula to Tang China (618-907) by riding the back of a mythical animal, Jicheongsu or (地聽獸 the terrestrial animal who hears or an acoustic animal of the Earth). White in color, Jicheongsu is told to have had one horn. In iconography, Jicheongsu is depicted as a single-horned dragon-like beast (see the image). The one-horned leviathan who carried Gim Gyogak over to mainland China is evocative of a narwhal with a tusk. Its name, Jicheongsu, which literally means “The terrestrial animal who …

(Review) Journey into Dreamtime by Munya Andrews, reviewed by Glenys Livingstone

Although the term “Dreamtime” is often not considered an adequate translation of the cosmology, religion or spirituality of Indigenous Australians, Munya Andrews of the Bardi people from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, acknowledges this and chooses to name her recently published book with it, explaining that: “I love the term … For me, it conjures up a magical and mysterious world.”, and she feels that the term aligns perfectly with the common global religious concept that Diety is beyond words and human understanding. For me, as Munya Andrews describes “Dreamtime”, it seems resonant with the sense of “ever-present Origins”[1]; that is, original space and time that is omnipresent. This is a space/place that I understand to be referred to as “between the worlds” and “beyond the bounds of space and time”, by Indigenous Europeans (Pagans), a tradition with which I am familiar. I understand it to be a sentient world in which we are immersed actually, and which may be revealed to the observant person in synchronous moments. With practice one may live with clearer everyday connections with this world, and Munya’s book is an important contribution to making those connections from within the cosmology of her people; and for “all beautiful souls to keep the Dreamtime alive”, as she says in the book’s dedication. This book provides informative story that should be part of every Australian’s education at various levels: it lays a groundwork and also elicits deepening understandings. The teachings offered in Journey into Dreamtime should be considered essential knowledge for living on this land named Australia, whereas heretofore most present occupants have often not had easy access to such learning. This very readable and small book provides some basic facts: for example, that there are “250 or so Indigenous nations, each having their own language, their own names and ‘country’ or tribal lands.”; and that terms such as Koori, Nunga or Murri are “pan-Aboriginal” names taken on since colonisation, for the sake of asserting a distinct Indigenous identity, in the face of forced removal from families and land. In the course of the seven chapters Munya develops understanding of Dreamtime, and also understandings of Indigenous Law, Songlines, sacred sites, bush doctors/bush medicine, Rainbow Snake, and Kindredness. I found all of this really helpful, an invitation into a world of being and relationship; and it is told with frequent analogies from Western science and academic and spiritual texts, with which the reader may be more familiar, enabling the bridge into Indigenous science and worldview. There is a list of suggested readings offered, along with links and details for further connection and learning. At the conclusion of each chapter of Journey into Dreamtime there are “Dreamtime Reflections”, posing questions for personal consideration, inviting personal participation and pathways into some actual sense of an alive self in relationship with the alive world described. This book needs to be in spaces/places where everyday people can read it, like waiting rooms of all kinds (where there are frequently Bibles); as well as in every library, and especially Australian libraries. I highly recommend Journey into Dreamtime as an educational resource, for your self, for educational programs, and/or for any group that you may gather. Aunty Munya, as she names herself, has an impressive track record of speaking engagements, mentioned at the conclusion of the book, and invites you to have her speak to your organisation. She describes her life purpose as “to create better understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal people and to leave behind a legacy of Dreamtime wisdom for generations to come.” May it be so, as readers of Journey into Dreamtime absorb its teaching and resources. To order a copy of Journey into Dreamtime visit Evolve Communities NOTES: [1]“ever-present origin” is the English translation of Jean Gebser’s Ursprung und Gegenwart, Stuttgart, Deutsche Verlag, 1966.
(Special Post) Discussion on Mother-Daughter Wound by Mago Circle Members

[Mago Circle members discussed and answered the question, “What do you think of this (the topic article below)? If you are a feminist, it is something that you would promote? If so, why? If not, why not?” The discussion took place on May 15, 2017 and shortly thereafter in The Mago Circle.] Topic Article: “For The Daughters Who Don’t Love Their Mothers – Screw Mother’s Day” by Sade Andria Zabala Everyone talks about a mother’s unconditional love. But what if it doesn’t exist? Daughters are socially expected to be close with their mothers. But are you one of the women who aren’t? Mother’s Day isn’t just for celebrating moms. It’s a day some of us dread because we are reminded we grew up (or are still) unloved, not good enough. (Read the whole article here.)
(Special post) Laurie Baymarrwangga, Senior Australian of the Year 2012

Posted with permission in Return to Mago on ‘Australia Day’, 26 January 2014 (Australian time), in recognition of the ill-treatment and misunderstanding of Aboriginal people that was set in train when, in 1788, white people first settled in the land now known as Australia.

