May 22, 2020May 22, 2020 Mago Work AdminLeave a comment

(Art) Ninhursaga by Pegi Eyers

The ancient Sumerian “Mountain Mother,” Ninhursaga gave birth to a family of deities and created the first humans. She was associated with the omega symbol (womb), the tree of life, Read More …

January 9, 2013November 8, 2019 Mago Work1 Comment

(Essay) Ninhursaga and the Fox by Hearth Moon Rising

The fox enjoys a special affinity with women. Perhaps it’s the aesthetic appeal of this cat-like canine, with her soft thick fur that would have been appreciated when humans depended Read More …

(Essay 2) The Snake Goddess Reborn by Harita Meenee

I am lucky enough to live in Kifissia, a lovely green suburb of Athens, Greece. Not far from my home there’s a quiet place with meadows and olive groves. I love taking meditative walks there. Last summer, as I was walking, I came across a snakeskin. I felt chills down my spine as I remembered the powerful symbolism of transformation associated with a creature that can literally shed its skin. This made me think that the forces of change are always with us. They’re part of nature as much as they’re part of our inner landscape and our social environment. Living in Greece has given me ample opportunity to experience the winds of change time and again these past few years.
(Essay) Growth & Guidance, Goddess-Style by Rachael Patterson

I began my path to the Goddess by, unbeknownst at the time, rejecting Christianity and diving deep into my wound. I began my path by destroying myself; by releasing the hold of the narrative of who I ‘should’ be and by running from the safe but smothering arms of my family and hometown. I began my path thinking I was getting off the path. The Goddess is funny that way.
(Pandemic Poem 8) To all of you future beings by Jyoti Wind

OM. Photo by Jyoti Wind. To all of you future beings who may never realize, know that there were those of us who held the world in Universal Light during the darkest days, so that our dream and ideal, your current life of peace and happiness, could finally become a reality. https://www.magoism.net/2020/08/meet-mago-contributor-jyoti-wind/
(Poem) The language of the serpent by Susan Hawthorne

There’s a serpent in my headgrowing wings. How can I learn the grammarof the serpent? The pronouns, the particles, thecoiling syntax. The language of the imaginaryreading out from the centreof the spiral— The grammar of theserpent language. But the language of the serpentis silent still. Notes This is an old poem, written sometime in the early 1990s. I have a long fascination with snakes and the photo below was one I saw last week. It is a Jungle Carpet Python (Morelia spilota cheynei) and was slowly crossing the road near where I live. It is non-venomous. Jungle Carpet Python (Morelia spilota cheynei), Photo by Susan Hawthorne I remember learning about carpet snakes at school. I learned that they lived in Queensland, in the tropics, where I now live. The colouring is beautiful and the yellow markings on this snake were much brighter than they appear in the photo. My quest continues looking for friendly snakes. The snake you might wind around your arms as in the snake goddess sculptures of Crete and elsewhere. The poem is from my book Bird and other writings on epilepsy (1993). https://www.magoism.net/2013/12/meet-mago-contributor-susan-hawthone/
(Goddess Writing 9) Notes by Kaalii Cargill

