Mago Academy offers Introduction to Creatrix Studies, as a core course of the Creatrix Studies Programs (CSP). You may take it as 2 credit course toward your M.A. or Ph.D. in Creatrix Studies programs or audit it not for academic credit.
Introduction to Creatrix Studies (2 Credits)
Course no: 101
Instructor: Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D.
Time: 9AM to 1PM PT Jan 13-March 3 (Tuesdays, 4 hour-long 8 weekly sessions)
Description: Creatrix Studies is born as a modern revival of the pre-patriarchally originated Ceto-Magoism (the Whale-guided Way of Mago, the Creatrix), which largely remains demonized as sea-monsters/dragons/serpents today. Chiseled by Goma better known as Ungnyeo (Bear/Head Woman) among Koreans, the Magoist Mudang Queen Mother in the early fourth millennium BCE, the matriversal (of maternally perceived universe) consciousness to be revived transforms feminist spirituality into its destination, Matriversal Soteriology. We restore the bond between the natural world headed by cetaceans/whales and the human world bequeathed by our matricentric ancestors across cultures. The core course topics (Magoist Cosmology, Ceto-ecofeminist Spirituality, Ceto-Magoist Soteriology & Patriarchy, Matriarchal Histories and Practices) will be discussed. (Continue to read for course summary.)
Registration Available Now!
Mago Academy accepts registration for Spring 2026 Courses. For the list of Spring 2026 courses, see here.
If you want to register courses as your graduate degree program, go to Coursework Application Guides.
Fill out the form below and email to Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang (magoacademy@gmail.com) with the payment (Copy and paste the form in the body of your email). For other methods of payment, email Dr. Hwang for instructions. A Zoom link will be provided to registered students 2-3 days prior to the first session of your course.
1. Your name and country of residence:
2. Your email:
3. Affiliation or organization, if applicable:
4. Course(s) you are taking by the Course Number: e.g. 101 (1 credit)
5. Questions or comments:
Fee for 1 credit course toward M.A. or Ph.D. degree program: $700 (if you register for a 2 unit course, choose 2 in product quantity).
Fee for 0.5 credit course toward M.A. or Ph.D. degree program: $350 (if you register for a total of 1 unit course, choose 2 in product quantity).
Fee for 1 credit course Audit: $100 (if you register for a 2 credit course auditing, choose 2 in product quantity)
Fee for 0.5 credit course Audit: $50 (if you register for a worth of 1.5 credit courses, e.g. one 1 credit course and 0.5 credit course, choose 3 in product quantity).
All inquires should be email to Dr. Hwang (magoacademy@gmail.com).
Course Summary
Course Rational: Methodologically, we will explore how Ceto-Magoism can be studied in continuum with the legacy of spiritual feminist discourse broadly defined. On the one hand, this course discusses salient themes of the four core courses as well as the major tenets of Ceto-Magoism as soteriology. On the other hand, it aims at broadening the scope of our research methods by (re-)reading the classical texts concerning the Cosmic Mother or the Maternal Symbol written by the prominent feminist authors in the last century. In other words, we will examine the overlapping themes and insights from such books as The Great Cosmic Mother (Monica Sjoo & Barbara Mor), The First Sex (Angela Gould Davis), When God was a Woman (Marlin Stone), and/or your own favorite authors. It is important to understand how the major themes of Ceto-Magoism engage conversation with the central themes addressed in those classical texts and worldwide mythologies and religions.
Course Objectives:
- Understand the field of Creatrix Studies as a modern revival of Ceto-Magoism.
- Familiarize Mago, the Cosmic Mother/Creatrix, and Cetaceans/Whales manifest in Korean and worldwide myths, customs, religions, histories, and civilizations.
- Rediscover the Ceto-Magoist legacies of Korea/East Asia
- Understand Ceto-Magoist cosmology (the Budoji’s first four chapters), which illuminates the Great Unity of ALL.
- Discover the central themes and the soteriological nature of Ceto-Magoism.
- Understand the demonization of whales/sea-monsters/dragons/serpents in major traditions of patriarchal myths and relgions
- Identify the central themes in the classical texts previously published by spiritual feminists in the last century and tie them with Ceto-Magoist soteriology.
Method: This course introduces overall issues of Creatrix Studies built on Ceto-Magoism as Dr. Hwang proposes. Not only the major sources on Ceto-Magoism including a section of the Budoji (Epic of the Emblem Capital City), the principal text of Ceto-Magoism, but also a body of classical texts concerning the Cosmic Mother/Creatrix written by prominent feminist authors will be read and discussed in a comparative light. Each session will have a lecture by Dr. Hwang, students’ presentations (on the key points of each lesson with discussion questions), and Q&A and discussions. Guest speakers will be invited for certain sessions, to be confirmed. All students are voluntarily assigned to present on the readings of one or more session(s) with the questions for class discussions (30 min per presenter). Screen-sharing of your PPT or PDF is encouraged. The last PPT slide must include your discussion questions. We will decide 2 student presenters for each session on the first session.
Instructor: Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D. in USA
Biography: Dr. Hwang is the founder of Mago Academy and the programs of Graduate and Continuing Programs in Creatrix Studies. She is a born poet, student, and advocate for Life of ALL and has encountered Ceto-Magoism (the Whale-guided Way of the Creatrix) through her doctoral research on Mago, the Cosmic Mother/Creatrix. Dr. Hwang received an M.A. and a Ph.D. degrees in Religion with the emphasis on Women’s Studies. To support her research on Magoism (the Way of the Creatrix), she enrolled in an M.A. program in East Asian Studies and specialized in Korean Buddhism in UCLA. Authored, edited, and published many books and essays by Mago Books and the peer-reviewed academic journal, S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies, and Return to Mago E-Magazine.porate the research findings of archeoastronomers to determine the myths associated with the cycles found on the ancient calendars of the Greeks and the Celts. Identifying the Goddesses of the matri-local cultures of the ancients with the seasons represented by the lunar, solar and stellar bodies has been a major endeavor in the study of archetypes, with an emphasis on the feminine archetypes of the celestial realms. Helen’s research with the Hellenic Studies Center in Washington D.C., her many trips to ancient sites, and her collaborative efforts with scholars in mythology, astronomy, archeology, and art have led to her discovery of the presence of the Goddesses in the night sky and the continued renewal of the Goddesses in contemporary times.
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