October 11, 2016October 2, 2019 RTM Editors2 Comments

(Prose part 1) African Initiation by Louisa Calio

Part One: Ghanaian Festival … Once again the Kwando family welcomed them. They had arrived auspiciously. “Tomorrow will be the most important Ga festival,” Kwame said. How privileged they felt Read More …

(Essay 12) The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen

[This part and the forthcoming sequels are an elaborated version of the original article entitled “The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia—a late Shamanistic Branch of the Old European Civilization?” by Märta-Lena Bergstedt & Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen, included in Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture (Mago Books, 2018) Edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.] IDUN — The White Disa and Keeper of Apples Fig. 32. Apple blooming In the light summer’s nights when mists are floating like white veils over the meadows, a common expression is that;“Now the disirs are dancing” (Diserne danser), or that the “Cailleach is brewing” (Kællingen brygger). Maidens, Mothers, and Crones still recur today as fundamental components of the living nature. For long, there has been an extended discussion about the nature of the Norse Disir. These discussions take their starting point in the rather twisted disir-figures depicted in the 13th century Iceland texts, for instance those in the Saga of Thorhall and Tirande, Flateyjarbók.[1] In these late texts, disirs are dualistically separated into two groups of black and white disir, good and bad ghosts, deities, or spirits of fate and the like. All the same, the word, disa in Scandinavian languages is simply and nothing but an old synonym word for maiden (mö), which over time, developed into the modern word, tös.[2] Consistently, early Danish translators would translate the Icelandic word, disir into young women (unge kvinder), and nothing else. Disa-Day, still celebrated in Sweden on the 2nd of February, is the day of the Bride of Spring returning, where also the Disa-Thing is still held in Uppsala, north of Stockholm. The Sagas count a number of Vanir disir of which the Vanadis Fröja is the most renowned. In this presentation, we will let yet another disa step forward, namely Idun. Travelling in her slough (skin) of a white swan, this Vanadis is also a guardian of growth and propagation wisdom. She is the famed Keeper of Apples, the round womb-fruits enclosing all the seeds of the future in their cores.[3] Idun´s mother is a ljus-disa (Maiden of Light), and has several names, Svan-hild (Swanlight), Guld-fjäder (Goldfeather), and Hilde-gun (Shining-Woman/Mother).[4] Idun is brought up by Svanhild and Svanhild´s brother, Idvalde (Ivalde), also known as Finn-Alf (Shining-White-Elven, postulated to be the first “King of the Elven and Finns in North-East Svitjod” (Uppland, Sweden), which may rather indicate that he was an elder in elven understanding). Idun, when grown, is engaged in a sibling parental pair with her brother Völund(Weyland), Smith of Beauty, renowned for his tender forging of every flower on earth born in his imagination. With great delicacy, Völund puts each petal in place, shapes each little green straw of grass, and rounds the cheek of every rosy apple. He entrusted the precious apples of eternity in his sister and partner, Idun´s keeping.[5] In Asgård, Idun was soon married away to Brage, and given the task of providing daily apples to the Asir gods, which they believed would keep them forever fit-for-fighting and avoiding old age. But one day, the Giant-son, Loke (Lug) had enough and sputters at her: “You are Id-valde´s family! How can you go on serving his murderers? Put on your slough (skin) and fly away home to your family and your brother! It is your duty, if you are not staying here to claim blood vengeance!” Next to murdering Id-valde, the up-bringer and uncle of Idun and her brothers, the Asir gods had also violated her brother Völund (Weyland) by putting his art of forging natural blooming into a contest, after which they nominated Völund’s work second best to Sindre’s. The dvarf Sindre had forged the hammer, Mjölner that became Thor’s pride and token, and his iron-gloves and power-belt. Völund never recovered from this degradation.[6] With his words, Loke succeeded to provoke Idun to put on her slough and fly off home together with her sisters, Siv and Aude to re-unite with their dear brothers. Realizing Idun was gone, and also the precious apples, the Asir gods of course got furious, demanding Idun back immediately, before rusting away! The Apple prototype all fruit, and is a universal symbol of offspring and launched projects – fruit of life, and fruit of one´s work. The apple-seeds in belly-round and womblike centers condense the idea of the over-all feminine, seeds awaiting in the peaceful dark core of the female womb. Apples belong to the Rose family. Idun’s magic apples symbolize the magic world of feminine of propagation; still today red roses are signs of love and love-making, and the fruits of apple are symbols of pregnancy and birth- giving. As Guardian of the Fruits of Eternal Regeneration (which the Asirs mistook for staying forever young), Idun symbolically belongs to the ancient apple orchards, the Apple Lands, in Greek, Roman, and Hebrew mythology. The Greek Hesperides, Nymphs of the Sunset, kept a strong guard over their golden apples. The Old Norse word apel (appel) means any round fruit,[7] and the apple-theme, found in many stories of our cultural heritage concerned with young maidens eating round apples, echo ancient female initiation rites performed on the threshold of becoming a woman. Initiation once gave the young maidens all necessary knowledge of their intrinsic procreating power and life-giving potential dwelling within, soon to flourish. Although now-a-days dressed in patriarchal costumes, fairy-tales like Snow White still contain fresh and recognizable fragments and memories of girls´ former initiation rites to become women. In Snow White, the innocent (snow-white) little girl makes thetransgression by a ritual dying, initiated when swallowing (integrating) a bite ofan apple (the apple-womb-knowledge); the transition takes place within a glass coffin (glas-borgs are discussed below),[8] her re-birth as woman is completed when meeting a man (the prince, the lover of her choice) and their first love-making (symbolized by the kiss); to be followed by her motherhood (pictured in the patriarchal wedding). Fairytales are full of these stories, but also medieval Sagas have remembered the old knowledge, too. In the Saga of …
(Essay) Seeing Ourselves as Goddess Sees Us by Carolyn Lee Boyd