Thirteen Women – a feminist interpretation based on Twenty-One Women from Awakening Osiris: A New Translation of The Egyptian Book of the Dead by Normandi Ellis (2009, Red Wheel/Weiser). The lines from the original are in italics. Note: Pylon is the Greek term for a monumental gateway of an Egyptian temple. First Pylon of the Temple of Isis, originally at Philae, now on Agilkia island. Photo – Kaalii Cargill. The life-giving heart of the World beats to the rhythm of the Moon. Cycles and gyres, spiral pathways crossed by one narrow road, thin as a flint blade, that the fool walks. The ways of the Father World are devious. Temples fill with demons offering illusion. Woman walks by her own light. She comes to the first pylon. She speaks. Demon of Shame, whose heart is an accusation of unworthiness! Demon whose words are chains that chill and bind a woman’s spirit! The woman dances naked beneath the Moon. With a cry she drives away the demon. She goes on her way. Her name is “Banisher Of Shame”. Blessed is woman. She comes to the second pylon. She speaks. Grave Keepers of Tradition! Old men stroking grey beards, telling lies! Woman devours all in the flame of her lioness mouth. She goes on her way. Her name is “Burner Of Lies”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the third pylon. She speaks. Demon of Romantic Love! Ecstasy of self loss! Madness of standing outside myself! Woman breaks the arrow, takes back the wings. She goes on her way. Her name is “One Unto Herself”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the fourth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Phallocratic Technology! Insane desire for power! Woman spins widdershins. She goes on her way. Her name is “Subverter of Masculine Dominance”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the fifth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Violence! Horror of rape! Woman chants. No man may come to her. No man may sleep exhausted on her breast. No man may beseech her aloud. She is eternity, essence, window onto forever. Her name is “Singer Of Truth”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the sixth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Envy! Insidious thief of joy! None know her height, not breadth, nor magnitude. She encompasses all. Her name is “Life Giver”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the seventh pylon. She speaks. Demon of Denial! Desperate clinging to Life! Woman weeps. She is dew and rain and tears. She is widow, concealer, sorceress. Her name is “Embracer Of Death”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the eighth pylon. She speaks. Demon of injustice! Woman burns. Lady of the heat, she burns up transgression. Her flame is sharp, her fingers are orange spikes. She speaks with a tongue of far-reaching fire. She is necessity, justice, awesome power. Her name is “Flame That Protects”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the ninth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Perpetual Paralysis! Robber of strength! Silencer of outcry! Woman moves. She opens the lion’s mouth. Her name is “Strength Of Trees”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the tenth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Fear! Killer of Dreams! She roars. She fears no man on earth or beneath. She goes on. Her name is “Priestess of Heaven”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the eleventh pylon. She speaks. Demon of Slaughter! Killer of men, women, children! Destroyer of Life! She stands guard. She pierces a man with the flame of her eye. She goes on. Her name is “Protector Of Life”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the twelfth pylon. She speaks. Demon of False Beauty! Purveyor of potions! She shatters the mirror. She is the rising moon, radiant, bright light of the World. She goes on. Her name is “Lady Of The Outer Darkness”. Blessed is Woman. She comes to the thirteenth pylon. She speaks. Demon of Neoliberalism! Brutal materialistic logic! She finds reason to make a man miserable. She finds reason to cause a man to scream. She binds him with a cry. She speaks not his name, inquires not. In silence she interrogates his soul. She goes on. Her name is not known. Blessed is Woman. Meet Mago Contributor KAALII CARGILL
(Essay) What can we do to create a peaceful revolution? by Genevieve Vaughan

Realize that we are telling ourselves what is wrong all the time, but without understanding it. Understand why the urge towards domination and exploitation happens. Devalue the values that motivate people to dominate, especially nations, classes, races, as well as individuals. Look at this domination motivation and its effects. Identify the motivation and challenge and expose it at the different levels so that it will not grow back and cross-validate. Spread a movement of people who will regularly do this.
(Video) The Pilgrim’s Account by Dr Lila Moore