(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, …
(Art & Poem) Spring Equinox by Sudie Rakusin & Annie Finch

A SEED FOR SPRING EQUINOX . . . till I feel the earth around the place my head has lain under winter’s touch, and it crumbles. Slanted weight of clouds. Reaching with my head and shoulders past the open crust dried by spring wind. Sun. Tucking through the ground that has planted cold inside me, made its waiting be my food. Now I watch the watching dark my light’s long-grown dark makes known. Art and poem are included in Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2017). (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(Poem) Samhain by Annie Finch

In the season leaves should love, since it gives them leave to move through the wind, towards the ground they were watching while they hung, legend says there is a seam stitching darkness like a name. Now when dying grasses veil earth from the sky in one last pale wave, as autumn dies to bring winter back, and then the spring, we who die ourselves can peel back another kind of veil that hangs among us like thick smoke. Tonight at last I feel it shake. I feel the nights stretching away thousands long behind the days, till they reach the darkness where all of me is ancestor. I turn my hand and feel a touch move with me, and when I brush my young mind across another, I have met my mother’s mother. Sure as footsteps in my waiting self, I find her, and she brings arms that hold answers for me, intimate, waiting, bounty: “Carry me.” She leaves this trail through a shudder of the veil, and leaves, like amber where she stays, a gift for her perpetual gaze. From Eve (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2010) (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(Video) Winter Solstice Breath Meditation by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Winter Solstice/Yule Southern Hemisphere – June 20 – 23. Northern Hemisphere – December 20 – 23 Winter Solstice is a celebration of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Triple Goddess in particular – as both Solstices may be, as dark or light come to fullness. Winter Solstice Moment celebrates the ripe fullness of the Dark Womb, and the gateway from that fullness back into new growing light. It is a Birthing Place – into differentiated being, and Her birthing happens in every moment in the breath, and is seamlessly connected with all layers of being – of self, Earth and Cosmos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDsVZzXtoyM The Text in the Meditation[i] Take a deep breath and let it go. Notice the Void at the bottom of emptying your breath … feeling it, and feeling the Urge to breathe as it arises. And again … feeling it over and over – this breath that arises out of the full emptiness in every moment, birthing you in every moment. – Recall some of the birthings in your life, your actual birth – see it there in your mind’s eye … you coming into being – your Nativity, your Nativity. Recall projects you have brought into being, new beings within yourself, perhaps children, new beings in others, how you have been Creator and Created – even at the same time … who was birthing who? Staying for a while with the many, many birthings in your life. – recalling now Earth-Gaia’s many birthings out of the Dark everyday … the dawn is constant as She turns. See Her in your mind’s eye – the constant dawning around the globe, the constant birthing. Recall Earth’s many births right now of all beings – as day breaks around the globe – the physical, emotional, spiritual births. Her many, many birthings everyday, and throughout the eons. recalling now Universe-Gaia’s many birthings – happening in every moment – right now in real time and space … supernovas right now, stars and planets being born right now. Her many, many birthings in every moment and throughout the eons. – recalling now Universe-Gaia’s many birthings – happening in every moment – right now in real time and space … supernovas right now, stars and planets being born right now. Her many, many birthings in every moment and throughout the eons. Come back to your breath – this wonder – none of it separate … the Origin Ever-Present, birthing you in every moment – out of Her Fertile Dark, in real time and space. Feeling this breath, Her breath. NOTES: [i] Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology, Winter Solstice ceremonial script, p. 195-196. Reference: Glenys Livingstone, PaGaian Cosmology. Music: Fish Nite Moon by Tim Wheater, permission generously given Images: – Birth of the Goddess, Erich Neumann, The Great Mother, pl. 155. See https://pagaian.org/book/cover-goddess-image/ – Winter Solstice window, MoonCourt Australia 2016 – some sources unknown