Eve By Radbod Commandeur (1890 – 1955); photo by Deror avi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6406960 At the beginning of the beginning, after almost all other species had been created and received their gifts from the Creator Goddess, humanity stood waiting. Finally, when it was our turn, we slowly walked up to the Creator to receive our special geniuses, which we knew we should faithfully use to improve life on our planet for all the beings every moment of our lives. She leaned closer giving us one gift after the other, till finally She whispered, “This last is maybe the best of all, it is my favorite. It is story. With story you can change the world almost instantly. And every story starts with the one that you tell yourself about yourself. Be sure to make it good.” And, indeed, every day, we are constructing the story of our lives, shaped by our perceptions, assumptions, doubts, and dreams. During more than a quarter century as a human services professional, I listened to the life stories of hundreds of women and I was always amazed at how often what they said about their disappointment in themselves and their accomplishments belied the truth I knew of long decades of caring and compassion, persisting in the face of overwhelming challenges, creating profound beauty, and being deeply of service to family, friends, and community. I don’t think anyone will be surprised if I posit that demonizing myths of Goddesses are directly responsible for much of the disconnect between women’s perceptions of themselves and reality. Every one of the myths is a story of how humans perceive ourselves, for good or bad. And, in fact, those myths can profoundly affect our well being, even for those of us who think we have left them far behind years ago. What can we learn by examining the myths that denigrate Goddesses about their effects on the life stories we weave about ourselves and what are the truths we should remember? Helen of Troy: By Frederick Sandys – [1], Public Domain. Helen of Troy was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world, setting all other women up as less worthy on the basis of appearance. Still, Helen’s beauty was not only unattainable by mortal women, but also led to tragedy. She was reviled by many in ancient Greek society because, in their eyes, her crossing of the Greek sexual double-standard started the Trojan War, leading to immense suffering and death1. And thus we learned not only that our bodies were not up to Helen’s standards but that, if they had been, disaster would still result. Truth: All of our bodies are beautiful in their own unique way and deserve to be nurtured and nourished by us and those around us. The Sumerian and Hebrew goddess Lilith has long been portrayed as a warning about women’s lust when she was tossed out of Paradise for demanding sexual equality with Adam, and then becoming insatiable2. And thus we learned that our physical creative power and pleasure are evil and uncontrollable. Truth: Our sexuality is our own to enjoy as we please. We are told over and over again that as our bodies age, we become ugly or invisible. Baba Yaga, similar to many crone Goddesses, is envisioned as a disfigured old woman who scares people to death by looking at them and then devours her victims3. And thus we learned that we are worthless unless young and our life lessons have given us nothing to offer ourselves or society. Truth: Our life experiences are the source of our ability to live wisely and give effective counsel. Now let’s look at Eve. She has been portrayed for millennia as evil because of her pursuit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, leading to the sometimes fatal demonization and persecution of women4 as responsible for all the troubles of the world. We see a similar message in the story of Inanna who descends to the Underworld out of compassion for her newly widowed sister and to seek the power and discernment that can only come from confronting our own mortality. There she is stripped of her clothes and symbols of her station, judged, executed, and hung on a meathook for three days. Her servant, Ninshubur, appeals to Inanna’s father and grandfather for help. They refuse because, according to Diane Wolkstein, they “are angry that Inanna should pursue a direction that is different from theirs”5. And thus we learned to quell our natural instinct to understand ourselves and our world so that we can fill our life missions. Truth: It is our essential birthright to pursue truth and wisdom. And there are many more. When we analyze these myths, we see why certain aspects of our being are singled out for criticism by those who would seek for women to be less than they deserve to be. Each of these relates in some way to women’s power over herself and her ability to be an effective force for positive change in the world. Fortunately, these are not the original myths told about these Goddesses and we, as a generation, have begun to excavate these older myths that speak the truth and bring them back into humanity’s awareness. Max Dashu reminds us that the maligned Helen was originally a Goddess, whose name was possibly related to the sun and light and a relief shows her wearing a “a radiant sun-crown”6. The people did not demonize Helen; she had “heroine shrines” where they left offerings of “votive figurines of warriors, female musicians, dancers and riders; ivory combs, cosmetics, mirrors, perfume”7. The first mention of Lilith is the Sumerian myth of Inanna where she comes to live in Inanna’s huluppu tree of life but is eventually forced to flee into the wilderness. Elinor Gadon wrote that this Lilith was “probably originally a form of the Goddess now threatening to patriarchy”8. In later Sumerian texts she is a bird goddess …
(2015 Mago Pilgrimage) Triad Seonghwang Shrines in Gangmun by Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Our visit as well as my lecture in the northeastern coastal region of South Korea was arranged by Ms. Eungyeong Kim. Ms. Kim, lecturer at Gangneung Wonju University, had contacted me three years prior and requested me to visit her region during Mago Pilgrimage. We visited several cultural and natural sites including the three Seonghwang Shrines, Buddhist temple, Rock of Mago Halmi, and Rock of Mago. Traditionally, this region is famed for high Neo-Confucian culture during the last Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). That meant we were stepping into the area wherein male leadership characterized the local culture for the last few centuries. I could sense that highly valued order, balance, and accuracy were embedded in the life of people. The triad symbol was strikingly visible all around us. Not only the three Seonghwang Shrines but also the female triad divine venerated in them. The Seonghwang Shrine refers to a Korean indigenous shrine. And the shrine comprised the three chambers. The triad symbol goes on: The origin story of the shrine involved three geese. Sotdae (the wooden pole that symbolizes Magoism) had the carving of three geese atop. Ancestral tablets came in three. At another level, the Female Seonghwang Shrine was balanced with the Male Seonghwang Shrine. One may assume that the male-female balance follows the Chinese heterosexual model, a patriarchal device that subjugates the female to the male principle. Intriguingly, however, such female-male balance did not render the pantheon of the female triad divine in the case of Gangmun Seonghwang shrine! We found female triad ancestral worship in the Male Seonghwang Shrine as well! Their ancestral tablets bespoke that villagers deemed themselves as the descendants of the female triad. We were given their titles, the Deity of Seonghwang at the center flanked by the Deity of Earth and the Deity of Disease or Smallpox. That substantiates difference between traditional Korean society and Chinese patriarchal society, an insight that Matrina Deuchler maintains.[1] Deuchler, having researched familial institutions and inheritance customs during the late period of Goryeo (918-1392) and the early period of Joseon, shows that traditional Korean society, unlike China, operated a gender-balanced system in which women held equal rights as men. When it comes to gender principle, Korean traditional society, as the whole world fell under patriarchal history, accepted a form of patriarchy on the outlook. Facing the pressure of patriarchal culture from China and India in particular, however, traditional Koreans were able to shape a gynocentric form of gender-balanced society in which preserved the female principle, the legacy of ancient Magoists. In short, villagers of Gangmun sustained the female-male balance of Magoism to this day throughout the vicissitudes of misogynist cultural inventions spawned by the Neo-Confucian social order that took root in the late Joseon period and was consolidated during the Japanese colonial rule and the Korean War. [1] See Martina Deuchler, The Confucian Transformation of Korea: A Study of Society and Ideology (Cambridge, Mass.: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University; Distributed by Harvard University Press, 1992). Cited in Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, “Korean History and Religion Viewed from a Gender Perspective 성의 관점에서 본 한국역사와 종교 (I): Korean Women during the Koryo and early Choson periods 고려말 조선초 한국 여성들,” in Segyeo-ui Sinhak (Theology of the World) Vol. 52 (Fall 2001), 175-208” and “Korean History and Religion Viewed from a Gender Perspective 성의 관점에서 본 한국역사와 종교 (2): Medieval Korean Women’s Movements of Tantric Buddhism and Korean Alphabet 중세 한국 여성들의 탄트릭 불교와 한글운동,” in Segyeo-ui Sinhak (Theology of the World) Vol. 54 (Spring 2002), 247-282. The first place we visited was the old town of Gangmun in Gangneung (강릉) City. Gangmun is known for her ancient faith practice of Seonghwang (城隍, Moated Stronghold), whose origin I trace in the Magoist Budo civilization in the third millennium BCE.[i] Unfortunately, the topic of the Seonghwang Shrine remains largely misrepresented and its discussion is complex. Suffice it to say that it refers to a Magoist Shamanic shrine and a village center wherein villagers practiced and preserved Magoism throughout generations. We were there to visit what Gangmun is best known for: The three shrines, the Female Seonghwang Shrine, the Male Seonghwang Shrine, and the outdoor place of Jinttobaegi Seonghwang (진또배기 성황). The Female Seonghwang Shrine (여성황당, Yeo Seonghwang-dang) sits on the ground under the Peak of Juk-do (Big or Bamboo Island), a low hill by the seashore. Below the peak amidst its waist, nettle trees are lined up, looking down the roof of the shine. The shine building, small in size, exudes a swirl of high energy in the air. Having three chambers, it enshrines the female triad in the middle chamber. Our guide, Mr. Yeongmok Jang (80 year-old), an elder of the village, told us the origin story of the shrine. About four hundred fifty years ago, three geese flew from Mongolia and sat on the current spot. Villagers deemed the place sacred and began to offer rituals. At the beginning, the shrine had no structure but was marked by a rock and a small edifice made from rice-straw. The present shrine building was from two hundred some years ago, the late Joseon period (1392-1897). The next shrine, Jinttobaegi Seonghwang, was an outdoor open space made into a park wherein numerous jinttobaegis better known in other regions as sotdaes (솟대 wooden poles with carved three geese atop) stood in different heights. This place is deemed as one of the three shrines in Gangmun together with the Female Seonghwang Shrine and the Male Seonghwang Shrine. All three are located in proximity within 100 meters from each other. According to Mr. Wongeun Kim, a representative of the Gangmun Fishing Community, the tallest sotdae is re-constructed every three years upon the ritual of Pungeo-je (calming the wind for sea voyagers). Other data show that the tallest sotdae is designated as the focus of worship in this outdoor shrine. The third shrine, the Male Seonghwang Shrine (숫성황당, Sut Seonghwang-dang or 남성황당, Nam Seonghwang-dang), was of a small hut-like structure with only one chamber. It was …
(Prose) A Beary Peaceful Day by Sara Wright