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWozDC2QxTs The Pilgrim’s Account videos were made as part of the Serpentine Love Field – Networked Rites which coincided with the annual ceremony of the Holy Snakes of Mary in the island of Kefalonia in Greece. The ceremony is a pilgrimage event and the videos depict the perspective of the pilgrim which is expressed through passages from her diary. The Pilgrim’s Account unfolds her journey as mediated by the serpents that open the gateways between the realm of the elements of Earth and the noetic realm of the cosmic deep mind or nous. The noetic realm is perceived as the mind that gives rise to visionary or revelatory consciousness. The encounter with the serpents during the pilgrimage opens up a three-fold trail including three stations on the way that stand for the states of mind of Ordeal, Liminality and Communitas, which gradually lead to the pilgrim’s Transformation. It is of relevance to add that the anthropologist Victor Turner links the altered state of communitas with the ritualistic structure and process of pilgrimage. The pilgrimage as a ritualistic practice is designed to end and transform an outdated situation or way of life. According to Turner, pilgrimage processes across cultures and religions always encompass liminal phenomena and a journey towards a source of communitas, a centre of healing and renewal. The three Pilgrim’s Account videos can be viewed here. More Info The artwork, Serpentine Love Field, including its associate concepts and works, was presented and exhibited at academic conferences, art centers and platforms in Greece, UK, Germany, China and Cyberspace. It is explained in the following academic articles: Moore, Lila. (2015), ‘Fields of networked mind: Ritual consciousness and the factor of communitas in networked rites of compassion’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 13: 3, pp. 331–339 Moore, Lila. (2017), ‘Techno-spiritual horizons: Compassionate networked art forms and noetic fields of cyborg body and consciousness’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 15:3, pp. 325–39 For more info, subscribe to Dr Lila Moore Cybernetic Futures Inst. monthly newsletter, here: http://www.cyberneticinstitute.com/online-courses-1 © Dr Lila Moore, All Rights Reserved (Meet Mago Contributor) Lila Moore, Ph.D.
We Called the Circle and they Came! Creating Magic at a Women’s Gathering by Glen Rogers

Group Circle What a great response for Calling the Circle, our inaugural Sacred Feminine Women’s Gathering in San Miguel de Allende this past November. It was a sold out event with almost 50 women including our Advisory Council and speakers. Women came from within Mexico – San Miguel, Baja, Mazatlán, Lake Chapala and the Yucatan as well as California, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Indiana, Washington and Canada. With this gathering, we clearly touched a yearning to celebrate the Divine Feminine in her many guises. During this event, we created a Sacred Vessel that we filled with ceremony, collaborative art projects, a diverse line up of speakers, sound healing, meditations, journaling, and sharing in smaller sister circles – three days of Inspiration, Connection and Empowerment. Glen Rogers with Alicia Mayo Everyone felt nurtured as soon as they entered our gorgeous space with towering mesquite trees and lovely plazas. Beginning with blessings and purification, each person was then crowned with a flower garland befitting a goddess. Moving through the sacred landscape, they were offered warm chai from the cauldron and invited to add a personal item to the altar. While each day was filled with magical moments and creative interactions, there was plenty of time to meet and share our personal stories over beautifully catered lunches and afternoon social hours. Gathering and Listening Conversations continued throughout the day inspired by our speakers – all sharing women’s wisdom from the heart. While I talked about my pilgrimages to ancient matriarchal sites and goddess archetypes, archeologist Rossana Quiroz from the local Cañada del la Virgen pyramid discussed Mesoamerican goddesses and their relationship to creation myths. Jyothi Panicker, a South Indian raised in Zambia discussed the early matrilineal traditions in her village as well as Indian