2016 Mago Pilgrimage to Korea (June 9-22).
Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, executive director
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, Ph.D. is scholar, activist, and advocate of Magoism, anciently originated tradition that venerates Mago as the Great Goddess. She earned her MA and Ph.D. in Religion with emphasis on Feminist Studies from Claremont Graduate University, CA. She also studied toward an MA degree in East Asian Studies at UCLA, CA. Hwang has taught for universities in California and Missouri, U.S.A. Since 2012, Dr, Hwang has founded, directed, co-edited, written for the Return to Mago E-Magazine (http://magoism.net), Mago Academy(http://magoacademy.org), and Mago Books (http://magobook.com). She has co-edited and published She Rises: Why Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality?(Mago Books, 2015). Also authored The Mago Way: Re-discovering Mago, the Great Goddess from East Asia(Mago Books, 2015). 2016-2017 forthcoming books includes, She Rises: How Goddess Feminism, Activism, and Spirituality? Volume 2 (Mago Books, 2016), Celebrating the Seasons of the Goddess (Mago Books, 2016), and Mago Pilgrimage Volume 1 (Mago Books, 2016-7).
Dr. Hwang leads Mago Pilgrimage to Korea annually and gives lectures internationally. Hwang advocates peace and connection of all beings as WE in S/HE through the Primordial Knowing, the consciousness of Mago (the Great Goddess). She also facilitates an ongoing cross-cultural discussion group on Facebook named The Mago Circle (https://www.facebook.com/groups/magoism/).
Prior to returning to her graduate studies, Hwang, among other publications, translated and published Mary Daly’s first two books, Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation (Seoul: Ewha Woman’s University Press, 1996) and The Church and the Second Sex (Seoul: Women’s Newspaper Press, 1997), into Korean. That was after she worked and lived as a member of Maryknoll Sisters, U.S.-based Catholic overseas missionary organization, in Korea, U.S. and the Philippines. She is an artist, poet, teacher, and philosopher by birth and training.
Ms. Anna Tzanova, M.A.
Born and raised in Bulgaria; lived for almost a decade in Toronto, Canada and close to two decades in Northern California; proficient in English, Bulgarian and Russian, with working knowledge in German and Italian, at present learning Korean language; student and practitioner of ancient and indigenous cultures, as well as spiritual traditions from around the world; Anna is genuinely cosmopolitan.
She holds a Masters Degree in History of Fine Arts and Art Criticism; is a Certified Nutritional Consultant and Kundalini Yoga Teacher; Activity Therapist; Reiki Master and Mago Academy Scholar. She co-facilitates an online class, Korean Historical Dramas, together with Dr. Helen Hye-Sook Hwang, beginning Feb. 11, 2016. Being naturally curious and excited about the rich and mostly uncovered or hidden human heritage, as well as the mysteries of the Universe, Anna believes in lifelong learning and enthusiastically continues her studies.
Anna’s passion about health and healing has led her to teach classes and facilitate empowering workshops both in the US and Canada. Her explorations and knowledge in art, history, psychology, physics, meditation, yoga, Qigong and much more, have resulted in multiple successful careers in those fields.
She is an artist, a healer, a teacher and a mother of two wonderful and aware girls.
Areas of interest for Magoist Studies:
Too many to list them all, but to begin with: Magoist Korean Culture & Spirituality, particularly courses like: Shamanism; Art & Culture; Korean History; Korean Mythology; Reading Budoji; Goddess Goma/Gom/Ungnyeo; Pilgrimage to Korea.
Dr. Mary Ann Beavis
Mary Ann Beavis (Ph.D., Cambridge University) is Professor of Religion and Culture at St. Thomas More College, the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, Canada). Her areas of specialization include Christian Origins, Feminist Biblical Interpretation, and Women and Religion.
The courses she teaches include “Goddesses in Myth and History,” and her current research project, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, is a study of women who blend Goddess Spirituality and Christianity. Her books include Mark’s Audience, Jesus and Utopia, Mark (Paideia Commentaries), and Hebrews (Wisdom Commentaries), and two edited volumes, The Lost Coin: Parables of Women, Work and Wisdom, and Feminist Theology with a Canadian Accent. She is the author of many peer-reviewed articles, five of which reflect her current interest in the Mary Magdalene/Mary of Bethany tradition.
Dr. Joo Young Hong
Dr. Hong is an Associate Professor of Humanities Studies at Korean Air Force Academy. He holds a Ph.D. in Korean Literature from Seoul National University (2014).
2003. 서울대학교 국어국문학과 졸업
2007. 동 대학원 석사 졸업
2014. 동 대학원 박사 졸업
2007~2010 공군사관학교 국어과 강사 및 전임강사
2014~현재 공군사관학교 인문학과 조교수
2015 공군사관학교 천문대 천문대장
For more on other Mago Pilgrimage Programs, see here.