Day 3 August 1/2
Transformation from within
Self-Guided Ritual created by Wendy Stiver
A. Today we speak of Transformation from Within.
Many of us have spent our lives as chameleons, changing color in order to “fit in.”
Or have we been like Lot’s Wife? So stuck on looking back that we turned into salt ?
Of course we’ve changed over time, as we have faced age, gained and lost loves, felt and inflicted pain, given and taken life. We’ve changed, but is change true Transformation?
“The transformative stages of a woman’s life can be imagined as the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter…Touched by the magic of metamorphosis, she is forever altered by the mysterious energies coming to life within her….In the autumn of her life, she focuses inward, condensing, pruning back, concentrating on the roots– the core issues and essential substance of life. “ Jason Elias and Katherine Ketcham, In the House of the Moon: Reclaiming the Feminine Spirit of Healing. (1995) p. 155.
B. Poetry
Survivor: a “found poem” by incarcerated women in a Vermont prison
In six years of empty time I’ve become a survivor,
forced to recreate myself,
bend and fold like a thin piece of paper–
but standing strong in my views and sensings
happy to be who and what I am
and not just for myself.
Gears grind, lead is shaved, smell of pine and cedar
the eloquence of days gone by. I feel it in my bones
now big and bold: here I am– read me now!
Say it loud and say it proud:
no more ripped out of the version of myself,
I write to heal; today, I life life, pause
as I gather composure running free,
to see the adult I was bound to be.
A yellow lead hexagon writes a person’s measure
when voice doesn’t tell all: energy and strength
to change for the better, build a new house, stay
out of trouble, free to be a missing piece of me–
a child of the divine– like swiping your hand over
silk. Love yourself; without a doubt the past
is dead and gone smudged out words
at the bottom of the line.
Hear Me, See Me. Incarcerated Women Write. (2013) Edited by Redmond, M.C. and Bartlett, S.W. p. 227.
When We Let Spirit Lead Us by Alice Walker
When we let Spirit
Lead us
It is impossible
To know
Where
We are being led.
All we know
All we can believe
All we can hope
Is that
We are going
Home
That wherever
Spirit
Takes us
Is where
We
Live.
Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth (2003), p. 169.
For my mother
We speak
Of self hate and of love that breaks
through silences.
We are lightning and justice
Our souls become transparent like glass
revealing tears for war-dead sons
red ashes for Hiroshima
jagged wounds from barbed wire.
We must recognize ourselves at last
We are a rainforest of color
and noise
We hear everything.
We are unafraid.
Janice Mirikitani, “Breaking Silence” excerpts from the author’s mother’s testimony about the experience of Japanese Americans in World War II concentration camps before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Japanese American Civilians in 1981.
Quoted in Aptheker, Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989) p. 232.
Transformation is powerful, like the effects of fire and light. Transformation is full of color, and sound, and it may not be pretty while it is happening. Yet like the process of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly, the result is magical.
Today we also celebrate the ancient Gaelic festival of Lughnasadh, named after the god Lugh. It is better known to most English witches and pagans as Lammas: the first of the three harvest festivals on the Wheel of the Year. Lammas celebrates the cutting of the first corn, and in the olden times involved making an offering to the deity, athletic contests, visits to the holy wells, and other festivities. Today we make corn dolls, pentacles of wheat or grape vines, cook colcannon, barley soup, and bake bread! Christianity also celebrates the Blessing of the Loaves, in which bread from the first harvested grains are brought to the church. This is a time for gathering in, for being grateful for abundance, and for being aware of change as the days shorten and the powers of Lugh, the sun god, wane.
C. Music and Singing
Today, in the spirit of Lammas and transformation, we are going to sing. India Arie is a contemporary singer, and this beautiful song is from her SongVersation album released in 2013. It is easily found online, just type in India.Arie I am Light and you have your choice of You Tube versions, so you can sing along.
I am light, I am light.
I am not the things my family did
I am not the voices in my head
I am not the pieces of the brokenness inside
I am light, I am light
I’m not the mistakes that I have made
Or any of the things that cause me pain
I am not the pieces of the dream I left behind
I am light, I am light
I am not the color of my eyes
I am not the skin on the outside
I am not my age
I am not my race
My soul inside is all light, all light
Oh light, all light
I am divinity defined
I am god {sic} on the inside
I am a star, a piece of it all
I am light
D. “After a time of decay comes the turning point. The powerful light that has been banished returns. There is movement, but it is not brought about by force…Everything comes of itself at the appointed time. This is the meaning of heaven and earth” ——————–The I Ching
It is the time of harvest, the time of fullness even as the Wheel continues to turn. Earth, Metal, Water, Fire, Wood, and Air are part of the ever-changing, ever-transforming cycle of nature and the creative powers of Mago. Magic is real for those who care to look for it, reach out to touch it. Pain is never pretty, but it can be transformed into a rainforest of color. We hear everything, we are unafraid. We are light.
Blessed Be, and let it be.
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
Jason Elias and Katherine Ketcham, In the House of the Moon: Reclaiming the Feminine Spirit of Healing (1995).
Redmond, M.C. and Bartlett S. W. Hear Me, See Me. Incarcerated Women Write (2013).
Alice Walker. Absolute Trust in the Goodness of the Earth (2003).
Aptheker. Tapestries of Life: Women’s Work, Women’s Consciousness, and the Meaning of Daily Experience (1989).