goddesses and how she weaves them into her spiritual practice as a yoga teacher. Amber Chand, also born in India, used her storytelling and deeply spiritual practice as artist and life coach to enliven the Sacred Feminine. Dr. Ratka Mira Popovic, initiated Priestess and doctor of Chinese Medicine, talked about how to embody our Divine Feminine by connecting with our ancestral lineage through ritual, meditation and intentional rediscovery. Jyothi Panicker and Butterfly Art installations around our sacred space added a fun, hands-on creative element to the event. For instance, the Butterfly Tapestry at the entrance was a metaphor for transformation with an opportunity to contribute with image and word (and a great photo opportunity!) Artist Lena Bartula invited everyone to weave in their prayers and small objects into her Ritual Chair – to dream a more inclusive new world. My copper vessels representing the 4 elements, were also participatory with an invitation to plant a seed, light a candle, etc. On the 2nd day, we created our vision board/soul collages which are always meaningful and powerful. On Tuesday November 8, we held our private full moon ritual with Crone mother, Alicia Mayo, who has been presiding over full moon rituals at El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Gardens for over 25 years. With her steady drum beat, she called in the Luna energy and invited us to dream our dreams, each throwing copal into the fire, a natural incense used in spiritual ceremonies in Mexico. There was powerful magic in our circle as it was also a lunar eclipse! We ended the ceremony that evening by spontaneously dancing around the fire pit with whoops of joy to celebrate the Goddess. What a blessing! For some, the sound healing with Argentinean Keila Tonello was one of the highlights. The vibrations through her voice and singing bowls were a gift to rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit. For others, it was the smaller sister circles composed of 8 to 10 women that were so very special. These break-out circles provided a safe haven of compassionate sharing and listening. And we know as women – being heard is so important! We also had broader discussions facilitated by some of our Advisory Circle; Bobbi Van, Amber Chand, Dorothy Wallstein, Tayler Friar, Dr. Ratka Mira Popovic and myself: The Untold Story: Maiden, Mother, Crone and a session on Transformation – in the world and in our personal lives. Journaling was a tool used throughout the three days as a way to process and go deeper within ourselves. I think we all left with lasting gifts of new friendships, new spiritual tools, and inspiration and commitment to make life changes. We are excited about our next Calling the Circle event scheduled for November 6 – 8, 2023 at the same beautiful location in San Miguel. As I mentioned in my preliminary article for MAGO [Return to Mago E-Magazine]– women, now more than ever, hunger for the Circle as a way to unite with each other and to ancient goddess wisdom. We are all looking for heart connection and a reclaiming of our spiritual roots to Mother Earth and the Sacred Feminine. Women’s circles are an age-old way to make that magic happen. Zoe, Emily and Lena Bartula (R) with Ritual A portion of the proceeds were donated to Mujeres en Cambio, a San Miguel non-profit that supports women’s education. Visit the website to learn more, get on the mailing list and to register: www.sacredfemininecircle.com Here is just some of the feedback we received: Calling the Circle was one of the most inspiring events I’ve attended! I truly can’t thank you enough for organizing this experience. Your thoughtful efforts to create something that would be special for lots of different people were reflected in every element of the experience. I can’t remember if I have ever participated in such a meticulously planned event. Brava, ladies!!! Thank YOU! And all the organizers and presenters for putting together this very special gathering. I come away enlightened & curious to learn more about matriarchies and the Divine Feminine, empowered to release past burdens that have held me back, and incredibly in awe of the strength, courage, and ability women have to survive, forgive, and excel in life. …
(Essay) Slavic Mother Tongue: Music/Ballads by Danica Borkovich Anderson, Ph.D.