Samhain/Deep Autumn within the Creative Cosmos by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This essay is an edited excerpt from Chapter 4 of the author’s new book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony. Traditionally the dates for Samhain/Deep Autumn are: Northern Hemisphere – October 31st/November 1st Southern Hemisphere – April 30th/May 1st though the actual astronomical date varies. It is the meridian point or cross-quarter day between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, thus actually a little later in early May for S.H., and early November for N.H., respectively. A Samhain/Deep Autumn Ceremonial Altar In this cosmology, Deep Autumn/Samhain is a celebration of She Who creates the Space to Be par excellence. This aspect of the Creative Triplicity is associated with the autopoietic quality of Cosmogenesis[i] and with the Crone/Old One of the Triple Goddess, who is essentially creative in Her process. This Seasonal Moment celebrates the process of the Crone, the Ancient One … how we are formed by Her process, and in that sense conceived by Her: it is an ‘imaginal fertility,’ a fertility of the dark space, the sentient Cosmos. It mirrors the fertility and conception of Beltaine (which is happening in the opposite Hemisphere at the same time). Some Samhain/Deep Autumn Story This celebration of Deep Autumn has been known in Christian times as “Halloween,” since the church in the Northern Hemisphere adopted it as “All Hallow’s eve” (31st October) or “All Saint’s Day” (1st November). This “Deep Autumn” festival as it may be named in our times, was known in old Celtic times as Samhain (pronounced “sow-een), which is an Irish Gaelic word, with a likely meaning of “Summer’s end,” since it is the time of the ending of the Spring-Summer growth. Many leaves of last Summer are turning and falling at this time: it was thus felt as the end of the year, and hence the New Year. It was and is noted as the beginning of Winter. It was the traditional Season for bringing in the animals from the outdoor pastures in pastoral economies, and when many of them were slaughtered. Earth’s tilt is continuing to move the region away from the Sun at this time of year. This Seasonal Moment is the meridian point of the darkest quarter of the year, between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice; the dark part of the day is longer than the light part of the day and is still on the increase. It is thus the dark space of the annual cycle wherein conception and dreaming up the new may occur. As with any New Year, between the old and the new, in that moment, all is possible. We may choose in that moment what to pass to the future, and what to relegate to compost. Samhain may be understood as the Space between the breaths. It is a generative Space – the Source of all. There is particular magic in being with this Dark Space. This Dark Space which is ever present, may be named as the “All-Nourishing Abyss,”[ii] the “Ever-Present Origin.”[iii] It is a generative Place, and we may feel it particularly at this time of year, and call it to consciousness in ceremony. Some Samhain/Deep Autumn Motifs The fermentation of all that has passed begins. This moment may mark the Transformation of Death – the breakdown of old forms, the ferment and rot of the compost, and thus the possibility of renewal.[iv] It is actually a movement towards form and ‘re-solution’ (as Beltaine – its opposite – begins a movement towards entropy and dissolution). With practice we begin to develop this vision: of the rot, the ferment, being a movement towards the renewal, to see the gold. And just so, does one begin to know the movement at Beltaine, towards expansion and thus falling apart, dissolution. In Triple Goddess poetics it may be expressed that the Crone’s face here at Samhain begins to change to the Mother – as at Beltaine the Virgin’s face begins to change to the Mother: the aspects are never alone and kaleidoscope into the other … it is an alive dynamic process, never static. The whole Wheel is a Creation story, and Samhain is the place of the conceiving of this Creativity, and it may be in the Spelling of it – saying what we will; and thus, beginning the Journey through the Wheel. Conception could be described as a “female-referring transformatory power” – a term used by Melissa Raphael in Thealogy and Embodiment:[v] conception happens in a female body, yet it is a multivalent cosmic dynamic, that is, it happens in all being in a variety of forms. It is not bound to the female body, yet it occurs there in a particular and obvious way. Androcentric ideologies, philosophies and theologies have devalued the event and occurrence of conception in the female body: whereas PaGaian Cosmology is a conscious affirmation, invocation and celebration of “female sacrality”[vi] as part of all sacrality. It does thus affirm the female as a place; as well as a place.[vii] ‘Conception’ is identified as a Cosmic Dynamic essential to all being – not exclusive to the female, yet it is a female-based metaphor, one that patriarchal-based religions have either co-opted and attributed to a father-god (Zeus, Yahweh, Chenrezig – have all taken on being the ‘mother’), or it has been left out of the equation altogether. Womb is the place of Creation – not some God’s index finger as is imagined in Michelangelo’s famous painting. Melissa Raphael speaks of a “menstrual cosmology”. It is an “ancient cosmology in which chaos and harmony belong together in a creation where perfection is both impossible and meaningless;”[viii] yet it is recently affirmed in Western scientific understanding of chaos, as essential to order and spontaneous emergence. Samhain is an opportunity for immersion in a deeper reality which the usual cultural trance denies. It may celebrate immersion in what is usually ‘background’ – the real world beyond and within time and space: which is actually the major portion of the Cosmos we live in.[ix] Samhain is about understanding that the Dark is a fertile place: in its decay and rot it seethes with infinite unseen complex golden threads connected to the wealth of Creativity of all that has gone before – like any …