Photo by Sara Wright It is overcast and a few drops of rain are falling. I have been out talking to Tree Bear (TB), a yearling who has brightened my life in these dark soul days. Tree Bear comes up the mossy pine strewn path to the clearing and peeks at me from behind his white pine intermittently as he snacks. There are so many old felled trees full of tasty grubs and ants now that the spring grasses have matured and gone by; soon the berries will ripen and Tree Bear will begin to put on weight. Acorns will be the choice of food for fall. Few people know that Black Bears are 93 percent vegetarian. The other night I watched TB in the cherry tree, sitting in the branches like a monkey calmly combing out his thick under fur as he munched on cherry leaves and hard green cherries. He is a healthy looking and very beautiful yearling with brown eyebrows and a bump in his nose that is only visible from some angles. He probably weighs 50 – 60 LBs and has some brownish fur in places. He was recently separated from his mother who left him because she needed to mate and his little sister has also disappeared. His face is so full of compassion that it takes my breath away. I say compassion because my personal experience has taught me that some (if not all) of these animals understand human suffering and respond to it by taking concrete actions. One slept outside my window while my dog was dying, another came to sit by me one night while I was wildly weeping outside in the dark. Stark and hopeless depression brings them in. Empathy flows like a deep underground river between us – why – because bears like other animals have deep feelings that are not mediated by abstract intellectual rational thinking. This is not to say that all bears respond to people this way. But some do, and Tree Bear is one of these animals. Bears are demonized by humans, shot and wounded on sight (legally and illegally) often in the gut so they will die slowly and painfully. In Maine we hunt them for four months; with hounding ‘practice’ four months becomes five. What is truly amazing is that these animals do not retaliate in kind, except on rare occasions. A human has a million to one chance of being killed by a bear. Bears use remarkable restraint, utilizing peacekeeping practices for themselves and humans alike. If Ursus americanus ruled the Earth there would be no wars. All bears utilize a matriarchal family system with mothers and daughters sharing territories; males roam the peripheries. This morning I quietly spoke to TB while slowly approaching his tree. I know his language; he huffs to remind me how much he disapproves of close encounters. Yesterday, he eluded me each time I tried to film him. He’s wary, full of curiosity, and uncertainty. Fear when it comes to other bears. He stands on two feet in alarm when he glimpses his own mother. He does not trust me, but allows me to approach him if I do so respectfully. He moans when I get too close even though I keep reassuring him that I am his friend. Sometimes TB is a clown. Late yesterday afternoon he lay on his back with a can positioned between his paws poking his nose into its cavity. Next he chased it down the hill. I have to find other toys to amuse him. His trickster aspect is most evident when he sees me with the camera. He turns his head away, ducks behind a branch, runs down to the brook or disappears down the path in a flash. TB is also developing a habit of peering around tree corners to see who I might be talking to. TB and I both love trees. Black bears are native to this continent and co evolved with trees. They cannot live in treeless places because they are a prey animal who must have trees to protect themselves and their young. Obviously Black Bear territory is shrinking, not good news for the bears. TB and I have such a brief moment in time to be together. Even now each gun shot, or semi automatic blast slams a hole in my heart. The future for this bear is grim. Most of the bears that are slaughtered are yearlings (18 – 22 months old) when they are first on their own. All this to become a trophy or rug, a badge of “manhood” on some idiot’s wall. Perhaps because of the rapidly approaching hunting season each moment spent observing TB’s behavior is that more precious. Befriending this bear brings me to the edge of possibility. We could find a way to live together, if only we would. I close with a quote from Leslie Marmon Silko that mirrors my own experience: “It is very peaceful with the bears; the people say that’s the reason human beings seldom return.” (Meet Mago Contributor) Sara Wright.
(Prose part 1) African Initiation by Louisa Calio

Part One: Ghanaian Festival … Once again the Kwando family welcomed them. They had arrived auspiciously. “Tomorrow will be the most important Ga festival,” Kwame said. How privileged they felt when he spoke with the elders to get them permission to enter parts of the ritual normally excluded to outsiders.
(Essay) Beyond the Veil by Kaalii Cargill