The Mother Tongue is the descriptive sister kinship relationships. In Serbo-Croatian-Slavs have many more names for sister kinship genealogy while having only a few references for fathers, husbands, sons, and uncles. The Neolithic Bird Goddess points to very early sister kinship origins with the birds/heavens and the trees/earth with vestiges of the Mother Tongue in the Serbo-Croatian language today. It is known among the South Slavic studies and research that the Slavs utilized an eternal memory with the abilities to do prosaic recitation of thousands of lines in a myth, story and song. South Slavs have archaic traditions rooted in oral orations. Orally organized with the ability to memorize thousands of poetic lines, the South Slavs did not have a written alphabet until the late 1800s. The round dances ─ kolos ─ along with the chanting songs sung by the women working in the fields and at the hearth preserved Slavic female humanity and the Mother Tongue right into our modern era. Rhythm and melodies transmitted female pearls of wisdom in the Mother Tongue prosodic recitation. The essential point is that the written word was not the best container or method of transmission for the “Old Europe” rituals, traditions and sacred pearls of wisdom whispered down from Grandmother to mother to daughter. Devaluing the South Slavic language for not having a written alphabet tends to associate the concept of primitiveness to ancient ways of learning and knowing. However, due to the South Slavs’ prodigious abilities to be orally organized, to have recall memories intact with accuracy through thousands of generations, the Mother Tongue was and is able to capture understanding and wisdom. The written page can transmit only so much of the South Slavic spiritual meanings. What the ancient stari Babas (Serbo-Croatian for wise women/grandmother) knew was to have a receptacle that had keys to the esoteric meanings of the first wise grandmothers, mothers, and daughters of long ago. Their art of storytelling and storied instructions is done through the description as opposed to comparisons, semantics or disembodied scientific analysis. Before any advice that prescribes steps, we women need to describe. When we trace the Mother Tongue in the word description, its origins are Latin, meaning to “go down”, and eventually the word came to be known as “write”. The Old French 13th century use of the word describe was to “give an account of ─ this word traces to scribe. The Indo-European base to scribe means to cut and incise ─ reflecting the origins of writing into wood or on stone and clay. Fairy Tales, a modern-day Mother Tongue example of prose recitations, are repeated through the centuries. Oral traditions repeated information in verses before there was the written alphabet. How many times have we all read or heard, “Once upon a time…” This ancient way of repeating is the repetition so lost to us women today. With the use of rhythm, a prosaic repetition occurs. Without rhythm there are no songs, nor is the melody of spoken word from women’s heart fully expressed. Somehow a natural order appears in the prosaic repetition and without this natural order, there can be no liberating female voice. Yet, it is the very prosaic repetition that the patriarchs exploit so as to not do the hundreds of small acts needed daily. We are in an age where the prosaic rhythm naturally inherent in mothers and daughters (who are microcosms of Baba Yaga ─ Mother Nature herself) is exploited as a rich female slave labor pool since patriarchal concerns are without rhythm, rhyme, and reason. Notice how we stand to attention with the repeating phrase, “Once upon a time,” and wait eagerly for our grandmothers’ first-person stories encased and bedecked in jewels and gold. The repeating phrase of “Once upon a time” stands for the mystery and the intrigue that are the pronouncements of a beginning and an ending that dissolves back into the very beginning, only to repeat the circle of life. We learn to trust from this Mother Tongue as we listen deeply to the stories. Observation is the main tool to an embodied science that includes Baba Yaga-Mother Nature and accompanies the individuals who have learned to listen to all their senses and express their first-person story. Additionally, the individual who has learned to listen to all her senses and express her first-person story remembers Mother Tongue.(Meet Mago Contributor) Danica Borkovich Anderson.