(Slideshow) Summer Solstice Goddess by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Sekhmet by Katlyn Each year between December 20-23 Sun reaches Her peak in the Southern Hemisphere: it is the Summer Solstice Moment. Poetry of the Season may be expressed in this way: This is the time when the light part of day is longest. You are invited to celebrate SUMMER SOLSTICE Light reaches Her fullness, and yet… She turns, and the seed of Darkness is born. This is the Season of blossom and thorn – for pouring forth the Gift of Being. The story of Old tells that on this day Beloved and Lover dissolve into the single Song of ecstasy – that moves the worlds. Self expands in the bliss of creativity. Sun ripens in us: we are the Bread of Life. We celebrate Her deep Communion and Reciprocity. Glenys Livingstone, 2005 The choice of images for the Season is arbitrary; there are so many more that may express Her fullness of being, Her relational essence and Her Gateway quality at this time. 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 Summer Solstice. 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=syTBjWpw3XU Shalako Mana Hopi 1900C.E. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess), Corn Mother. Food is a miracle, food is sacred. She IS the corn, the corn IS Her. She gives Herself to feed all. The food/She is essential to survival, hospitality and ceremony … and all of this is transmuted in our beings. Sekhmet Contemporary image by Katlyn. Egyptian Sun Goddess. Katlyn says: Her story includes the compassionate nature of destruction. The fierce protection of the Mother is sometimes called to destroy in order to preserve well being. And Anne Key expresses: She represents “the awesome and awe-full power of the Sun. This power spans the destructive acts of creation and the creative acts of destruction.”- (p.135 Desert Priestess: a memoir).A chant in Her praise by Abigail Spinner McBride: Sheila-na-gig 900C.E. British Isles. (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). From Elinor Gadon The Once and Future Goddess (p.338): “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. From Adele Getty Goddess (p.66): “The first rite of passage of all human beings begins in the womb and ends between the thighs of the Great Mother. In India, the vulva “known as the yoni, is also called cunti or kunda, the root word of cunning, cunt and kin … (the yoni) was worshipped as an object of great mystery … the place of birth and the place where the dead are laid to rest were often one and the same.” Getty says her message here in this image “is double-edged: the opening of her vulva and the smile on her face elicit both awe and terror; one might venture too far inside her and never return to the light of day …” as with all caves and gates of initiation. In the Christian mind the yoni clearly became the “gates of hell”. And as Helene Cixous said in her famous feminist article “The Laugh of the Medusa”: “Let the priests tremble, we’re going to show them our sexts!” (SIGNS Summer 1976) Kunapipi (Australia) “the Aboriginal mother of all living things, came from a land across the sea to establish her clan in Northern Australia, where She is found in both fresh and salt water. In the Northern Territory She is known as Warramurrungundgi. She may also manifest Herself as Julunggul, the rainbow snake goddess of initiations who threatens to swallow children and then regurgitate them, thereby reinforcing the cycle of death and rebirth. In Arnhem Land She is Ngaljod …” (Visions of the Goddess by Courtney Milne and Sherrill Miller – thanks to Lydia Ruyle). More information: re Kunapipi. NOTE the similarity to Gobekli Tepe Sheela Turkey 9600B.C.E., thanks Lydia Ruyle.Lydia Ruyle’s Gobekli Tepe banner. Inanna/Ishtar Mesopotamia 400 B.C.E. (Adele Getty, Goddess: Mother of Living Nature) She holds Her breasts displaying her potency. She is a superpower who feeds the world, nourishes it with Her being. We all desire to feel this potency of being: Swimme and Berry express: “the infinite striving of the sentient being”. Adele Getty calls this offering of breasts to the world “a timeless sacred gesture”. Mary Mother of God 1400 C.E. Europe (Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess). A recognition, even in the patriarchal context that She contains it all. Wisdom and Compassion Tibetan Goddess and God in Union. This is Visvatara and Vajrasattva 1800C.E. (Sacred Sexuality A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle). Sri Yantra Hindu meditation diagram of union of Goddess and God. 1500 C.E. (Sacred Sexuality A.T. Mann and Jane Lyle, p.75). “Goddess and God” is the common metaphor, but it could be “Beloved and Lover”, and so it is in the mind of many mystics and poets: that is, the sacred union is of small self with larger Self. Prajnaparamita the Mother of all Buddhas. (The Great Mother Erich Neumann, pl 183). She is the Wisdom to whom Buddha aspired, Whom he attained. Medusa Contemporary, artist unknown. She is a Sun Goddess: this is one reason why it was difficult to look Her in the eye. See Patricia Monaghan, O Mother Sun! 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. Katlyn, artist https://www.mermadearts.com/b/altar-images-art-by-katlyn Key, Anne. Desert Priestess: a memoir. NV: Goddess Ink, 2011. Mann A.T. and …