The original Greek word for apocalypse – apokalypsis – does not mean “end times”. It means “to unveil”. This is the apocalypse we are living through: a process of unveiling and revealing. Patriarchy is not inevitable. It is not sustainable. If we are to survive and thrive as a species, we must first reveal it, and then undo it: in our systems, and in ourselves. Jess Hill, 2020, Privilege, power, patriarchy: are these the reason for the mess we’re in? https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/oct/18/privilege-power-patriarchy-are-these-the-reasons-for-the-mess-were-in Threshold of Corycian Cave, Mt Parnassus, Greece. Kaalii Cargill, 2015. When I read these potent words by Jess Hill, I pondered how it is that I reveal and undo patriarchy in my everyday life. This is what came to me: Sleeping and waking in Kairos time rather than Kronos time. Kronos is linear time, the time of clocks and calendars. It moves from a set past towards a determined future. Kairos time is the soul’s time. It spirals and shifts back and forth. It cannot be determined. Moving slowly, noticing my body, my bare feet on the ground, my breath: longer exhalations (breathing in cycles: in for 4, holding for 7, out for 8). Dressing in clothes for how they feel rather than how they look. Breaking the fast of the night with food and drink I enjoy. Gathering information about the world from sources that inform rather then indoctrinate – books; selected social media platforms; the quality of light. Living close to trees and birds and changing weather. Contributing to projects and movements that unveil and stand against and/or apart from abuses of privilege and power. Being curious. Walking through ancient doorways and crossing mysterious thresholds. Looking for Her everywhere. Being open to wonder and surprise . . . Kybele/Artemis, first Century CE. Ephesus Archaeological Museum, Selçuk, Anatolia. She is so much younger than many other Goddess figures, so Her numinous presence took me by surprise . . . Grandmother of Savignano, c22,000 BCE. Pigorini Museum, Rome. There She was, standing alone in a small glass case at the back of the room, waiting . . . How do you reveal and undo patriarchy in your everyday life? Where we live, how we get money, how we spend our money, who our friends are, what we eat, what we wear, what we do for fun, how we quarrel and how we make up, the art we make, who our lovers are and what we do with them, what organizations we participate in, how we relate to institutions of government and law, what rites and rituals we participate in, what we celebrate and how, and the language we use . . .always, everywhere, on any topic the language and languages we use . . .all these things align our energies and powers with or against (or ambiguously with and against) oppression, resistance, liberation. Marilyn Frye, from the Introduction to Marilyn Murphy’s Are You Girls Travelling Alone? Clothespin Fever Press, Los Angeles, 1991, p. 14. Meet Mago Contributor Kaalii Cargill
(Prose poem) The Mark of the Bear by Sara Wright

Leaving the sanctity of evergreen forest and still wrapped in winter wool, he warily approaches me. I stand riveted to a wet nose and open mouth sniffing and tasting the evening light; the bear’s gaze rekindles an ancient fire. A golden arrow pierces the shadow of my longing, forcing me to acknowledge the depth of my grief. Hungering for details I scan his face, noting his widow’s peak, mole brown-marbled eyes; curved claws pop the top off the can. Recognition parts the Veil of Bears as I acknowledge him for the second time. One image of my Beloved is this bear.
(Essay 4) I Must Call Her Awe/stralia by Leslene della-Madre

I spent my last week in Awe/stralia at Watego Bay in Byron Bay with my daughter. From the autumn chill of Melbourne to the tropical warmth of sun and surf! We were there for R and R, and for me, hopefully some healing from a trauma I had experienced in my adult life with the ocean. While in Hawaii I had been swimming and snorkeling in her crystalline waters and was fairly far from shore looking for sea turtles. Rather suddenly, the wind changed and the swells in the water began to get bigger and stronger. I could see my daughters looking like tiny little dolls on the shore. Fear immediately set in as I found myself no longer feeling safe in the water. And then more fear was generated as my thoughts raced about — could I make it back to them? And then panic. Panic will cause one to drown quicker than the waves. I knew this, and was faced with the fact that my life was in my hands and that I needed to do what I needed to do to stay alive. There is a teaching that says one must want liberation as much as if one is drowning and taking her last breath. I learned the meaning of this teaching that day. I knew I couldn’t resist the swells. I quickly saw that if I just surrendered to their power, I could ride them into shore, because that is where they were heading. Fortunately there were no crosscurrents. And I was wearing fins. So, I rode. It was like riding the waves of giving birth. And death was right there with me. I had a deep unspeakable gratitude in my heart when I could feel the sand beneath my feet and I could see the precious faces of my beautiful little girls, who had no idea of the drama I had just encountered! I was not untouched by the trauma of it, however. My relationship with the ocean changed after that and I had a very difficult time getting back into her waters. It took me a number of years to be able to just go back into the waves — and thinking of snorkeling offshore was not even a possibility. While I eventually went back to Hawaii and did go into deep water to snorkel, it was not going out into the water from shore. I went out on a boat with others into calm waters. While in Watego Bay, I found a deeper courage to go back into the waves to dive and play. I felt like I was coming back to myself — to the woman who loves the ocean and is not afraid to allow her once again to embrace me. As my daughter and I were playing together, a pair of dolphins jumped from the waters near us. They were also playing in the surf. I learned that dolphin is the totem of the Aboriginal Arakwal women of that area. I felt blessed by them, by the ancestors and the spirit of the Aboriginal women of that land. It was a perfect way to say goodbye (for now) to Awe/stralia! My heart is still quite full. I have received feedback that many women feel I brought something new to them, that there is a longing for more. I would love to return, and share with my beautiful new sisters! We came together for a reason, perhaps many reasons. May the unfolding continue! Let us sing and dream together, to bring forth our collective wisdom that we all know is the healing medicine for the planet. Sacred sisterhood. Womb wisdom. Fierce and wise serpent power. Let our powers be unleashed! Thank you, thank you, beautiful women, beautiful land, beautiful ancestors! Read part 1, part 2, and part 3.
(Poem) Fling Open the Doors by Arlene Bailey

Gathering Ancient Knowledge, Debbie Hanna ©2020 Where are we going Mother And how will we get there Sister By staying connected Woman And allowing for difference There’s a storm brewing You can feel it on the wind As the veil thins and the old ones gather Concern on their faces and tears in their eyes For they know this storm only too well Lived through it lifetime after lifetime Since the dawning of time And the advent of humans One by one they came from different places With different stories and yet the Same tales of abuse and heartache, Betrayal and Death Each one different and yet still the same We fly with the raven and screech With the banshee, Dance naked with the Fairies And keen with the old ones We throw bones and read palms Scry with mirrors black While sacred knowings swirl about We are the future and we will not Go blindly into your patriarchal world In fact, we declare it over as we hear Her coming in all her glorious irreverence and Everything you think a woman should NOT be We declare your way dead and fling open the Doors of new tomorrows and new ways of Celebrating our juicy femaleness in ALL the Ways women appear… in ALL the ways women Act and in ALL the ways they live and breathe Where are we going Mother And how will we get there Sister By staying connected Woman And allowing for difference So let the Serpent coil around you As you hear the crunch of the Apple And feel the smiles of the new occupants As the doors to Eden are flung open wide embracing the All of the All of the All The Women Have Arrived. ___________________________________ Fling Open the Doors, Arlene Bailey ©2021 (Meet Mago Contributor) Arlene Bailey https://www.magoism.net/2020/04/meet-mago-contributor-arlene-bailey/

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

The contribution of my writing to Return to Mago E-Magazine has evolved since it began four years ago, into a deeply mutually enhancing relationship. The time and effort taken to write carefully and in alignment with my heartfelt passions and insights, and then to be able to publish to a receptive audience, has always been rewarding – for me personally and apparently for many who received it.
(Special Post 5) Nine-Headed Dragon Slain by Patriarchal Heroes: A Cross-cultural Discussion by Mago Circle Members

[Editor’s Note: This and the ensuing sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.] Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: I have come across the origin of the Dokkaebi (image, Heavenly Ruler Chiu, 14th Hanung of Danguk. Chiu represented the Magoist rule aided by her 81 giant sister clan allies (nine groups of Nine Hans) fought Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), one of the ancient rulers of pre-historic China. Chiu is known as the empeor of Guri-guk or Guryeo-guk (Nine Ri State or Nine Ryeo State), which is alternatiely referred to as Goryeo-guk and Goguryeo-guk by East Asians. She was worshipped as the deity of war and remembered/depicted for her helmet made of copper and iron. Records about her war against Hungdi inundates ancient Korean and Chinese texts and myths. About Chiu or Chiyou, it is too complex to discuss here. It is a topic to be treated in its own right. Suffice to say that even some of basic information from Wikipedia is illuminating. “Chiyou (蚩尤) was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎) in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future Yellow Emperor during the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era in Chinese mythology. For the Hmong people, Chiyou was a sagacious mythical king. He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under Dongyi, Miao or even Man, depending on the source and view. Today, Chiyou is honored and worshipped as the God of War and one of the three legendary founding fathers of China.” “According to the Song dynasty history book Lushi, Chiyou’s surname was Jiang (姜), and he was a descendant of Yandi. According to legend, Chiyou had a bronze head with a metal forehead. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand. In some sources, Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a bull with two horns, although the body was that of a human. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers. Historical sources often described him as ‘cruel and greedy’, as well as ‘tyrannical’. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom. Chiyou knows the constellations and the ancients spells for calling upon the weather. For example, he called upon a fog to surround Huangdi and his soldiers during the Battle of Zhuolu.” “Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (九黎, RPA White Hmong: Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources. However, his exact ethnic affiliations are quite complex, with multiple sources reporting him as belonging to various tribes, in addition to a number of diverse peoples supposed to have directly descended from him. Some sources from later dynasties, such as the Guoyu book, considered Chiyou’s Li tribe to be related to the ancient San miao tribe (三苗). In the ancient Zhuolu Town is a statue of Chiyou commemorating him as the original ancestor of the Hmong people. The place is regarded as the birthplace of the San miao / Miao people, the Hmong being a subgroup of the Miao. In sources following the Hmong view, the “nine Li” tribe is called the “Jiuli” kingdom, Jiuli meaning “nine Li”. Modern Han Chinese scholar Weng Dujian considers Jiuli and San Miao to be Man southerners. Chiyou has also been counted as part of the Dongyi.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiyou Above all, her depiction by ancient China is of a pejorative one. As we will see in the next part, she is contrasted with her opponent Huangdi (Yellow Emperor), a triumphantly depicted ancient hero of ancient China. Above Wikipedia. See her images created by ancient Koreans, the middle one in the three figures, depicted as a woman with female breasts, one of Dokkaebi images. There are other records that describe one of her allies. as one adorned with snakes in the head, which reminds me of Medusa. Silla (left), Baekje (Center), Goguryeo (right) http://lasvegaskim.com/Etc_Poem_55.htm Max Dashu: Oe-ri, Buyeo, in the Baekje period. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang: That is where the rooftile at the center is excavated. That is the original image of Dokkaebi that Lydia Ruyle chose and depicted in her banner work. I could not connect this image with Chiu until now. We have the female ruler who subdued the patrilocal force of Yellow Emperor, the forebear of ancientChinese emperors. There are lots of myths and data that I have found on them. Chiu is also numerously depicted as Dokkaebi faces, which makes me think of its connection to the iconography of Medusa and Gorgon (who comes as Three Sisters). Eight-snake-headed Medusahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medusa Gorgon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon https://www.magoism.net/2013/06/art-dokkaebi-by-lydia-ruyle/ Lizzy Bluebell: ‘Gonggong’ is not a far stretch phonetically from ‘Gorgon’ – I note. Briefly here – because it is a complex explanation – much more can be said about the etymology. For example, “gorge” relates to deep mountain passes with water flowing through them as well as the human throat or gullet, (relating the word to both speech and eating) and mountains are/were Goddess terrain, later usurped by MON-A-Ster-ies. The masculine name Ge-Orge is code which relates to GE/Gaia/Gay as well as to ‘orgy’. Sanskrit “garg” begets English ‘gargle’, and a guttural (gut-her-all) sound. I’ve always seen the archetypal Medusa/Gorgon’s ‘snaking curls’ as the energy emmitted from her head by her Wild I-Deas, which returns us to the theme of the Pythia/Oracle/Snake connections too. “In Greek mythology, a Gorgon (/ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ Gorgon/Gorgo) is a female creature. The name derives from the ancient Greek word gorgós, which means “dreadful”, and appears to come from the same root as the Sanskrit word “garğ” (Sanskrit: गर्जन, garjana) which is defined as a guttural sound, similar to the growling of a beast,[1] thus possibly originating as an onomatopoeia. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters […]
(Special Post Mother Teresa 2) A Role Model for Women? by Mago Circle Members

[Editorial Note: The following is an edited version of the discussion that took place spontaneously on Mago Circle from March 1, 2013 for about two weeks. It was an extensive, heated, yet reflective discussion, now broken into four parts to fit the format of the blog. We thank each and all of the participants for your openness, generosity, and courage to stand up for what you believe and think! Some are marked as anonymous. As someone stated, something may have been “written in the heat of the moment” and some might like to change it at a later time. So we inform our readers that nothing is written in stone. As a matter of fact, the discussion is ongoing, now with Magoism Blog readers. Please comment and respond as you wish.] Part II: We Disagree! Stand up for what you believe but be open-minded! Naa Ayele Kumari: I am going to step away from the common responses and say this… Binary is only no in betweens if you choose sides and can’t see the whole. I have been a part of black consciousness movements and women’s movements and both have the capacity for progress as well as extreme viewpoints. Both have the capacity to become so hypercritical that the movement itself transcends common human compassion and understanding. Mother Teresa was a human being with flaws and goodness. She had a public image and private fears and insecurities.. l like all of us. She lived her life the best way she knew how.. Like all of us. She made mistakes.. misjudgments.. Like all of us. But she also DID help and inspire others to help too. It is this dualistic thinking that forces people to feel like they have to assign the label of good or bad and no in between. None of us are all good or all bad.. so it seems to me that to label her has an evil traitor who let people die is no better than labeling her an Angel of god who did no wrong. She was a woman who lived her life and managed to come to worldwide fame and inspire others to love at a time and in an institution that was highly patriarchal and women were not raised up at all. Mother Goddesses in Africa were known for great nurturing and care symbolized by carrying a baby and also carried a machete on the other side for justice. This was the fine balance of wholeness…she was the gentle rain and the storm.. This was binary, but not one or the other but both.. Opposite ends of the same pole. [H]: I’m having a powerful visceral effect from this conversation. I feel as if I’m going to vomit violently. Mother Teresa comes to me in dreams and meditations. Makes me wonder what kind of person I’m seen as if I attract her energy. I have always felt so much love for her. Naa Ayele Kumari: If she comes in your dreams and it has been healing for you… Allow it/ her to continue to be healing for you. Its all about love and anything that is not love… Leave it be.. Vomiting is rejecting something that doesn’t belong with you. Embrace love my sister. Antonia McGuire: I think we may all agree that all belief systems initially began to promote a sense of goodness or fairness to some degree, but over time they are corrupted and produce both advantages and disadvantages. Donna Snyder: Yes, Gandhi, too. Back in the 90’s when I was in a band/performance art troupe called Central Nervous System, I shocked all the guys in the band coming out with an improv in response to a melody played on a banjo tuned like a sitar, called exactly that-Yes, Gandhi. Now make no mistake, he is one of my heroes, devoid of the falsified sentimentality that clings to MT. Gandhi’s work was for the world, for the masses, not for the appropriately humbled. Yet I spoke out about his sexual practices, his use of female bodies. Telling the truth about a hero requires courage. Retreating into a blind defense of a myth is a form of ethical cowardice. Anne Wilkerson Allen: Strangely I had a discussion with someone about the “hero’s journey” moving from metaphorical to physical being part of the problem…..when the “demons” are human instead of our own flaws, there seems to be a tendency to point the finger (and gun barrel) elsewhere. [B]: Fascinating & thought-provoking conversation, all. I think the biggest stumbling block I have with MT is how her acceptance of the dogma of the Catholic church blinded her to seeing and then being moved by the suffering of others enough to do something to alleviate & not vicariously celebrate it. No wonder she “suffered a lack of connection with the Divine”. This crisis with her spirituality seems to have been divorced from her and others’ body wisdom. Self-abnegation (perhaps not the same as “sacrifice”) ultimately backfires because some small part of us insists, “I am worthy!” To which I say, “We are all worthy!” [H]: I do not see or feel that she vicariously celebrated the suffering of others. I feel that she devoted her life to deeply loving and serving the poorest of the poor. I have not been to Calcutta and I have also seen some unimaginable poverty in India that is not like anything that I’ve been exposed to before. I truly believe that she had a very deep way of working with suffering that is not necessarily visible to those more accustomed to modern medical intervention and the resources available for such. I have participated in a very small amount of poverty medicine and the resources that we take for granted are just not readily available to MANY. I learned very powerfully from my experience how blessed and fortunate and often very careless we really are with our precious resources. This discussion has been a learning experience for me. I am trying to not take the critical comments […]

Summer Solstice Poiesis by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

Seasonal Wheel of Stones Both Summer and Winter Solstices may be understood as particular celebrations of the Mother/Creator aspect of the Creative Triplicity of the Cosmos (often named as the Triple Goddess). The Solstices are Gateways between the dark and the light parts of the annual cycle of our orbit around Sun; they are both sacred interchanges, celebrating deep relationship, communion, with the peaking of fullness of either dark or light, and the turning into the other. The story is that the Young One/Virgin aspect of Spring has matured and now at Summer Solstice her face changes into the Mother of Summer. Summer Solstice may be understood as a birthing place, as Winter Solstice may also be, but at this time the transiton is from light back into dark, returning to larger self, from whence we come: it is the full opening, the “Great Om”, the Omega. I represent the Summer Solstice on my altar wheel of stones with the Omega-yonic shape of the horseshoe. I take this inspiration from Barbara Walker’s description of the horseshoe in her Woman’s Encyclopaedia of Myths and Secrets, as “Goddess’s symbol of ‘Great Gate’[i]”; and her later connection of it with the Sheil-na-gig yoni display[ii]. Sri Yantra. Ref: A.T. Mann & Jane Lyle, p.75 Summer Solstice is traditonally understood as a celebration of Union between Lover and Beloved, and the deep meaning of that is essentially a Re-Union: of sensed manifest form (the Lover) with All-That-Is (the Beloved). This may be understood as a fullness of expression of this manifest form, the small selves that we are, being all that we may be, and giving of this fullness of being in every moment: that would be a blissful thing, like a Summerland as it was understood to be. The boundaries of the self are broken, they merge: all is given away – all is poured forth, the deep rich dark stream of life flows out. It is a Radiance, the shining forth of the self which is at the same time a give-away, a consuming of the self.In traditional PaGaian Summer ceremony each participant is affirmed as “Gift”[iii]; and that is understood to mean that we are both given and received – all at the same time. The breath is given and life is received. We receive the Gift with each breath in, and we are the Gift with each breath out. As we fulfill our purpose, as we give ourselves over, we dissolve, as the Sun is actually doing in every moment. The “moment of grace”[iv]that is Summer Solstice, marks the stillpoint in the height of Summer, when light reaches its peak, and Earth’s tilt causes the Sun to begin its “decline”: that is, its movement back to the South in the Northern Hemisphere (in June), and back to the North in the Southern Hemisphere (in December). Whereas at Winter Solstice when out of the darkness it is light that is “born”, as it may be expressed: at the peak of Summer, in the warmth of expansion, it is the dark that is “born”. Insofar as Winter Solstice is about birth, then Summer Solstice is about death, the passing into the harvest. It is a celebration of profound mystical significance, which may be confronting in a culture where the dark is not valued for its creative telios; and it is noteworthy that Summer Solstice has not gained any popularity of the kind that Winter Solstice has globally (as ‘Christmas’). The re-union with All-That-Is is not generally considered a jolly affair, though when understood it may actually be blissful. Full Flowers to the Flames Summer is a time when many grains ripen, deciduous trees peak in their greenery, lots of bugs and creatures are bursting with business and creativity: yet in that ripening, is the turning, the fulfilment of creativity, and it is given away. Like the Sun and the wheat and the fruit, we find the purpose of our Creativity in the releasing of it; just as our breath must be released for its purpose of life. The symbolism used to express this in ceremony has been the giving of a full rose/flower to the flames. Summer is like the rose, as it says in this tradition[v]– blossom and thorn … beautiful, fragrant, full – yet it comes with thorns that open the skin. All is given over. All is given over: the feast is for enjoying With the daily giving of ourselves in our everyday acts, we each feed the world with our lives: we do participate in creating the cosmos, as many indigenous traditions still recognise. Just as our everyday lives are built on the fabric of the work/creativity of all who went before us, so the future, as well as the present, is built on ours, no matter how humble we may think our contribution is. We may celebrate the blossoming of our creativity then, which is Creativity, and the bliss of that blossoming, at a time when Earth and Sun are pouring forth their abundance, giving it away. In this Earth-based cosmology, what is given is the self fully realized and celebrated, not a self that is abnegated – just as the fruit gives its full self: as Starhawk says, “Oneness is attained not through losing the self, but through realizing it fully”[vi]. Everyday tasks can be joyful, if valued, and graciously received: I think of Eastern European women singing as they work in the fields – it is a common practice still for many. We are the Bread of Life Summer Solstice celebrates Mother Sun coming to fullness in Her creative engagement with Earth, and we are the Sun. Solstice Moment is a celebration of communion, the feast of life – which is for the enjoying, not for the holding onto. We do desire to be received, to be consumed – it is our joy and our grief. Brian Swimme says: “Every moment of our lives disappears into the ongoing story of the Universe. Our creativity is energising the whole[vii]”. As it may be ceremoniously affirmed: we are (each is) …
(Essay) Conceiving, Imagining the New at Samhain by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

It is the Season of Samhain/Deep Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere at this time. In the PaGaian version of Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony participants journey to the “Luminous World Egg” … a term taken from Starhawk in her book The Spiral Dance[i], where she also names that place as the “Shining Isle”, which is of course, the Seed of conception, a metaphor for the origins of all and/or the female egg: it is the place for rebirth. Artist: Bundeluk, Blue Mountains, Australia. The “luminous world egg” is a numinous place within, the MotherStar of conception: that is, a place of unfolding/becoming. The journey to this numinous place within requires first a journey back, through some of each one’s transformations, however each may wish to name those transformations at this time. The transformations for each and every being are infinite in their number, for there is “nothing we have not been” as has been told by Celts and others of Old, and also by Western science in the evolutionary story (a story told so well by evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris, particularly in her video Journey of a Silica Atom.) Ceremonial participants may choose selves from biological, present historical self, or may choose selves from the mythic with whom they feel connection; from any lineage – biological or otherwise. Selves may also be chosen from Gaia’s evolutionary story – earlier creatures, winged or scaled ones … with whom one wishes to identify at this time. Each participant is praised for their “becoming” for each self they share. When all have completed these journeys/stories of transformation, the circle is lauded dramatically by the celebrant for their courage to transform; and she likens them all to Gaia Herself who has made such transitions for eons. The celebrant awards each with a gingerbread snake, “Gaian totems of life renewed”[ii]. gingerbread snakes Participants sit and consume these gingerbread snakes in three parts: (i) as all the “old shapes” of self that were named; and (ii) remembering the ancestors, those whose lives have been harvested, whose lives have fed our own, remembering that we too are the ancestors, that we will be consumed; and (iii) remembering and consuming the stories of our world that they desire to change, the stories that fire their wrath or sympathy: in the consuming, absorbing them (as we do), each may transform them by thoughts and actions – “in our own bodyminds”. When all that is consumed “wasting no part”, it is said that “we are then free to radiate whatever we conceive”, to “exclaim the strongest natural fibre known” – our creative selves, “into such art, such architecture, as can house a world made sacred” by our building[iii]. This “natural fibre” is a reference to the spider’s thread from within her own body, with which she weaves her web, her home; and Spider has frequently been felt in indigenous cultures around the globe as Weaver and Creator of the Cosmos. Spider the Creatrix, North America, C. 1300 C.E., Hallie Iglehart Austen, The Heart of the Goddess, p.13 In the ceremony, participants linked with a thread that they weave around the circle, may sail together for a new world “across the vast sunless sea between endings and beginnings, across the Womb of magic and transformation, to the “Not-Yet” who beckons”[iv]: to the Luminous World Egg whereupon the new may be conceived and dreamed up. Samhain/Deep Autumn ceremony is an excellent place for co-creating ourselves, for imaginingthe More that we may become, and wish to become. This is where creation and co-creation happens … in the Womb of Space[v], in which we are immersed – at all times: and Samhain is a good season for feeling it. References: Livingstone, Glenys. PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. NE: iUniverse, 2005 Sahtouris, Elisabet. Earthdance: Living Systems in Evolution. Lincoln NE:iUniversity Press, 2000. Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. NY: Harper and Row, 1999. Swimme, Brian. The Earth’s Imagination.DVD series 1998. NOTES: [i]p.210 [ii]a version of this Samhain script is offered in Chapter 7 PaGaian Cosmology [iii]These quoted phrases are from Robin Morgan, “The Network of the Imaginary Mother”, in Lady of the Beasts, p.84. This poem is a core inspiration of the ceremony. [iv]“Not-Yet” is a term used by Brian Swimme, The Earth’s Imagination, video 8 “The Surprise of Cosmogenesis”. [v]note that creation does not happen at the point of some god’s index finger, as imagined in the Sistine Chapel – what a takeover that is!
(Music) Songs for Samhain by Alison Newvine

The season of Samhain is upon us. This playlist is an offering for this descent into the sacred darkness, and a companion for the journey into the underworld. Invocation of Witches features music by Loreena McKennitt, Marya Stark, Inkubus Sukubus, Wendy Rule, my band Spiral Muse, and many others. It is a soundtrack for ceremony and each song expresses a different face of the spirit of the witch. May this Samhain season guide you gently into the dissolution of what no longer serves, the honoring of what is complete and the cultivation of the inner space that will gestate what is yet to come. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2CFNoH9exhloz3w95P3Rlb?si=270cf01fabb8421c https://www.magoism.net/2023/10/meet-mago-contributor-alison-newvine/
Imbolc/Early Spring – a Season of Uncertainty by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D.

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

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

Photo by Carolyn Lee Boyd In times past, Creation’s Winter cupped me in her icy hand of sanctuary Gathered in, I sucked dormant life, and slumbered Till Earth’s rebirthing groans awakened my new body Now, older and full of life’s weeping and wondering awe At all that has happened in my decades on Earth I must shake myself into consciousness My seed’s opaque, blinding hull disintegrates and Bodyless, at last I can see through Goddess eyes I ache as my blood paints each flower petal I spin the whirlwind that cannot stop creating abundance I push the seasons through the year that mortals believe revolve of their own accord. Through Goddess eyes I can see me, I inhabit Winter’s hand as my own. I make the cold to slow creation of outside of me To gather the seed into fertile stillness within. That burgeons in my own time. https://www.magoism.net/2016/08/meet-mago-contributor-carolyn-lee-boyd/

(Book Excerpt 6) The Mago Way by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s Note] The following is from Chapter One, “What Is Mago and Magoism and How Did I Study HER?” from The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia, Volume 1. Footnotes below would be different from the monograph version. PDF book of The Mago Way Volume 1 download is available for free here.] Magoism, East Asian Religions, and Magoist Mudangs As mentioned above, Magoism refers to the totality of human civilization that is ultimately gynocentric. Speaking from a narrow perspective, Magoism is the primordial matrix from which such East Asian religions as Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism were derived. In the light of Magoism, a patriarchal religion is redefined as a pseudo-Magoism that which has co-opted the Way of the Great Goddess (Magoism) with the androcentric reversal of the female
(Photo Essay 1) ‘Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess of Korea’ by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang

Part I: Living Tradition Bearers and Her Shrine, Suseong-dang I had the privilege to join a field trip to collect the folk stories of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess, in Buan-gun (Buan County), North Jeolla Province, South Korea July 10-12, 2012. The team comprised a group of graduate students studying Korean Literature at the Kunguk University (Kim Jungeun, Cho Hongyoun, Lee Won-Young, Hwang Sungup, and Lee Boohee) headed by Dr. Shin Dong-Hun, Dr. Park Hyeon-Suk, and myself.[i]
(Essay 4) Magos, Muses, and Matrikas: The Magoist Cosmogony and Gynocentric Unity by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.

[Author’s note: This paper is published in the journal, the Gukhak yeonguronchong 국학연구론총 (Issue 14, December 2014). Here it will appear in five sequels including the response by Dr. Glenys Livingstone. Numbers of end notes differ from the original paper.] (Part 4) Parallels between Magos and Matrikas The numeric fluidity of a particular pantheon of Goddesses from three to nine is no isolated phenomenon in Western Muse tradition only. Laura K. Chamberlain’s research on the Hindu Goddess Matrika, one of the major manifestations of Durga, bears a close resemblance to the counterpart in Magoism.[1] In the story of Mago Halmi, Mago had eight daughters and dispatched seven daughters to seven regions/islands who respectively became the shaman progenitor of the region. She lived with the youngest daughter, whose region was the center of Magoism.[2] The Mago pantheon is also addressed as Gurang (Nine Goddesses) in the case of Gaeyang Halmi (Sea Goddess/Grandmother).[3] Among others, a parallel between Chamberlian’s delineation of the worship of the Asta Matrikas (Eight Mother Goddesses) and folk rituals concerning Mago is striking with regards to the aniconic rituals offered at “crossroads, rivers, the sea, and mountains” to Matrika. In the case of Magoism, the veneration of rocks and mountains that may be seen as “animistic beliefs” is widespread throughout the Korean peninsula. The linguistic resemblance is also present between Matrikas and Magos. According to Chamberlian, Mai (mother) and Ajima (grandmother) are the “two of the oldest names for the goddess in Nepal.” [4] They appear analogous with the Korean words Eomma 엄마 (Omai 오마이, Omasi 오마시, and etc. for mother) and Ajime (아지매, a female relative or aunt), a dialect from which the modern term Ajuma (아줌마, neighbor woman often pejoratively referring to a housewife) is derived. Chamberlain also notes the varied number of Matrikas and writes: The inconsistency in the number of Matrikas found in the valley [Indus] today (seven, eight, or nine) possibly reflects the localization of goddesses [ ] Although the Matrikas are mostly grouped as seven goddesses over the rest of the Indian Subcontinent, an eighth Matrikas has sometimes been added in Nepal to represent the eight cardinal direction. In Bhaktapur, a city in the Kathmandu Valley, a ninth Matrika is added to the set to represent the center.[5] On the one hand, it is true that the indeterminate number of Matrikas, as Chamberlain points out, explains localization of Hindu Goddesses in the Indian Subcontinent. On the other hand, it is equally possible to posit that there was a Goddess myth once shared by the members of mother community in a remote past. A daughter community, which resided in the mother community, came to migrate farther away from the mother community. She herself became a mother and was known as the mother community by her own daughter communities. From the perspective of the original mother community, the memory of the original myth by granddaughter communities would be fragmented and flavored with their own cultural, historical, and linguistic backgrounds. After many generations passed, granddaughter communities would lose the memory of the original myth and that they would not recognize kindred communities all over the world. However, the first mother was wise. She chose one daughter to carry on the legacy of the original myth. This is exactly what Mago stories tells us. When all is said and done, the numeric similarity of three, seven, eight, or nine and the inconsistency of the number are only some of the fragmented testimonies by granddaughter communities. Under such circumstances, Mago’s lineage, especially the first three generations, works as a blueprint of the family tree lost among granddaughter communities. (Read Part 3, to be continued in Part 5, Dr. Glenys Livingstone’s response to this essay.) References: Bak, Geum (Bak, Jesang). Budoji (Epic of the Emblem City). Eun-Soo Kim, translated and annotated. Seoul: Hanmunhwa, 2002, 1986c. Baring, Anne and Julies Cashford, eds. The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image. London: Viking Arkana, 1991. Chamberlain, Laura K. “Durga and the Dashain Harvest Festival: From the Indus to Katmandu Valleys” in ReVision (vol. 25, no. 1, Summer 2002), 24-32. Chung, Yenkyu. Ancient Korea and the Dawn of History on the Pamirs. Seoul: Jimoondang, 2007. Daly, Mary. Pure Lust: Elemental Feminist Philosophy. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1984. Davis, Elizabeth Gould. The First Sex. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1971, 33. Hwang, Helen Hye-Sook. “Issues in Studying Mago, the Great Goddess of East Asia: Primary Sources, Gynocentric History, and Nationalism,” in The Constant and Changing Faces of the Goddess: Goddess Traditions of Asia, eds. Deepak Shimkhada and Phyllis Herman (Cambridge Scholars Publishing 2008), 10-33. ____________________. “The Female Principle in the Magoist Cosmogony.” Ochre Journal of Women’s Spirituality, (Spring 2007) [http://www.ochrejournal.org/2007/scholarship/hwang1.html]. ____________________. Seeking Mago, the Great Goddess: A Mytho-Historic-Thealogical Reconstruction of Magoism, an Archaically Originated Gynocentric Tradition of East Asia. Ph.D. Dissertation: Claremont Graduate University, 2005. Kim, Busik. The Samguk Sagi (History of Three Kingdoms). Translated and annotated by ByongSu Lee. Seoul: Elyu Munhwasa, 1977. Lee, Ki-baik. A New History of Korea. Translated by E. Wagner and E. Shultz. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984. Smith, Barbara. “Greece” in The Feminist Companion to Mythology. Carolyne Larrington ed. Hammersmith, London: Pandora Press, 1992. Yoon, Thomas. BuDoZhi: The Genesis of MaGo (Mother Earth) and The History of the City of Heavenly Ordinance. Notre Dame, IN: Cross Cultural Publications, 2003. Walker, Barbara G. The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983. [1] Levy 1990; Slusser 1982, cited in Laura K. Chamberlain, “Durga and the Dashain Harvest Festival: From the Indus to Katmandu Valleys” in ReVision (vol. 25, no. 1, Summer 2002), 24-32. [2] See Tales [9-1] and [5-3] in the Appendix, Hwang (2005), 391-8. [3] I was able to join a field research trip organized by the research team of Kunguk University’s Korean Literature Graduate Studies to collect the folk stories of Gaeyang Halmi, the Sea Goddess, in Buan-gun (Buan County), North Jeolla Province, South Korea July 10-12, 2012. Only after the trip, I realized Gaeyang Halmi with her eight daughters was …