(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 […]
(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) To Contributors: Strengthening Our Roots by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Dear Contributors, Do you know that Return to Mago (RTM) E*Magazine is entering its fifth year this fall? And, thanks to our collective effort, we are still growing! As of today, our contributors have grown to more than 130 in number and our readership is from about 140 countries around the world. We have some hundred email followers as well as Wordpress blog followers. We draw 3000-4000 clicks per month on average; that is no small accomplishment for a Goddess blog that is named after a yet-to-be heard word, Mago (the Great Goddess), and that began from scratch.

Artful Ceremonial Expression by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

This article is an edited excerpt from Chapter 7 of the author’s book PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. I always wore a special headpiece for the Seasonal ceremonies when I facilitated them over the years, and I feel that any participant may do so, not just the main celebrant. My ceremonial headpiece with its changing and continuous Seasonal decoration took on increasing significance over the years; it became a personal central representation of the year-long ceremonial art process of creating, destroying and re-creating. For the research period of my doctoral studies particularly, when I was documenting the process, I realised that this headpiece came to represent for me the essence of “She” – as Changing One, yet ever as Presence – as I was coming to know Her. In my journal for the Mabon/Autumn Equinox process notes one year I wrote: As I pace the circle with the Mabon headpiece in the centre, I see “Her” as She has been through the Seasons … the black and gold of Samhain, the deep red, white and evergreen of Winter, the white and blue of Imbolc, the flowers of Eostar, the rainbow ribbons of Beltane, the roses of Summer, the seed pods and wheat of Lammas, and now the Autumn leaves. I see in my mind’s eye, and feel, Her changes. I am learning … The Mother knowledge grows within me. The headpiece, the wreath, the altar, the house decorations, all participate in the ceremony: they are part of the learning, the method, the relationship – similar to how one might bring flowers and gifts of significance to a loved one at special moments. Then further, the removal and re-creation of the decorations are part of the learning – an active witness to transformation through time.
(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, …
(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
(Video) An Autumn Equinox Ceremony by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Autumn Equinox/Mabon Northern Hemisphere – September 21-23 Southern Hemisphere – March 21-23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRJNY1LSvIs&t=1175s …oOo… The purpose of this video is for ceremony, and I suggest pausing the video where it suits you, to add your own processing, embellishments and/or your own drum, percussion and voice wherever you please. I have made short spaces in the video where it could be paused. The script for this Autumn Equinox/Mabon ceremony is offered in Chapter 11 of my book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony, with all acknowledgements and references there. In particular I mention here, credit for the story of Demeter and Persephone as told by Charlene Spretnak in her book Lost Goddesses of Early Greece. For more full participation in the ceremony, you could have one or more stalks of wheat or native grain tied with a red thread/ribbon, a garden pot with soil, a small garden trowel, a flower bulb (daffodil type), food and drink, that may represent your “harvest” – ready for eating and drinking. The elements of Water, Fire, Earth and Air on the altar in this video are placed in directions that are appropriate to my region in the Southern Hemisphere, and East Coast Australia: you may place yours differently, and transliterate when I mention the direction (which I do minimally). The images used are a collage of footage and photos from the 2024 Autumn Equinox ceremony at my place in Wakka Wakka country, South East Queensland Australia, and from previous Autumn Equinox ceremonies I facilitated over the decades in MoonCourt, Goddess ceremonial space in NSW Australia, Darug and Gundungurra country. My partner Robert (Taffy) Seaborne who has participated in all the Seasonal ceremonies since Samhain 2000, adds his voice to this video. Image credits: Demeter and Persephone (500 B.C.E. Greece). Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.72. Art of Demeter and Persephone on MoonCourt wall: Cernak Herself Music credit: “Gentle Sorrow” by Sky: which he has previously allowed me to use in my work. This piece of music is also used in the Autumn Equinox meditation on my PaGaian Cosmology Meditations published 2015.
(Art & Poem) Candelmas/Imbolc by Sudie Rakusin & Annie Finch