(2014 Mago Pilgrimage Report 1) Sweat Lodge in Gyodong, Ganghwa Islands by Helen Hwang

[Author’s Note: Revised verison of this report is published in Celebrating the Seasons of the Goddess (Lytle Creek, CA: Mago Books, 2017). 2014 Mago Pilgrimage to Korea (Oct. 7-Oct. 20) was participated by a culturally mixed group of pilgrims from the U.S. Australia, and Korea. Among non-Koreans were Dr. Glenys Livingstone (co-facilitator), Mr. Robert (Taffy) Seaborne, and Ms. Rosemary Mattingly. For details, read 2014 Mago Pilgrimage. View the video on our visit to Ganghwa Islands by Robert (Taffy) Seaborne.] 2014 Mago Pilgrimage granted me ever unfolding revelations. The first of them that I would like to mention concerned the sweat lodge called Hanjeung-mak (汗蒸幕, Chamber of chill and steam).[1] Until we visited the traditional sweat lodge in Gyodong, Ganghwa Island, it did not occur to me that the origin of its modern variations[2] has to do with the rebirthing experience in the Womb of Mago. (Here Mago means the Great Goddess or the Primordial Mother.)
(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 …
(Italian language essay) Corea: la Musica cosmica di Mago by Luciana Percovich

