Day 6 August 4/5
Celebrating Cross-cultural Nine Female Symbols
Self-Guided Ritual created by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang and Wendy Stiver
A. What is the Nine Female Symbolism?
“In my ongoing research on the Great Goddess known as Mago, I have discovered one of the major currents that constitutes Magoism and named it Mago tradition. The merit of the nona-Mago tradition, among others, lies in the fact that it offers the etiological explanation of the cross-cultural manifestations of the nine Goddess or female symbolism.
The number nine is no arbitrary number but the symbol of the Creatrix that was widely revered by ancient gynocentric peoples of the world. The number nine symbolism, pre-patriarchal in origin, cross-culturally manifests in the pantheon of the Nine Goddesses/Magos. They represent Nine Goddesses known as Nine Maidens (Gurang), Nine Muses, Nine Matrikas, Nine Durgas (Nava Durga), Nine Gallicians (Gallizenaes), and Nine Gwyllions, to name a few. The number nine is also deeply embedded and widely spread in such cultures and topographies as Nine Koreans (Guhan), nine dragons, nine states, nine heavens, nine waterfalls, the nine-tailed fox, the nine-story pagoda, and the nine-nipple bell in the case of East Asia.
When it comes to the nine-female symbolism, the ancient world knew far more than we moderns. Reenacting the nona-Goddess symbolism has a mytho-historical root. I have suggested that revitalizing the Nine-Goddess symbolism functions as an expedient means to cultivate the consciousness of WE among moderns. I have proposed some ways to implement the Nine-Mago Movement. In my assessment, “the Nine-Mago Movement” was in practice throughout the world from pre-patriarchal times and onward. Best known are the nine manifestations of Durga, nine Matrikas, nine Muses, and Gurang (nine Goddesses) from around the world, to name a few. Also, the iconography of Guan-yin (Gwan-eum or Kan-non) that depicts her standing on the nine dragons rising from water suggests that Guan-yin is associated with the Nine Goddesses.”
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, The Magoist Calendar: Mago Time Inscribed in Sonic Numerology (Forthcoming 2019).
B. Poetry
C. “In Nine Goddesses, we see All, WE/HERE/NOW. S/HE IS.” Helen Hye-Sook Hwang
D. Closing
“The cosmic music of Yul-ryeo (Rhythms and Tones) and Pal-ryeo (Eight Tones) represents the Creatrix of the universe. While Yul-ryeo refers to the sonic movement of the universe in Former Heaven, Pal-ryeo is specifically associated with the music of the solar creatrix in Mago’s World. Intriguingly, the ancient Greek thought of “the music of the spheres” that refers to the sonic movement of celestial bodies in the solar system parallels the Magoist mytheme of Pal-ryeo. When it comes to the symbolism of “nine heavens,” it manifests globally throughout pre-modern times.[i] Ancient Greeks appear to be keenly aware of the female-connoted eight tones. In Plato’s Republic, the story of Er, a man who went on the journey of afterlife and returned to the world, recounts his vision of the celestial spheres:
Er gets a look into the structure of the cosmos being organized in 8 whorls, that are turning around a central axis, the “spindle of necessity”. A siren is sitting on each of the whorls and each of these sirens is producing an individual tone. These 8 tones fuse to one sound of harmony. The whole system is kept in motion by the three Fates, Lachesis (the past), Clotho (the present) and Atropos (the future), who by their singing enrich the harmony produced by the Sirens.[ii]
The Budoji account that Mago delegated HER eight (grand)daughters to oversee Pal-ryeo dovetails with the above account that the eight sirens, each sitting on one of the eight whorls that are orbiting around the central axis, produce each of the individual tones. Taken together with “the music of the spheres” and Plato’s “eight whorls,” the Budoji account of Mago’s eight (grand)daughters who are in charge of the eight tones of the cosmic music proves to be original for its cogent and systemic story of the beginning of the Great Goddess.
[Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia, 181].
Notes
[i] Paradiso from Dante’s Divine Comedy written in the fourteenth century describes the nine spheres. Nine Heavens are also known in Buddhism and Daoism. Conversation with Mary Blair Petiet in The Mago Circle (Facebook group), September 3, 2015.
[ii] Plato’s dialog on the so-called “Vision of Er” (X, 616d-617d) in The Republic. See also Barbara Rappenglueck, “Cosmic Music. Correlations between music and cosmo-related ideas across ancient cultures” in Lights and Shadows in Cultural Astronomy, ed. by: Zedda, Mauro Peppino and Belmonte, Juan Antonio. Proceedings of the SEAC 2005, Isili, June 28 – July 3, 2005, Isili, 361-369. 361-362.
Blessed Be, and So Be It.
Daily Themes
- Day 1 July 30/31
Our Life: Cross the Threshold to WE/HERE/NOW - Day 2 July 31/Aug 1
See Interconnectivity of all inter-cosmic beings in HER - Day 3 Aug 1/2 (Inter-continental Video Meeting 1)
Transform from within
- Day 4 Aug 2/3
Honor Life in all forms - Day 5: Aug 3/4
Restore Mother-Daughter Bond - Day 6: Aug 4/5 (Inter-continental Video Meeting 2)
Celebrating Cross-cultural Nine Female Symbols
- Day 7: Aug 5/6
How Does Nine Numerology Work? - Day 8: Aug 6/7
Charting Our Mother Time, the 13 Month 28 Day Calendar - Day 9: Aug 7/8 Lammas/Imbolc or Ipchu立秋/Entering Fall (Inter-continental Video Meeting 3)
Homage to the Magoma (Mago and Goma)
Mago Academy hosts 2018 (5915 Magoma Era) Year 1 Nine Day Mago Celebration! Our celebration will mark the first year of the Magoist Calendar (13 month 28 day gynocentric calendar). We began the New Year on the new moon of the last December Solstice according to the Magoist Calendar. We are to commemorate nine days, the ninth day marking the 9th month the 9th day, which is also Lammas/Imbolc or Ipchu立秋/Entering Fall. Anyone can join us and welcome!
Dates July 30/31-August 7/8 (the 9th month the 9th day in the Magoist Calendar given the variation of time zones)
Theme Proclamation of WE/HERE/NOW, the Return of the 13 Month 28 Day Calendar
Planning Committee Wendy Stiver and Helen Hye-Sook Hwang
Method We will provide nine guidelines for rituals and readings. We have about 3 video meetings on the 3rd day, the 6th day and the 9th day via Google Hangouts. Times to be determined between 10AM to 6PM PST. If you want to participate, please fill out the below form. (Participants must provide a Gmail address to which you will be notified shortly. Actual invite will be sent to you 10 min before the session on each day. If you are new to Google Hangouts, please enter the conference room 10 min prior to the session. You will be invited to a Google group conversation. Please say hello to all in the chat window.)
Learn more about the Mago Almanac: 13 Month 28 Day Calendar (Book A).
References
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang. The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia (2015).
Bettina Aptheker. Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Con-Sciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989).
Starhawk. The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature (2005).
Iyanla Vanzant. One Day My Soul Just Opened Up (1998).