IMBOLC DANCE From the east she has gathered like wishes. She has woven a night into dawn. We are quickening ivy. We grow where her warmth melts out over the ice. Now spiral south bends into flame to push the morning over doors. The light swings wide, green with the pulse of seasons, and we let her in We are quickening ivy. We grow The light swings wide, green with the pulse till the west is rocked by darkness pulled from where the fire rises. Shortened time’s reflecting water rakes her through the thickened cold. Hands cover north smooth with emptiness, stinging the mill of night’s hours. Wait with me. See, she comes circling over the listening snow to us. Shortened time’s reflecting water Wait with me. See, she comes circling From Calendars (Tupelo Press, 2003) Art is included in Celebrating Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2017). (Meet Mago Contributor) Sudie Rakusin (Meet Mago Contributor) Annie Finch
(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 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
(Bell Essay 2) Ancient Korean Bells and Magoism by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Part II Overall Structure and Parts of the Ancient Korean Bell The ancient Korean bell takes on the female form figuratively. In other words, its female implication is expressed symbolically rather than descriptively. Unlike the ancient Greek bell that literally depicts a woman’s body (See Bell Essay 1), the ancient Korean bell characterizes female anatomy with symbols and designs. Neither limbs nor a human face is seen. Instead, breasts and nipples are stylized. The head is represented by a dragon. The belly is adorned with the relief of celestial nymphs. The female symbology that the bell invokes is not limited to the material body of the bell only, however. The legend of a female child sacrifice to the casting of the bell should be taken in the light of its female symbology. Likewise, the inscription made on the Sangwonsa Jong indicating that the commissioner was a woman needs to be taken into consideration. Foremost, the Magoist cosmogony that attributes cosmic music to ultimate creativity holds the key to unlock the very purpose of the bell: The bell is created to sound the Call of Mago, the Great Goddess. Visualizing Her, the bell emits the Sound of Mago for which its sacredness is explained. The bell, if we call it Buddhist, redefines Buddhism, Korean Buddhism, to be precise. It calls people to the arcane knowledge of the female origin. These points are to be discussed in more detail in the forthcoming sequels. In this part, I discuss the overall structure of the bell and examine some major characteristics of its parts. An ancient Korean bell consists of two parts: the bell’s body (jongsin) and the dragon loop (yongnu). The bell’s body part includes the Nipples, the Bell Breast, the Breast Circumference, Bell’s Belly, Celestial Nymphs, Bell’s Mouth, the Striking Seat, the Heavenly Plate, the Upper Support, and the Lower Support. And the dragon loop part includes the Dragon Loop and the Dragon Tube (Sound Tube). In addition, the piece of wood (mallet) that is designed to strike the bell on Dangjwa (Striking Seat) is called Dangmok (the Striking Wood). It also requires an Ullimtong (Depressed Ground for Sound Transmission) for the sound waves to travel. Each part, as a microcosm, adds to the beauty and function of the bell. Images sculpted including foliage, flower, lotus, humans, celestial nymphs, breasts, nipples, and dragon are achieved in sophistication. Artistic mastery is sublime. Behold! The bell is a metaphor of not only the body of a woman, the vulva in particular, but also what she is, her purpose! The bell transforms the female to the divine, the Goddess. Now I invite the reader to take note of the overall shape of the bell made in the form of a large Korean crock (hangari) placed upside down. The curved line drawn from top to bottom with the diameter of its mouth smaller than that of the belly is another distinguishing feature. In fact, there are quite a few features that distinguish ancient Korean bells from the bells of China and Japan. The parts that I illustrated above, in particular the nine Nipples, the Bell Breast, the Dragon Tube, Celestial Nymphs, and the Striking Seat, are its representative characteristics. As a percussion instrument, the ancient Korean bell epitomizes precision and sophistication. Everything contained on the surface of the bell is made to resonate with the inner hollow to maximize the travel of sound waves. As shown below in the figure, even the metal residue remaining on the inner wall plays a key role, creating the sound waves. Without those irregular lumps, the sound will have a far lower frequency making fewer waves. In other words, the rough surface of the inner hollow is intentional. Beauty and functionality are conjoined to create the sound of the Goddess. Functional parts such as the Dragon Loop, Dragon Tube (or Sound Tube), and the Striking Seat are seamlessly integrated with the artistry. The Dragon Loop is there to represent the divinity of the Goddess and at once to be used as a hook for hanging. The Dragon Tube open-ended upward is there to vent out the impurity of the sound. When all is said and done, it is designed not just to please the eye but to awaken the mind to seek. The bell in its mesmerizing beauty wakes up the mind of people, otherwise made dull or dormant under patriarchal inflictive routines. Buddhists might say that the reality to which the sound calls is “the way things are” or “suchness.” However, such understanding is only a tingle of the patriarchal mind that refuses to hear the deeper call. The bell awakens people to the reality of the Goddess. Each striking carries the pulse of Mago, the Great Goddess. Sources: Norugwi. [http://blog.daum.net/euijj31/11296149] Cultural Heritage Administration [http://www.cha.go.kr/main/KorIndex!korMain.action] Sin Hyeongjun. “Why is the Sound of Bell beautiful? The Delicacy of the Striking Spot… The Uneven Thickness Creates Sound Waves” Choson Ilbo, October, 9, 2001. (To be continued in Part III, Read Part I)
(Essay 2) Returning Home with Mago, the Great Goddess, from East Asia by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

[Author’s Note: This essay was first published in Trivia, Voices of Feminism, Issue 6, September 2007. Also to be included in the forthcoming anthology She Rises: Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?] An Introduction to Magoism Mago is the Great Goddess of East Asia. Nonetheless, she remains barely known to the world. Her equals, Xiwangmu (the Supreme Goddess of Daoism) and Amaterasu (the Sun Goddess of the Japanese imperial family), are said to comprise the pantheon of East Asian cosmic goddesses. Considering that these goddesses are often aligned with the ancient culture of China or Japan, one notices that the pantheon of East Asian Great Goddesses thus omits both Mago and “Korean culture.”