[Author’s note: From Colei che dà la vita. Colei che dà la forma. Miti di creazione femminili, Venexia, Roma, Italia, 2009] Capitolo 3 Corea: la Musica cosmica di Mago Mago Nell’Età del Primo Cielo, esistevano solo la luce del sole e l’acqua. Quando Ryoe Ryul (la Musica cosmica armonizzata) risuonò più volte, emersero le stelle. Da Pal Ryoe (la Musica cosmica otto volte avvolta), si generarono Mago e il paradiso di Mago (Mago Sung). Fu un evento che ebbe luogo nell’Età Cosmica di Mezzo chiamata Jim Se (il Suo/Loro mondo). Mago preparò l’età che si chiama Ultimo Cielo. Mago non provava sentimenti né di piacere né di dolore. Nell’Età del Primo Cielo la grande cittadella di Mago stava sopra il SilDal (la Terra reale) e vicina all’HeoDal (la Terra ideale). Anche queste erano emerse dalla musica. Quando il Jim Se ebbe compiuto i suoi cicli per molto tempo, prima dell’Ultimo Cielo (il Nostro/Questo mondo), Mago generò da sola due figlie, Kung Hee (volta) e So Hee (nido) e affidò loro l’Oem Chil Jo (le cinque note e i sette toni). E mentre praticavano l’arte di vivere, dalla terra sgorgava il latte; Kung Hee e So Hee generarono ciascuna due figlie e due figli. In seguito, Mago affidò Ryoe (la Musica cosmica femminile) alle quattro nipoti femmine e Ryul (la Musica cosmica maschile) ai quattro nipoti maschi. Il paradiso di Mago, Mago Sung (la cittadella di Mago), che onorava l’Emblema celeste, seguì al Primo Cielo. Le quattro coppie, chiamate Hwang Gung (volta gialla), Baek So (nido bianco), Chun Gung (volta azzurra) e Heuk So (nido nero) furono posizionate ai quattro angoli della città. Ed esse costruirono i tubi (flauti) e composero musica. Il ciclo dell’Ultimo Cielo si srotolava. Ryul e Ryoe tornavano a risuonare. Si formò Hyang Sang (la rappresentazione dell’eco), suoni e musica si mescolavano. Mago tirò la grande cittadella di SilDal e la immerse nella regione dell’Acqua celeste. L’energia del SilDal salì e coprì la nuvola d’acqua. Quando il corpo del SilDal si espanse, comparve la terra in mezzo all’acqua. Terra e acqua stavano parallele, sorsero le montagne e le correnti si allungarono. La regione dell’Acqua celeste divenne terra e le due nuove regioni di acqua e terra ruotarono ripetutamente, finché il sopra e il sotto si rovesciarono. Da qui iniziarono numeri e calendario. Energia, fuoco, acqua e terra si generavano, mescolavano e equilibravano in mutua relazione. Da quel momento la luce separò il giorno dalla notte e le quattro stagioni. Piante e animali crescevano in abbondanza. C’era tanto lavoro da fare sulla terra… Poiché non c’erano altri se non i quattro uomini e le quattro donne celesti che amministravano la musica originale e la rappresentazione dell’eco, le cose apparivano e sparivano rapidamente senza tenersi in equilibrio. Mago allora mostrò loro come procreare dalle ascelle. Fu allora che i quattro uomini celesti si unirono alle quattro donne celesti. E ciascuna generò tre figlie e tre figli: gli antenati umani che apparvero per la prima volta sulla terra. Tutti gli abitanti di Mago Sung avevano disposizioni di cuore e di mente pure e sincere e conoscevano l’armonia. Bevevano il latte che sgorgava dalla terra e il loro sangue era energia pura. Avevano oro nelle orecchie e sentivano la musica celeste. Correvano e camminavano a loro piacere, erano liberi nei movimenti. Alla fine della loro vita, diventavano polvere dorata. L’essenza dei loro corpi si conservava. Con l’hon (spirito dell’aria) risvegliato, sapevano parlare senza voce e muovendo il baek (spirito del corpo) sapevano agire senza forme. Vivevano sparsi tra le energie della terra e la lunghezza delle loro esistenze era infinita… Quando ogni clan raggiunse il numero di 3000 … Ji So (nido di ramo), del clan dei Baek So (nido bianco), non riuscì più a bere il latte della terra. La sorgente del latte era così piccola e affollata che Ji So perse il suo turno più volte. Così Ji So per la fame assaggiò l’uva e invitò altri a farlo e fu così che un gruppo fu mosso a provare questa nuova esperienza… Il loro sangue e il loro corpo cominciarono a diventare torbidi, crebbero loro i denti, gli si aprirono gli occhi … stavano perdendo la loro natura celeste. Cominciarono a morire e la morte non fece più parte della vita. Nacquero creature bestiali. L’ordinato calendario cadde nel disordine. La comunità si divise e quelli che mangiavano l’uva lasciarono Mago Sung con vergogna, disperdendosi in luoghi diversi … . Fu allora che Mago chiuse i cancelli e ritirò le nuvole attraverso cui la gente poteva restare in sintonia con la Musica cosmica.

Tag: Jassy Watson

(Art) Three Golden Rings by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) Coming of Age by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) Sekhmet by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) Persephone by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art Prose) Painting for the Earth by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Video) Journey Within by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Solstice art) May the Light Within Guide Your Way by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) The Earth Is My Sister by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) Protectress by Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) Primal Feminine Essence by Jassy Watson

Like this:

Meet Mago Contributor, Jassy Watson

Like this:

(Art) She Who Has Faith in the Unknown by Jassy Watson

Like this:

Mago Almanac Year 8 (for 2025)

S/HE: IJGS V3 N2 2024 (B/W Paperback)

S/HE: IJGS V3 N1 2024 (B/W Paperback)

Mago Pod Bulletin #73 November 2024

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: